Let’s start at the beginning. Where did your interest in the bass
come from?

My dad played guitar a little bit. He had bought a Del Pilar, which was (the name of) a luthier in Brooklyn that made classical guitars. He used to play songs like “Jimmy Crack Corn,” and “Bye-Bye Blackbird” late at night. Stuff like that. He was kind of a jazz fanatic. I got my first taste of (music) through him.

A couple of guys, when I was about 13 or 14 years old, moved around the block from me. They moved over to Staten Island from Brooklyn and they were both guitar players and they were pretty good. They wanted to start a band, but obviously they didn’t need another guitar player. They needed a bass player. So in order to play with a couple of hot gunslinger guitarists, I said, “Well, look… I’ll play bass.” I sold the guitar I had gotten a few Christmases earlier, which was a 1962 or '63 Gretsch Double Anniversary that my dad bought me for $50. Bought myself an EBO bass, and that’s how I started playing bass guitar. We probably did a few original tunes, but for the most part it was all like that kind of British stuff. It was the beginning of the British Invasion. Led Zeppelin. Rolling Stones. Small Faces. Jeff Beck.

What was the name of the band?

Jacob’s Ladder.

What came after that?

Just playing in High School bands. Just trying to hone my craft, really.

Who were some of the players that influenced you back in those
early years?

Well, I was a big Paul McCartney fan. The Beatles were the first band that… I mean that’s why I got into music was because of them. I was a huge Paul McCartney fan. Tim Bogart was a big influence on me. I thought he was amazing. Stuff like that. Ronnie Wood when he played bass with the Small Faces.

Do you remember the first time you ever got paid for playing?

You know what? I think it was when I was still taking guitar lessons. I took about six months of guitar lessons, and I had set up a little show in my backyard. I charged kids a quarter to come and see me practice. I think I made like a buck!

How did you hook up with Todd Rundgren and Utopia?

I was kicking around New York, playing in various bands (with) whoever wanted me. And a buddy of mine was doing sound for Cherry Vanilla, who was kind of a rock poetress from New York. She needed a piano player. I had just gotten a piano and was trying to teach myself how to play. And he said, “You know, you should just try out for her band.” So to make a long story short, I went to the audition and failed miserably, but for some reason she took a shine to me and that’s how I wound up playing in her band.

Then through that I met a bunch of people that were really into the New York music scene. Like Michael Kamen, who was a pianist, used to play with David Bowie. He was friends with Roger Powell, who was the keyboard player for Utopia and through Michael, I got word that Todd was looking for a bass player. Since I was really a bass player and not a piano player, I made some calls, got the audition, and got the job.

What was it like playing with those guys?

That was my first really true professional gig. It was something… I mean every kid dreams about it. Getting into a band like that. I was only twenty years old at the time. It was 1976. I never in a million years thought that I would be able to do something like that. But I just lucked out. That started a ten year career. I wouldn’t trade that for the world.

What was going through your mind during those early days?

I couldn’t believe my luck. I just could not believe how lucky I was. That I got myself into that kind of position where I went from playing in dance bands and clubs on Staten Island. You know, hardly in New York at all, mostly Staten Island, to touring the world.

Do you remember your first gig with Utopia?

Yeah. It was in Binghamton, New York, I believe. I had to move myself up to Woodstock, where the rest of the band lived. And the first gig was at Binghamton College in upstate New York, and it was just amazing.

You’ve played with a lot of people and on quite a few records. Yours is a pretty impressive discography. Let me throw out some projects and bands, and just get your quick take on them. First would be Rick Derringer’s Guitars and Women.

Rick is a great guy. A great, great guy. He was a friend of Todd’s, a pretty close friend, so that’s how I wound up playing on that. I think Todd produced that record and that’s how I ended up playing on it.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Joan was through Tommy Price, the drummer, who I grew up with. The bass player left. Tommy was in the band at the time, or kind of on-and-off in the band. And just gave me a call. Said, “We need a bass player for a recording session.” I went and did the session, and kind of hit it off with Joan, and they needed a bass player for a tour that was coming up. So I wound up being in her band for about three years.

What was that like?

That was pretty wild because it wasn’t very musically challenging. It was great stuff, but coming from a band like Utopia that did heavy time changes, progressive rock, stuff like that and going into a three-chord band, I could have played the show on one string between the nut and the fifth fret. It was a little weird, but she’s great. Nobody does what she does better than her.

How about the Indigo Girls?

