Anyone who's ever air-guitarred to Rainbow's Since You've Been Gone (and yes... we know that's most of you) will have imagined Graham Bonnet up there with you, belting out the vocals.

Well, Taz did more than just imagine it... first, he learnt to play a real guitar with as much dedication as the merry minstrel himself, and then he got in touch with Graham and before you could say 'welcome to America' they'd joined forces to put together an album called... errrr..... Welcome To America!

In June/July 2007 The Taz Taylor Band are in the UK with Mr. Alcatrazz, putting the 'taz' into razzamatazz with lots of pzzazz and all that jazz.

So before they zzzoom off on their travelz, I telephoned Mr. T for a tête-a-tête, and we chatted about how he gets mistaken in the street for Joe Satriani, how bassplayers can suddenly appear out of nowhere when you least expect it, and how he had a hairy moment a few weeks ago and ended up getting a bit hot under the collar!

Greetingz, Taz! In a minute we'll talk about your upcoming UK tour with Graham Bonnet, but firstly, tell us a bit about yourself. Hi Batttttty! OK well I grew up in England in a little town called Great Wyrley near Birmingham, and moved to the USA when I was 30. I spent the first year driving all over the country in an 18-wheeler, visiting 43 states in all, most of them many, many times over. I had my guitar and my bicycle with me and even though the lifestyle got a little old toward the end of that year, looking back it was a great experience. I still live in San Diego, with my girlfriend Jue, about five miles from the Mexican border.

How did you get started on the guitar? I first picked up the guitar when I was 13, after seeing Rainbow on Top Of The Pops performing Since You've Been Gone. I went out and got the first few Rainbow albums and definitely have to give credit to Ritchie Blackmore for being my initial inspiration. Then as soon as I heard UFO's Strangers In The Night I had a new hero in Michael Schenker! Throughout the 80s I had a regular diet of Schenker, Gary Moore, Randy Rhoads, Jake E Lee etc.

What is it about Michael Schenker's playing that makes your hair curl? The feel, the emotion, the passion. I like players who play very cleanly, with precise, fluid, crisp technique, yet have feeling to what they play. Michael Schenker is the absolute master of this. His technique is not flashy... no crossing his hands over on the neck etc etc, he is just very, very musical.

Sure is - and I think most SITN readers would agree with you there.Talking of which, I pride myself on knowing a good bit of geeetarr when I hear it, and when you first sent me your demo-disc a few years ago, I recognized straight away that you had something special - not just talent'n'technique, but a real confidence which flowed through your writing and your playing, and which made listening to you very inspirational.

So... in the beginning, who inspired You? Tell us how your playing/writing/creative process developed from when you first took up the guitar, and went from 'copying', to 'interpreting', to 'playing in the style of', to 'creating your own style' - right through to where you're at now. Well, first of all thank you for the compliments! As I mentioned above, my main influences were Michael, Ritchie Blackmore, Randy Rhoads etc. and they inspired me to play during the 80s.
But I more or less put the guitar on the backburner for a time during the early 90s - the whole grunge/Seattle thing really turned me off wanting to be a part of the rock scene altogether for a while.
However, in January of '95 I suddenly got the urge to play again. I took lessons for 18 months, mainly studying music theory, and this gave me a much greater insight into the music and the composition etc. I would listen to my record collection with different ears once I had that knowledge.

Most guitarists probably imagine lyrics set to their tunes, and they might also imagine their favorite vocalist singing them, but... you didn't stop at that - you made it happen! What kick-started that? Were you drunk???? Did you just email Graham and ask him if he'd like to work with you? Haha... no I don't think I was drunk.... I just felt very positive about it. I would look at people whose career was obviously doing better than mine and think 'there is no reason why The Taz Taylor Band could not be up there with those guys'. We knew as a band that we wanted to have vocals on the new record. So I just headed for my favorite vocalist - I sent Graham an email introducing myself, and I think the fact that we are both English and both live in Southern California might have helped make him interested. He emailed me his home phone number and said 'please call me'! I have to say I was stunned and stoked when I read that! We chatted on the phone for about 45 minutes that very first time. We got along really well, and I sent him a copy of my first album, the instrumental Caffeine Racer. Fortunately he was impressed! We started to work on the new album almost right away.

How did the writing and recording sessions go? Did Graham have very clear ideas which shaped the songs? Or did you work more as a team? I would write the music and demo it at home on my 8-track recorder. The band would learn it and we would go into the studio and record. We went along one song at a time and would then give it to Graham who likes to record his vocals in his home studio. So all the arrangements were already in place before Graham heard them. That is not to say that his vocal melodies didn't contribute hugely to the finished song though, because obviously they do.

