Both men have since achieved cult status, and even though their paths crossed countless times over the decades, surprisingly they’d never collaborated on any music until now. “People had suggested it, but I never really gave it a thought,” says Pinnick, who is currently working on five separate projects. “I mean, I get so many opportunities and suggestions to play with people. It’s not something that I really think about.”
In 2012, Gales’ label president—the impresario almost single-handedly responsible for feeding the shred craze of the ’80s—reached out to Pinnick. “Mike Varney from Shrapnel Records called me up one day and asked if I’d be interested in doing a project with Eric and Thomas [Pridgen, ex-Mars Volta],” Pinnick says. “I said, ‘Sure, it sounds really good.’” Soon after the call, supergroup Pinnick Gales Pridgen was born. “I did it originally for the paycheck, but after I did it, I went, ‘Wow. That was a lot of fun. Let’s do it again,’” says Pinnick.
The power trio’s self-titled debut release Pinnick Gales Pridgen infuses Gales’ Hendrix-meets-Eric Johnson stylings with Pinnick and Pridgen’s prog-flavored twists to create a heavy, riff-laden masterpiece of mostly originals, with Gales and Pinnick sharing vocal duties. There’s also a low-tuned cover of Cream’s iconic “Sunshine of Your Love”—a ballsy move, given the song’s almost holy status among classic rock fans.
“I was like, ‘Everybody’s done it—now watch us [expletive] it up,’” says Pinnick. “Anybody can do that song, but nobody’s done it like we’ve done it. I thought what we needed on this record was to have Eric and Thomas do what they do best. I said, ‘Let’s just overkill. Nobody’s gonna tell you that you can’t—that’s what people want to hear!’ I just laid back and plugged along and sang, because Eric and Thomas are really killin’ it.”
Here, Gales and Pinnick tell Premier Guitar what went into the making of Pinnick Gales Pridgen and share their unorthodox approaches to their instruments and gear, including Gales’ signature Two-Rock amp and Pinnick’s 12-string bass—and the rare pickups that are the secret to his sound.
Eric Gales plays all of his guitars upside down and lefty, including his signature St. Blues Blindsider. Photo by Willem Kuijpers
Pinnick Gales Pridgen kicks ass like a
band that’s played together forever. What’s
interesting is that, as cohesive as it sounds,
you’re coming from different musical
backgrounds—Eric, you’re often labeled
a blues-rock guitarist, and Doug, you’re
often considered a bit of a prog-metal
bassist. What was the common ground?
Eric Gales: Man, you know that’s a really
good question. I don’t even know if I have
the proper words to say how or where it
meets together. The one thing I know is
that it does meet.
Doug Pinnick: We’re black. That’s what
I think. It’s a 3-piece, all-black rock band.
We haven’t had one of those since Living
Colour. There’s camaraderie between the
three of us because we all came from a
heavy gospel background growing up—not
gospel preaching, but gospel groove. That’s
the thing that I connect with them on more
than anything else, and on our next record
I hope that we can bring that out more.
Did any of the material brought in for
this album take any of you out of your
comfort zone?
Gales: Never. Not for any one of us.
Pinnick: Y’know, I never even gave that a
thought. The thing I enjoyed about it was
that Eric just stepped up to the plate. It was
nice to see his eyes light up when we played
some of the songs that I brought in, which
didn’t have “normal” changes. He found
new things to do—and when he did, he
always looked up and smiled. We knew that
we were on the right track.
Did you write any of the songs together?
Gales: Some of them were written together.
We would go in and put grooves together
and write lyrics over them.
Pinnick: I brought seven or eight songs
in that I had previously written to see if
the guys would like any of them. We took
five of those. We collaborated on two, Eric
brought a song in, and Mike Varney wrote
two songs and brought them in.
