MR. BIG – Eric Martin

BIG – Eric Martin

By: Lori Smerilson Carson | Photo: Joel Barrios

When you’ve had a career of hits for thirty-five years and you are ready to wrap it up, you are going to do it in a big way! This is exactly what MR. BIG did with they’re The Big Finish farewell tour. Hopefully SFL Music Magazine fans had the chance to catch these extremely talented musicians performing their extraordinary shows, but MR. BIG also celebrated with two new albums. First, is their tenth studio album Ten, released this past July, and the second, just released this September, is their live album The BIG Finish Live. In addition to recording The BIG Finish Live, they filmed their concert at the Budokan arena in Tokyo, Japan last year in July. MR. BIG’s farewell worldwide tour featured their 1991 Platinum album LEAN INTO IT as well as other fan favorites.

Catching up with Lead Vocalist Eric Martin just prior to The BIG Finish Live release, he revealed some details about both albums, the tour, the Budokan concert that he and bandmates Guitarist Paul Gilbert, Bassist Billy Sheehan and Drummer Nick D’Virgilio played on and performed, as well as some past experiences, and what fans can look forward to.

SFL Music Magazine: What inspired The BIG Finish Live album?

Eric Martin: Well, we wanted to leave something, almost like a time capsule. This is my favorite band that I’ve ever been in my whole life. Great musicians, good people, good hearted guys. To me, our songs are great. The records are great, but we’re a fantastic live band. I’m patting myself on the back. We’re a fantastic live band, and we wanted to leave a little bit of a time capsule to maybe stand the test of time a little bit for the fans, and maybe just to show that the band was a great live band and great entertainers and all that. I’m talking about the DVD and the live album. Great melodic rock and soul. A lot of shredding going on with the dynamic duo of Billy Sheehan and Paul Gilbert, and our new drummer. Our drummer Pat Torpey passed away in 2018 and we had a sub, this guy named Matt Starr. He was great and everything, but this new guy Nick D’Virgilio channeled, in my opinion, he channeled Pat Torpey’s playing and his personality. That helped a lot because I took it really hard after Pat Torpey passed away, and that was one of the reasons why we decided to even call it quits as it is.

SFL Music Magazine: I was going to ask about that.

Martin: Yeah, I mean, that was just one of the things. We did one tour after Pat passed away and then we just kind of stopped for a little while. Then that was always on the table, and I go, I don’t know if we should keep going without Pat. Then we got Nick and we started playing, and we’ve already discussed this big finish like this one’s going to be it. Then we just started tacking on more shows, and I didn’t know it was gonna be about a year and a few months. I thought maybe it was gonna be four months, six months touring, but it just kind of kept getting bigger and bigger. We did say that like after a week ago, it’s going to be over, but when we were touring and playing all these shows and everything fit so tight, and everybody is getting along and crowds are coming out. That’s when I started to go, are we shooting ourselves in the foot here (he laughed) because the band is so good, and it’s about as good to me as it was back in 1989. I was just going, man, this is a wave that we should be riding and keeping the momentum going. We got a new album out, but we’re saying goodbye now? I don’t know. It’s some confusing stuff, but it is going to be over touring wise. We’re not going to tour, and I hope in a year or a couple years that we do shows here and there. I do a lot of other projects. I’m part of a rock opera. I have, like tomorrow, I’m going to Japan. I’m part of this super-group thing with this famous guitar player named Tak Matsumoto and me, Matt Sorum drummer for Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver, and Jack Blades, my friend from Night Ranger. We’re playing two weeks of a tour and we have a new album that will be coming out. In the middle of all this MR. BIG, I wrote songs for another project. I didn’t know what I was gonna do after the MR. BIG thing. The BIG Finish Live, it was about a couple weeks into the tour that we decided when we play Japan, and especially Japan because they’ve been our brothers and sisters for years. We grew up together. A lot of these fans are our age. We started out in 1988, ‘89 campaigning that way. Almost like making friends with these folks. They’ve kept rock alive and they’ve kept us alive longer than any other country. So, we kind of felt like we owed them. We needed to do the live album there. That Budokan arena holds about maybe twelve thousand people and it was sold out. We had all these really neat animation stuff going, Japanese animation behind us. The vibes were great. Our families came out to be onstage with us. Our drummer’s widow Karen and his son Patrick Jr. came out onstage. It was really, really a beautiful thing.