What was it like to work with someone whose career you'd admired so much from afar, from his days with Rainbow, Michael Schenker etc? Were there any barriers due to you not being a high-profile name in the music world, or did that put less pressure on you both? Once we were working on the album, I think we all just got on with it and didn't think much about Graham's past. So you found him quite 'down to earth' haha. Hahah, yes! And it always seemed clear that he was into the music we were making and you can hear that in his vocal delivery, which I think is amazing.

What made you choose to personalize those particular Gary Moore and Randy Rhoads tracks on the album? We have played Parisienne Walkways in our live instrumental set since the second gig. The Randy Rhoads medley of Goodbye To Romance and Mr. Crowley we have done since the first gig. I thought it was very effective making the key and tempo change on the fly like that and audiences seem to love it! So I decided to do something with the first half of 'Goodbye' so that we could have Graham sing it and put the whole thing on the album. I stripped the song down to just one acoustic guitar and vocal and it really worked.

What are your own favorites from Welcome To America? My favorite track is probably Silent Fall, I also like Radio Luxembourg a lot and Fighter's Fist.

Tell me why (as a great man once sang). OK, well I like Silent Fall because it showcases my lead guitar style pretty well, with the key changes - it's in 3 different keys - and all of the dynamics. I also like the piano/guitar combination. Graham's lyrics and vocal melody topped it off perfectly, and the subject matter is pretty deep also!
As for Radio Luxembourg, I think I was kind of going for that Mathias Jabs thing in the intro with that harmonized guitar part. I learned how to harmonize guitar lines from the Scorpions song 'No One Like You' and the working title for Radio Luxembourg was actually "Mathias" when I made the first demo. Again, Graham's contribution to that song was great, the lyrics talking about his first memories of hearing Rock'n'Roll on the radio. And as for Fighter's Fist.... it's a pop song with a riff!

OK, now introduce us to the members of The Taz Taylor Band. For instance, I believe there's quite an unusual story as to how you recruited your bassplayer...... hah! You are absolutely right, and we'll get back to that in a moment! Bob Miller on keyboards was the first to come on board and has played every single gig that The Taz Taylor Band has done. A tremendous guy with a great attitude and dedication to the task at hand. We played the very first gig in San Diego after I had released Caffeine Racer. We had a temporary drummer and bassist with us at the time. Our wonderful webmistress who lives 6000 miles away in England had contacted one of her internet friends - SITN chatgroup member Dirk Krause - and told him about our debut gig, knowing that he lives in San Diego. Actually he lives about a three-minute drive from the venue we were playing at. He came to the show, introduced himself and bought a copy of Caffeine Racer. The following day he left a message on our website messageboard saying "Let me know if you ever need a replacement bass player".
Yayyy! We gave him an audition a couple of weeks later and he came in knowing the whole album inside out! Dirk is another great guy and an asset to the band. We have very similar CD collections, it is uncanny. We finally recruited a permanent drummer last summer, right after we finished recording the Welcome to America album. Val Trainor is the absolute perfect fit for this band, both as a person and as a musician and has brought a lot to the table since his joining the band. My band mates are the best friends I have ever had!

The Taz Taylor Band played one show recently with Graham in San Diego, and in June you're off to the UK for a whole month on the road. What songs can we expect to hear? How much from Welcome To America, and which Rainbow and MSG songs are you planning on doing? Any surprises? The show we did in San Diego was very much a Taz Taylor Band show and we played the entire Welcome To America album as well as a lot of the Caffeine Racer material. We only did two Rainbow songs. The UK tour is Graham Bonnet with The Taz Taylor Band... so the emphasis is on Graham's catalogue. You can expect to hear lots of Rainbow, MSG, and some Alcatrazz. We are going to be doing four songs from WTA as well as a couple of instrumentals. We do have a few surprises in store for sure, but you will have to wait and see!

OK, now the obligatory amps'n'valves question. Talk us through the gear that you use, and what you'll be using on the upcoming tour. My gear is very simple. I play Gibson Explorer guitars. I use Marshall JCM 800 2205 50 watt heads and Marshall 1960a cabs. I used to use a Boss Digital Reverb pedal on my solos, but have recently been using a Boss Digital Delay instead. And that's IT! (Whewwwwwww, that's a relief, I thought we might be here all day with this one!). No, very bare bones and simple! On the UK tour I will be using rented Marshall gear, so it will most likely be a JCM 2000 Dual Super Lead head, as 25 year old amps are harder to locate!