Gales: Me, Doug, Thomas, and Mike all
worked together. We went in and didn’t waste
any time. The whole project didn’t take more
than two weeks to do—two weeks. The core
tracks were done live. I like to predominantly
work that way. Once you know the direction
you’re going in, it should be a continuous
driving force, and the people you’re working
with will help you refine it. I don’t think it should take six months or a year to do a project.
You can lose the freshness.
What inspired the cover of “Sunshine of
Your Love” ? Are you guys just big fans of it?
Pinnick: I guess I am a fan. I don’t know …
I never really tried to learn it before. I think
there’s just a vibe about it that’s cool and soulful,
like a “You Really Got Me” kind of thing.
I think that was my idea. We tuned down
really low on that one. I figured it would be
really intense, because I know what Thomas
can do—especially when he’s got a lot of space
to do it in. And Eric can do leads for three
hours straight without repeating himself.
Eric, in your solo, you imply parts of the
original Clapton solo.
Gales: Exactly—you’re a smart dude [laughs].
Did you learn the whole solo at some
point in the past?
Gales: I did. Me and my brothers used to
play that song, and I played the solo note-for-note. For this recording, I was like,
“Well, why do it exactly like the original?”
That’s why we dropped the key to D♭.
Did the strings get floppy when you
detuned that low?
Gales: It’s not the whole guitar, just the
bottom string. I usually like to play tuned
down to E♭, so I just transposed the bottom
string. It’s a little bit looser and it’s lighter
on the vocals. It’s not confusing—it’s grown
to be very easy for me to do.
We’re in a few different keys on this
record. Doug likes to do tunings like low C
and low B♭. Some of the songs are in standard
tuning, which I rarely ever do.
Pinnick: I always play in dropped-C.
When I play with other people, if they
don’t want to tune down that low, I’ll tune
up to them. Or maybe I’ll stay in my tuning
anyway and make something up around
it. I’ll transpose if I need to. Whatever fits.
Every now and then, there are certain songs
where you just have to use the open string,
so I’ll tune to whatever the guitar player’s
tuned to. It doesn’t matter to me really.
Tell us about “Me and You.” That one has
some interesting chords.
Gales: I like that one because it incorporates
a lot of clean stuff. It gave me a chance
to throw in a lot of the Eric Johnson-y stuff
that I like to do.
How did you come up with those chords—by ear or from a theoretical approach?
Gales: Whatever comes to my head, man. I
say, “Put the track on and let me do something.”
The chords were already there, but
the clean stuff takes me back to my days of
listening to things like “Little Wing.”
Bassist Doug Pinnick uses a rare Seymour Duncan “domino” pickup with three switches, powered by 9V batteries.
Who were some of your early influences?
Gales: My older brother would put on
Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Eric Johnson,
Stevie Ray, Beck, or Clapton. I was five or
six years old and I was digging all this stuff.
The early days of listening to Albert King is
where that influence of the wide bends I do
comes from.
Doug, in your various projects, do different
guitarists ask for different things
from you? For example, you’re also
involved in a project with George Lynch,
who has a totally different playing style
than Eric.
Pinnick: Actually, I’ve been trying to
change my bass playing, period. I’ve always
been one to play really simple and stay in
the groove, but lately I’ve been trying to
get into this John Entwistle thing every
now and then, and start overplaying. It’s
fun. The thing with Eric and George—or
any guitar player I’m playing with nowadays—is that I’ve decided to never follow
them, or to follow them as little as I can,
and make up my own bass lines. Sort of
like the approach of James Jamerson, or
even the old Stax records with Donald
“Duck” Dunn playing. The bass lines were
the things that you would remember. I’ve
been trying to go back to that sensibility.
It’s been interesting for me, because guitar
players play more now than they used to
because we’ve forgotten about the bass. The
challenge for me is to see if I can come up
with something that complements the guitar
part, and sometimes those guitar parts
can be pretty busy. It’s been a challenge but
it’s been fun. The only feedback I get is that
it’s really, really good. Hardly anybody has
ever said that they didn’t like it. I know that
there are people out there that don’t, but I do so much stuff that if one album sucks,
the next one will be good [laughs].
