After the departure from Van Halen, Gary's major project was Tribe Of Judah and it was around this time that Jerel Markstrom from www.VHVault.com interviewed Gary.

VH Vault: The band’s name is Tribe of Judah and we got the frontman Gary Cherone here with us today, welcome!
Gary Cherone: Thank you for having me.

VHV: You finally did it! The CD is out but the work isn’t done is it?
GC: No, no just started. It’s taken awhile to get out, but now I guess this is the fun part. There’s a lot of work, but the fun part is playing and promoting.

VHV: Right. So you’ve done two shows so far?
GC: Yep. We did Connecticut and, oh don’t quiz me on this, down in south Massachusetts.

VHV: And your next show I think is tomorrow?
GC: Tomorrow yeah, up in New Hampshire.

VHV: Cool. So how did that in-store signing go?
GC: That was great. What was it, Tuesday the 22nd? It was a great turn out. We did a little acoustic set. Mike Mangini was in the house, doing his usual craziness. It was just good. It was good to see some old and new fans and a lot of people that saw us last summer were at some of those shows turned out, so it was good.

VHV: What did you guys wind up performing there?
GC: We did “East of Paradise”, “Thanks for Nothing”, and “No One” off of the new record.

VHV: All great ones.
GC: Thank you.

VHV: Going back a little bit to the Boston Music Awards, how was that performance? And how do you feel about award shows in general?
GC: You know award shows, to go to them, I guess I can date back to the Extreme stuff, they got old really quick. Unless you’re playing, which is what Extreme used to do. It’s great when you play and get to perform in front of some of your peers. It was good for Tribe of Judah to introduce a new band to the Boston scene. To win a few things was a surprise.

VHV: Definitely! Looking at the other performances as far as the Roth/Hagar tour this past summer, what are your thoughts on that? How did that come about? How did you get to meet up with Sammy?
GC: You know, when I first heard about the Sammy and Dave Tour my first thought was that it probably wouldn’t happen. I guess from all the mud slinging that’s been going on. Once it finally happened I remember calling Michael Anthony and getting Sammy’s number and really wanting to throw Tribe of Judah on a bill and get a couple of shows in. And that was when I guess I met Sammy on the phone. We spoke throughout the summer and I sent him some Tribe of Judah stuff, he seemed to be really into it and invited me up on stage when he came into town. I thought it was a good idea. I guess if you’re not going to have the full Van Halen band out there. Last time Van Halen was out it was with me in 1998 and that was the last time the fans got to hear some of the old material. So, to me it’s a fan thing. If the two singers can get along, they’re going to give the fans what they want to hear.

VHV: Sure. You mentioned sending Tribe of Judah material to Sammy. Did you get to send anything to Eddie? Or have you gotten his feedback?
GC: No. I’m still in touch with Scotty Ross, and sent him some stuff. I think Michael Anthony got some stuff. I haven’t spoke with Eddie in quite a few months for no other reason than probably obviously he is going thru stuff of his own. But I wouldn’t doubt it. Alex always seems to keep his ear to the ground. I do need to send them some Tribe of Judah Records, because I don’t expect them to pay for it.

VHV: How did Spitfire Records come to you? How did that hook up with you?
GC: Spitfire came kind of at the last minute and it was over the span of 6 to 8 months. Somewhat frustrating, you know the record was done.

VHV: Sure, sure.
GC: And we were courting some majors and I was writing some non-related material at the time. I wrote a few songs on the website, whether it’s “Need I Say More”, or “Sublime”, and that kinda caught some interest from the majors. But it was more of the quiet stuff they were interested in. So, that’s why I guess I suddenly pulled all that stuff off, because I was committed to the band. To make a long story short some of the majors were interested in that. That’s when I kinda turned to smaller labels and independent labels. And thru a friend, president of Spitfire at the time, Paul Devo, loved the Tribe stuff. I jumped on it, it was getting towards the end of this year and I’ve been telling the fans to wait, wait, wait and I jumped on it and we are a little bit behind setting up the record, but I’m happy with Spitfire. I think what comes with an independent label is some of the hurdles are in distribution and promotion and all that stuff. But for me, you know I’m taking advantage of obviously my history going to put me in the door of some radio stations and some journalists. So, I’m doing my best to get the word out there with the new band.