SFL Music Magazine: I saw the video with Billy singing “Good Lovin’” and you singing “Addicted To That Rush”. It was amazing! You played your 1991 album LEAN INTO IT from start to finish. What made you guys decide to choose that one?

Martin: It is the one people gravitate towards. It had a lot more hits on it.

SFL Music Magazine: “Just Take My Heart”, “Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy”, “Alive and Kickin’”.

Martin: Yeah. That record got a lot more attention than any of the records. We had a good hard rock fan base in the beginning when our first album came out as just MR. BIG, and it’s got a hat and shoes on it. My kids used to say, “the one with the hat and shoes? The one with the scarecrow?” They didn’t know the title. So, that first album had a good fan base to it, but when LEAN INTO IT came out, a lot more fans came out. A lot more boy/girl ratio, and some fans used to go, “your first album, the one with the train. The LEAN INTO IT album (he laughed). They didn’t even know about the first album which I think to this day probably went sand or wood or gold. Maybe gold, but LEAN INTO IT was definitely the right choice. It had “To Be with You” on it!

SFL Music Magazine: Your new album Ten was released on July 12^th. Great songs and versatility! “8 Days On The Road” (bonus track) displayed the wonderful melodic vocals and harmonies you all have, “Who We Are’ had a more ballad style. “Up On You” had that rockin’ MR. BIG sound. What inspired this album?

Martin: Over the years MR. BIG has always been in a room together when we write all these songs. Then after the LEAN INTO IT album, we started writing on our own a little bit. I mean, me and Paul still wrote together, but it was not like being in the same room, everybody writing songs. We had collaborations with other people. This guy André Pessis that I’ve been writing with for like thirty something years, and him and I wrote a lot of lyrics and melodies together and some songs, but we write a lot with Paul Gilbert. This particular album, I flew from my little town in Northern California to Portland where Paul lives, and I think we had like maybe three weeks and I came home on the weekends. Had a little bed and breakfast up in Portland, and we just sat together and wrote this thing from scratch. We kind of had a plan in the beginning that we weren’t going to copycat any of the other records. I did ask, I go, I’m kind of missing some of the harder heavier stuff, and I don’t think it was even talked about. We just said, well this is what we’re writing and this is what it is. Very bluesy, Jimi Hendrix kind of style. Some pop kind of songs on it. The song called “Sunday Morning Kinda Girl” which almost sounds like a Sid and Marty Krofft H.R. Pufnstuf, kind of poppy television show theme song. I don’t know how old you are, but anybody my age would get that.

SFL Music Magazine: We’re the same. I was there in ’89.

Martin: Whoo-hoo! So, it definitely has diversity, but it doesn’t sound like any of the other records, and that’s kind of a first for us. Billy submitted some songs. Nick submitted some songs, but I think it ended up just being me and Paul writing the majority of it. Then there was a time issue a little bit too because after we wrote it, we demoed everything up, or mainly Paul did. He plays everything. He plays drums, bass, guitar and I think he even added some slide guitar on it too, but he demoed it all up, and then we went back on the road. Then I had an obligation to play some corporate shows in Japan, and the three of those guys went into the studio. They already had the blueprints or the template of the new record and they recorded everything. Then when I got back, I went to L.A. with our producer Jay Ruston, and I sung a record which it felt like less than a week, all these songs. So, that one song that you were talking about in the beginning, “8 Days On The Road”, that’s a cover of an old blues song. There’re two songs that I hadn’t sung yet. A song called “Courageous” and that “8 Days On The Road”. So, Paul sang the demo and I go hey, why don’t you just use your voice in the demo and put that on the record. He was reluctant to do that. He’s like, “no man. You’re the singer. I’m not a singer at all.” And I go, no you sound awesome on it. So, that’s Paul Gilbert singing on “8 Days On The Road”. The “Courageous” song, I did it on the tour bus. Nick D’Virgilio, our drummer has some recording equipment that he was doing like with podcasts stuff for his other projects, but he had enough equipment to record me singing live. There was no chance to going into the studio, so we did it on the tour bus. Had a little paper sign that said ‘recording session. Keep out.’ So, nobody could go on the bus for a couple hours while I sang this thing. It was wonderful!

SFL Music Magazine: There is also the instrumental song “See No Okapi”. I probably said that wrong.

