Daniel Pavlica of The Rocktologist spoke with singer Glenn Hughes. Excerpts appear below.
The Rocktologist:…is Jason Bonham returning to the band at some point in the future?
Hughes: No, Jason won’t be returning. His other commitments were getting in the way of his California Breed schedule. I have no disrespect for Jason, only tons of love. You know, I’ve known him every since he was a little boy. It’s just that he chose to work with other people when in fact he should be working with California Breed. And, you know, I’m a workaholic. When I’m working on an album or doing tours I give it all, heart and soul. For some reason Jason didn’t want to be part of that. And it’s OK, we’ve moved on.
The Rocktologist: Do you see longevity in California Breed? How do you see the bands progress in future?
Hughes: I’m not sure. You know me well enough to understand that I always keep my fingers in a lot of different things. I’m working on some other stuff which at this moment I can’t talk about. But I want to you know that I’m going to be busy. I always like to do things new and exciting.
The Rocktologist:..I always wondered how you manage to keep your voice in such astounding form, especially when so many of your peers are more or less struggling in that department nowadays.
Hughes: (laughs) You know man, it’s not foolproof but I’ll tell you what it is. You know I don’t smoke, don’t do drugs or drink alcohol. I absolutely need to get 8 hours of sleep at night. Years ago I didn’t do that, I might have been drinking or whatever. I watch what I eat and I run 4 or 5 kilometers every morning. Also breathing is the key ingredient with singing, it’s important to breathe appropriately. You know, I sing a lot of long notes and apparently I have really big lungs, which helps.
Read more at The Rocktologist.
Since Bonham is no longer part of California Breed, Hughes and guitarist Andrew Watt recently chose Joey Castillo (Queens Of The Stone Age) to play drums for the band for the band’s remaining tour dates.
source: therocktologist.com
Yet another short-lived group of Mr Hughes – what kind of person is he to work with?
I was just thinking the same thing.
Make you wonder doesn’t it? Eddie ought to know.
I think Glenn would be a fantastic person to work with. The problem isn’t Glenn I don’t think. It’s who he gets to work with him. This whole thing spiraled downward after Joe Bonamassa chose to leave Black Country Communion because in my opinion he made his solo stuff more of a priority instead of BCC which he signed up to do knowing that it could be long term and a real band. After that Glenn and Jason decided to continue working together just do a different band. Not sure why Jason left. Maybe the same reasons Joe left BCC. Jason chose to make other projects a priority. But don’t blame Glenn for Jason and Joe leaving his bands. We fans don’t know what its like to work with Glenn. We only know what Glenn is like from his interviews and maybe those of you who have met him.
Bonamassa is a great musician but he does way too much at the moment, kind of releasing at least one studio album and one DVD per year, people might get fed up soon. He should take his time as he has got a lot of time to go still …
And this is exactly why I don’t care about new music. Here today gone later today. So sick of these aging rock stars jumping from project to project. If they don’t care long enough to stick it out why should I buy it? If it’s not some lame super group it’s a legendary band touring playing nothing but “hits” with only one or two original members. I mean, who the hell cares anymore? The scene is dead…maybe Gene was right. The shows I do go see I pay well over a $100 a seat only to have some hipster stand in front of me with his cell phone in the air all night.
I think the larger issue is that there is just no place for the bands to go. You have all these groups coming together and dissolving. Yes, they want to make some music, but they also need to make a buck or two. It’s a dark time for music, in my opinion.
The Foo Fighters is the only band I can think of that can actually fill stadiums these days. That’s cool, but we should have more. It’s a shame.
However, had Bonamassa stuck with Black Country Communion, I think it might have been different. There was some depth to that band. I wasn’t super fond of these songs.
BCC was very good. But the albums got progressively weaker.
Well yes, there were only two albums, so they really didn’t get a chance to evolve.
Christian, I’m starting to feel the same way too.
Now I hear Chickenfoot may be no more.
These part-time supergroups and side projects are testing my patience.
MikeyMan – No offense but don’t you think you’re setting yourself up for disappointment by having the expectation that these supergroups last? Why not just enjoy the music they make while they make it? I don’t recall any of these Supergroups claiming that they’d be around for decades like the bands each member came from. When you thinking about it, it’s the success of each individual from their respective careers that makes a Supergroup what it is, rather than just a bunch of guys who have nothing to do now so they form a group with other bored has-beens.