How did I get that recording session? I forget the actual events surrounding it. But I knew the producer on the record, and I was in L.A. at the time, and through a series of phone calls just got called down to play on some tracks on their record. That was their first record for… I think it was Capitol. They hadn’t hit it big yet.

How about Patti Smith, Dream of Life?

That was through Todd again. We did some rehearsing. I knew Fred Smith, her husband who’s passed away now. We rehearsed a bunch of tracks up at the hit factory in New York. And it was a real great experience. She was just a thrill to work with. And Fred was a wonderful guy.

Let’s talk about what may be your most famous record, Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf. Tell us a little bit about those sessions.

We were between tours at the time. I got a phone call from Todd and he said, “I’m producing an artist, and we need a bass player. Do you want to do it? You want to play bass on this record?” I said, “Yeah, I guess. I’m not doing anything. Who is it?” And he says, “It’s a guy named Meatloaf.” And I said, “Okay. Stop kidding around and just tell me who it is.” And he kind of got a little upset with me. He said, “Just show up at the studio.” So I went, and there’s this lumbering 300-pound guy. It was him and Jim and Ellen Foley and Rory Dodd, the background singer. And they kind of played the songs for us, and I just sat there with my mouth open. I don’t believe this stuff! We did three and half weeks of rehearsal. We rehearsed every single song, and the whole time I’m thinking this is going to be a novelty record. It’s going to be a joke. It’s something that’s going to come and go, and I’m just looking for the experience of recording another record.

We did everything live. We played everything start-to-finish in the studio, and I didn’t think about it again for another year after we finished recording. And I was driving up to Woodstock from New York and heard the record on WNEW. I was listening to the radio, and I’m thinking that it sounds really familiar. Where do I know that song from? I think it was Paradise by the Dashboard Light. And sure enough, I was like, oh, yeah, right… I played on that record! Not too long after that, it became one of the all time biggest debut albums from any artist. Now here we are almost 30 years later, and I’m still playing Meatloaf.

Yes, you’re doing sessions for Bat III, right?

We just finished actually. I just finished my work on it about as month ago. It’s pretty amazing. There’s a million people playing on this record. I think actually tomorrow Brian May is coming in to do a solo on one of the tunes. Kenny Aronoff played drums. Matt Rollings played piano on most of the record. Todd sang some background. Desmond Child is producing.

You’re playing in all these different projects. Now you’re with the New Cars. With all that going on, do you get a chance to listen to much music for pleasure?

You know, I do and I don’t. I just picked up some Gilbert and Sullivan CDs, and I’m listening to that stuff right now because I love their lyrics. I think they’re really cool. I’m a big Nik Kershaw fan. I’m trying to think what other records I’ve just recently gotten…

Is it hard to listen to music for fun because you’re “off-the-clock” so to speak, you’re not working, and it’s like you don’t want to do that? It’s too much like work?

Well, I’m usually working on my own stuff.

So that’s where free your time goes?

Yeah, most of my time goes to working on stuff that I’m putting together for my next record.

How far along are you on that process?

Oh, god, you know it’s so difficult between (all my other) projects. The only time I get is whenever I’m off. Between Meatloaf and the New Cars, and whatever other calls I get to do various things, I have to squeeze my solo material in whatever time I have available in between all those other projects. So I’m hoping that I might have a record at least half completed by the end of the year. So probably sometime next year it will be released.

Does it ever get schizophrenic for you playing in all these different bands with different sounds and then trying to go back to your own stuff? Do you have a hard time keeping all that straight?

No, not really. I kind of pride myself in being able to fit whatever project I’m working on at any given time. And I don’t really like to pigeon hole myself as being one specific kind of player. That I can go from playing with Joan Jett one week into Hall & Oates the next week, which is what I’ve done actually. I really pride myself on being able to do that. And I think there’s a trickle down effect that works for my own solo stuff as well. So it doesn’t really matter that on the one hand I’m playing with Meatloaf and on the other hand, I’m playing with the Cars. I can turn the switch back and forth really easily. When I’m home, I blot everything else out. I’m really not thinking about what I did the week before or what I’m about to do the following week.

What do you see as the role of the bass in a good rock and roll song?

Well, I guess it really depends. These days, it can go either way. Either you can use the bass as a real melodic instrument, like a Paul McCartney type of thing or you can just kind of make it anonymous, but if it wasn’t there you’d really miss it. So it really depends on the song.

How would you describe your playing style?

Whatever the song calls for. If it calls for the bass to stand out and do some nice runs and stuff like that, then I’ll do that. I usually like to try and make the bass something interesting. Something that adds to the song as opposed to just being there in the background.