VHV: Now songs like “Sublime”, which I thought was wonderful, I’m glad you at least put it on the sampler so far. Is that, those songs, going to come out on a solo CD?
GC: Yeah. You might see them on a B-Side, if we release the Tribe of Judah stuff in Japan. But I kinda split the kingdoms. Pretty much got a record full of that stuff and in a perfect world I would have liked it all under the same umbrella. All that material is going to come out on a solo record. It won’t be as long as wait as the Tribe stuff, for the fans.

VHV: Right, so you’re looking to release that music somehow within the future?
GC: Oh yeah.

VHV: Does the song “Difference” fall under that to?
GC: Yeah, uh, wow you do your homework. “Difference”, “Sublime”, I think “Need I Say More” is the only stuff I kinda released in and around.
I don’t even think “Difference” was released it just went out on a promotional copy of the Tribe stuff.

VHV: Looking back how did you feel about the break up of Extreme and the parting from Van Halen? Was there anything similar?
GC: Extreme was ’96 it was kinda tough, it was sad. It ran its course. A lot of people thought when Extreme broke up it was because of me joining Van Halen, but that wasn’t the case. We needed a break. Nuno was headed out to do some solo stuff. He wanted to put out a solo record. I was doing some Boston Rock Opera stuff. So we took a year off and in that year, Nuno had trouble getting the record out. Management and the usual bull that goes along with trying to get a record out is a--I found out this year. And he split; I obviously remained close to all the guys. But it happened so quickly in ’96. We tried to keep Extreme together, but Nuno wanted to do his thing. And before I could blink I was off to the races with the whole Van Halen gig. And that happened so quick. As far as the VH thing I got no regrets, 3 years, a record, and a tour. They were great to me. I thought me and Eddie hit it off right away. I obviously knew the clock was ticking when I joined the band. I didn’t know how long it would last.

VHV: Yeah, just with the lead singer past.
GC: Yeah, whether I was going to finish a record, or finish the tour. But I think after ’98, was it the ’98 tour-- the end of ’98, the beginning of ’99 we started to write some stuff. And it didn’t happen overnight, I guess over that summer they noticed some frustration in me-I went home a few times, I was itching to do something. I think Tribe of Judah is obviously a result of that. I didn’t know it at the time, that I was going somewhere else. As far as their end maybe looking in hind sight I think they hooked up with Dave right after me. So maybe that was on their minds. We split-no enemies. I thought it was great while it lasted.

VHV: Was their anything on that 2nd album to be that you would have liked to see the light of day?
GC: Yeah, there was a couple of songs. I thought that was right in…I thought we were doing a record we should have done first. Again, everything is easier looking back. But, looking back I would have rather have gone on tour with them, get to know the guys, feel them out, and then record. And that was what was happening on the 2nd record. Very comfortable, the process of the first record was a lot of studio creation stuff. I was getting to know the guys. Not that it was uncomfortable, I was just new.

VHV: Right.
GC: Writing some of the songs for the 2nd record, very comfortable, they knew me a little bit better. We were writing a …I think…not that Pop’s a dirty word more Van Halenesque. There was one track “From Here, Where Do We Go”. Which I thought could have been a hit track with VH, for us at the time. I don’t know if that will ever see the light of day. Whether that comes out with my contribution some day.

VHV: You ever see some kind of box set with unreleased songs from you, Sammy, Etc?
GC: If Van Halen puts a compilation together? I don’t know. I have no problem doing that. Some of the songs were in demo form. I don’t know the feature for VH whether they want to go back to that. Maybe they’ll rewrite it. All I know was some of music some of the riffs were tremendous. I don’t want to tease the VH fans, but I think anything Eddie does is tremendous.

