Guitarist Reb Beach will be best known as a member of iconic bands Whitesnake and Winger and more recently as part of all star band Black Swan. On 6th November however he released a new solo instrumental album through Frontiers Music called “A View From The Inside”. I had the opportunity to chat with Reb via Skype on 3rd November to talk about that new album. We also talked about progress on the new Winger album as well as about Whitesnake, Black Swan and the late, great Eddie Van Halen.
The interview was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 6th November. That Show also included an interview with guitarist Tony Hernando from Lords of Black and it can now be heard on our MixCloud page - https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interviews-with-reb-beach-and-tony-hernando-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-6th-nov-2020/
The interview has been transcribed below.
Playlist for the Show
SCREAMING EAGLES – Rock n Roll Soul
REB BEACH – Aurora Borealis
Interview with REB BEACH Part 1 (6 min)
REB BEACH – Little Robots
Interview with REB BEACH Part 2 (9 min)
BLACK SWAN – Immortal Souls
Interview with REB BEACH Part 3 (8 min)
REB BEACH – Attack of the Massive
WHITESNAKE – Hey You (You Make Me Rock)
WINGER – Deal With The Devil
LORDS OF BLACK – Dying to Live Again
Interview with TONY HERNANDO Part 1 (6 min)
LORDS OF BLACK – Shadows Kill Twice
Interview with TONY HERNANDO Part 2 (6 min)
RESTLESS SPIRITS – Stop Livin’ To Live Online
Interview with TONY HERNANDO Part 3 (5 min)
LORDS OF BLACK – Alchemy of Souls
Interview with TONY HERNANDO Part 4 (4 min)
LORDS OF BLACK – Brightest Star
NI ROCKS – Hi Reb, thanks for taking some time to talk to us. Your new solo album “A View From The Inside” is released this Friday - 6th November. We just played the latest track to be released which is called “Aurora Borealis”. What inspires the naming of specific tracks and what can you tell us about that track?
REB – Well, that’s the worst name on the album actually (laughs). That song was called “Finnegan’s Wake” and it’s like an Irish sounding song. I just didn’t like the name “Finnegan’s Wake”, so I needed a name and I asked Rod Morgenstein, who is the drummer in Winger, do you have a name, while we were listening to the song, and he said how about “Aurora Borealis”? I said I like that name, that’s a great name, but this song doesn’t sound anything like anything that reminds me of aurora borealis; but that’s what stuck. The other songs have littles stories to the names, but I suppose that is a little story. I figured it doesn’t matter, it’s an instrumental – who cares!
NI ROCKS – This is your first solo album in almost 20 years and your first ever full length instrumental album. When did recording actually start and how long have you been working on some of the tracks.
REB – A long time! What happened was, it was 1993 and Winger was over and all the 80’s bands were done. And I wanted to do something that wouldn’t be over and done – it would always be cool. I figured maybe I will be like a Joe Satriani guy and just do instrumental stuff. I’d already written a few songs here and there. “Little Robots” was written in 1986, and “Black Magic” and “Cutting Loose”, I wrote those, I wrote “Cutting Loose” for a video and “Black Magic” for a compilation record. So I decided to make a demo of just instrumental music and I shopped it around – nobody would bite. So I put it on my website for sale – “The Fusion Demos” – and it sold like hot cakes and I got all these e-mails, letters and comments – ‘you’ve got to do this Reb’, ‘this is what you should do’, ‘this is my favourite thing that you’ve ever done’. So, I said ok I’ll make a record. And I sat down to make a record and then got Alice Cooper, and then I got Dokken and Night Ranger and became this touring musician. And when I was home, I was writing for things that have a deadline; like Dokken or Winger, or Black Swan or Whitesnake. It was always like, we need songs now you know! There was always some urgency. This thing, the Fusion stuff, was like a little hobby I did late at night. Here and there I’d write a little more; I’d taken out this section, let’s put in a better section here. It was kinda like, one of these days I’ll release it, but by the time that I’m done with it’ll be something that I can say is the best that I can do; as far as writing. And it came out really well, but that’s kind of the story behind why it took so darn long.
NI ROCKS – Where was the album actually recorded and who did you work with in terms of production etc?
REB – I recorded a lot of it in my garage. All the guitars were done here in my garage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Then I sent it out to the bass player and I sent it out to the keyboard player, who was a friend of Kip Winger called Paul Brown. He was like a 70’s guy and that was just what I was looking for; a guy with a B3 organ and a clavinet and a Fender Rhodes for all those old school sounds. I didn’t want to do something that was all, you know, over-produced. Even though, it might still be a little over-produced. The drums we did at a little studio here in Pittsburgh. Kip helped me out with that. He flew out to Pittsburgh to do the drums because he gets great drums sounds. That’s how we did it. I wrote the songs first, did the guitar and then we got all the other guys on it later, over a period of five years for all of the new parts.
