Gary James' Interview With Jon Butcher Of
Axis



His band toured the U.S. with J. Geils in 1982 for their "Freeze Frame" tour. He's shared the stage with Rock's biggest names, including Def Leppard, Rush, Joan Jett, INXS and KISS. He received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "The Ritual", which was part of his band's 1985 album, "Along The Axis". In 2022 he formed the group, Butcher, Baglio and Estes, whose debut album "Gypsy Caravan" was released. He has his own production company, Electric Factory Music And Film. The man we are talking about is the multi-talented Jon Butcher.

Q - You formed Butcher, Baglio And Estes back in 2022 and released an album titled "Gypsy Caravan". Did you guys tour behind this album?

A - The three of us, that is to say Alan Estes, myself and Sal Baglio, while we made a band a couple of years ago, we've been friends for thirty years and have played on each other's records for decades and have shared stages, and so we have a history is my point. A long history. And that facilitated making this record.

Q - Alright. So, did you tour behind that album?

A - Yeah, we did, but we just did the East Coast because we all have other projects and irons in the fire at any given time. For instance, I have a new album that I've been working on called "The Essence Of Water". That's going to be coming out this Spring. And so does Sal. So, because of our mutual projects it was a little tricky getting together, but we worked it out.

Q - Your big break, for lack of a better description, occurred when you toured with J. Geils on their "Freeze Frame" tour in 1982. At that point you had no record deal and no agent. What's the likelihood of something like that happening to any band today?

A - Not real good, and the reason why is because we didn't have those things at a time when lots of bands didn't have those things. We weren't the only ones. So, we also had, and I can't emphasize this enough, the support of a very powerful radio station, WBCN in Boston. I give them no small credit for launching our careers as a band and my career as a solo artist. They played my music all the time on regular rotation as if we were The Beatles. And so with that kind of airplay and support, it wasn't surprising that we came to the attention of The J. Geils Band.

Q - What was the radio station playing, demo tapes?

A - Yeah. We made demos. That's exactly correct. We didn't have a formal record release like a lot of bands do now under their own steam. So, we made a demo and the demo caught on. It became popular at the radio station.

Q - You studied Broadcast Journalism in college.

A - Yeah.

Q - Did you want to be an anchor or reporter on a TV station? You never did work in that field, did you?

A - No, I didn't. And to be completely honest with you, I went to that school to satisfy my parents. I told them I intended to be a professional musician. They wanted me to have something to fall back on in case it didn't work out. And that's what led me to go to Graham Junior College. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I count myself fortunate for having had that experience. But there was never any doubt in my mind at any point that I was going to make my living playing music.

Q - You have a greater understanding of how the Press works because of your college days.

A - Yeah. That's why I say I'm grateful for the experience, but there was never a time when I imagined I'd be on television, reading the evening news. Never.

Q - And it must get boring after awhile, don't you think?

A - What's that? Reading the evening news?

Q - Yeah.

A - (laughs) I wouldn't know.

Q - The names change, but the stories are the same.

A - How 'bout that?

Q - You have your own production company, or you had your own production company.

A - I still do.

Q - Electric Factory Music And Film. So, what are you doing with that production company?

A - Making my own records. We make movies here. I have made several independent movies in the last ten to fifteen years. I also do music for video games. We do music for television series, network TV, cable TV. We do it all.

Q - That's an entirely different field. How did you get into that field?

A - That's an excellent question. The truth of the matter is I was in the right place at the right time. Years ago, when I was coming up and Axis had broken up through a confluence of events, I met a guy who was an Executive Producer at Fox Television. This was before the Fox Television we see today. They were doing a series called The Simpsons and they asked me to write a theme for the new season of The Simpsons. And then they asked me to be in it on camera. So, there's footage of me and Homer and Bart Simpson. It's pretty cool. That would've been 1992.

Q - That really opened doors for you, didn't it?

A - It absolutely did. Having had that kind of credit and national exposure, especially with me being on camera, it put me in a good position to get other gigs. So, I ended up doing music, for instance, Star Trek, so many TV shows I can't even think of them all.

Q - Are the films you you made about music?

A - I do projects for other clients. So for instance we just finished a short documentary for a stage production, Songs For Mary. I also produced the soundtrack record and that production probably won't see the stage until the end of 2024. But that was an exciting project and kind of outside my usual comfort zone. I enjoyed it very much.

Q - Jon Butcher / Axis opened for quite a few people like Joan Jett, Rush and Def Leppard. How did those people treat you?

A - The Def Leppard tour, we did the "Pyromania" tour, was one of the most fun I've ever had been on ever and that's because the guys in the band embraced us. They took us on like brothers. So, as a result, we got to... I don't know whether you know this or not, but often times opening acts don't get to use the entire P.A. system or they don't get to use the lighting. They're saved for the headliner. Or, they don't get to have a soundcheck or they don't get to do a full set. We had all of those things because Def Leppard and the guys in the band embraced us. They loved our music. We became friends and then we became family to the organization. So, that happened a few times, with The J. Geils Band and Def Leppard. Those are the two tours that still stand out, where we were treated exceptionally well.

Q - And the others not so well?

A - Well, just like an opening act. (laughs) The bottom line with an opening act is you get a thirty minute set. You usually don't get a full stage. You're standing on a little corner of the stage. You don't get the full P.A. You don't get the lights. And if you go over thirty minutes they throw you off the tour. That's usually the way opening acts are treated. We got treated much differently.

Q - You once had dinner at a producer's house and got to meet Eddie Van Halen. What was served for dinner and what was Eddie Van Halen like?

