Gary James' Interview With
Gary Myrick



He had his first hit record in 1980 with a song called "She Talks In Stereo". He worked with John Waite on the album "No Breaks", writing six songs and singing background vocals. In fact, he did all the guitars on the number one song for John Waite, "Missing You". Along the way he's also worked with people like Jackson Browne, Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, Wilson Pickett and Stevie Wonder to name just a few. To his credit, he's recorded eight solo albums and recently released his ninth, "Forever (Adventures in 12 String)". The man we are talking about is Mr. Gary Myrick.

Q - Gary, you sent me a song you did, actually a remake of "Train Kept A Rollin'". It's different sounding than your "Forever" recordings where you're just playing a 12 string guitar. Do you have a band or are you playing bass and drums on "Train Kept A Rollin'"?

A - No. I have some guys that I use. I do about three different things. I just played a solo show at The Agoura Canyon Club, which is a pretty large venue, and I did a completely electric solo with no band. The I also have a band that I use. It's a four piece band with keyboards, drums and bass. The bass player is the old bass player from The Knack, Prescott Niles. The drummer is the drummer from Dick Dale. He was considered the king of Surf Guitar. And he just passed away. He's an incredible drummer. So, I use them for certain things when I'm doing a full band. And then sometimes I do a solo, acoustic thing that is like the new album I just released, which is all 12 string and slide guitar. So, I have like three different things that I do.

Q - What label is "Forever" on? Is that your own label?

A - Yeah. It's my own label. It's called the Sound Of Vinyl Records. I recorded everything completely analog. So, I decided I wanted to return and get this sound of vinyl. We've all tried everything and I believe we all agree that the sound of vinyl is the best sound, the best audio. So, I went and consulted some experts here in Los Angeles that are studio builders. I said, "Look, I'm going to record this new album. I'm going to do it all analog and record on to tape. I want to use a microphone that was used in some of my favorite records from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and sometimes in the 1970s." It's the microphone that was used in a lot of stuff say that was used in the Grand Ole Opry where there'd be an acoustic group and they would stand around one microphone and then they would lean in for solos. They would sing and play into that one microphone. I said, "What is that microphone?" A guy told me that's a vintage ribbon microphone. He said, "I have one." I went, "Fantastic!" Also, I'm a big fan of a lot of the Blues records like Robert Johnson, Lightin' Hopkins. Some of the solo Blues albums from the far past. So, I wanted to capture that feeling too. And so I had the whole album written, and I'd been wanting to do this for years. And also, the guitarist/singer Lead Belly used to play on the street corners of my hometown in Dallas in the 1930s. So, I wanted to give a nod to Lead Belly too. And he played all 12-string. So, I started making a record. I actually was able to record everything say in maybe two or three takes. I would go in, listen to the three takes, and pick one. Then I would go back in and cut the next song the same way and I did that. I recorded the whole album in a week.

Q - That's fast!

A - Yeah. That's movin'. But it was part of the approach that was like the things that I loved the most. And I was real happy the way it came out. If I took everything and downloaded it from tape, from the two inch tape, I would download that into Pro Tools. So everything was recorded completely analog, and then I could edit the record on Pro Tools, which makes editing a lot easier.

Q - Isn't it difficult to promote a record without the support of a major label?

A - Well, it is to a certain extent. Of course a major label has the money to put behind things. This record is on about seventeen radio stations now and basically that's because I just have DJs and programmers at radio stations that are interested in what I do, which I appreciate totally. I just contacted some of them and said, "Hey, I've got a new record coming out. Would you be interested in me sending you a copy?" And they were all very nice and said they would. So, that's basically what I did. I just kind of sent it out there, hoping for the best. I'm on quite a few stations. I haven't really gone crazy trying to promote it. I'm a songwriter and I'm a guitar player and singer. I don't really want to be the promotion guy. So I'm just kind of trying to manifest good energy around it and so far it's been pretty cool. I also had a bunch of really nice, incredible reviews, guys from Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, the drummer and the guitar player who played for Rick Derringer and Nina Blackwood, who was one of the VJs on MTV. They all gave me incredible reviews and so I kind of used them in some of my things that I would send out. I would let people know about those nice reviews. So, that's really been my kind of approach.

