INTERVIEW: THE WINERY DOGS

What happens when you put three musical titans together? Pure genius, that’s what! Power trio The Winery Dogs is made up of Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold), Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big) and Richie Kotzen (Mr. Big, Poison). Three instantly recognizable names in Rock and Roll, have come together and are taking us down a path of musical mastery. RockRevolt was blessed to be able to sit down with two thirds of this powerhouse. Part two is now here! Check out: our interview with Billy Sheehan!

Many current musicians look to you, Mike, and Richie as a part of the foundation and what it means to really be a musician. How did this power trio come to be?

Well, Mike wanted to do something different. He left his last band and was looking to continue on and take a chance and try something different. He contacted me and we spent a little time back and forth for a while talking about other musicians, then Eddie Trunk mentioned Richie Kotzen and I had to kick myself in the ass. Of course, Richie! He’s a guitar player and it doesn’t get any better! Why I didn’t think of him, I don’t know. He’s a good friend of mine and I’ve played with him a lot and it was perfect. We got together and recorded. But in the first real jam we got about four or five songs that are now on the record. The music just automatically fell together in a real comfortable way and what we were coming up with we were all really enjoying.

Music is very tangible in that sense that when it just feels comfortable and works, it really comes across on the album and the fan can feel that same kind of vibe. The first time I heard the album, man, it sounds like a bunch of friends just jamming out and having a good time.

Well, that’s exactly what happened. Totally accurate! We didn’t even know what we were playing. And it’s funny because we learn the songs and are going back to relearn them to be able to play them live so it sounds like on the record. But we weren’t really thinking about it, we were just playing! So now to go back and figure out what that was is kind of a challenge because, ah, I don’t know what I was doing! Some of the stuff has been really tough to figure out. And I want to be able to learn it to that level but I know when we go on stage we’ll approach it the same way we did the studio. But at least it would be nice to know what I actually played on the record! We did it so casually with a sense of freedom that we didn’t lock ourselves into, ‘it’s gotta be this or it’s gotta be that’. We were just playing. We’ve all played long enough to know what we’re doing.

So now you’re deconstructing something that happened so organically!

That’s exactly right. And how it got there in the first place.

Your resume really spans the gamut of glam rock to thrash metal. And I read in an interview, that I thought was so clever, you said that your real goal in the end is to hear the notes the way they sound when the bass is unplugged with all the harmonics and nuances. So, what is it technically and with your experience that you’re bringing to the sound that is The Winery Dogs? It’s got this really great blues element that I love hearing come out of you again!

Cool. Thank you very much. All your very kind words. I’ve been around a very long time and I’ve been through a lot of genres and styles. When it went one way, we went with it, and when it changed, we went with that. When it changed again, we went with it again. Through the new years and the early 70’s, the stuff I’m doing now is the foundation and the most well rounded and represented type of sound that I do and that I love to play. Bluesy lead vocals. Players that don’t over play because they’ve got what they need and when they do it, it’s good. But they do it to a degree that enhances the song and the experience rather than clutter it up. And that’s what I believe we’ve got. In my humble opinion. I purposely didn’t listen to the record for a while after we finished. So when I go back again, I can listen to it with new ears. And I found that I listened to this record a real lot! And I don’t really listen to a lot of stuff that I do. There’s three records that I listen to a lot: this [The Winery Dogs], the Lean Into It record by Mr. Big, and Eat ‘Em and Smile. They struck a spot in me. Whether I was on them or not, it was just something that I liked. As far as what I’m bringing into this, it’s just a lot of years of experience and a tonality of the bass that’s a little different. It’s not your standard bass. In order to have a power trio I think it’s important to have something like classic bass players have that play in power trios they have a grindy distortion tone, and that’s where I got it from.

A song like ‘One More Time’ has a really great bass line and it complements the drum beat so well which is done just so flawlessly and fantastically on this album. When you’ve got a three piece that works together and compliments each other, like you mentioned before, not really overpowering but standing next to and giving each instrument its fair turn, it kind of takes on a life of its own and it’s got this sense and feel to it from beginning to end. ‘One More Time’ is definitely one of my favorite songs. Do you have a favorite song off the record?