NI ROCKS – The album is being released through Frontiers Records, which of course is the current label as Whitesnake. Did you approach them about releasing the album or did they have discussions with you? How did that come about?
REB – No, I approached them for sure and they kind of did it as a favour to me because of our long history together. Winger are also on Frontiers, Black Swan are on Frontiers, the Mob were on Frontiers. So we have a long history together and they said, sure we’ll release it for you. (Laughs)
NI ROCKS – Good decision!
REB – Yes it was. It was very kind of them.
NI ROCKS – You mentioned the “Fusion Demos” earlier on; which was from 1993. You also had another solo album called “Masquerade” back in 2001, but there was singing on that. Were you determined that this one would be fully instrumental rather than having vocals on it again?
REB – Why is it instrumental rather than me singing? Kind of like I explained; people have been asking for it for twenty years – ‘when’s the Fusion record coming out? We’re dying’ – you know. So I really wanted to get this out first, but I am working on “Masquerade 2” and I have a ton of ideas for it. That’ll be my next thing. I just started working on it; even though they’re going to want another Black Swan and Winger are right in the middle of writing our album.
NI ROCKS – That’s good. You just answered my next question, which was will there be another album with vocals. But you’ve just answered that. We’ll play another track from “A View From The Inside” now. This time I’ll let you pick a track and tell us something about it?
REB – Oh, that’s different! That’s great. I appreciate you playing that. We’ll play “Little Robots” which is the first song that I ever wrote in 1986. I call it “Little Robots” because it has these keyboard sounds in the one section that sound like plucked violins and they kind of have a little robot sound; like little robots walking around. It’s kind of like a Jeff Beck tune, but it’s got everything. It’s got a great melody and a lovely solo at the end. It’s a nice funky, 70’s vibe.
NI ROCKS – There has been quite a bit of discussion and a lot of interest obviously in progress on the next Winger album and you mentioned that you were working on it. Kip was quoted a few months ago as saying that song writing was progressing well and I noticed that you had a couple of Instagram posts up saying that you were working in the studio. Can you give us an update on progress and what the likely release date would be?
REB – We’re shooting for the summer time. We were hoping to tour in May. We want to get the album out as soon to that time as possible to support it. We wrote 11 songs and we threw away 6 of them because Kip has this frickin bar - he has this bar that is very high! I brought in 15 ideas for the record and he said they’re really good, but I’m looking for something where once I hear the first three chords, I don’t want to know what the next three chords are going to be. So, he’s looking for something more progressive, like Winger does, we do more progressive music with his pop melodies over them. Even “Seventeen” is kind of a progressive riff – it’s a complicated riff in a way and it’s busy, and I would have never thought that you could sing a chorus over that, but that’s what he is great at. It’s what sets Winger apart a bit. So, now I have 15 ides that I can take to Jeff Pilson for Black Swan and they totally sound like Black Swan – totally straight ahead, Robin will love them and it’s great. That’s a good thing. We’re about half way done with the Winger record. There’s a very high bar on it, so it’s taking a little longer; plus with Covid and everything, but it sure is going well. I like it better than the last album already.
NI ROCKS – You mentioned covid there. Covid has obviously had a huge impact on touring and musicians generally. Has it made the whole recording process more difficult for getting the album out there?
REB – For the Winger album? A little bit. The travelling and the flying and wearing masks. With the schedules. You’re kind of tense (laughs). It’s not as laid back as it used to be. I’m not sure how it’s that way, but it is that way. It just seemed that it was more relaxed back then. Kip has a studio now that is 45 minutes away, so it’s not in his house anymore and that’s different than it used to be. It’s a little different for sure, but this is the time when everybody is recording a record. If you are a band and you don’t have a new album out next year then there is something wrong with you.
NI ROCKS – I presume the aim is to get Winger back on the road sometime after the album comes out then?
REB – That’s the plan yeah. We’re booking in May right now.
NI ROCKS – Any European dates, or all across North America?
REB – We want to do Europe. We want to saturate Europe. We want to make a plan, like a three year plan, to go over there. And the first time we go over we’re not going to make any money – we know it (laughs). But, we’re going to build a following over there for the last couple of albums that we do. In Winger , we’re all getting older and I don’t know how much longer Winger is going to be around, so we want to do a big push for these last couple of records that we do. And definitely around the world and not just in America.
NI ROCKS – You’ve a lot of Winger fans here so it would be great to see you back.