A - (laughs) Pasta. It was at the producer's house, Spencer Proffer in Beverly Hills. At that dinner was myself, Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck and a couple of other friends. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to meet two amazing guitar players that I've always admired. Both of those guys were gentlemen and fun to be around.

Q - Did the Jon Butcher Axis group ever headline venues around the world?

A - Hundreds of times.

Q - When a band gains success and you switch from one record label to another, does that mean you're essentially starting over again?

A - When acts change labels there are dozens of reasons why that might be. For instance, maybe the people who signed you at the label may have left the label to go after other jobs. Well, when that happens often times you lose your support at that label. "Where's Dave?" "Oh, Dave doesn't work here anymore. My name is Bob and it's a new regime." So, that can be a little touchy. So, often times you'll find that acts, and I was no exception, we changed labels because the circumstances may have changed.

Q - You did it by choice rather than have a new guy come in and cut your act from the roster.

A - It happens all the time. It's very usual and more often than not guys don't stay at record labels for fifteen or twenty years. Often times they're gone after five years. The guy who signed you to the record label has left and been replaced by people you don't know and don't care about you. That's not a great situation, right?

Q - Right. Why five years?

A - I just put that number out there arbitrarily. I could be three years. People don't stay at jobs in the music business very long, especially now.

Q - Because they're climbing up the ladder.

A - They're climbing up the ladder. Their circumstances changed. Maybe they got an offer to be V.P. or whatever at some other place and they take it. I don't blame them.

Q - Do you think people take Rock music and Rock musicians too seriously?

A - (laughs) I don't think so. No. First of all, when you say Rock, I think you mean Rock, but some people when they say Rock they mean Pop or Soul or anything. So, the age of Rock 'n' Roll has somewhat passed and been replaced by Hip Hop. That is the predominant music genre in the world we live in today. That's just the truth. So, do people take Rock seriously now? No, not really. Or musicians? Not really. On the other hand twenty or thirty years ago if you were a Rock star it had more cache than it has today. Let's just say it that way. It doesn't have the same sort of gravitates.

Q - If Hip Hop has replaced Rock, it may be very difficult for you to play your music.

A - Well, that's a good point, but there's one thing I've accrued from fans around the world over decades. So, those fans have stayed with me. The fans that I made in say 1995, some of those fans are with me to this day. They didn't just become interested in Hip Hop because that's the prevailing music culture. So, the fans that we have now, often times are the fans that we've had for years. Those are the ones that buy the tickets. Now in terms of gravitating to new fans, meaning younger fans, that's a little more complicated of a question 'cause the music business has changed. The prevailing music in the culture is Hip Hop. In fact, it's the prevailing culture around the world.

Q - The whole music system has changed. Once record companies sat at the top of the heap, with radio stations below them, and local promoters in each city.

A - That's right.

Q - And now it's Live Nation.

A - Don't even talk to me about Live Nation. Most musicians that I know see them for the corporate conglomerate monster that they are. That's not me saying it. That's an established fact because they are the biggest gorilla on the block, so to speak.

Q - But, you could almost see how this happened. Bands would come into a city and everything was not always the same. And that is why when you have a Live Nation, the band and their management know what to expect. And everybody's happy.

A - Yeah. This brings me kind of tangentially to the topic of Tribute Bands. When I was coming up, if you were in a Tribute Band, you played music by other people. That's what your band did. It was called a cover band. But now the Tribute Bands are playing in venues that I used to headline as an original act. And they're becoming more and more prolific. I talked to a friend of mine who said, "Well, why is that?" And I think I know why it is. Led Zeppelin is not touring anymore. So if you want to go out on a night and not spend a thousand dollars on concert tickets, maybe you buy a thirty dollar ticket to a Led Zeppelin tribute band. You get all the songs you like. You and your date or your wife are in for an inexpensive evening for about a hundred bucks and that's a lot easier to understand than waiting for Aerosmith to do another tour and then to charge $2,000 a ticket. And that explains why promoters have gravitated to Tribute Bands in their venues. Do I like that? Not at all. I really don't. I worked all my career to establish songwriting and playing guitar well and all the stuff that goes into being an artist, only to lose a booking because some Beatles Tribute Band or Dave Clark Five or whoever it is, Lindsay Buckingham... There's thousands of these Tribute Bands. They're playing the night I wanted to play the venue because they can do the numbers. Again, it goes back to the couple that doesn't want to spend a thousand dollars a night and wants to hear all the songs they like. I get it. I just don't like it.

Q - Since there is no longer a Beatles or Led Zeppelin, the people who were not around in that time period want to experience what it must've been like on some level to see and hear the original group.

A - That is exactly right. And so on that level I get it. I understand it. But from the place I occupy as a songwriter and musician, a working musician, I really don't care for that reality. Not really.

Q - So that's why you diversified. That's why you're writing music for TV and films.

A - You are exactly right. You put your finger right on it. (laughs) That is exactly why I have expanded my career in the ways that I have over the years.

Q - If you hadn't done that, what would ave been your future?

A - Don't know. I knew guys, who I won't name, who had records out in the '80s and the '90s and some of those guys have given up music and they're retired or work corporate jobs that they got because they weren't able to feed their family. I'm not complaining. I have been very lucky to have made a living in the music business my entire life, but I have diversified the things that I do in order to keep that happening.

Q - Smart on your part, Jon.

A - (laughs) I'll tell you what. The best thing I ever did was that video with Homer and Bart Simpson. That gave me another creative avenue that also created an income stream.

Q - And just think, you said yes. If you said no your life might have been totally different.

A - Who knows?

Q - Jon, those are all the questions I have for you today.

A - Those are great questions. Thanks for thinking about me. I really appreciate it.

Official Website: JonButcher.com

© Gary James. All rights reserved.

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