2020.09.DD - NatterNet - Interview with Brain

Transcript:

Text intro: Since the mid-2000's former Guns N' Roses A&R rep Tom Zutaut has said a number of derogatory things about guitarist Buckethead. Calling him "emotionless" blaming him for tour cancellations and for the delay of Chinese Democracy. No other member of Guns N Roses has spoken of Tom's claims until now..

Interviewer: What you thoughts on Tom Zutaut and if you were aware of what he said about Buckethead?

Brain: Nobody really liked Tom Zutaut. You know, I'm not even sure I liked him. He was thrown in there thinking, "Oh maybe he could save this thing" and you know, it was kind of a wear out. He was kind of a punk to everybody. I'm not saying I even know Tom in a way that I can be like this, but... And whatever, he never bothered me. But to me that was just some bullshit stuff. Because Bucket, come on...I mean, Bucket was just trying to survive, he was struggling with it in his own way and it wasn't easier that everybody was just trying to take from him and really the best thing that could ever happen with him to do that to realize that he wanted to go on his own, you know what I mean? I mean, nobody really learns anything from their successes, they learn everything from the hardships and mistakes they make. And I think people like that poked at him to try to make an excuse for what was happening was them just trying to put Buckethead in the cage to try to just, you know, no pun intended. But you know, there really was a cage that was built for him to record in, you know, the chicken coop and all that. But you know-

Interviewer: He said about like this porn story and all these Buckethead fans were like, "That's bullshit."

Brain: That's bullshit. That's just, but that's just mean and rude, you know.

Interviewer: Cause I even made a video just basically calling the guy out. Like we know that's bullshit. Why would you say that about a guy who you know, isn't going to respond? He's like, what's the reason other than being a slime ball?

Brain: Exactly. And that's sort of where on, you know, like Bucket and I have had our differences because sometimes I will say funny things in these interviews that hurt him in a way, because there are or our personal journeys of stuff or funny things that we've done. You know, I have said some stuff that's kind of, you know, like, well, "Why did you tell that story about this?" or "Why did you say," you know, or like, this is the way it went down. And I'm sorry if anybody out there that were Buckethead fans or anything that took it like I was doing it at his expense, because I never was.

Interviewer: But I don't think anybody has. Nobody thinks that from what I've seen or heard.

Brain: OK, good. Yeah, that's cool. Cause it's all just out of fun, fun and it's funny. And I'm telling you, some of the best times I've ever had on tour have been with Bucket, like that whole Ozzfest[?] with the grave things and just doing that, just being in a hotel and him walking through the hotel in his mask and people just going, "What is going on?" Or you have a GN'R tour, just him signing autographs with a weird mask on and they're not sure it's even Bucket or, you know, "Is it really Bucket?" No one's answering or just laughing. And it's all been fun, weirdo stuff.

Interviewer: People like hearing those stories. I don't know if he knows it or not, but people enjoy hearing them. It doesn't like affect what they think of him.

Brain: Yeah, that's cool. Cause you know, I just want to make sure because if those stories like the Tom one, that to me is just a poke.

Interviewer: That's the only one. That's the only bullshit one, which it always riles me up when other websites share it, especially when we know it's not true.

Brain: Yep. Definitely.

Interviewer: Did he really sign his contract at the Haunted Mansion?

Brain: Yes, it's a true story. I think he's done a lot of things there, a lot of other things that he hasn't even told me about that I've heard through the grapevine of him just doing other contracts there, meeting other people. I mean, I think there's that Iggy Pop story, right? I think I've told that one before. I think that's out there. So Iggy Pop wanted him to play or something in his band that they met at the Haunted Mansion. Yeah, I think that's a true story.

Interviewer: Are you into Disneyland and all that stuff or not you thing?

Brain: I mean, yeah, it is, but not like him. You know what I mean? I mean, it's like he knows every word on every ride. He lives in the Haunted Mansion basically. He'll go on it 50 times because he loves it. You know, it's his whole thing. And it was funny because I was talking to a lawyer the other day. He was telling me that his dad used to know Walt and he texted me a ticket from 1954 that Walt gave out to just friends and family to go to Disneyland the day before it opened. Yeah, I want to show Bucket the ticket. It's pretty rad and it's kind of signed by Walt.

Interviewer: He would love that, I bet.

Brain: Oh yeah, it looks, you know, it says 1954 and it's like a personal ticket, the back and the front of it, from Walt. Yeah, it's pretty heavy.

Interviewer: And he even released the song the other day from the guy who did the Haunted Mansion music.

Brain: Oh cool, yeah, cool. That's rad. Yeah, I'm gonna go on his site and check all this out. I didn't know he was being so... You know, I guess he's gotta try to keep busy, because he can't tour. I know right now he'd just be touring.

Interviewer: I bet, yeah. And did Axl actually gave him the Leatherface doll to convince him to join Guns N' Roses? Or is that another urban myth?

Brain: You know, I heard that one.

Interviewer: Because Buckethead actually put that story out himself, so I would assume that it was true.

