From: heiser@fretz.enet.dec.com (Michael A. Heiser)
Subject: Re: Kings X guitar sound..
Reply-To: heiser@fretz.enet.dec.com (Michael A. Heiser)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation - Phoenix, AZ
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 21:09:52 GMT


    Ty Tabor Interview with GFTPM
    -----------------------------

Reprinted without permission from
Guitar for the Practicing Musician, April 1990.

Ty Tabor / King's X
The Uphill Climb

by John Stix

     Some people have to dream a long time before they wake up
and find their visions are real.  That's the story of one of this
year's best new bands, King's X.  Though their Beatles meet Cream
in the 1990s sound is newly-heralded on the recent LPs,
_Out_of_the_Silent_Planet_ and _Gretchen_Goes_to_Nebraska, the
band has actually been around for almost a decade.  Perhaps the
beneficiary of the resurgence of classic rock radio, and the
coming around again sound and success of Aerosmith, the Stones,
Doobies, et al., Houston's Ty Tabor, a Jackson, Mississippi-born
guitarist, started playing in the pre-Van Halen era, only to be
discovered in the late 80s.  As the virtues of blues/rock guitar
are being rediscovered by the likes of Jake E. Lee and Mark
Kendall, Tom Keifer and Slash, it's appropriate that a guitarist
who actually grew up in that era, saw the original shows, not
just the videos, is hailed by players as diverse as Kip Winger
and Vernon Reid, as one of THE guitarists, in one of THE bands of
the 1990s.

     Your sound is at once retro by a decade or two and fresh in
the 90s.

     It's not an intentional rejection of anything, as much as
it's just a direct result of our influences coming mainly from
late 60's and early 70's rock 'n' roll.  I'm sure it has that
type of older feel.  We've been doing this for a good long time. 
We grew up with it.  That was our period of growing up and
listening to music.

     You stuck it out a long time before you got signed.

     Definitely.  This particular band is approaching our tenth
year of trudging on.  We've been together doing this all the way
through the 80s.  We had a dream and a vision together and we
stuck it out and hoped for the best.  We played just about every
state in the U.S. and just about every city.  About four years
ago, we were doing the college conventions and parties circuit. 
We traveled in what we call the Chuck Wagon, it was a big old
truck.  Actually we had part of the cab going into the back of
the truck cut out and we opened it to a small area with a wooden
square thing to sit on and we traveled sometimes 32 hours for
one-nighters with everybody in there.  I haven't worked a day job
since the band formed, with the exception of a couple of times
when it got really rough when we lived in Springfield, Missouri. 
I went out and shoveled snow off of peoples' driveways for extra
bucks.  We spent about five good solid years touring clubs and
the fifth year doing mostly the college circuit.  We made a
living doing that.  When we were doing the clubs, we were playing
sometimes six nights a week.

     There must have been times when you almost got signed or
almost gave up.

     In those days there were probably more times of almost
giving up and more times of disappointment than high times.  We
started out with a lot of high hopes and complete belief that it
was going to work.  We said, let's go for it.  Like every band,
you get a lot of offers here and there.  A lot of people say, I
work with this record company and I want to do this and that for
you.  We had nothing work out those first five years - everything
fell through.  That happened till it got to the point where even
when somebody legitimate called up, like Megaforce, initially I
was going yeah, sure.  We got to the point where nothing meant
anything from anybody, until we saw some action.

     Did you ever break up?

     Mostly it would be one of us getting to that point at that
moment, so we helped pull each other through.  There was one time
in Hobbs, New Mexico, where for the first time all of us got to
that point at the same time.  It scared us to death.  We were
going, 'This has never happened.  Who is going to keep us
together now, if we all want to leave?'  It scared us to death. 
That week in Hobbs being the lowest point, it was also the
turning point for us, in a weird way.  We didn't understand at
the time.  We made decisions about what we really wanted.  We
didn't have any idea how to get those things or what to do about
it.  We just knew things had to change.  I think shortly after
that is when we came into contact with our manager, Sam Taylor,
who helped to show us what was making us miserable and what to
do.

     What were you doing wrong?