REB – Yeah. I remember doing well there, playing the clubs and there were a lot of people. You can’t go wrong seeing Winger live. Everybody in the band is really good and Kip Winger sings like he sang in 1989, so it’s a great show with good music and killer singers. It’s got it all, so I know that we can get more fans and play bigger venues if we continue to go back there and build a following.
NI ROCKS – You’ve mentioned Black Swan a couple of times. I interviewed Jeff Pilson earlier this year when the “Shake The World” album was released. How did you get involved in that project?
REB - Whitesnake was opening for Foreigner here in America and I guess Serafino at Frontiers Records contacted Jeff to do a kind of supergroup thing. Jeff is best friends with Robin McAuley; they live right down the street from each other and they have dinner like twice a week. And he came to me at catering and said hey do you want to do one of those supergroup things? I’ve got Robin McAuley and I said forget it, totally, are you kidding. I jumped at the chance to write with Jeff Pilson again, like we did on “Erase The Slate” (Dokken album released 1999). Jeff Pilson is like a Kip Winger kind of guy. He studies music, he’s a composer and arranger. And I’m just reckless abandon guy who spews out guitar riffs all day long, but has no idea what to do with them. Is that a verse? I don’t know! (Laughs) But I’m great at it, I’m really great at it. If you get me together with someone like a Kip Winger or a Jeff Pilson it’s always a great end result. So I jumped at it and it went really well, because everyone loves Black Swan, which is unreal, I didn’t know that it would be received that way. But the comments from my friends, everybody I know and online; they’re like we love that record.
NI ROCKS – Yeah, it’s a great album.
REB – Yeah. Robin can sing over anything. I could just go dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun and he would sing over it and sound amazing.
NI ROCKS – Were there ever any plans to get the band out on the road? Obviously Coivd came along just after that album was released. Were there ever any plans to play any live shows?
REB – No. We talked about it, but it was down to schedules and I’m either playing in Winger or Whitesnake, and Pilson is ALWAYS out with Foreigner. Those guys are constantly touring. So you know, if there was a two or three week window where we were both available; not just us, but Robin and Matt, were available, then absolutely we would do it. There’s three singers, well four singers in the band, so we could definitely do it. Matt sings, which is a big bonus.
NI ROCKS – Jeff seemed quite hopeful that there would be a second album and you mentioned earlier that you were currently writing some material. So there will be a follow up then?
REB – A Black Swan album? Pilson called me a month ago. He said, Reb you may have noticed that the Black Swan record has done very well, I think that Frontiers will want another record and I’m calling you, because it starts with YOU! (Laughs) Keep in mind that we’re going to need riffs. When I came to Pilson for the first thing I had 50 guitar riffs that I brought in and he was like a kid in a candy store. ‘I want this one, give me that one. We’re going to put this here, there’s going to be a verse, we need this’. It was great and we wrote the whole album in ten days. So he wants it to be a repeat of that and luckily, like I said I’ve got the 15, more than 15 actually, Winger riffs that we didn’t use. And that’s just what Black Swan was last time. I think, on my end, I’m going to be completely prepared, and I think we can make another great record. Probably in January or February I’ll fly out there and we’ll start it.
NI ROCKS – That’s great, I’ll look forward to that. We’ll play something from that first Black Swan album now. Do you want to pick a track or do you have a favourite track from that album?
REB – Oh jeeezzz. I totally forget what songs I particularly like on that album. I think they just released a lyric video for “Immortal Souls” and that was kind of cool. It’s kind of a good one for Halloween. It’s kind of an eerie song.
NI ROCKS – The last time I saw you on stage was with Whitesnake in June of 2019; actually at Rock The Ring in Switzerland of all places. The planned show in Belfast earlier this year was obviously cancelled due to David’s health problems and it would have become a casualty of covid anyway probably. Are there any plans for getting back on the road with Whitesnake at some point?
REB – I haven’t heard anything about touring from David; but David texts us every single day – every day. When we played our last show he said (imitating David) ‘alright darlings, now listen, I’m going to stay in touch. Everybody stay in touch. You’re all snakes and we’re going to get through this thing together’. So he texts us very single day. He texts us jokes and ‘how are you darlings’. He loves his band and takes great care of us. He will tell us when something pops up for a possible gig for sure! But I haven’t heard anything yet in that respect.
NI ROCKS – Whitesnake released the “The Rock Album” and I think the “Love Songs” album comes out on the same date as your new album comes out. , the latest Whitesnake compilation is released. Were you involved in the mixing of those or in picking the tracks or was that all down to David?
REB – Oh, God no! David does really well with those packages that he does and people love it. I have nothing to do with that stuff.
NI ROCKS – You’ve been part of Whitesnake for 18 years – which is longer than any other member, apart from David himself. How would you describe working with David? What is your relationship with David?