VHV: Yeah, definitely.
Well you did a good job I thought on VH3. From hardcore fans from Dave and Sam, I can see how they were kinda shocked at it.
GC: Yeah, it was a different record. For me, for obvious reasons it’s a different record. You have two different—when you have a different writing collaboration it’s going to be different. Are there going to be some things similar to the past, coming from Eddie’s side, of course. And my past whether it’s sounding Extremeish or whatever, those are obvious. Was it maybe too eclectic? Maybe. Was it too...I got a lot was it too serious and the lyrics too dark? I was true to myself. I think things like “Year to The Day” are some of the best guitar work Eddie’s done. If anything, the record was a bit rawer than their past stuff. So I thought that was pretty hip. Would I have done some things differently? Yeah--looking back, probably. But I could say that with any record an Extreme record or the VH record. Or even the Tribe record, you always go back and go, I could sing that better, I would have arranged this song/produced this song differently. But there were some songs on there that were some gems other songs fell short. I think “From Afar” could have been a great song and fell real short in production for me. The “One I Want” I thought was right up Van Halen’s alley.

VHV: Definitely that song and “Without You”. Did you find yourself having to write about certain subjects, or not writing about certain subjects?
GC: That pressure never came from the band, more or less came from the history of Van Halen. Again, looking back, this is what kind of pointed me in the direction of Tribe of Judah. I don’t know if I was subconsciously walking that line, there were some things that I never showed the band because I thought maybe they were a little over-the-top, or just way out in left field. It was a new experience for me. I moved to L.A. I was just trying to write the moment. Eddie inspired me with just his energy along with the other guys. And I think he was inspired probably by what he said in the past maybe being inspired by the lyrics, where usually the riffs came first. So it was a new way of writing for him. We were just trying to be creative and not trying to be aware of what people’s preconceptions were. Did that hurt us ultimately? Probably.

VHV: Did you find that, since you lived in the Guest house I believe?
GC: Yeah.

VHV: Did you find that helped a lot as far as, you had an idea--you could wake up, and kinda get things done quicker?
GC: Yeah--First, that was an unbelievable gesture from Val and Eddie to offer that. I thought that would be the only way it could work if Eddie and I were in each others face. He’s a night owl. So there would come some nights at 3. 4 O’clock in the morning he be knocking at my door. But I thought that’s one of the reasons why it worked, and that’s why we kinda had this creative burst of inspiration there. So I’m glad it happened that way. After that record and tour, then I kinda moved out. Just for privacy. I thought that was pretty kind of the Van Halen family.

VHV: Speaking about the Tour, your relationship with the band and the fans did that just grow and grow up until the end in November of that year?
GC: Oh Yeah, that was the best time for everybody. For me, obviously it was going to be tougher for me then them. Those guys have their history and the Fans are rabid. And well deserved, they love anything those guys do. I’m the new guy, so I was going to catch some shit from the radio stations. I would have a few fans here and there give me a hard time. That was all expected.

VHV: Right.
GC: But they... all of them Alex, Eddie, and Michael they just usually encouraged me. We got tight on the road. And from what I know of the past, there was this new spirit on the road, there was this new energy, and I was One Fourth of it. I would never take credit for that. I was one fourth of that. The band was performing; Eddie was running around like he had no hip problem.

VHV: Right.
GC: I thought the tour was great. That’s one thing I feel if anything I would tell the fans is, I did my best, everybody got to see VH do some old stuff they haven’t heard in 15 years. I thought one of the highlights of the show was Michael Anthony singing “Somebody Get Me A Doctor”. I went home with that, that good feeling. Yeah, there was a comradery out there, backstage was pretty light hearted. We went out there. Every once in a while guitar strings would break and my voice would be hurt, but we got thru it.

VHV: Would you have a favorite song off the VH3 album that you just had to play live?
GC: Yeah, I like performing “Once I Want”, I thought “Without You” was fun live. “Year to the Day” sometimes was tough to do only because it was pretty taxing vocally. What else did we do off of 3? We did Josephina, we sat down, that was fun to do. It was kinda like an encore thing. Yeah we only did about 3 or 4 songs. I think “Without You” was the most fun and maybe that was because that was the most recognizable in the new stuff.

VHV: Was that one of the first songs made?
GC: Oh yeah, that was the day I met the guys. We were writing lyrics on the spot. They were jamming to it. We blew thru some of the old VH stuff and we kinda got right down to work. That was quite the whirlwind. We just kept on working from that week. I think I went home after that and came right back to live there for 3 years.