Martin: Your guess is as good as mine. I don’t know what that means, but yeah, that was an instrumental that those guys did when they first got together in Indiana. They were probably jamming I’m thinking, and they just jammed out a tune. I’ve heard a little piece of it. It’s a long one, but yeah, it’s them doing their thing. An instrumental, why not?

SFL Music Magazine: What would you say inspires MR. BIG’s music on the whole over the years? Life experiences? Relationships?

Martin: A lot of that, lyrically (he laughed). Oh yeah Lori, lyrically, I’m Mr. unlucky in love. A lot of that, but on this new record Ten, there’s a few positive things. The “Sunday Morning Kinda Girl”, kind of pop little song that’s got major hope and positivity in that. Lyrically, I write a lot of four wall politics I like to call it. What happens, not so much on the outside world. I’ll write a few message kind of songs once in a while lyrically, but I watch a lot of movies and I read a lot of books, and a lot of that stuff goes into that. Just satirical stuff, and me and my partner André, man, we sit on, almost like two rocking chairs on a porch and read the newspaper and go, I got a title! I mean, there are some great songs we’ve written and some really metaphorically, genius guy type songs. I was listening to the album in 1989, I was like whoof, I was young. I was a big dreamer back then, but musically, I think there’s an underlining seventies kind of sound that we’ve always had. It was kind of jam rock that we got going that’s super tight. Billy and Paul, they make it sound like it’s a big jam, but its detailed.

SFL Music Magazine: Would you say in part that attributes to the longevity and success that MR. BIG has had? Being tight and detailed?

Martin: Yeah. That’s why I think we stood out because Billy, Paul and Pat had this connection right off the bat. When we first started this band, it was just me and Billy. Just us, and we got Paul Gilbert. He came in and he was kind of a shredder in the beginning. I mean, he’s always been a shredder, but he was in a band called Racer X and it was very a shred, fast kind of band. He came in and he met me and man, I got a piano going at the rehearsal when he first meets me. I’m playing these songs and he’s probably scared of me, probably going “ut oh, the pop guy.” And I’m looking at him going, oh my God! This guy. How am I gonna sing over all this wiggly, wiggly fretty stuff? Then we started talking about our favorite bands and he was saying The Beatles and I went, oh I got this guy. We’re going to have a good friendship. Pat Torpey came in and he was a Led Zeppelin kind of freak. He knew every Led Zeppelin song and all these guys; they jammed on the whole Led Zeppelin catalogue when they first got together. In like hours, they were already connected and they were already tight, and I knew I was gonna be in, my opinion, the greatest band ever. I knew this was a great rock and roll band because of the connection and the age a little bit. Like Paul Gilbert’s young, but Pat and Billy and myself, we’re like almost the same age and our influences were Humble Pie, the band Free which later some of them turned into Bad Company. A band called Spooky Tooth. Berry Cactus was another band. It’s kind of jam rock and roll band. We were influenced by the British blues invasion of the seventies. Late sixties, seventies, and I think keyboards kind of came in later. We had a producer named Pat Regan and he added some keyboards here and there on later records, but it was just gonna be drums, bass, guitar and vocals. Just like it was for all those bands we loved and were influenced by. Zeppelin was a big thing for those three guys. For me it was always Paul Rodgers and Free. I love that freeform stuff. We weren’t writing songs in the beginning, it would have been great to be on the radio, but we weren’t writing songs to be on the radio. We didn’t have a format or a formula how to create a song or something. It was just kind of verse, B- section, chorus, B- section and then would be the longest solo that you heard in the history of your life, right? That’s how it was back in the seventies as well. I grew up listening to, anyway. That was that first album. When LEAN INTO IT came out and when I met my partner, André, that’s when we started to build a song and make it make sense. I wrote “To Be with You” when I was sixteen years old. I kind of kept it around for so many years, and not until like maybe 1987, ’88, I re-wrote it with another songwriter, but that song had been kicking around for years. When you had a little success, a little taste and you get on the radio, you’re like, oh man. You think, oh maybe I’m trying to get on the radio. I got to write a song to get on the radio.

SFL Music Magazine: Is that what your goal was when you became a musician?