Q - Being from Texas, and I don't know how old of a guy you are, did you at anytime cross paths with Bobby Fuller?

A - No.

Q - That was probably before your time.

A - Right. Before my time, yeah. Bobby Fuller Four! I know who Bobby Fuller is. I did have some really great experiences in Texas. I'm a fifth generation Texan. So my family goes back quite aways. I grew up in Dallas and I went down to Austin in the '70s. I was hired by the drummer of a group from there. They had Stevie Ray Vaughan playing guitar for them and they fired him for some reason. I never knew why. Of course this is before he made any records or really done anything, so I replaced him in that band and that band was called Krackerjack. So, I spent a lot of time in Austin before I came out to California.

Q - Your first hit record came in 1980 with a song called "She Talks In Stereo". Are we talking a regional hit or was that a national hit.

A - Oh, that was national, yeah.

Q - What label was that on?

A - That was on Epic Records.

Q - That was with your band The Figures, correct?

A - Correct.

Q - Where did that record take you? Did you tour?

A - Yeah. We toured all over. We toured Canada. We didn't get to Europe through that album, but we did a lot of touring all through America. That record made the Top 100 of the decade on K-Rock. K-Rock was a big, super big, kind of like the the go to radio station in Los Angeles at the time. The Top 100 was a real nice honor.

Q - That group was together how long?

A - I would say I did two albums with the Folk group and then I decided to go completely solo. Then I started my third album, solo with some different musicians. I kept doing things completely solo after that. At the same time I was playing guitar with other people. I did an album with John Waite and we had the song "Missing You", which became number one, and I wrote songs on that (album) and played all the guitars and sang background. I played with Jackson Browne. The list is pretty long. I worked with members of The Clash and The Sex Pistols.

Q - Wilson Pickett. Stevie Wonder.

A - Yeah. Wilson Pickett. Amazing. That was an incredible honor.

Q - Having that hit record with The Figures helped bring the work with these other people, didn't it?

A - Oh, yeah.

Q - If you didn't have that hit record, what followed might not have happened.

A - That's right. It came down from my own records. We were getting good reviews. So, people kind of knew who I was. At that point it always helps.

Q - Is it more profitable to be a studio musician than to have your own hit record?

A - No, not really. I just did it artistically. I wanted t do it. Of course I would be paid for what I was doing and I enjoyed it. I just wanted to spread it around artistically and play for other people and add my guitar style to do other things that I liked.

Q - Do you remember your first professional gig?

A - Gosh, no. I think I was around 16 years old. So, I don't know. (laughs) I don't remember what my first gig was.

Q - You've also done some film and TV soundtracks.

A - I have.

Q - How much freedom are you allowed when you enter into a project like that?

A - Well, quite a lot of freedom. I've been approached to use some of my songs in television. Now usually they approach 'cause they want your song that's already finished. So you're just basically licensing them the song for a certain period of time. If you're the songwriter you get paid a certain amount for that, and so I've had a lot of stuff on TV. And then I did some soundtrack stuff, so I'd create for HBO and some of those kind of things. So basically I was given a lot of free reign to just do my own thing. I'd play all my own instruments.

Q - I was told there's no money to be made in streaming services. The best bet for a songwriter is to place a song in a movie or TV.

A - If anybody uses your music to generate money then you should be paid. That's all there is to it. I'm sure that's going to be changing as time goes by. But yes, when somebody uses one of your songs in film or TV you get a flat fee. And you also get paid every time it's played in reruns. It's a good thing and it's profitable, but it's just another thing to me. It's just one of the things that you can make money doing.

Q - Are you of the belief that in the future lawyers will be getting more money for artist from the streaming services?

A - I don't know about lawyers. I think it will become more and more obvious that the artists are basically being ripped off and I'm sure it's going to right itself in the future.

Facebook page: facebook.com/motorcyclecrash

© Gary James. All rights reserved.



The views and opinions expressed by individuals interviewed for this web site are the sole responsibility of the individual making the comment and / or appearing in interviews and do not necessarily represent the opinions of anyone associated with the website ClassicBands.com.