VHV: Going back to Extreme, how do you react to the Extreme fan that still wants a reunion?
GC: That’s a testament to the band, it’s always great. I think a lot of the Tribe fans are old Extreme fans even some VH3 fans. I’ve never ruled out anything. Here’s a guy that joined Van Halen for 3 years, so I guess anything can happen. If the times right. Since ’96 Extreme has been offered a summer tour with everyone from Poison to Def Leppard was thought of I think one year. I think if there was an Extreme reunion it would have to be based on new material. I’m a big fan of Nuno’s solo work as well as the Mourning Widows band. I think what he does is great. I think he is an incredible guitar player. Would something happen in a few years? I wouldn’t rule it out. But right now, he is off releasing a solo record within a month. The near future is Tribe. I got a couple guys from the Extreme gig. So everyone’s doing their own thing right now.

VHV: Going into Tribe of Judah, how does it feel starting over again playing the smaller venues and having no limit?
GC: Something I’m very familiar with believe me. The past two gigs have reminded me of the past, bad monitors, bad lights, no dressing room and all that stuff. You know I laugh with Pat because it’s kind of déjà vu. Maybe history will repeat itself. To me it’s always been about playing. Extreme had peaked with “Pornograffi” and “III Sides to Every Story”, but by the time “Punchline” came out we were playing smaller clubs again. So I’m more used to this than anything else. Do I want to play big places and love to tour the world again? I think in time we’ll get there. I just love to play man. So far it’s been fun. Believe me I’ll be the first one to bitch when my voice is shittin’ out and the monitors not good.
So yeah when I jumped on stage with Sammy at the Fleet oh no the Tweeter Center, I definitely wanted it, I wanted yet I missed it very much.

VHV: Do you write any music or play any instruments?
GC: Yeah, very little. Believe or not I had 2 great guitar teachers, now three. Nuno, Eddie, and now Leo and I never really kinda played guitar and I’ve finally picked it up--some strummin’. I’ve always played a little piano. It’s always helped me with melody. I’m strummin’ the guitar, but you know I’m a singer.

VHV: Who knows what will happen.
GC: Yeah, I don’t know if I’ll be endorsing any guitars soon. I know 3 chords and I only play two.

VHV: As far as the formula that you are working with now Tribe of Judah. It’s not the over-the-top playing of Eddie and Nuno, can you describe that formula and how it’s working for the band?
GC: Right. Well it’s certainly not the 3-piece power rock band driven by guitar. Even though I think there is some brilliant guitar in this record. This record is probably the most uninhibited record I’ve made in a long time. Obviously the nucleus of the writing is me. Steve Ferlazzo on keyboards, and Leo Mellace. So that dynamic’s changed a bit. If it’s with Steve, you know it’s usually coming from a programmed loop or something or some processed guitar. With Leo, it’s kinda old school, if I hear a riff or have a melody in my head, or whatever we’ll go back and forth. So some of it’s very similar to the past. The creative process, you know it’s funny, I think with this band it’s easy to create in the studio. I’m a little bit more comfortable in the studio rather than whether it was Extreme or VH. I think it’s a little bit more old school. With Extreme it was jamming to a riff and me being in a corner working on a lyric. Now, you’re a little older your just a little bit more comfortable with the process. With the Tribe record the limit was yourself because you could really do whatever you wanted to and technology usually helps you. I had a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun affecting my voice on this record.

VHV: Yeah I noticed that. It seemed like, I can’t say every song but most of the songs.
GC: Almost every song.

VHV: That little bit.
GC: Yeah, a little bit. Yeah that was just being jealous of guitar players with their tones and different guitars, distortion, and clean, echoes, and all that stuff. I’ve always wanted to do it. Yeah VH really didn’t, you know, that would have been way too far. That would have been a little to far off.

VHV: Yeah, it fits in more now. Especially because you got the programming and the Industrial type music it definitely fits.
GC: Yeah, but you know live we kinda strip it back. It’s pretty in your face. I think this record is a balance of old school and some modern sound. There’s not enough modern sound to call it electronica or industrial. Do we borrow from some of those realms? Absolutely. But if you strip these songs, their basic rock, their rock-n-roll songs. I think “Left For Dead” and “Thanks for Nothing”, they are just rock songs. I don’t know if we would be doing “Exit Elvis” anytime soon live.