Martin: I just wanted to sing in front of a ton of people and I wanted them to keep coming back, and I wanted to make enough money to get off my dad’s couch. I was on my dad’s couch, and then when I moved into a band house earlier in my career like in 1979, ’80, I brought my dad’s couch with me (he laughed) because I didn’t have a bed! I wanted to put some money in my pocket. Everybody had dreams like I want to be rich! I just wanted to have a little bit of money to buy a Subway sandwich. Maybe take my girlfriend out and not have her pay for everything.

SFL Music Magazine: What would you recommend to a new band?

Martin: The musical climate has changed so much now, but my little blue print, like what I say all the time is, just don’t worry about getting out of your small town. Get enough people to come and see you in your small town. Be the big fish in the small pond as best as you can and get the momentum. I don’t know if A&R people come out to see bands anymore. I hear some success stories where bands were signed because they had a nice big following in a small town. That’s how I did it. Also, I know singers or young people are gonna say, “oh shut up. The old man is talking,” but don’t smoke, and if you got to drink, first of all, do not drink a couple days before you’re gonna tour or before you’re going to gig or play any shows. Don’t drink during show days. This is my urgency, like I’m whimpering right now because man, I made some mistakes doing stuff like that when I was younger, and even now! You’re still gonna have fun because you’re going to be playing in front of those people that you dreamed about coming to your shows. You just got to remember when you’re playing in your little small town, your event, if you do become successful, that’s gonna mess you up. Big time! Trust me!

SFL Music Magazine: I know the live album comes in several different formats like vinyl, CD’s, Blu-ray and all with the booklet. Is there anything else in particular that you want people to know about the band? Maybe doing more?

Martin: This is when we sat around the round table and said, hey, we’re done. We’re not going to tour anymore. People make jokes about the Mötley Crüe and Kiss thing and how they you know, back-to-back farewell tours, but the audience still comes. Everybody makes jokes about it. Oh God, they’re on their tenth farewell tour, but the same person that’s saying that is cueing up for tickets, but we didn’t want to be that. I don’t know, maybe some stupid pride or something. We did a whole year and a couple months of touring. We played everywhere to the point like, there is still someone on Facebook going “you didn’t play my hometown”, but I don’t think that’s true. I think we didn’t leave any stone unturned. We played everywhere. Two American tours, two European tours. All over Asia. Everywhere. Our last show a week ago was in Romania. I would say 97% it was great. There was a couple little mishaps in the beginning. I was a little unprepared and we had to cancel Clearwater, Florida, but we made it up. I don’t think anybody was unhappy. I’d say it was a wonderful tour and truthfully, I’m gonna tell you straight off, everything was so great on this tour that I’m thinking, why are we not playing any more shows (he laughed)? I wish we played a couple shows next year, or over the years. Two or three, five shows, but not back-to-back. Just here and there a couple of shows. Our drummer was telling me the other day, “we should do a residency.” I’m like, where like Vegas? He goes “no like Indonesia or Singapore or Japan, somewhere. Just to keep it going.” That poor guy has only been in the band for a year. He’s new. I would love to do more shows, but I don’t think that’s the way it’s going to be now, but we parted ways as friends. No bad blood, no nothing. All the shows, I’m not lying. If I’m lying, I’m dying, they were sold out, most of them. Festivals. All these bands that we played with watched us and they were like “you guys are awesome live!” It was a lot of attention from the fans. Accolades from the bands that we played with. It was hard coming home. Walking in the front door. First of all, my wife is gone. The kids are away at college. I came home to an empty house, and I think I actually went Ahhh. You know, like an audience kind of sound. Ok, that’s gone for a while. It’s going to be back again with me doing solo stuff or Billy and Paul and our drummer Nick doing their thing, but it won’t be the same thing without MR. BIG. That was the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It wasn’t Bon Jovi or Van Halen or Led Zeppelin or anything like that, but it was and it could’ve should’ve would’ve been bigger than it is, but it was enough. It was great on this last tour and this BIG Finish Live because we did that album, we did the same thing pretty much every night. We added a couple little things here and there, but that Big Finish Live, ok, I’ve got to contradict myself just for a second. On that Big Finish Live in Japan, there are about four or five more songs than there was in the rest of the world and that’s kind of cool too because it gives something a little extra. I think the acoustic portion of it we did a B stage from the bigger stage we were on. It was like a cat walk, and we went to the little B stage and we played four or five acoustic songs that we don’t do live in the rest of the world. So, that was a little bonus.