LoungeMachine
06-30-2006, 12:58 AM
More than words
Gary Cherone’s Extreme viewpoint
By: KAY HANLEY
6/29/2006 1:24:17 PM
LIKE RIDING A BIKE: After a 10-year layoff, Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt, Pat Badger, and Paul Geary are back together as Extreme.
It’ s difficult to believe, but more than a decade and a half has passed since Extreme had a #1 hit with their metal ballad “More Than Words.” Anyone who’s paid any attention to the local scene probably has a hard time imagining a kinship between two singers as different as Extreme’s Gary Cherone and myself. He of the shredding pipes, platinum sales, far-reaching fame, and guitar hero co-songwriter Nuno Bettencourt. Me of the sarcastic-chick alterna-pop, beer-swilling sidemen (I love those guys), and decidedly more modest accomplishments, wildly popular with Letters to Cleo for about five minutes in the ’90s and famous, perhaps, inside the 128 loop. Yet there we were, cast opposite each other in Boston Rock Opera’s Jesus Christ Superstar in the thick of 1996. He was Jesus, I was Mary. And it was love. Only not really. What formed was a friendship built and fortified by many glasses of red wine and countless games of 8-ball at Boston Billiards. We’ve remained friends, even if the intensity has mellowed with distance, time, and Gary’s godforsaken stint with Van Halen, a no-win role in which he was totally underappreciated.
I won’t deny it. I am a Gary Cherone fan. I love his solo songs on Myspace, I’m stoked about the upcoming Extreme reunion, and I don’t care who knows. Yes, Gary and Nuno have gotten together for shows in Portugal, a tour of Japan, and a one-off here in Boston over the past couple of years. But the three-date run (Bank of America Pavilion June 30; Club Casino in New Hampshire July 1; Foxwoods July 2) marks the first time all four original members of the powerhouse band, including the original rhythm section of drummer Paul Geary and bassist Pat Badger, have shared a stage in more than a decade. It was the perfect excuse to reconnect with an old friend . . .
I want to start at the beginning, not the first beginning, the second beginning. Extreme broke up 10 years ago after four albums, right?
Yep.
It seems like the break-up was pretty acrimonious, from what I’ve read and heard. How did you guys bury the hatchet and get rehearsals going?
Good question. First a joke. We’ll never have a Behind the Music: Extreme because we were too boring. There were no drugs, no sleeping with ex-wives, no drummers imploding, none of that. I think it was a combination of a few things, or one thing that took about 10 years to simmer, because we really never discussed it over the years, and it had to do with publishing. But the thing that broke up the band was really simply that Nuno wanted to move on. We wrote some great songs together, but he was coming into his own as a songwriter, and he had things he wanted to say. I remember the day he just called up and said, “What would you think about me leaving the band?” I said, “It would hurt, but I can’t keep you here if you don’t want to be here,” and that was it. It was amicable. There really was no fight. Nuno moved on. I wanted to keep the band together. But before I had time to mourn, I was in Van Halen within three months. So everybody thought I quit the band to join Van Halen.
That brings up another question. When I told people I was interviewing you, everybody asked about the VH1 Reuniting the Band show because you guys were one of the only bands who refused to do it. The perception was that it was Nuno — like everybody else seemed down for it and Nuno was not . . .
They never tell the story like it really was. I think they showed me being interviewed first and I wasn’t first. Pat was first. They ambushed me. I was a little taken aback. I thought I was being “Punked,” and the first thing I said to those guys is, “It’s not gonna happen.” And they said, “Would you do the interview?” I said, “Come on . . . I’m building a house.” So we went up there and spoke about everything. So then they said “Well, we’re gonna interview Paul.” But I said, “It’s not gonna happen.” It wasn’t because we weren’t gonna do it: we were already talking about doing our own reunion at the time. So we were already planning on doing something and, not to get too much into some of the sensitive laundry, but we were dealing with that thing that was simmering . . . things having to do with publishing. It was just bad timing on VH1’s part. I remember Nuno saying to me that as far as VH1, he didn’t do the interview because they ambushed him . . . and, you know, I’m not gonna put my band together on their time.
So you were already talking about a reunion? [In the fall of 2004, a version of the band did a show in Boston.]
Yeah, that had been goin’ on. Plus, me, Nuno, and Paul went out to the Azores [in the summer of 2005] and did a little reunion there. Or, no, it wasn’t Paul, it was Mike Mangini [the drummer who joined Extreme after Geary left]. And, you know, every time I was in LA, I would jam with Nuno and vice versa.
I assume that this is the first time you guys have written together in 10 years?
Yeah, after Van Halen we wrote a couple songs that were hopefully going to see a soundtrack. But this is the first time we’ve actually spent more, you know . . . the other times we were just hanging out and writing.
This is more serious?