Going back to what you said earlier about taking music lessons - you were already a competent guitarist, so what extra did that give you? I had lessons with a guy named Wesley Bonham in Birmingham. I just wanted to become the best player that I could. Not thinking about where it might lead, but just to get to be a better player. What we did was mostly music theory. The Major Scale System and the Modes. This opened all of the doors for me, but once you get to that point the music just has to just be inside you. Knowing how to spell and type won't make you a great novelist. True!

Hey, I heard a rumour that a few weeks ago you were racing your 18-speed road bike on the edge of a haunted Parisienne walkway and the wheel became loose and unscrewed and you crashed into a wall of sound. Certainly not a silent fall, nor a very happy hour, huh? Chilling times indeed! (Yeh, I know, cheesy cheesy cheesy, but it helps the googlesearches!). So, go on, tell us about your recent accident - how did it happen, and what effect has it had on your practicing etc.

Well yes, about two weeks ago I was racing along on my bike enjoying my Southern California lifestyle, when a kid stepped out right in front of me, and sent me flying over the handlebars. I received a badly broken right collar bone which now has a titanium plate and seven screws in it! (Wow, that's great, you'll be able to compare X-Ray pics with Andy Parker!) Yes Batttttty, thank you for your sympathy and concern. Sheeeesh! I also badly stretched and sprained all of the tendons which attach to the collar bone and surrounding areas, so my shoulder is seriously messed up.
Fortunately I am able to play again now. Once my guitar is strapped on there is very little shoulder movement involved in my picking. It all comes from the wrist and elbow. Which is fortunate because my shoulder really is a mess. I have to give extra special thanks to my girlfriend Jue for nursing me and keeping up my spirits through this which is a very depressing time for me. I am usually very physically active... gym, cycling etc., so this basically sucks!!!!

Which era of MSG was your favorite, and why? My favorite era of MSG was the early 80s. The second album entitled simply MSG from 1981 is the Holy Grail of lead guitar playing to me. Assault Attack and the debut album would probably tie for second place. How does Michael's instrumental work such as the Thank You albums, Dreams & Expressions etc stand up against the full-on UFO and MSG songs? I think Dreams and Expressions is a great album and shows that Michael still has a tremendous amount of creativity to offer. And how do you rate a Schenkerless UFO, compared to a.. errrr.. Schenkerful UFO? I think it's great that UFO are able to continue to create and move on without Schenker.

What's your favorite UFO song and UFO album, and which UFO/MSG tunes do you include in your instrumental set. My favorite UFO album I would have to say is Strangers In The Night... because it is soooo good, but also because of the nostalgia that's attached to it. My second favorite is actually Walk on Water which I think is a phenomenal album - excuse the pun! It would be simply too difficult to name a favorite song. We sometimes do the piano/guitar intro from Doctor Doctor and then segue into something else in our instrumental set, but that is all.

As a guitarist yourself, what is your opinion of how Vinnie interprets the Schenker classics?
That's a tough one to answer. I think Vinnie is a great player. I have some of his CDs, and I bought Mind's Eye when it first came out on vinyl. I saw Vinnie with UFO in LA on the You Are Here Tour though and even though he's a great guitarist I was a little disappointed in the way he sounded on the old Schenker classics. And I mean no disrespect to Vinnie by saying that, because he really is a wonderful guitarist. But I would have preferred if circumstances were such that Michael could still be a member of the line-up!

Drawing another parallel with Vinne Moore, even though Vinnie's been with UFO for over three years now and recorded two studio albums, a double live album, and a dvd with UFO, I still, in my mind's eye (hah!) think of Vinnie as a solo musician. So... now that you've completed an album with vocals, is that the end of Taz Taylor as a solo instrumental artist? Or what...? It's hard to say. Never say never... right ? I still love instrumental music, but Welcome To America has obviously reached more people than Caffeine Racer because it has vocals. After pouring your heart and soul into something, you want it to be heard. If I have written and recorded something that I think features the best guitar playing I've ever done, and I know that three times as many people will hear it if it's part of a song that features vocals as apposed to part of an instrumental... then there is a good argument for working with a vocalist right? I mean it just brings that extra dimension to the finished thing that most people want.

So... what would you like to be doing in two years time? In two years time I would like to have recorded another album with Graham, possibly done some guest spots on other people's albums and done another tour or two... And in five years time? Who knows what the future may hold?

Well let's hope the immediate future holds a happy'n'healthy UK tour - I was gonna say 'break a leg' but bearing in mind your recent acrobatics on your bike I think I'll shut up! Anyway matey, Welcome To England, starting on 22nd June!

This interview © Batttttty - 25th April 2007