Brain: Yeah, I remember hearing that. And it wasn't even really to convince him. I think it was more just like as a gift. But yeah, I think that's when they first met and he had went up to his house and he said, "Hey, he gave me this." And yeah, I think that's true.

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Interviewer: Next one from Andy Davis: "What was your favorite or most memorable show from the 2017 tour you did with Buckethead and Dan?"

Brain: The one that stands out the best to me is probably the LA show in the Nokia Theater. A lot of my friends were there, a lot of drummer friends. So I kind of had something to prove to them. Plus it was one of those shows that just kind of clicked. As soon as we got on stage everything just flowed. It's kind of like we're all in the zone.

Interviewer: Was that the Halloween show or was that a different one?

Brain: Well, it's funny you say, the Halloween show was another good one. So I guess let me backtrack. I would say both LA based shows. The Halloween show was great too, actually, thinking about it. That show was at the House of Blues, Disneyland. That was a great show too. And that one, I felt like was really fun because T-Sticks, who helps us out and is basically Bucket's trusted right hand dude for most of his playing career, especially live.

Interviewer: I think it's his [?], right?

Brain: Yeah, yeah. Yep, it's his [?], set up the coolest stage, all these props. He literally got there like at eight in the morning and just did the whole thing. And that was a great show too. He had some of his family members come out and do a little skit. So that was a great show too, to tell you the truth. Both LA shows were awesome because of, I just think of all the props and the different way we did it and having some skits and just doing some, you know, off the cuff things was rad.

Interviewer: Like he was wearing, I think, an Ed Gein mask and then Michael Myers mask and Colonel Sanders come out.

Brain: Yep, the Colonel Sanders thing at the end was awesome. And that was a Bucket uncle I think. Yep his uncle. Yeah it was. He looks like the Colonel so that's why I was like...

Interviewer: Yeah. so the next question is from Trumpet on YouTube. "What do you and Buckethead normally do between shows while touring?"

Brain: Our routine is usually we like to go to malls and we literally just cruise around in the mall. We just get some food, get some like you know Mrs. Fields cookies. We cruise around, go to the food court, get some fast food usually. We walk around and vibe people. We love to people watch. We wake up around noon or get out around noon and we just go there literally until about five o'clock until T-Sticks says, "Okay, we got to come to the club," and then we'll just go to the club. But we spend like four or five hours in there just vibing people. I'm embarrassed to say that. I wish I could say it was art and going to museums and you know checking out real things. Now I'm a flipping mall guy.

Interviewer: Just like mall rats.

Brain: Yeah that's what we do, people watch.

Interviewer: Okay next question from Adela Lee Anderson on YouTube. "Has there ever been a situation where you were with Buckethead in public when he wasn't wearing his mask and was recognized?"

Brain: One or two times when it felt like people spotted Bucket or spotted me and then thought, "Could this be Bucket?" I've been confronted at that Tower Records I remember with somebody saying, "Is that Bucket?" And I just played stupid and then we took off.

Interviewer: Okay, next question from Daryl on YouTube. "When you tour with Buckethead, how do you decide which songs make the set list and which ones are your favorites to play?"

Brain: What we did on this last tour was all figured out at rehearsal. So we didn't vary it that much, you know, maybe if we felt like something didn't work, or we just felt like, "Ah, you know, this wasn't going to be good even for tonight", we would take it out. But we pretty much had like a song with that was figured out before.

Interviewer: And Turbine, Turbine's always on the setlist.

Brain: Yeah, you know, we always had him in little sections. So it was always like, "Okay, right here is going to be the all the Praxis stuff." The Praxis medley of all the Praxis songs was my favourite section.

Interviewer: Fans always say that when you do Interworld is the best.

Brain: Yeah, that's one of my favourite ones. That's when we both get to, you know, as we call it, get off. So, yeah. To prepare for that 2017 tour, it was like three months of us hanging out, jamming together every day, or more even, I'd say it was six months of just us talking about it for a month. "Hey man," you know, he was like, "Oh, we should play," "okay, yeah, I'll play again", "okay and then let's start rehearsing," "okay," and then we do the tour so we were together every day for about a year and a half. I think the way that Buckethead and I play together is very unique because of our closeness and our friendship and you know what I mean it's like it's part of the whole thing. I think it's easier for him to play by himself because he doesn't have to, for one, you know pay a bunch of other people um you know so it's cost him a lot more. And just, you know, he's a sensitive guy. So there's just a lot of people that want to know about him because he's so reclusive and he's very sensitive. So he doesn't want to get worn out. He doesn't know how to protect himself. Then you got my friends that want to talk to him, you got Dan's friends that want to talk to him. So when he's by himself and it's him and Sticks, they can go right to the club, play the gig and take off. And, you know, he has complete control over the situation, you know, so. That's what I noticed on this last tour. You know, I just, I could tell it was getting to him because it was just kind of like, "Oh, blah, blah, blah's here," "blah, blah, blah's here," "blah, blah, blah's here, they wanna say hi to Bucket." Then, you know, they're my friends or, you know, and he would just be like, "Oh, okay," he doesn't wanna let them down. I think in the end, he'd rather have people around because playing on stage, you know, it is about, you know, playing together and the things that we go through and having fun and the experiences. I mean, after a while, it's got to be, get the kind of boring I would think just playing by yourself.