Yeah. This is the first time we’ve actually sat down and got to business.
Is it like riding a bike, or is it something you have to work at again and relearn? Do you guys just have like a shorthand that makes it easy?
Yeah it is a shorthand. And it’s better than it was because I think that we’re both better writers.
Are you going to be playing any new songs?
Ummm [laughter] . . . if the dynamics come together . . . but, uh, no, not this time around. This is only three shows. I think if it expanded then . . . I dunno if I could tour just doing the nostalgia stuff and neither could Nuno or the other guys. But for three shows, we’re just gonna do songs from the catalogue.
If you ever decide to pick things up where you left off, it would have to include a new album and full tour?
For me, absolutely.
I remember you lived with Eddie’s family, and Eddie really had your back. But you took a beating from critics and even a lot of fans. Did you perceive that?
Every waking hour! I wish I’d toured with the band first, just doing their greatest hits, and then gone into the studio and rolled with them. Then I think I probably would have been accepted. But I do think it made me a better singer. And it made me a better performer, because it wasn’t like Extreme, where you were preaching to the converted. With Van Halen, every town we went to it was “Gary Cherone: Mr. More Than Words.” And for me was like, “Okay, all these radio jokes . . . after the show you’ll all be apologizing.” So I used it as a motivator. Extreme’s been hit with the “More Than Words Band” for years, and that’s what used to drive us a lot of the times. So I look back, and maybe it was foolish to have that as a motivator but, you know, whatever it takes.
Is there a sense of relief to be getting on stage and singing for people who love you and know every word?
Yeah. Even during the periods of Van Halen, there was always a part of me that felt that Extreme is my kind of band. These are the guys I did it first with. They’ll always be my first love, so, yeah, there is a relief doing it.
This time it’s all four original members. Paul’s coming out of retirement from his role as the Puff Daddy of hard-rock managers. Or is he managing the Extreme reunion now too?
GC: Well he is not getting paid for managing, but he is certainly doing the work. It’s a labor of love.
And Nuno’s been working with Perry Farrell in LA?
GC: Oh yeah, he lives in LA. Paul lives in LA too. Pat is on the East Coast. So it should be fun. It’s bitter and sweet, because it’s only three shows, but it’ll be fun. For me — I’d live on the road. I love it. But, you know, this is a one-off and I don’t want to get my hopes up because people are busy with other things and everyone has their own life.
EXTREME | June 30 | Bank of America Pavilion, Northern Ave, Boston | 617.228.6000
Gary Cherone’s Extreme viewpoint
By: KAY HANLEY
6/29/2006 1:24:17 PM
LIKE RIDING A BIKE: After a 10-year layoff, Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt, Pat Badger, and Paul Geary are back together as Extreme.
It’ s difficult to believe, but more than a decade and a half has passed since Extreme had a #1 hit with their metal ballad “More Than Words.” Anyone who’s paid any attention to the local scene probably has a hard time imagining a kinship between two singers as different as Extreme’s Gary Cherone and myself. He of the shredding pipes, platinum sales, far-reaching fame, and guitar hero co-songwriter Nuno Bettencourt. Me of the sarcastic-chick alterna-pop, beer-swilling sidemen (I love those guys), and decidedly more modest accomplishments, wildly popular with Letters to Cleo for about five minutes in the ’90s and famous, perhaps, inside the 128 loop. Yet there we were, cast opposite each other in Boston Rock Opera’s Jesus Christ Superstar in the thick of 1996. He was Jesus, I was Mary. And it was love. Only not really. What formed was a friendship built and fortified by many glasses of red wine and countless games of 8-ball at Boston Billiards. We’ve remained friends, even if the intensity has mellowed with distance, time, and Gary’s godforsaken stint with Van Halen, a no-win role in which he was totally underappreciated.
I won’t deny it. I am a Gary Cherone fan. I love his solo songs on Myspace, I’m stoked about the upcoming Extreme reunion, and I don’t care who knows. Yes, Gary and Nuno have gotten together for shows in Portugal, a tour of Japan, and a one-off here in Boston over the past couple of years. But the three-date run (Bank of America Pavilion June 30; Club Casino in New Hampshire July 1; Foxwoods July 2) marks the first time all four original members of the powerhouse band, including the original rhythm section of drummer Paul Geary and bassist Pat Badger, have shared a stage in more than a decade. It was the perfect excuse to reconnect with an old friend . . .
I want to start at the beginning, not the first beginning, the second beginning. Extreme broke up 10 years ago after four albums, right?
Yep.
It seems like the break-up was pretty acrimonious, from what I’ve read and heard. How did you guys bury the hatchet and get rehearsals going?