     We were trying to please everybody else but us.  We were
trying to do what you should do to get a record deal, whatever
that would be.  We were listening to the advice of record people
and doing everything but what was absolutely true to us.  The
only advice I would give is that.  You have to stick to what you
truly believe you should be doing.  What makes you happy.  If
you're not doing that, you're wasting time.  We decided that all
else was not worth it.  We either had to do that or give up. 
That was the last straw.  We said it's all or nothing.

     You must have played your share of covers.

     It was half and half, if we could ever get away with it.  We
played mostly old rock 'n' roll and the stuff we grew up with. 
We did some Trower, some Hendrix.  We were basically known as a
band where you could hear all the old classic rock.  In the early
days we did "roundabout," by Yes, with guitars.  People used to
get off on that.  We did a lot of Beatles, which was popular.  We
occasionally did an entire set where we just picked a key and
went, having no idea what ewe were going to do.  We have jammed
an entire set, experimenting, going into weird music. 
Originally, it came out of complete and utter boredom.  The first
time we ever did it was in Arkansas.  There were six people there
at the most.  It was four in the morning for the last set.  They
were so drunk they didn't care.  We were completely bored with
what we were doing.  We said, let's just create some music here. 
We did it for ourselves, for our own sanity.  There have been
tunes that came out of that.  A lot of times we'd jam during
soundcheck, and a lot of songs have come out of those.  "Out of
the Silent Planet" started as a jam at soundcheck.  "Never Be the
Same" was a jam in the studio, as we were getting our sounds. 
For "Mission," we were sitting around in a room trying to write
music and jamming out parts.

     Guitarwise, you're a product of the 60s and 70s.

     There was a time when I went through serious imitation of
Ace Frehley in the early 70s, before Kiss was mega.  They were an
unknown band that a couple of my friends had records by.  I heard
them and thought, what is this?  When it got to a lead solo, out
of this music came a short melodic solo with a great shake, great
vibrato.  I remember thinking, that's interesting, some nice
stuff.  Of course, everybody around me thought I was insane for
liking it or saying it was good.  I was heavily influenced in the
early days by that type of playing with a good shake.  Trower and
Johnny Winter floored me with their styles.  There was a whole
group of guitarists in those days that to me had great style. 
"Mississippi Queen" would have these little simple licks, but the
shake of the string just blew me away.  It was people playing
from their hearts, so that had a big impact on me.  I'd sit
around literally for hours, working shakes and learning how to
bend strings.  I'd hear something that I loved so much I'd go,
I've got to know how to do that.  I would try my best to shake it
in that way.

     Do you have a style as well defined as those early heroes?

     I don't know how to answer that.  I'm not necessarily
looking or searching for something.  I feel comfortable, or at
least honest, in the way I'm trying to interpret my own feelings
on the guitar.  I guess other people would have to judge that,
what it sounds like to them.

     You are a pentatonic blues scale player.  Do you have any
interest in 90's styles?

     I'd be lying if I didn't honestly say the first time I heard
Van Halen I was so shocked I felt like putting my guitar away and
quitting.  When I first heard him, I knew it wasn't simply a
bunch of tricks.  It was an incredible style, and this one
person's interpretation of how to do things floored me.  I
though, that is the most incredible stuff I've ever heard.  I
didn't try to copy it, mainly because by the time I heard Van
Halen, I was getting around to the idea of I can't sit here
trying to be other people.  I was beginning to learn that I was
going to have to start playing what was naturally right for me. 
I don't think that would come naturally for me.  A lot of the
double-picking type stuff, if I were to work on it, I feel
confident I could learn to play that way.  But I stuck to what is
most natural to me.

     What is your personal favorite playing on the records?

     Believe it or not, the lead on "Far Far Away" is one of my
favorites.  I have to admit, though, that most stuff on the
records, the leads are the best I can do right now, but I'm not
necessarily floored by any of it.  I don't sit back proud.

     When you solo, there is no rhythm guitar.  At the end of the
solo you always put on a rhythm part.

     That's interesting.  It's never been brought up, but you're
right.  It's not intentional, it's just that there are these
segments in the songs and I think it's more that the leads
sometimes hang over into the next segment.  The rhythm was
already there, and it was another segment coming up.

     On "Pleiades," you take a long solo section and just play
chords.