Interviewer: Was he always kind of that way or was it because of the whole GN'R thing? Because I feel like the GN'R thing affected him more, like made him more sensitive and protective afterwards.

Brain: I think he was always like that. I just think that that definitely made it worse and that definitely made him way more paranoid about "Wow, weird things can happen," like you know, "lawyers coming after me", weird private detectives checking him, you know, whatever it was. I think in the end though it made him stronger. I think it made him think, "You know what, I gotta just do my thing", you know, because that's when he broke off and just started doing his solo thing and he's never been happier.

Interviewer: Yeah, and released all the music that he has.

Brain: Yeah, it wasn't gonna happen in Guns.

Interviewer: Okay, next one from Kieran in Plymouth, UK. "Hi Brain, hope you're well. Big thanks to you and Buckethead for the music. Will you and Buckethead ever tour the UK or Europe again?"

Brain: We'd love to, even more than the States because I think that, especially in Europe, it's just so responsive to the style of music we play, what we play, what we do. Even more than the States. On this last tour, thinking about it, it was tough because it just becomes a whole other set of promoters, equipment, because you can't have your equipment and Bucket loves to have his equipment. So it's always tough I mean, it's always easier to do a festival, you know, the price you're gonna get you know what it's gonna be It's usually one promoter that's dealing with it and you can just go over and do it or maybe three or four festivals. But to do a full tour it takes so much. I would love to but I don't see it especially what's happening now in the near future. The reason we didn't come over on that one when we decided to get back together and do this thing that we just did was because logistically we looked at it and it was like, "Oh man, that's not going to happen." And it was just too much trouble for what it was worth. And it was just for the money and what the amount of work it was like, "Well, let's just do the States and then see what happens."

Interviewer: It probably ended up costing you money, I would assume.

Brain: Yeah, pretty much.

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Interviewer: Okay, the next question is from Vince Kong, who's one of yours and Buckethead's biggest fans. "Hey, Vince here. How's it going, Brain? Huge fan of yours and Buckethead's. I got some questions for you. First question, what are three things you can share about Buckethead that many of his fans aren't aware of?"

Brain: Well, you know, the things that come to mind that I just know, because I hang around him a lot, is Buckethead is a really, really down to earth, you know, as crazy as the stuff he does, down to earth. You know what I mean? He really likes to help people. He really wants the best for the players in his band, who he works with. I think that's why Guns kind of took him out, because Guns is more about, you know, everybody's out for their own, and everybody's trying to get ahead in their own way. Not saying that that's bad. You know, I mean, I get it. Survival of the fittest. Do what you gotta do when you're in a bigger thing and doing whatever. But most people always ask me like, "Oh, is he just crazy? Is he just [?]?" And I'm just like, "No, he's actually a really down to earth good guy." You know, if that's one thing that I could say, he really does care. He's always looking out for you. He's making sure if you're okay, you know, "Is this okay for you?" You know, "Hey, I wanna make it the best for you." I think that's why he has a lot of trouble working with other people because it puts a lot of pressure on him because he wants to make sure everybody's okay. I think when you start running a business, the boss is always kind of the dick. He can't be making sure everyone's okay. He's got to run a business and he can't look out for everyone and do all that kind of stuff. It takes too much pressure. That's one thing I think people don't know. One thing that, and I hope he doesn't get mad if he listens to this or whatever. I don't think I'm divulging anything that he would be bummed about because I think that's a good thing for him. He really, really is a guy, like he really does care and really wants everybody around him to feel happy and feel good about what they're doing. Where most people would just think he's, believe me, I'm not going to say names, but I've worked with artists that are complete asshole, megalomania, egotistical narcissists.

Interviewer: I can imagine.

Brain: Yeah and then another one is he's a diet coke fiend you know that's our bonding we will drive hundreds of miles to get the right diet coke, maybe not hundreds, but we've driven fifty miles to get the right diet coke because of the right the way that the carbonation in coke is there's like one [?]. And so we'll have to like, we'll be in LA and we actually have to drive to like Tejon Ranch just to get a certain diet coke from a Jack in the Box in that area.

Interviewer: Oh my God. I didn't even know there was different diet cokes. I just thought they were all the same.

Brain: Well, it's the carbonation. They're always the same if you buy the can, but I'm talking from tap. It's the way they carbonated. He got me addicted to diet coke. So, you know, I would never [?] it either. He kept drinking it and then I got it. And then I started getting addicted to it and I was like, "Oh boy." But I don't know, see, that's two of them. The third, well, maybe it'll come up. Something will come up. There's the third thing. He always loves to do things for no money for kids and whatever it may be. It's like, "Oh, I'm going to get these groups of kids for free to the show because they couldn't afford it." Or, you know, "I'll help these...." He's always doing that.