VHV: That might be a concert in itself too.
GC: Yeah. Maybe if we do it unplugged. Hire some girl’s choir and some violins.

VHV: Speaking about other bands and stuff. If you could tell me a little about just working with your brother Greg.
GC: Oh Greg? Working with my brother Greg, let me see. When I work with my brother Greg all the past comes sneaking back on me. I’ve grown up in the same room, bunked beds. How I aggravated him and he aggravated me. Actually it isn’t that bad. Greg believe it or not, I’ve always said I wish I had half as much passion as he had, or he stills has. He is a very passionate song writer. He’s constantly writing. He’s pretty adaptable, he wrote some songs with Nuno in the day, and my brother Mark. Working with Greg I think he looks to me probably cause I’m a little bit more comfortable in the studio than he is. So, I think I help him in that aspect. He’s grown as a writer, grown as a singer. I think his latest project working with John Saliba he’s kinda found this pretty comfortable sound I would say. It’s kinda Pop, Pop Rock, which I’m a fan of. He’s let me, allowed me to do a few harmonies, I got to experiment with him. Me, that just keeps my chops up. Mark, he’s come in and played a few things with Tribe. It’s just a family thing to have an opportunity to work with those guys.

VHV: Are any of those guys, when you bring up your brother Mark, and Tim Bissonette. Are those other people coming out on Tribe of Judah’s Tour? Or is it your standard 5 people.
GC: Oh, will those guys kinda come out on tour?

VHV: Cause I noticed a couple different people for programming, and additional guitar.
GC: Right. Probably to explain that is that Tribe of Judah started right after I left L.A. and that’s when it was a project. I was incorporating my brother Mark, Steve had a guitar player Tim Bissonette who played on a couple things. Leo’s work with a programmer. Steve Catizone’s done some writing with me. So some of the earlier songs you can probably tell by the credits, it’s when it was a project. Some of the later songs where you see Mangini and well Pat was there throughout. “Elvis”, “Thanks for Nothing”, “No One” was kinda when the band was solid. So within that year of finding and getting comfortable with writing and finding myself. It’s kind of a project that evolved into a band. I would say “Left For Dead” was the first song that I wrote when it was a project and the last song was “Exit Elvis”. Everything in the middle kinda evolved to that. So I really couldn’t tell you what the next Tribe of Judah’s record gonna sound like but those are the guys. I mean from Michael, Leo, Steve, and Pat, that’s the band.

VHV: Yeah, I was lucky enough to see Mike perform at two local drum clinics.
GC: Oh, where did you see him? In Chicago?

VHV: Yeah, in Palatine.
GC: Oh yeah.

VHV: Got to meet him and I’ve seen you in Van Halen. I mean just with you two, your just so high caliber. The other guys seem like they fit right in place on their role.
Michael’s pretty amazing. I’ve been fortunate enough to play with him in Extreme. He’s obviously –it was a no brainer to call on him for the Tribe stuff. We played some shows last year, he never ceases to amaze me. I’ve never seen a clinic, but everybody that’s sees it says it’s unbelievable.
GC: Yeah, one of the best ones I’ve seen.

VHV: He did his marshmallow trick... he’s a funny guy.
GC: Yeah, he’s a Loon, he’s a Looney Tune for sure. I think there’s some pretty amazing stuff at the end of “Exit Elvis” that he does with his kick and snare. Kinda like this marching band in the background. It’s very low, but he really shines. I think of “No One”, and “Thanks for Nothing” just as a rock drummer. But, pretty incredible stuff that he did on “Exit Elvis”.

VHV: Now what are Mike’s future plans. Cause I know you have Tommy Stewart is it?
GC: Yeah. Again because of the record was done six months ago, and I had trouble, not trouble just frustrating getting it out. Michael had to commit he had some commitments at the end of the year. He’s a teacher at Berkley. As fate would have it Tommy Stewart left Godsmack. I’m pretty close to those guys and I just asked him if he wanted to fill in. He liked the music, he was intrigued by the record. He’s filling in on the first leg. Depending on the success of the record, with the distribution and just some of the live shows. We will see what happens at the top of next year. But right now Michael can’t do it, so Tommy’s doing it. He’s actually played with us twice now.