     We recorded that song for _Out_of_the_Silent_Planet_ with a
solo.  I had originally done it on a demo, which is still the
best thing I've ever done on tape.  When we tried to do it in the
studio, I didn't even get in the ball park with it, because I was
trying to imitate what came naturally at the time.

     Why not fly it in?

     There were too many different bleed over noises.  I did it
on a little four-track.  It was a crude recording with fade outs. 
The feeling that was captured on the demo, I was killing to try
and get it again in the studio.  I couldn't do it.  When it came
round to doing this album,  we did the song again.  When it came
to the rhythm tracks, we just built up the part and it sort of
became unintentionally a musical build, and we decided to leave
it that way.  I did feel that I wouldn't be happy with anything
other than the demo as far as the solo for that song, so I
decided to go for something else.

      What's going on for the ending of "The Burning Down?"

     It's all noises put together.   Every sound you hear there
is either guitar through a different effect, or voices or mike
stands being rubbed across the wall.  We used every piece of
hardware in the studio we could find for noises and sounds.  We
were inventing our own sounds to fit the mood.

     It sounds like you're writing in jam sections that you
expand on live.

     That is true of "In the New Age."  We'll jam that out a
whole lot longer sometimes.  "Visions" and "Power of Love" are
also kind of open-ended jams live.  "The Burning Down" could be
taken anywhere, sometimes to really bizarre areas.

     I couldn't get through the story on _Gretchen_.  What does
it say?

     It's not anything.  It's a story that Jerry wrote.  It's
hard to comment on.  There's a lot of people who write us about
it.  It's there if anybody wants to read it, and if it doesn't
grab you in, then it's not for you.  The recording is not all one
big story, but the songs seem to be dealing with journeying
through life.  They connect in a weird way and we like to just
let them run.  They all deal with life.  They are just songs, and
if people want to relate them, they can.  You can find a core
feeling through them, but it's not a concept album.  Some people
think it's one story over two records.  It's not intentional.

     Historically, trios overplay, so somewhere in your past
there must be a few too many stray notes.

      Some people think that now.  I don't know if we overplay. 
I don't think of it that way.  I know a few years ago, it was
easier than now.  I think all of us did a lot more.  As you grow
up, you change your views about things, or you learn that the
things you like most are the things done in taste, or that small
lick that somebody did here or there really impressed you. 
Instead of going through an entire song and boring you, it's left
an impression.  You lean to those kinds of things and I know we
try to be honest as to how we feel in every part of the song.  A
lot of times these days we try to encourage each other to play a
little more.  If anything, I think we tend to want to shut it off
too soon.  We all drag it out of each other now.  We're on the
other end of that stick now, as far as holding back.

     When you began, did you say let's do Cream music and sing
like CS&N?

     No, there was nothing planned at all.  When we decided to do
what was true to us, we didn't what that was.  That's where Sam
comes into the picture.  We attempted it, but we never had
anybody pushing us to do our best.  We gave up too easily on
harmonies.  He worked on us with our vocals and made us try,
because he saw we could do things that we didn't have a lot of
faith in.  That encouraged us to say we can do this.  The vocals
became an important part of everything we do.  For me, THE vocal
influence is John Lennon, and overall the Beatles.  I still
listen to Beatle vocals and it does more for me than anything
else.  We didn't sit around and say, let's do a song and sing
like the Beatles.  It's the influence they had on us.  That
happens to be the type of vocals I love, and Jerry really loves
Beatles music.  Sam is a big Beatles fan.  That stuff we're
naturally drawn to, because of growing up with it and how much we
love it.

     How hard was it going from playing live for years to
recording in the studio?

     I've always felt at home in the studio.  When I lived in
Mississippi, I worked at a studio and did a lot of studio time
for hire.  Mostly it was weird country music.  I didn't know what
I was doing, but I've always enjoyed being in the studio.  I look
forward to it.  A lot of times it's hard but it's something I
really look forward to.  I love that creative process, putting
stuff down on tape.  Being free to try different things and the
excitement when you strike the chord that works.

     Do you do a lot of punching?

     No...probably more soon the first album that the last one. 
On this album we went a lot more with a spontaneous 'whatever
happens' attitude.  This album we made a lot faster and it had
more life, more spontaneous energy., just from going in with that
kings of attitude.  No pressure, just enjoy and do what we do.

     When you solo, what are you listening to?