Interviewer: Yeah, because he's been doing that a lot lately, like giving his albums away for free. And there's this artist who he's always plugging in.

Brain: Yep, that's exactly what he's been doing. He's been like that way before what he's showing now.

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Interviewer:  From Carusan Official on YouTube: "What is the craziest thing you've seen Buckethead do when you guys were hanging out or touring?"

Brain: Well I think the craziest thing when we're out on tour, this was probably during the Primus days though, so now it's calmed down the more we hang out at malls, and I think it's in the Ozzfest video. In that they show Bucket doing nunchucks on graves and the cemetery [?]. Our thing, and all that filming, came from me holding the camera and basically the thing we would do is we would go to whatever town we were in, whatever city, we'd go to the local cemetery and we would cruise around the cemetery and basically film and he would freak out people that were around because he heard these people that were like, you know, I mean, it was kind of bad actually. I mean, they're kind of like visiting the dead and family members or whoever that were lost or friends or whatever it is. And then out of nowhere there would be this dude that jumps out from the back of like a tombstone, stands up and starts doing nunchucks. And I thought it was funny to get their reactions and that's even how that video got in the documentary because that was me filming him at some local cemetery that he was just running around scaring people. That's probably the craziest that he's done. He doesn't do it anymore though, that's a different time.

Interviewer: That was like classic Buckethead. You probably couldn't get away with it now.

Brain: No, exactly, yeah. So pretty funny and we'd get a kick out of it and then some people we'd just meet after and tell them what we were doing because if they got too scared or jumped out, because it was scary. You're just like, "Wait, what?"

Interviewer: Daniel in Scottsdale: "You, Buckethead, Dan, Bill Laswell and so many others in that circle barely do social media, how come?"

Brain: Yeah, you know that's a good question. I think Buckethead is never gonna do it. I don't think he's ever gonna come back. Me personally, I do want to actually get into it because I'm understanding that that's the only way to really communicate, to keep in touch. Especially now. I always looked at it as like it was bad. From the aspect of like what the Kardashians did or what, not saying they're bad, I mean what they did for their own little world is you know basically have nothing and no talent and make billions of dollars off that is actually a talent. So you know what I mean? But when I first looked at it, I kind of just thought really anybody can be a star you know like anybody can just like start going on there pretending they, you know, by all these filters look good or just play seconds and you think they're great or, but you know, by doing these podcasts by, you know, now starting this company and, and maybe doing some more social media, I have never had an Instagram and I'm getting an Instagram together. I hope whatever fans are out there will look out for it. You know, I'm going to start, yeah, just doing that. And I figured if I do that, it makes sense, but I'm not going to post a picture of me eating a hot dog or traveling or whatever. It's just gonna be music and I thought that'll be a cool way to do it.

Interviewer: Do you think Buckethead would ever do that? You don't think so? Like an Instagram is just not his thing?

Brain: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I was trying to get a hold of him because he goes in and out of being out of touch. During this period he's been kind of out of touch and I was trying to reach out to him the other day, which I'm sure I'll hear back at one point. Because you know, I was just thinking, hey, this would be a fun time to do some crazy stuff like, you know, make a weird Instagram, make a weird, you know... If we do it in the right way, it could be kind of fun, even do like weird little podcast. It wouldn't even be Buckethead, it could be Herbie. You know what I mean? Like just think of funny stuff that we could start doing together again, since this is what's happening now.

Interviewer: Are you in touch with Buckethead? Hopefully you guys can get together soon, create new music and head back on tour when it's safe to do so.

Brain: You know, before we went into the dark period, which we call it, which is just kind of like, you know, he does his thing, I do mine. You know, I think he was thinking about wanting to do something again after he did his solo tour. And then we were hoping to probably do something. And then this whole thing came up anyway. I'm hoping we can do something. I mean, it's always a pleasure to play with him. And it's always like, my favorite, you know, it's like the only [?] like a like an old friend and I was talking to her, you know, before I did this tour, 2017 tour with Bucket, and I was just like, "Yeah, you know, I haven't played drums in a while because I kind of got out of it and I'm really into this composing thing," but, you know, I was just talking to her about any problems that could come or should I do this or should I you know if I play drums again... You know, all this kind of stuff I was talking to her about, all this kind of deep shit. And she literally was like, "Well, who else would you play with?" You know, and I thought, "Right, like if I'm going to play, it might as well be with Bucket, because that's, that's my guy." You know, like, it makes sense. We're both into goner, crazy music. It's the vibe is there. The playing is there.

Interviewer: The chemistry, there's no drama.

Brain: Exactly. It is what it is. You know, it's like that I would, of course, like I would play with Bucket. So. Yeah, if I'm gonna play again, I would like to play with Bucket. And hopefully it'll happen. That's why I was trying to get a hold of him again, to hopefully, you know, maybe want to do some, you know, live streaming stuff, especially at the studio.

Interview: That would be crazy. People would go insane for that.

Brain: Yeah, like it would be fun. I mean, the place is big enough to do it, and it would be fun, and you know, it could be really cool. Yeah, there's four floors, an elevator, he can have his own floor if he wants.