Eric, “For Jasmine” is a solo guitar tour
de force inspired by “Für Elise.” Was it
Mike Varney’s idea to include that?
Gales: I often play that live, and Mike was,
like, “I think you should make that an
interlude track.” That one’s for my daughter.
Are you hybrid-picking the wide triad
shapes you play on that cut?
Gales: Yes, exactly. I do a lot of that. I can’t
particularly label what all of it is. It would
take somebody like you to say, “He’s using
this technique or that technique.” I do
whatever feels comfortable to me. Since the
beginning, I’ve been told that I play abnormally.
Who’s to say that everybody else isn’t
wrong and I’m right? [Laughs.]
Speaking of “abnormal,” you also play your
guitar upside down but strung normally.
Gales: Yeah, I don’t re-string it or anything
like that. I just take a right-handed guitar
and flip it over. I don’t reverse the strings. Doug does. He plays left-handed but he
plays an actual left-handed bass. When I first
put it like this [gestures holding the guitar
upside down], that’s what felt comfortable to
me. Before I knew it, I was off to the races.
I write with my right hand but play guitar
left-handed, upside down, so my little string
is up top. When I bend it, I pull down.
Do you use a pick or your fingers, Doug?
Pinnick: I use a pick mainly. I can use my
fingers, but I’m not as accurate as I am with
a pick.
You’re known for using 12-string basses, too.
Pinnick: I only have one right now. I sold
the rest of them to pay some bills. They
were my old, old 12-strings, so I don’t feel
bad about selling them. Although I would
have loved to keep them.
Did you get a pretty penny for them?
Pinnick: I don’t think I really got a lot
for them, but they’re in good hands. It’s
a Hamer collector who has them all, so I
know where they’re at. The Yamaha, which
I use live, was made specifically for me.
John [Gaudesi], the guy that built it, made
it for me in his spare time. There are people
in high places that are King’s X fans and
are really good to me and give me things
and help me out. People in these companies
appreciate what I do, and I appreciate
them. Most of them aren’t going to make a
lot of money off of me, so they’re not going
to make a signature anything. I’m using Schecter basses now. I’ve been with them
for a couple of years, and they told me
they’re going to make me some 12-strings.
What are your main axes now then, Doug?
Pinnick: I used my Schecter Model-T bass
in the studio, but I also have a Baron-H
bass, which looks like a Telecaster and is
kind of a hollowbody. They just started
making that for me.
Is it prone to feedback because it’s hollow?
Pinnick: I don’t know—I like the way it
looks [laughs]. Whatever I play, it’s more
because I like the way it looks than how it
plays. I get pretty much the same tone no
matter what I play because of the pickups
I use.
What are those?
Pinnick: It’s a Seymour Duncan pickup
with three switches on it. There’s no name
on it, but it’s the only bass “domino” pickup
with three switches on it that you’ll ever see.
I have it rigged up with two 9V batteries.
Does that get you super-high output?
Pinnick: Yeah, super high. They stopped
making them about 15 years ago. I have
five of them, and I’ve been taking them out
of my old basses and putting them in my
new ones, so I have a garage full of basses
with no pickups in them. Maybe someone
will come along and be able to make me
something comparable.
Eric Gales’ Gear
Guitars
Fender ’62 Strat, Magneto Sonnet Raw
Dawg, Xotic XS-1, St. Blues Blindsider
Amps
Two-Rock signature model
Effects
Tech 21 Boost D.L.A., Dunlop EVH
Phase 90, Mojo Hand FX Colossus,
EWS Brute Drive, TC Electronic Nova
(for delay), Dunlop Cry Baby wah
Strings, Picks, and Accessories
Dunlop .010–.046 strings, medium-gauge
custom Dunlop picks,
custom leather strap with straplocks,
Shure wireless
How about you, Eric, what are your
main guitars?