Good question. First a joke. We’ll never have a Behind the Music: Extreme because we were too boring. There were no drugs, no sleeping with ex-wives, no drummers imploding, none of that. I think it was a combination of a few things, or one thing that took about 10 years to simmer, because we really never discussed it over the years, and it had to do with publishing. But the thing that broke up the band was really simply that Nuno wanted to move on. We wrote some great songs together, but he was coming into his own as a songwriter, and he had things he wanted to say. I remember the day he just called up and said, “What would you think about me leaving the band?” I said, “It would hurt, but I can’t keep you here if you don’t want to be here,” and that was it. It was amicable. There really was no fight. Nuno moved on. I wanted to keep the band together. But before I had time to mourn, I was in Van Halen within three months. So everybody thought I quit the band to join Van Halen.
That brings up another question. When I told people I was interviewing you, everybody asked about the VH1 Reuniting the Band show because you guys were one of the only bands who refused to do it. The perception was that it was Nuno — like everybody else seemed down for it and Nuno was not . . .
They never tell the story like it really was. I think they showed me being interviewed first and I wasn’t first. Pat was first. They ambushed me. I was a little taken aback. I thought I was being “Punked,” and the first thing I said to those guys is, “It’s not gonna happen.” And they said, “Would you do the interview?” I said, “Come on . . . I’m building a house.” So we went up there and spoke about everything. So then they said “Well, we’re gonna interview Paul.” But I said, “It’s not gonna happen.” It wasn’t because we weren’t gonna do it: we were already talking about doing our own reunion at the time. So we were already planning on doing something and, not to get too much into some of the sensitive laundry, but we were dealing with that thing that was simmering . . . things having to do with publishing. It was just bad timing on VH1’s part. I remember Nuno saying to me that as far as VH1, he didn’t do the interview because they ambushed him . . . and, you know, I’m not gonna put my band together on their time.
So you were already talking about a reunion? [In the fall of 2004, a version of the band did a show in Boston.]
Yeah, that had been goin’ on. Plus, me, Nuno, and Paul went out to the Azores [in the summer of 2005] and did a little reunion there. Or, no, it wasn’t Paul, it was Mike Mangini [the drummer who joined Extreme after Geary left]. And, you know, every time I was in LA, I would jam with Nuno and vice versa.
I assume that this is the first time you guys have written together in 10 years?
Yeah, after Van Halen we wrote a couple songs that were hopefully going to see a soundtrack. But this is the first time we’ve actually spent more, you know . . . the other times we were just hanging out and writing.
This is more serious?
Yeah. This is the first time we’ve actually sat down and got to business.
Is it like riding a bike, or is it something you have to work at again and relearn? Do you guys just have like a shorthand that makes it easy?
Yeah it is a shorthand. And it’s better than it was because I think that we’re both better writers.
Are you going to be playing any new songs?
Ummm [laughter] . . . if the dynamics come together . . . but, uh, no, not this time around. This is only three shows. I think if it expanded then . . . I dunno if I could tour just doing the nostalgia stuff and neither could Nuno or the other guys. But for three shows, we’re just gonna do songs from the catalogue.
If you ever decide to pick things up where you left off, it would have to include a new album and full tour?
For me, absolutely.
I remember you lived with Eddie’s family, and Eddie really had your back. But you took a beating from critics and even a lot of fans. Did you perceive that?
Every waking hour! I wish I’d toured with the band first, just doing their greatest hits, and then gone into the studio and rolled with them. Then I think I probably would have been accepted. But I do think it made me a better singer. And it made me a better performer, because it wasn’t like Extreme, where you were preaching to the converted. With Van Halen, every town we went to it was “Gary Cherone: Mr. More Than Words.” And for me was like, “Okay, all these radio jokes . . . after the show you’ll all be apologizing.” So I used it as a motivator. Extreme’s been hit with the “More Than Words Band” for years, and that’s what used to drive us a lot of the times. So I look back, and maybe it was foolish to have that as a motivator but, you know, whatever it takes.
Is there a sense of relief to be getting on stage and singing for people who love you and know every word?
Yeah. Even during the periods of Van Halen, there was always a part of me that felt that Extreme is my kind of band. These are the guys I did it first with. They’ll always be my first love, so, yeah, there is a relief doing it.
This time it’s all four original members. Paul’s coming out of retirement from his role as the Puff Daddy of hard-rock managers. Or is he managing the Extreme reunion now too?
GC: Well he is not getting paid for managing, but he is certainly doing the work. It’s a labor of love.
And Nuno’s been working with Perry Farrell in LA?
GC: Oh yeah, he lives in LA. Paul lives in LA too. Pat is on the East Coast. So it should be fun. It’s bitter and sweet, because it’s only three shows, but it’ll be fun. For me — I’d live on the road. I love it. But, you know, this is a one-off and I don’t want to get my hopes up because people are busy with other things and everyone has their own life.
EXTREME | June 30 | Bank of America Pavilion, Northern Ave, Boston | 617.228.6000