Interviewer: You can make a mini horror movie there.

Brain: Oh yeah, for sure. So when I'm with Bucket, we'd be watching Taxidermy or something that I would never .. what's that one? There was that one, the Centipede one or whatever it was called.

Interviewer: The Human Centipede?

Brain: Yeah, The Human Centipede. That stuff was just freaks. That was just so gone. I watch them with Bucket because he's into them. I think why we get along is because that's not my style. My style is old 70s movies, all the Clint Eastwood movies that were, you know, the Dirty Harry series with all those soundtracks with the crazy like 70s weird almost like on the verge of porn. You know, like soundtracks, huge cool soundtracks, you know. I am so sad about Marconi. I was a huge Marconi fan because they just don't make them like that anymore.

Interviewer: That reminded me of the DVD that you did with Buckethead.

Brain: Yeah, that was the Brain Has Made the Worst Instructional. Pretty good classic video there. I had a funny story with that when it was first made. I was actually just talking to the director of that, Jonathan Rock, and we were remembering when I first brought that video and we played it for the heads of DW. I remember went into this very kind of sterile conference room, just kind of like Jonathan and I with like three of the heads of DW and the marketing manager, Scott Denell. And we played the whole thing, like whatever it was, hour and a half, whatever the video was. And at the end, it was complete silence. And they literally looked, yeah, they looked at us and they were just like, they said those exact words. "Where did all the money go?" We were just like, "Well, what do you mean? It's there," you know? It's like, literally.

Interviewer: You had a limo.

Brain: Yep, it was all that, it was from the limo thing. It was from all the stupid shit we did, it was the budget and the rest was whatever. But hey, the people that love it, they love it.

Interviewer: Yeah, I love it.

Brain: Yeah, it's for the people that love it. They absolutely love it. And you know, oh, don't get me wrong though. There was a list of people that IM-ed me about how they hated it and sent you know, how ever got, or emailed me, whatever it was back then and was just like, "What the fuck is this? Why did you really?"

Interviewer: If they don't get it, they don't get it.

Brain: Exactly. I wasn't worried.

Interviewer: Okay, next one from Kyla Garcia on YouTube. "Brain, we know you're an awesome drummer, but are you any good on guitar and is Buckethead any good on drums?"

Brain: The answer to that is no. I have never really seen Buckethead... Laswell'll jam on the drums and try to do something but Buckethead never does. He never does. I've never really, he's not that kind of a guy. I've never actually ever seen him on a drum set.

Interviewer: Next from Rohit Takuri on Facebook. "You know Buckethead as well as anybody. Is he as shy and quiet as some people have said?"

Brain: Yep, he's definitely super shy and quiet. That's why I think people feel like they can kind of take advantage of him. He wants it to all be great. I don't think he deals with conflict very well, but yeah, he's really shy and he's really quiet.

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Interviewer: Have you seen the paintings that he's been doing?

Brain: Oh yeah, yeah. I was, you know, I think I, back in the day, I was the one driving him to get the canvases and stuff. Like even on this last tour, I remember we'd stop off, you know, at what's that place called? It was an art store. It was one by Colma, cause we'd hit the cemetery. Anyways, it's an art store. We'd get like a box of canvases and he would just draw them. Yeah, I've always been a fan of his stuff.

Interviewer: He's never painted one for you and you got to hang it or you painted one for him?

Brain: No, not really. I mean, he always kept one that my dad, you know, made. He was always a fan of my dad and my dad's art. And I remember my dad told me to give this one to Bucket. And I did. And Bucket just fell in love with it. And it was always like hanging up in his house. Yeah, that was kind of cool. That kind of touched my heart that he he enjoyed it. He got along with my dad, that's why my dad is on Giant Robot.

Interviewer: Which part is he on, Giant Robot?

Brain: He's at the beginning and does that little speech on the beginning of... I'm trying to think of what song, I haven't listened to it in a long time. God, if I'd listened to it now, I'd know.

Interviewer: You're testing my knowledge now too?

Brain: Yeah, it's my dad talking at the very beginning of... I forget what song it is.

Interviewer: It's not Jowls[?] or Well well well? Binge Buddies? Scraps? Oh, Chicken Boy I bet that's what it is?

Brain: Yeah, Chicken Boy! He's the one going, "Chicken Boy". You know, he was always a fan, so as far as... Yeah, I love all that stuff. I know he's been doing it for a while. And that's cool that he's, you know, doing all this stuff now on his site, you know, and being more active. He never knows. Fans out there, he might be on social media, I think.

Interviewer: Wow. That would blow people's minds. And it's like a good keepsake for you to have your dad on that album, which is a great album.

Brain: Yes. Giant Robot was one of the first things we did.

Interviewer: Did you ever meet his parents, his mom and dad?

Brain: Yeah, I mean, his dad was the greatest dude. And he came to our old studio where we did all the... I did the Hamanoodle album with Buckethead. I did... We did all the Best Regards. We did all those things at the studio in Venice. And that was the last time I saw his dad. He came and we went shopping, went to comic book shops up and down in Marina Del Rey and on Ventura. You know, we just hung out, had a great time, ate some food. Yeah, yeah. And I met his mom tons of times at his house and at the shows. Yeah, you know, I love them. They're really nice people.