     I concentrate mainly on what I'm playing, because what Jerry
does usually fills up a gap, or they give you their own grooves
that work well enough that I don't have to think about them.  I
just feel this thing and it causes me to want to play.

     Do you know all the changes going on underneath you?

     Probably not.  When I play things that approach what I like
to play, it's usually when I'm kind of tranced out and feeling
the lead.  The reason I can feel the lead is because it's so
solid and I don't have to think about it.  It's there, it moves
me.  I don't concentrate on what's happening, but I'm felling it.

     You sound like a guy who had played the same guitar for a
long time.

     I do have one guitar that I use all the time, that I'm real
happy with.  I need a backup guitar that is real similar to it
and we're working toward getting something like that.  At this
moment, I'm using a Strat Elite.  It was one of the active
electronic Strats they made a few years ago that they quit
making.  It has a weird Fender clamping system on it and Fender
pickups that have active electronics.  You can't buy the pickups. 
I tried to get some for another guitar from Fender and they
wouldn't allow it.  They only sell it with the guitar.  Then they
quit making the guitar.  It's a strange instrument that you don't
see very many of.  They are hard to find.  It's a guitar I've
been very  happy with for several years.  It has an interesting
vibrola system that Fender made.  I've stopped trying to copy
this guitar and am now working with Hamer and Yamaha, trying to
come up with something that will surpass it.

     Amp of preference?

     I'm real weird about that.  I don't want to say... but I
will tell the truth that it's a very old Gibson amp that's not
made anymore.  I pick them up in pawn shops.  At the moment, I've
got as many as I need and access to others.

     Why don't you want to give out the name?

     Mainly because it's a real unique amp and I'm currently very
much sold on it.  But they are painted over and covered and
disguised.  I'm more into people finding what's right for them on
their own than just following the advice of a guitarist and going
out to get so and so amp, because you like the sound and imitate
it.  I use minimal effects, mostly effects that don't work, and
break down most of the time.  I've been using racks and running
stereo on stage.  I have an old MXR Pitch transposer that has
four different presets.  They don't make those anymore, either. 
I use it for different thing, like weird octaves, with the volume
swell like those noises at the beginning of "New Age."  Sometimes
I'll kick into the delay unit I have on a really fast delay. 
I'll have it set where it will regenerate several times.  It's so
short it's almost an instantaneous thing.  Then I bend the delay
slightly afterwards, causing it to have a fatter sound. 
Sometimes I just use the MXR and put it on very slightly.

     Has life changed since your records came out?

     Life changes, but I don't know how it will be perceived. 
We're not as busy as we used to have to be to live.  We played
every single night.  We have more time to have a life at home and
be inspired to write stuff.  I think the main thing is, there's a
big weight off my shoulders as far as pressure, because we now
have the privilege of being able to write what we went to and put
it out.  We're still living in the same social standards nd
driving the same cars.  For some strange reason, things are
happening for us in England.  We get a tremendous amount of press
in England compared to last year.  Kerrang voted the last album
the album of the year.  They are genuinely excited, and we're
genuinely excited because of their excitement.  We played there
twice and it was fantastic.

     Have you gotten better as things have gotten better?

     I'd say I'm not up to par compared to when we were playing
six nights a week.  I could solo all night long without getting
tired in those days.  Whatever thoughts came into my head, just
went into the fingers.  These days, because of the time that has
to be spent in the studio, where you are not pounding it out
every night and getting exercise, I can't always get my fingers
to do everything my head wants to do, until we get out on tour
and play for a while.  Then I feel up to par.  Generally, in my
mind it's developed more because of the lack of pressure and the
freedom for the mind to be creative, but in the fingers it takes
going out to a tour and playing a while to get them up to par.

     Usually with a record, you are at your worst physical level.

     Exactly.  That's usually when you have a lot of time off and
it's real hard  at that point to do your best.

     Doing your best in the face of adversity seems to be the
story of King's X.

     We could probably write a novel on that subject.  We have
believe since we first met that there was something special here
and a reason for us to be together.  We always felt a chord among
ourselves that seemed right.  We stuck it out and have been
fortunate enough to have family and friends that also believe.

--

    Mike
    
    "in this day & age...music performed by humans...hum?!" 
       - wilde silas tomkyn
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