REB – David will always be David Coverdale! He’ll always be a legend. It’d be hard to be, like good buddies, you’d think with him. But it wasn’t. I lived with him for a year and we became very close – we’d go to movies together, we’d go out for dinner, I’d cook meals for him! I’d wake up in the morning and there he is in Armani bathrobe and I’m in my PJ bottoms with my belly hanging out and with a hangover. And he’s like, ‘Darling, how are you this fine morning; isn’t it lovely outside’, and I’m like ‘yeah it’s good, it’s good’. He’s always go-go-go and he has so much energy and he has this beautiful spirit. You gotta love David, and I do love him. He’s a peer and a friend, but there’ll always be that thing where he’s also DAVID COVERDALE! He’ll sing next to me on stage and the hairs will stand up on my arm when he hits those blood curdling notes in “Still of the Night” and everything. It’s really, really something to watch him and be next to him and feel his energy when he’s performing. But I love hanging out with David. He’s so funny! Oh, my god, he’s hysterically funny; and highly intelligent. He’ll tell you some whopper stories that will have you dying.
NI ROCKS – He seems to be one of the most prolific social media posters around – to Instagram and all the rest of it. He seems to be on non-stop.
REB – Oh yeah, he’s all over social media. But you’ve got to be these days. I’m not – I’m terrible with that stuff. He’s great at it. He’s got like a billion followers!
NI ROCKS – A slight change of subject! Eddie Van Halen of course passed away a few weeks ago. You said on your Instagram page that you wouldn’t be who you are today if not for him. How big an influence would you say Eddie was on your playing?
REB – Ah Jez, I mean...In 1984 I moved to New York and got a job as a singing waiter. I moved in with a dude I knew who lived in New York City and I hung out at music stores. I heard about an audition for Fiona on Atlantic Records and I went and I got the audition. It was way out in Long Island and it was Beau Hill who was producing. I did a good job and he came to me and said, ‘Ok I don’t want to insult you, you did the whole record, how does 500 dollars sound?’ And I said ‘500 DOLLARS WOW!’ I’d never seen $500. So I did the whole album for $500 and Beau told all the producers who worked at Atlantic Studios that we’ve got this kid, who is a hot guitar player; good looking, funny kid – nice guy – and he’ll do your whole record for $500. Well; I went and I did Kenny Loggins, Chaka Khan, Howard Jones, Roger Daltry, The Bee Gees, Twisted Sister. I did all these records and the reason I did those records was that everyone wanted a Van Halen solo on their album, after “Beat It” came out. Chaka Khan, everybody, wanted a guitar solo with tapping, and I was the man to do that! (Laughs).
So that’s the reason that I got my foot in the door – was Eddie Van Halen. Not to mention that I wouldn’t be known as the shredder guy that I’m known as, if it wasn’t for Van Halen. The only reason that I play fast is because I use that other finger. I got that idea from the Van Halen album. We didn’t have videos back then; it was just the back of the album. He has a picture of him with his right hand finger on the fret board. I used a different finger, but he gave me the idea to use a finger. I didn’t steal his riffs because I had no idea how he did them, and I just taught myself how to play with that finger in my own way. So I have like my own sound, which is great, but if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t play fast and I wouldn’t have got the Winger gig and I wouldn’t have been that guy that was on the guitar magazines. Who knows, Winger might not even have existed without Van Halen, because they were the first kind of glam band definitely with a killer guitar player. They made the guitar hero – the thing!
NI ROCKS – Did you ever cross paths with him while you were on tour in the 80s or 90s?
REB – A few times. One time he said to me, I think I know who you are and if you’re the guitar player I think you are, then you’re really good! (Laughs) I thought, oh my god, I hope I’m the guitar player that you think I am! He was very nice.
NI ROCKS – We’ll finish off by going back to your new solo album. Do you want to pick another track to play and then tell us something about it?
REB – There are different flavours on the record. You played “Little Robots” – that’s kinda like a 70’s thing; and there are a few more songs like that. I guess one that you wouldn’t typically play is “Attack of the Massive”. Maybe it’s too long for you to play?
NI ROCKS – No, we’ll play anything.
REB – That’s kinda the big epic tour-de-force, live song. I almost put a fake live audience on it because it sounded so cool when I did it. It reminded me of Peter Frampton’s “Do You feel Like I Do”. There’s a breakdown in the middle and I double my solo with a keyboard. It’s definitely the most complicated song on the record, yet it has good melodies and is listenable, like all of the other stuff on the record. That’s going to be the big live song - “Attack of the Massive” was a patch on one of my keyboards and I love Godzilla.
NI ROCKS – Ok, we’ll play that one. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us and good luck with the new album.
REB – Thank you very much. I appreciate it.