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Interviewer: From Spirit Wins on YouTube: "What are the Seven Laws of Woo?"

Brain: That was Bernie's thing. God bless Bernie, man. I miss Bernie so much. I never really asked him. I wish I could have. Maybe no one will know now.

Interviewer: I don't think he ever revealed.

Brain: Yeah, I'd love to be able to answer that. I never asked him. We would play it every time we played. But that was Bernie. That was his thing. I think he wanted to keep it to himself. God, man, he's the greatest.

Interviewer: Next question from Feno Sky on Facebook. "Do you have any stories or memories of making Big Eyeball in the Sky with Bucket, Bernie and Les?"

Brain: Another Bernie project. I have a story that's kind of funny. I don't know if I've told this before so you have to forgive me if I have. I remember we were driving in a van to... It was either after one of the Eyeball in the Sky gigs that we did, or might've been when we were recording, because we were staying in one of Les's houses in Marin, driving up to Les's to do the recording.

Interviewer: I like how you said houses.

Brain: Yeah, yeah, he has a couple of them, yeah. But he was like, "Hey, you guys could stay here while we're doing it." So we were, you know, and there was this girl driving us, and she was wearing this kind of skirt. And Bucket and I were just so into music playing, you know, and just like, "Oh, we're here with Bernie." We were in the backseat and Bernie was in the passenger seat and she was driving his van. And Bucket and I were talking about recording and you know, "Hey, we should do this here and that there." We were talking about music and we were just like, "Oh man," you know, "like this means," you know, "like in this part, wouldn't it be cool if you did this," you know, like two dork geeks. Here's Bernie who's done everything and his whole life has just been funkadelic, just seen it all, done it all. And I remember he just turned around and pointed to her leg, beautiful leg that was there and just said, "Fuck music, that's music." And I was like, Bucket and I felt so stupid. You know, we were just like...

Interviewer: Like a couple of dorks.

Brain: Yeah, just like dorks. Even though Bernie knows more about music than you would ever know and he's a genius and literally, you know, just you can throw a rock against the wall and he'll tell you what pitch it's in and then write a song off it or play seven songs in that key of other bands and other people's music. You know, he's just the heaviest and that's why he's the heaviest because he's just like, "What the fuck are you dorks talking about? That's music."

Interviewer: Yeah, that's a classic. I love that.

Brain: Yeah, it's a good story.

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Interviewer: Didn't you go to see Yngwie with Bucket one time?

Brain: Yeah, we were on the Primus tour one time and I don't think Bucket was on this tour. I think we were just playing in town in LA with Primus and Bucket was like, "Hey, Yngwie is playing," and we went to see Yngwie and it was probably the greatest thing I had ever seen in my life. He brought his wife out, some like playboy bunny. We were like, "Wait, what?" He's like, "he brought his wife out on stage?" Like, and this was like, "This is my wife." And we were just like, [?], it was really a great show. I think Tommy [?] playing drums. Yeah, it was fucking amazing.

Interviewer: I think that was about '99, I think it was.

Brain: Yep, yep, that was the Ozzfest. Cause I remember I was dead tired and Bucket was like, "Oh, we gotta go see Yngwie. You gotta come with me." And I was like, "I'm so tired right now. I'm on tour, but [?] die." And he was like, "No, you gotta come out, please, please." And I went. And I was like, "Thank God I went," because it was the greatest.

Interviewer: And I think you even put that show on a live CD, I think, the one that you actually went to. It was at the Galaxy, right?

Brain: Yep, yep, yeah. That's amazing.

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Interviewer: From Ryan Dahl: "Which one of the solo albums or songs you've done with Buckethead is your favorite?"

Brain: I think the one that brings the most memories is Giant Robot. That one sounds really good to me. It's really put together well. We took our time. It's all live. It was before looping and Pro Tools really was hitting and stuff. We recorded to tape. Definitely Giant Robot.

Interviewer: The next one is from Aaron Collins. "Which one of the albums you did with Buckethead was your least favorite and why?" So the opposite, if you have a least favorite.

Brain: I don't know if I have a least favorite. I mean...

Interviewer: Or maybe one you would have done differently or something.

Bran: Yeah, I mean, in the end, I can't really say there was one in there that I would have done differently because even like the Colma one where there were just my loops, that's what we wanted to do, you know? I mean, there's enough obscure one, one that we threw together pretty quick from, you know, like Pho Lung Lee or something that we just threw together. I remember that was a little bit of a "Ugh", we both kind of were like, "Kind of blew it on that." We didn't really even take our time, you know, and a little bit of that on maybe one or two of them.

Interviewer: That's the Noodle House one?