VHV: Would he be the drummer on Tribe of Judah’s second album?
GC: Who Michael or?

VHV: Michael...
GC: Oh yeah, yeah... Michael would ring my neck. He wants to do it. It was a tough decision. We sat down, it was tough because I’m very very comfortable with Michael. But not to take anything away from Tommy. The last two gigs were great, he’s a great guy and a great drummer. Brings what he brought to Godsmack to the band. I think people will enjoy it.

VHV: From what I hear he fills Mike’s shoes as good as he could.
GC: Yeah, awesome drummer.

VHV: What other artists would you want to play with if you could create an all-star band or an all-star album. Are you doing that now? Or are you still searching for that perfect show?
GC: Would I would like to play with? If I had a fantasy or a dream? Is that what your asking?

VHV: Yeah, yeah what your ultimate band would be. Not saying Tribe of Judah’s not, if it is, that’ll be the case.
GC: Well my ultimate band wouldn’t have me as a singer.

VHV: Would it be on the guitar? Hehe...
GC: Heh, no it wouldn’t be on the guitar. There are so many great players I could go on forever. Actually a lot of my dreams or fantasies came true. I could chalk up the Freddie Mercury Tribute show. To meeting all these guys, Roger Daltrey and Robert Plant. The only regret was that I didn’t meet Freddie Mercury. Though I met the band. I’ve always put playing with the Queen guys, Brian is just a sweet guy, such an incredible player. Even though everyone loves him, I think he is still underrated as one of the great, great, Great Rock-n-roll guitar players and his contribution. I don’t think anyone feels sorry for my history. I got to play with Van Halen for 3 years. Would I like to play with Eddie again, somewhere down the road I would. That’d be fun.

VHV: What are your intentions for this, you mentioned some kind of solo cd, is that material all created or are you looking to branch out with different artists?
GC: Oh sorry Jerel, I didn’t hear you, say that again.

VHV: With this solo cd with songs like “Sublime” and “Need I Say More”.
GC: Oh right.

VHV: Are most of the songs already created, or are you still branching out with other artists?
GC: Yeah, I wouldn’t rule that out. I don’t know if I would do a duet or anything. I’m constantly writing. I definitely have enough material for a solo record. I’ll probably have double that when that record comes out. That’s going to be like a pure solo record, I’d love some guests, whether it’s guitar or anything. You’d probably see some familiar names, I’m sure some of the old guys in Extreme are going to play a track or two. This is going to be a solo record. I don’t know maybe if I throw a track to Eddie whether he likes it or not.
Yeah. Right now it seems like he is sitting on almost the same amount of music.

VHV: Who, Eddie?

GC: Yeah.
I don’t know I haven’t talked to him in awhile, I know he is going thru some personal stuff. I think this is the vacation, that long deserved vacation maybe they should have done before I joined the band. I don’t know, I’ve heard rumors that he has a lot of new material. They’ll be back, they’ll be back next year. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s with Sammy.

VHV: I’m surprised because I know Michael Anthony came forward and said something that they had discussed doing a 3-piece. But they turned that down.
GC: What did they do?

VHV: I’m surprised they don’t do a Steve Vai kinda thing and tour around the guitarist. Just do an instrumental.
GC: Oh, I don’t know. Did that come from Sammy, the two singers in the band?

VHV: Well Michael Anthony had said something that they did discuss doing a 3-Piece but they decided against it. But it’s just my idea right now, why not just do an instrumental. He’s got the guitar power to kinda base...
GC: Right.

VHV: ..music and a tour on.
GC: I’m surprised they haven’t taken a cue from Santana. Getting some of the young singers, some of the girls and guys, some great young singers, and putting out some music that way. They don’t have to come out like the Mighty VH. They could always do that.

VHV: They might not be doing that just because of Santana. Cause I know they...
GC: Maybe, your right.