Gales: I have an original ’62 Strat that I
take out on the road. I also have a number
of different guitars from companies that
I’m endorsed by, and they’re all based on
the three-single-coil configuration. I don’t
particularly like to choose one that’s exclusive.
I learned that from Jimmy Dunlop.
He said, “Man, that’s why Baskin-Robbins
made 31 flavors.” To me, it could be a Sears
Silvertone and a Pignose amp—it isn’t what
it is, it’s what you do with it. I’m not what
you’d call a gear freak.
But you have a signature amp from Two-
Rock, a company that represents the holy
grail for many a gear freak.
Gales: [Laughs.] Right, right. But I just take
what I have and work with it. See, amp-wise,
I use my signature model Two-Rock, but predominantly I use the clean channel
on it because I like to use floor pedals—I
also use a Mojo Hand fuzz pedal and an
EWS Brute Drive. But I do love the gain
channel of my amp.
So why not just use the amp’s gain channel?
Gales: It all depends on how I feel. See, I
purposely chose not to have an effects loop
in my amp.
Your sound often incorporates a good
amount of delay, and without a loop, you
can’t place your delay after the amp’s dirt.
Gales: Exactly. Now I could go and have
them modify the amp, but I’ve gotten so
comfortable doing it this way. It’s a personal
thing and not a matter of a better or worse
way of doing it.
Doug Pinnick’s Gear
Basses
Schecter Model-T (studio), Schecter
Baron-H, custom Yamaha 12-string
built by John Gaudesi
Amps
Fractal Audio Axe-Fx Ultra (soon to
be replaced by the Axe-Fx II), Ampeg
SVT-4Pro, Ampeg cabinets
Strings, Picks, and Accessories
DR Strings .045–.100 sets, custom
picks, handmade straps
Had you guys worked with Thomas
Pridgen prior to this project?
Gales: Thomas played on my previous solo
record on Varney’s label, so I’ve know him
for about six or seven years.
Pinnick: I met Thomas once before this
project—I’m good friends with a friend
of his—but I never had a chance to really
talk to him until I met him when we got
together to make the record.
Is Pinnick Gales Pridgen an ongoing project?
Gales: Absolutely. We’re already talking
about going back into the studio. It’s a side
project, but it’s far more than a side project.
The reason I say it’s a side project is that
we’re not excluding the stuff that we do on
our own.
Doug, earlier you referenced Living
Colour. Will Pinnick Gales Pridgen be
this generation’s version?
Pinnick: If it was 1990, we would have
MTV and radio, and the war would be trying
to get the band to sell lots of records.
Nowadays, it’s like the Wild West, so I have
no idea what can or will happen. We can
make plans—touring, making records, and
doing all the interviews in the world—but
at the end of the day, it’s a new way of
thinking. There are no guarantees [laughs].
With any star-studded lineup, one might
expect a clash of egos. Was there any
drama in the sessions?
Pinnick: [Laughs.] No, not at all. There
was no time for that. We knew that we had
to get the record done so everybody was on
top of their game.
Gales: An important thing is that we didn’t
want to take away any of the elements of
who we were before we got together. If
anything, we wanted to add to that. I think
that’s exactly the point.
Pinnick: We were just excited to hear what
the other guys would be contributing. With
Eric and Thomas, they can play “Mary Had
a Little Lamb,” and it’s got style and passion
to it.
YouTube It
See and hear Eric Gales and Doug Pinnick doing what
they do best in the following live clips.
This studio clip captures the
raw energy of Pinnick Gales
Pridgen as the trio lays down
their new track “Hang on, Big
Brother.” They really crank up
the jam around 2:30.
Eric Gales tears it up on a live
rendition of Stevie Wonder’s
“Superstition.” Check out
the delicious chord voicings
he uses between 1:35–1:41,
which set up the avalanche
to come when he kicks in the
dirt at 2:24.
Pinnick performs “Summerland”
with King’s X at the House
of Blues in Orlando, Florida.