Tell us a little bit about your experiences with Elixir® Strings. How did you first find out about them?

I’ve been trying to remember exactly when the first time I used my set of Elixir® Strings. I think it might have been on one of my acoustic guitars. And I liked the way they sounded so much that I did some research and found out that they made bass strings as well. I was having a problem breaking strings and not finding strings that felt good enough on guitar. So I was looking for a new bass string. I had been using Labellas for the longest time. They were a little rough not only on my hands but on my guitar as well. They tended to eat up the frets.

So I got a set of Elixir Bass strings. It must have been about three and a half to four years ago, I think. And they just felt so good. They were smooth. They didn’t lose their brilliance in the first couple of weeks of them being on the (bass) guitar. So that’s how that came about. And then I loved them so much that I’d gotten in touch with the company and said, “This is who I am. Would it be possible to get an endorsement deal going?” And the rest is history.

What qualities do you like best about the strings?

They last and they feel great. They sound amazing. You know, it’s like I’ve said from the beginning: It all starts with the string. You can have a $10,000 guitar with a crap string on it, with an inferior string, and it just doesn’t make a difference how great the guitar is. But with a cheap $200 or $300 bass and a really really good string, that’s really where all the sound comes from. Yeah, it comes from your hands and the way you play, but the strings are the first initial connection between the player and the instrument and the sound. It’s the string. So if you don’t have a good string, you’re fighting.

How long do the strings last for you?

At least a month. And I’m playing every single day.

What projects have you used them for recently.

Bat Out of Hell III. The New Cars. My solo record, Quid Pro Quo. Scandal with Patty Smyth. We just did a short eight-gig reunion tour with a VH-1, for that Bands Reunited show.

Tell us a little bit about the New Cars project. How did that come about?

Well, I’ve known Elliot Easton for about 25 years. Elliot played on my first solo record that I did in 1980. So we’ve been friendly. And the original Cars used to open for Utopia every once in a while. We did some shows together. So Elliot and I have been friendly over the years. About a year ago, Elliot was thinking about reforming the band. Obviously Ben (Orr) had passed away, and they needed to replace Ben with another singing bass player, which is where vocals come in kind of handy for me. So Elliot gave me a call and he said, “We’re thinking about putting the band back together for a tour or maybe a record. We’re not sure yet, but we’re looking for bass players. Would you be interested. I said, “Yeah, absolutely. I think it would be great.” I’ve always enjoyed the Cars music, and I’ve always been a fan of his. It was something that I thought I could lend a hand to and be proactive with.

I didn’t hear anything back from him for about six months, and I thought the project had died. It turned out that Ric and David didn’t want to have anything to do with it. So it was basically just Greg Hawks and Elliot Easton. And then for some reason, they managed to get hold of Todd and talk to him about possibly filling in the Ric spot. Once I heard that, I gave Todd a call and asked if he was seriously considering doing this. It didn’t sound like something that he would do. And he said, “Yeah, you know I’m not really doing anything right now. It sounds like it might be fun.” And I said, “Well, if you do it, there’s no way that I am not doing it. I have to be there.” We got together to do some recording back in September/October of last year. It went really well. They put the band together. We rehearsed a live show. We did a couple of private shows in the Los Angeles area. The rest is history.

How have the fans been receiving the show?

It’s been going really good. We’re five shows into this tour right now. I’m in Las Vegas right now, and every night is great. It’s really really been a gas. We’re only doing one new tune. We do a couple of Todd’s old songs, but it’s only one new tune. It’s been a lot of fun. The fans are on their feet from the moment we hit the stage until the last song. Everybody knows every single word. It’s a trip. And the best thing about it is that the Cars haven’t been around for 17 years. There’s been no reformation of the band. So it’s not like people are tired of it. It’s brand new really.

Speaking of revisiting things, there was a rumor that for Utopia’s 30th anniversary a reunion tour was considered and then shelved. Does that remain a possibility?

I don’t like to ever say that there’s no possibility, but it’s very slim. It’s really slim. Everybody is scattered over the country. Willy lives in Mexico right now. Roger is in California. Todd is in Hawaii. I’m in New York. Not that where we each individually live would make a big difference, but everybody is doing their own projects. In order to put something like this together, I think that the demand isn’t as great as the supply would be.

What does the rest of 2006 look like for you?

More Meatloaf stuff and more New Cars stuff. This tour that I’m on right now with the Cars goes until the middle of July. Then I have a couple of weeks off in which I’ll work on my solo stuff, and then I start working with Meatloaf again on Bat Out of Hell III, the tour. That will be out all of 2007.