VHV: ..they went thru that idea around right before Sammy came in the band.
GC: You know they threw that idea around before Sammy your right, with Patty Smythe and all that stuff. They also contemplated that even before I joined the band. So, I don’t think it would hurt. I know he worked, Eddie did a solo for Roger Waters. A track that Roger did I think for a soundtrack or something.

VHV: What is your greatest onstage or offstage memory? Whether it be with a band, personal, what’s your greatest memory to date?
GC: You know there has been so many and most of them obviously were like first time things with Extreme. Whether it was our first day we got signed or the first time playing New York or L.A. The moment that comes to mind would be the Freddie Mercury Tribute Show, I thought Extreme, pardon the pun, played Extremely well. That was probably collectively the best day. On stage playing those songs and playing at Wembley. All those years I used to watch Queen videos, seeing them at Wembley stadium. So that was a pretty amazing day. Just the fact I got to be friends with some of the heros I grew up with, Daltrey and Brian May and all those guys. That was pretty amazing. So joining Van Halen wasn’t a small day either.

VHV: No.., no I wouldn’t imagine so. On one hand you wanted to go out and tour overseas, but then you had Sam and Dave to compete against.
GC: Sure.

VHV: And the fans.
GC: Yeah.

VHV: So going back on singers in general, is there any lyricists out there that inspire you?
GC: Yeah. I’ve always been a big Chris Cornell fan. I think he’s a great singer. Lyrically though, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, Pete Townsand. Those are my heros as far as lyric writers. Obviously Freddie as a singer, Freddie Mercury as a signer, Robert Plant, Robert Zanger. The kinda guys I grew up on. I don’t compare myself to them, but I aspire to sing like them. Those are kinda my heros. I’m a Nora Jones fan, some of the new stuff, the new Beck records are great, Peter Gabriel, Bowie. Just got the new ColdPlay record, I think he is a good singer, Radiohead fan. I’m all over the place, but it always returns to Dylan. At night I’ll go back to an old Dylan record.

VHV: Do you do that to get in the writing mode?
GC: No, I think it’s more to relax. What gets me in the writing mode is usually... I go in and out, you can discipline yourself. It goes in and out of phases. Right now I’m concentrating on performance and the live stuff, so I’m kinda removed from writing. But, in downtime I’ll be scribbling a title or a theme.

VHV: Do you ever want to or have to write a song, and you just can’t?
GC: What was that?

VHV: Is there any time that you want to write a song, and you just can’t -- you have writer’s block?
GC: Oh Yeah. Yeah, a lot. Some songs come out real quick. Other things are a little bit deeper and you try to say as much as you can in as little as possible I think. Other times, whether it’s experience and not necessarily a philosophical thing you want to say. If it’s an experience those things come out easier.

VHV: As far as writing songs. I heard something that you… regarding September 11th, did you write a song about that? Or were going to?
GC: Yeah there was a song…(trying to think). There was a lyric I had that I think I wrote before that, that I didn’t bring to the band until after September 11th. It ended up being a solo song, it’s called Perfect World. Again a ironic twist of the world today. Q***dense, I told Leo to brush up on it. Cause we might do it tomorrow night, so you might hear back that we did a song called Perfect World. We’re doing a little acoustic set inbetween Tribe, a song or two on the acoustic guitar. Whether that be Need I Say More or something off the solo material.

VHV: So you find yourself maybe doing the same bunch from the new album and then an Extreme song, Once, or an acoustic song.
GC: Yeah, the majority is Tribe. It’s going to be fun, we’ve only done two shows. When we played last summer all the material was new and no one knew it and didn’t have a reference point. But now that the record is out, people are going to come to the shows and know the songs, and that always helps. I’ve always loved Once, VH never did it. We talked about it, and I think we even rehearsed it once, but never did it.

VHV: Was that rehearsal more like the studio version? Cause I’ve heard your Tribe of Judah version. I like both.
GC: The new version. Oh thanks, we wanted to change it up to fit the Tribe vibe. What we did in VH is more the studio version.

VHV: It almost had more emotion, especially during the chorus, on the Tribe of Judah version.
GC: Oh, what was that?