Brain: Yeah, the Noodle House one. That's the one. I remember that one. We were just kind of fucking around. Mainly me, you know, Bucket was just like, I was like, "Dude, I think we should do," you know, Bucket thought of a name and he saw this place and he said, "Let's just call it Pho's Noodle House " or something. I was like, "Ah, that's pretty funny." And then that's the only one that I kind of bummed out about because Bucket let me deal with that. And I just kind of flopped it together. If I could redo that one, I would probably take more time.

Interviewer: But there is one song on there I remember, Thin Crust, which is like a really good song.

Brain: Oh, that's cool. Yeah, I got to listen to that one again. But you know what I mean, it's just looking back at it, I was like, "Ah."

Interviewer: Yeah.

Brain: If one of the next questions I'll answer it now was, "What's your favorite thing that you have done with a thing like that?" I would say Praxis. Praxis to me was the combination of the best of Bucket, having Bill Laswell there, having Bernie. It was the end all for me. Our goal was to try to do that and have Bootsy tour with us. It would have been the best. But, you know, now we don't have Bernie, so... Also, to ask about who I could tour if I didn't think about it, you know, I would love to go on tour with Bucket and Bootsy. I would love to right now, you know, if when touring starts up again or something, before I die to say I went out with Bootsy and Bucket would be the ultimate.

Interviewer: Yeah. Is there any talk of you being on the new album they're working on or...?

Brain: Right now they're just doing, you know, I think they're just doing their own thing. I would love to.

Interviewer: This is from Oscar Lopez, who's actually played on stage with Buckethead. I don't know if you've seen that clip or not. I don't know if I've seen that one. It was like a guy who does Buckethead cover songs on YouTube and I guess Buckethead recognized him and brought him on stage two years in a row.

Brain: That's rad, for one of his solo shows?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Brain: That's awesome.

Interviewer: "Buckethead is my most admired musician, current musician. Which one is yours?"

Brain: If I had a gun in my head and I had to pick one for drumming, definitely it would be Tony Williams. As far as a musician, anytime I just see anything that Prince does, he plays the drums, he writes songs, he plays the guitar, the bass, he can pick up a horn, he just blows my mind. I would say those two. Probably be super big influences in my life.

Interviewer: I'm almost afraid to ask if you've seen the Metallica cover that they done of Prince?

Brain: Oh no, I haven't.

Interviewer: It was like this viral video it was so bad.

Brain: Oh my god, I'm gonna look that up, I'm writing that down.

Interviewer: It's super bad, it's like... yeah you'll see you'll see. Okay next one. "What is your favorite Pike album or song by Buckethead?"

Brain: Oh man... God, I can't remember the name. If we were gonna play it, we might have even played it. Just can't remember the name right now. The one...

Interviewer: So many.

Brain: I know. Well, what, there's like a...

Interviewer: 270.

Brain: Okay. Yeah. God, I'm trying to think of the name. I'm just looking at the old set list because there was so many, but there was one that we were learning that I really was digging. Because, you know, a lot of those are just done with him and Dan.

Interviewer: I'm trying to think of the ones he's played, like Flair, Claymation Courtyard.

Brain: It's, oh God, oh, it's the one we try, I'm looking at the set list. You know, like when we're learning the songs, he'll send me a bunch of Pike songs and, cause you know, I mean, like you said, there's 270, I mean, how do you keep up with how many there are and stuff, so, but that was one that I loved. Trying to figure out the name. Ah, shit, this is just one big audio file. It's one of the ones he was playing on tour and I had heard before and we were learning it. We never, we were going to play it probably on the next touring thing, but we didn't play it on the initial first run of shows that we did. And I loved the song. I was like, "Oh man, this song is rad." And it was just a Dan and Bucket song.

Interviewer: You got, you got me thinking now. I really want to know what the song is.

Brain: Ah, this is driving me crazy. I'm just looking at my set things here, but they're not, they don't show it.

Interviewer: Shores of Molokai was one he played quite a lot.

Brain: Just a second, is that, wait, let me see if that's the one, cause that sounds familiar. Yeah, no, that wasn't it. God, man, this is driving me crazy now.

Interviewer: Or maybe just look it up later and email.

Brain: Yeah, maybe I'll look it up email and then you can tell. I'll find it, all I have to do is hear it. It's just there was so many, you know, we had like 30 that we could have played. He kept sending me tons of songs because, you know, like you said, I mean, how many I'm looking here. Yeah, 200 to 75 to yeah, I think there's like 275 Pike songs, right?

Interviewer: Like 3000 songs or something.

Brain: Yeah. So it's hard to remember what that one. Oh, it was a great song though. I want to find it and let you know also.

Interviewer: What about Ghosts of Broken Eggs? That's one.

Brain: Oh, maybe that one was it.

Interviewer: That's one he's played a lot, kind of like a blues track.

Brain: Yeah. What one was that on?

Interviewer: The album is In the Hollow Hills. Pike 101.

Brain: Pike 101?

Interviewer: It's just so many, like when you go through the list, like, "Fuck, where am I?"

Brain: There's just so many, man. It's just like, God. Oh, yeah, the Hollow Hills, that was a good one. Yeah. That's not the one, but I remember that one now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was a cool one. I think we did jam that one, yeah. I like that one.

