Alastair Greene Interview

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I N T E R V I E W
June 2004
Alastair Greene

Alastair Greene:
agbluesband2@yahoo.com
Band contact number: 805-705-5842

Rock City: Hello, we are here with Alastair Greene, a
musician from Santa Barbara, and he's in the process
of recording his 3rd CD as well as playing lots of
gigs around SoCal , so we're going to find out a
little more about what makes him tick. . .

1. What type of band are you?
Alastair Greene: My band is a Blues-Rock Trio ala Early Johnny Winter,
or Gov't Mule,..kind of blending blues and rock with
lots of improvisation. I've also been playing a lot in
a more traditional Blues vein w/ Mitch Kashmar who is
one of the best Harmonica Player/Vocalists on the West
Coast.

2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Alastair Greene: The guys who I play with are Tom Lackner (Drums) and
Jack Kennedy (Bass) who are former members of The
Pontiax which was a premier West Coast Blues Band of
the late 80s and Early 90s. Coincidentally that band
was fronted my Mitch Kashmar. I started The Alastair
Greene Band with Tom and Jack in 1997. We've opened
shows for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, John Mayall,
Robin Trower, Lonnie Brooks, and Mike Campbell's Dirty
Knobs in Venues such as The House Of Blues,
BB Kings in Universal City, The Ventura Theater, The
Coachhouse etc,... We've self-released 2 CDs and are
working on a 3rd. The first 'A Little Wiser' came out
in Early 2002 and 'Live In L.A.' was released in late
2003.

3. Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
Alastair Greene: As far as musical influences, there are so many, but
if I had to pick a handful they'd be: Muddy Waters,
The Allman Brothers, Magic Sam, Miles Davis, Albert
Collins, early Little Feat, Hendrix, Cream, and on and
on and on,....
Non-Musical influences,..My Family.

4. What are your dreams and goals?
Alastair Greene: To continue playing and recording as much as possible
and to get to the point where that's my only source of
income.

5. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
Alastair Greene: I write most of the music and lyrics, although
everyone contributes their own part. I'd like to think
I write about life as I see it or even imagine it.
Some songs are fictional or have elements of actual
events and experiences I've had but are tweaked a
little to make the lyrics more interesting.

6. What's your opinion of George Bush?
Alastair Greene: I'd rather say it in song. I'll work on a tune and get
back to ya,...maybe it'll be called "Madman" or
something.

7. How do you promote your band and shows?
Alastair Greene: Internet, Flyers, try and get some press for local
papers etc,...

8. Describe your show, visual and musically
Alastair Greene: Well visually,.....errr,....well,...ya got 3 or 4 guys
ranging in age from 33 to 53 playing their
instruments. Slacks, Jeans, button up shirts,..I
dunno,..we don't have a fog machine,....yet!
I guess visually it depends on what the club looks
like ya know? Musically,...from note 1 we try and kick
as much a!! as possible.

9. What do you think about downloading music online?
Alastair Greene: Well it's great unless an independent band gets their
whole CD pirated and doesn't make any money when they
were hoping to. It really depends. I like being able
to check out a few songs from independent bands, and
if I dig it then I'll buy the whole CD. It shouldn't
all be free.

10. What's your outlook on the record industry today?
Alastair Greene: Well it's in a state of disrepair now isn't it!?!?
It's not about music really,...as far as major labels
are concerned. It's about moving units and counting
beans. There are some great artists on major labels
obviously, but for the most part the best stuff is
being self-released or is on Indy labels.

11. What's your claim to fame? (What's unique about
your band)
Alastair Greene: I played guitar on Alan Parson's new CD
due out in August. The only other guitar solo other
than mine is by David Gilmour,..so that's pretty
exciting. I spent most of 2002 playing with Aynsley
Dunbar who is the former drummer for Frank Zappa,
Journey, David Bowie, and a whole slew of others. He
might be doing a whole CD soon that I'll hopefully be
playing on. I just got back from playing a Blues
Festival in Belgium with Frank Goldwasser and Mitch
Kashmar. I've been blessed to play live with Jeff
Pevar (CPR), Wally Ingram (David Lindley), Seymour
Duncan, Mark Karan from Bob Weir's Ratdog, Cougar
Estrada from Los Lobos, and a bunch of other killer
musicians over the years.

12. Tell us a story about a day in your life.
Alastair Greene: It depends on whether I'm working the day gig or not.
Usually lots of emails, phone calls, sending out CDs
or Press Kits, trying to book gigs, practice some
guitar, and hang with my girlfriend and our cats.

13. What inspires you to do what you do?
Alastair Greene: All the great musicians who came before and gave their
lives to music. Especially my late Grandfather Chico
Alvarez who played w/ Stan Kenton in the 40s and 50s.
The last time I saw him in person he was playing a
club gig. That inspires me everyday.

14. What advice would you give to fellow bands?
Alastair Greene: Play live, record, and try and have an open mind and
not become jaded before the age of 30. After 30 it's
ok to become jaded. :)If you really believe in playing
music you'll be doing it your whole life.

15. What are some of your pet peeves?
Alastair Greene: Club owners who don't call back, gear that breaks on
the gig, having to pay for drinks in the club you're
playing.

16. How does music affect you and the world around
you?
Alastair Greene: Music is everything to me. I've been playing some sort
of musical instrument since I was 6 or 7. Saxophone,
Piano, Bass, then Guitar.....it's all I know how to do
really.

17. What's new in the recording of your music?
Alastair Greene: We have basic tracks to about 12 tunes. I just need to
finish writing the lyrics and get on with it. Also
planning on recording a CD w/ Mitch Kashmar that'll be
the baddest, stankiest blues record to come out in
years.

18. What are the biggest obstacles for bands?
Alastair Greene: There are so many bands competing for so little work
and money. In all genres it seems. So it's difficult
to book gigs and to get noticed among all the other
folks trying to do it.

19. What's the best and worst thing about playing
clubs?
Alastair Greene: The best is if people are digging it, they're up and
dancing or stompin' and shoutin'. The music's grooving
and the fretboard on my guitar becomes a limitless
playground of ideas. You can sell some CDs, make a few
bucks, get more people to stoked on your music. The
worst is having an off night where the music's not
happening for whatever reason, and people, if there
are any, don't care about what you're laying down.

20. Tell us about your next shows and why we should be
there.
Alastair Greene: All these dates are with Mitch Kashmar, either playing
with my band doing Chicago Blues or with me
duo-acoustic delta style blues. You should be there if
you like blues played well.

Soho in SB Thursday June 3rd
Creekside in Goleta Sat June 5th
Kulak's in Van Nuys(?) Sun June 6th
Brewhouse SB Wed June 16th
Creekside in Goleta Sat June 19th
Cold Spring Tavern in June 20th
check www.agsongs.com for more dates

Rock City: Thank you for your insight and time. We'll look forward to hearing your music and seeing your next live show . . . Later gator.

Cindy Keitz
Artist Liaison
Office: 818-567-1246
Fax: 818-567-2189
Mobile: 310-528-5225
E-mail: cindy@umn.com
http://www.umn.com

Rock City News / Records / Entertainment