VHV: The Tribe of Judah version of Once, it almost had more emotion.
GC: Oh thanks, what did you hear a live clip?

VHV: Yeah.
GC: Well that happens just by doing that live, you know, songs develop. I guess that brings me back to the point where I wish some of the songs I did on the Van Halen record were where we had more time to develop. Live or during soundcheck, cause that’s a difference. Even some of the new Tribe of Judah songs are sounding better live than what we did on record. But that’s always the case.

VHV: Now you released the cd sampler, did you ever go back and redo a song or the end result?
GC: Yeah we remastered it. We actually did do two tracks over again with Michael on drums. Someone down the road we would probably release it. My Utopia, I think Michael did an incredible job. At the time I was leaning towards more of the electronica, I really didn’t want to return to it being …leaning towards the band thing. But now, somewhere down the road, maybe a B-side. Cause Michael did some amazing stuff on My Utopia and even Celibate that sound more like the band live.

VHV: Now I hear something like Leo is using Mike on his solo cd? Is he putting one out?
GC: What you heard Leo was doing a solo, I’m going to have to fire that boy.

VHV: Yeah, I heard Leo was working with Mike on a solo CD.
GC: They’ve been working together even before Tribe.

VHV: I didn’t know that.
GC: Leo got a studio. Michael does a lot of studio work for bands. Leo right now is doing the solo stuff with me. I think they both play on different things, different projects together. They come into Leo’s studio.

VHV: I think I only have a few more questions. As far as performing with the TOJ band, how is it different?
GC: Performing with the Tribe band?

VHV: Yeah, how is it different from the other bands?
GC: It all comes down to the music. Again, very removed from the Extreme stuff. That was ’96 last time I played with Extreme. With Van Halen it was bigger stages and a lot of the material was the past. So it was just about performing that. Not to say I was removed from the emotion. But obviously when it’s your songs and your lyrics you’re a little more tied into the emotion of the songs. Tribe of Judah I think is the most intense performance that I’ve done in a long time. The sound on stage is fuller and thicker. I’ve got some great players and great performers. Emotionally, I’m a lot closer to the lyric more in this band than anything right now. I guess playing smaller stages, having it being a new band, it’s like back to square one. I might not look 20, but I feel 20 up there. So I think it’s just more… right now, you know Tribe’s a new band. It’s all about the performance now because it’s just been too long. Last time I kinda toured was ’98. I really can’t wait to hopefully jump on a major tour.

VHV: Yeah, I sense that with just Michael Anthony jumping on with Sammy.
GC: Oh yeah.

VHV: Get out and play!
GC: Yeah. Oh absolutely. And Michael’s gelatin, that’s all he ever wants to do. It was great to see him jump up with Sammy and see the crowd just go insane. They want it, the crowd wants it!

VHV: I unfortunately missed the show when Mike joined him in Chicago, I got to see them in Alpine Valley, WI.
GC: Yeah, that was fun. I thought Sammy was great, he really was. I’ve never met him, and I met him that weekend. He was great, a very generous guy.
Thank you for having me, I appreciate it. I check out, now I know it’s two sites (VHvault.com & VHRadio.com), at the time I thought it was one site. I think VHvault.com, the Vault is a good site. You had “Need I Say More” up there, and the national anthem (Gary singing). I looked like a scared rabbit.

VHV: Hehe, Yeah.
GC: I appreciate your time. As far as the VH fans, I hope they enjoy, the people who do go out and grab the Tribe record, I hope they enjoy it. And as far as my short run with VH, I did my best. I hope we gave the people what they wanted live.

VHV: The real fans saw...
GC: Yeah, they know that. Also I don’t even slight the Dave or the Sammy fans. They’re just showing their loyalty towards those guys. And that’s great, I mean you can’t argue with those catalogs their awesome.

VHV: Right.
GC: Both of them. And I always say, that’s what I said to Sammy. I go, “I only had to live thru it for 3 years – he had to live thru it for 11-12”. So I think he had it much worse than I ever had it. But I do appreciate you giving my new band some attention, I appreciate that Jerel.

VHV: It’s worthy.
GC: Thanks.


Interview by Jerel Markstrom.
© 2002 VHVault.com.