Interviewer: Does he actually remember all the songs that he does or he just puts them out and on to the next? Cause I find it hard to believe that he can remember every single song.

Brain: I don't know if he remembers all of them, but definitely the ones that, you know, he does... Off of every Pike probably have one or two that he falls in love with that he just knows. You know, I wouldn't say all of them because that's insane, but I know in these there's always something that he's always like, you know, because he was sending me a lot. He was like, "Well, what about this one?" And I started to just go like, "Ah, dude, you're taking me out because there's too many." So I was just like, but there was one or two that I really was like, oh, this is badass. It was a great song though. I want to find it and let you know also. Yeah, let's just do it later.

Brain via email: The best Pike song and the one we were thinking about playing was Rise of the Blue Lotus.

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Interviewer: "How's Bucket's health nowadays? How is he doing?"

Brain: Yeah, I mean when we were touring and the last time I saw him, he seemed to be doing pretty well. A lot better than it was five, six years ago when he was really having those back issues. So it's really just his back that was really messing him up. And the hard thing was being kind of fixed during our tour. We did have a couple meltdowns where he was feeling weird and it kind of scared him and we had to like, even on one show we had to stop for a little bit and Dan and I just had to do some improv jamming. But far as I know, I haven't heard anything or he hasn't said anything. Cause I remember I picked him up after he did that Barry interview and we were getting ready to go on tour. That's when we were together like all day, every day. You know, he did the operation. He did a lot of stuff and. So, you know, I think he was feeling better, but definitely had a couple moments. Cause you know, I know he does not like to take a lot of any kind of medication at all. Cause you know, he doesn't drink, he doesn't do anything. So, you know, I think that it was bothering him taking it. And I think on days that he didn't take it, I think he had a couple of weird heart things, feelings and stuff. But I think, you know, I haven't heard anything, cross my fingers, so.

Interviewer: Was he nervous about that interview coming out? Cause he kind of like pulled back the curtain when he done that.

Brain: I think that if he was ever going to do it, I think that's what he was thinking he wanted to come out. We didn't talk too much about it. I just remember he'd been talking about Barry for years. And then I read Barry's latest book, and that was when he was talking to Barry a lot. Out of nowhere, he just said, "Hey, I'm doing this thing." And I was like, "Oh, wow, that's cool." You know, I think he had made it up in his mind or him between him and Barry probably had figured it out. He didn't like ask for my advice or anything and say, you know, "Do you think this is a good thing?" or I think he just knew this is what he was going to do.

Interviewer: Okay next question from Eddie Gould on Facebook: "Tell us something about yourself that nobody knows."

Brain: Well you know I don't think most people know that I actually, I meditate. Try to almost every day if I can. You know 30 to 45 minutes I would say a day. Yeah I never did that before and then I started reading books about it and stuff like that. That's something I haven't really shared with too many people. And I also love ambient music.

Interviewer: Do you get into these ASMR videos or not your thing?

Bucket: No, I mean, that's more bucket thing, you know, and I don't really get into it, but I get it way more than I did when he first started showing me it. You know, at first I was just like, like, "Yeah, what?" you know, like the special soap and the way they rub the packaging of this soap is like a weird subculture of like whatever and I've got of course Bucket's into this. The more I found out about it I said, "Oh it is a thing, it is a thing, it's not as gone as I thought."

Interviewer: What about yoga, is that something you tried?

Brain: Yeah I've actually been doing more of that as I've been getting older because I've been realizing how much stretching, how important stretching is.

Interviewer: Is that something Buckethead's into because for years he kind of had like this arch back but then all of a sudden he's straightened up so I'd assume he's into the-

Brain: Yeah, he's into a whole other thing. It was some dude that he met in LA that I think helped, like Russell Westbrook, and some other really heavies in sports. Bucket met this guy and really got into him and studied with him for posture. It's mainly for posture and back because he had very serious back problems, yeah.

Interviewer: I mean, it definitely worked for him because he's like straight as a board now.

Brain: Yeah, he was really into it. I remember he'd see my posture and be like, "Dude," I think he even gave me the book. And I went through it around 2017 when we were touring and it really helped me like on the road. It helped, yeah, he really got into that. So I'd say less of the yoga and stretching and more into this back exercise program that this guy and this book he had.

Interviewer: What about the therapy thing too? Because I know he's been into that lately, the Barry Michaels.

Brain: Oh, he did the podcast with Barry, right? Yeah, that's right.

Interviewer: He just released a song with him the other day too, like a spoken word song.

Brain: Oh, he did. I didn't see that. Oh, that's cool. I got to check that one out. I didn't know about that. Yeah. Is that on his site?

Interviewer: On his site, yeah. Free download.

Brain: Oh, cool. I got to check that out. Yeah, no, I know he's really doing, you know, he loves Barry and Barry. He gave me Barry's book. And I've actually read both of Barry's books, and they're awesome.

"Each of us will have to face evil in our own lives, and we must learn to respond to evil without becoming evil."

Transcribed all these videos. As usual it is really hard to transcribe Brain.