Well, first of all I should hire you as our publicist! We do that stuff and think that stuff but we can’t go around saying that stuff! But when I hear someone like yourself say that, it’s cool because it’s exactly what we intended. That’s our real goal. Every musician when he gets done with a record you hope people ‘get it’. Sometimes, they just don’t at all and sometimes they really do and when people ‘get it’ it’s a great reward. I really appreciate that. But, I love that song! My first and fast favorite was ‘I’m No Angel’. Something about that song, story wise and the way it was put together on melody, was just great. It’s kind of hard to have a favorite. It’s kind of like asking which one of your kids is your favorite!

The storytelling and everyone’s playing on the album is just brilliant but even the way the album is laid out. The last song ‘Regrets’ kind of just kicks you in the gut a little bit and it’s got that punch power to it and your satisfied from beginning to end. I can’t stop listening to it! You’re kicking off your tour very shortly in Japan and then traveling to Brazil. So, of course I have to bring up the ‘Mr. Big is big in Japan! They’re big overseas!’ But music is just music, right? I mean what’s the difference between an overseas crowd and a crowd here? I mean your audience is translucent and it’s just that the music feeds the soul, right?

People are just people and they come to a show and want to have a good time. Japan was successful for Mr. Big because we worked our asses off. It’s kind of the cliché. You’ve got a band that goes in and that just kind of fluffs their way through and thinks everyone is going to love them. Guess what? They didn’t and they never got invited back. But we went there early and stayed late and shook everybody’s hand. We answered every letter; and that’s before email. We did that everywhere. But Japan appreciated it. We did very well in Brazil and South America with Mr. Big. In Italy there are like four or five copy bands of Mr. Big! We’re starting off in Japan because of business and initially the label that held onto us was a Japanese label so they are the first to get us. No band chooses where they play, we only play where the promoters send us. We can’t just go to Japan without work visas and a whole stack of paper that needs to be filled out and done. You go to Mexico and you have three quarters of a stack of paperwork to go into a show! We have to be invited. Almost no band chooses where we play. But, we love Japan, we love Germany, we’re all patriots, we love America and we’ll play where ever they book us and be happy to do it!

Watch “Elevate”
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You’ve been around the block and in it for a while and have seen the changes. The first thing musicians say to me is, “I have his instructional videos. He taught me how to play!” So, what advice could you offer local musicians that are a part of the scene now?

Well, I think the most important thing is to know that the record industry has pretty much fizzled out. It’s not the record industry anymore, it’s the record business. And back in the day it was all about playing. And then everyone got side tracked from that and it was all about making the record and getting the record deal, getting the deal, getting the deal, making the money. And people forgot it was about playing. A record deal should come in a natural and organic way. If you’ve got all these songs and you’re playing all the time and people can’t come see you all the time, then you make a record so they can listen to you any time they want. It’s not so much about record, record, record, it’s about being live up on stage. So fortunately, I came up in an era and area, in Buffalo NY, where we just played and played and played and played and constantly played. We did 21 nights in a row one time! That was the greatest training in the world. We were up there and we were getting people to dance and to have a great night. And if we did it well enough that night, people would come back and our business would go up. Then, we made records. It’s how Van Halen did it. They just played and played and played and played and they became so huge that Warner Bros had to sign them because if they didn’t someone else was going to. That’s my favorite thing in the world [being in front of fans.] It’s the thing I go for. Being in the studio is fun and it’s alright and its good but being in front of people is the most important aspect of music for me.

Billy, I want to thank you so much for taking a minute to talk to me. We saw you perform August 3^rd at the BB Kings House of Blues in NYC. We’re so so proud and impressed with the project and we can’t wait to hear what’s next!

You are so kind, I can’t even believe it! Thank you.

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