Chickenfoot isn’t necessarily done making music, there are just no plans to record right now because Sammy and Mike are playing with Jason and Vic in The Circle, and Joe’s got solo stuff going on and Chad is busy with RHCP. Once a slot opens up, I’m sure they’ll devote some time to hashing out some demos and if the vibe is good, they’ll make an album. I think it’s the spontaneous “lightning in a bottle” nature of a supergroup that makes their music cool.
I think Chckenfoot is done, and my opinion is that the first album was much better than the second.
It’s hard to enjoy the music when none of these are actual bands that stick around. There’s no connection, no history, no depth.
I don’t know if even call alot of the bands “Supergroups”. Many of them are 2nd or 3rd tier artists that had marginal success in the late 80’s, and kind or regurgitate the same material over and over again. None of it really sounds new or fresh.
By definition, “supergroups” are bound to fall apart soon, because if a band comprises only musicians who themselves could do a hundred other things or make a decent living on their own, why would they restrict themselves to this “supergroup” longer than the first taste of something sweet and new will last?
That is exactly why fans download music for free on the internet. They can still listen to new music without having to spend their limited hard earned money only to have the band be gone tomorrow. Its funny that all these aging bands and even younger bands complain about fans downloading music for free and illegally on the net but they are the ones coming out with these projects that ultimately fail and fans don’t want to invest in a band that is here today, gone tomorrow but they still want to listen to the music because a lot of it is really good. Fans ultimately want to invest in bands that have already been established and are well known.
I have been noticing a big issue with bands today. Record companies are not pushing bands to make radio friendly hit singles and albums. Many labels are giving artists total freedom to do the music they want or the artists are going rogue so to speak and creating their own labels with their own recording studios. These artists are essentially becoming lazy with the music by taking months and even years to make an album and the bands and the music are not structured and made to be a hit for the radio or made to sell a ton of money. Many bands will tell you that by taking such a long time to make albums they are able to make the music better. I don’t think that is necessarily the case. I think in many ways it is the exact opposite. Sure, a lot of the music is great and the hardcore fans will love it but their isn’t hit radio singles coming out of all the music being created. This in turn makes the music industry suffer because fans don’t wanna buy music that isn’t really a hit on the radio by a band who will probably be gone tomorrow. If this makes any sense at all. Hardcore music fans will never be able to keep the music industry alive by themselves!
Tyler – So if a band puts out a great album, it’s only worth buying if they stay together? Not telling you your business but I would say there’s way too much thought being put into paying $10 for a CD and considering it “investing in a band”. What happened to buying a great album and appreciating it for what it is? The best thing about music is that once it’s out there, it’s there for generations of people to discover and enjoy for years, not just while that band is active.
Tyler – One more thing I forgot to mention…A “hit” means a song is popular, and as the Top40 charts prove, popular music isn’t always the best music; the kind of people who judge the quality of music by whether it’s a hit are the kind that will always be an obstacle for breathing life into the industry. Besides that, “hardcore” music fans don’t care if songs are hits and they ABSOLUTELY can keep the industry alive by BUYING ALBUMS and spreading the word so other fans hear about albums that aren’t on the charts and don’t get as much exposure. It’s a 2-way relationship and it’s the “fans” who are to blame for absence of Rock in the spotlight and Rock albums getting more exposure. In today’s world of social media, there’s no excuse anymore. The fans have to support the bands that DO put in the effort and make great albums by buying the albums and turning other people onto the bands that are out there making great music.
I rather find that big record companies today will force new bands or singers to do whatever they do in a very radio-friendly way because that is a place where money is still being made. They won’t wait for a band’s style or even fanbase to evolve, they want their money back by the first /album/single/promotion campaign.
I’ll say this simply stated, Glenn “knew he was good” even back in the Deep Purple days.
Glenn seems like such a nice guy, so why can’t he keep a band together? On a totally different note, I had the urge to listen to Black Country Communion’s debut album today for the first time in about 6 months at least. I know I can’t speak for everyone, but in my opinion it’s absolutely a modern day classic.
Glenn seems to be the problem…he wants to work, write and perform while many of these guys he’s hooking up with don’t want to do it like they were still 25. He should just start the
Glenn Hughes Project and hire musicians so he can boss them around. Black
Country Communion felt forced and Bonamassa looked stiff like he wasn’t having fun, plus he’s the frontman in his own thing. I thought their songs were average at best….this California Breed thing seemed doomed from the start, so I am not shocked at all…
Yeah I feel bad for the new guitar player a young guy with high hopes probably, maybe he will find better things down the road, who knows…..