BOSTON – Rock & Roll Band
BY VICTORIA STEWART; PHOTOS BY KAMAL ASAR
The music of BOSTON is anchored deeply in my memories of Panama City in the late 70s. When I hear songs like More Than a Feeling and Don’t Look Back today, then Peace of Mind and Rock and Roll band, it brings back great memories of fun times at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park, going to the beach with friends and dancing the night away at The Breakers East in St. Andrews!
Founding band member Tom Scholz has gained cult status with almost every music enthusiast and musician I know. I shifted into fifth gear with the opportunity to land an interview through concert organizer, Hess Entertainment.
We asked our readers if they had questions for the band and, for a few days, I became a lightning rod for our local BOSTON fans.
After a few days of excitement, I was on the phone with guitar player Gary Pihl, who has been a member of the band since the late 70s.
Mike Hanson: From Tom Scholz’s engineering background, how did that influence the innovative guitar tones?
Gary Pihl: Of course Tom is such an inventive guy, he said ‘Well, I’m going to make something that will sound the way I want it to, so he invented the amps we are using on stage today. I work with Tom at his company, and so yes, we are the only band in the world that plays amplifiers that we built.
Dave Lloyd: What were some of your pre-BOSTON influences?
GaryPihl: When I’m driving in my car, I’m a button pusher. I listen to all kinds of music and always did as a kid, from classical to heaviest metal. I do listen to country too. I think Brad Paisley is great.
Dave Lloyd: What’s the funniest or most embarrassing thing you can recall happening on stage?
Gary Pihl: When I was in Sammy Hagar’s band, we used to run around on stage quite a bit. We were running around on stage and I stepped on a cable and of course they are round and it was like stepping on a pencil. My feet went out from under me and I landed on my butt, but I just kept on playing. Sammy looked over at me laughing, but, hey, you just get up and keep on going. But that was part of the charm of Sammy the performer. We weren’t afraid to fall down and take some chances and maybe act a little goofy on stage, because we are just there having fun and the audience always seems to love it too.
Kay Haddock Null:If the band was starting out now (2015) how do you think it would be different than “back in the day?”
Gary Pihl: So many things have changed and obliviously the whole record industry is upside down, so that isn’t there, but you know I think in essence, I really think it comes down to performing and if you can play the songs and people hear them and like them, it is all that matters. It really comes down to the songwriting and of course being able to go out there and perform them and do them live and we certainly enjoy that part of it even today. People ask us, “You’ve got such intricate guitar parts and vocal harmonies; do you guys have some recordings you are playing on stage? No, no way, we’re doing it. So when you hear those mistakes, that’s really us making those mistakes!
Denise Whitten Carter: Are there plans for a new album? New music? How will that music differ from the feel of your past music?
Gary Pihl: We are always writing songs and coming up with guitar riffs and that sort of thing, so I’m sure there’ll be another BOSTON Album. For instance, our latest one that just came out a year ago, I think it has some aspects of some of the early recordings but it’s progressed over time as well. Some people say ‘Oh, I love this song or that song, or it reminds me of the old BOSTON.” And other people say ‘Oh I really like this song because it really sounds new and fresh!’ So we definitely try to go with whatever we think sounds good and hope that folks like it.
Alan Blackburn: Are there any un-recorded songs that didn’t make the first album that you would consider releasing now?
Gary Pihl: We are not working on anything specifically right now. But I would say that there is a song that BOSTON used to do in concert. It was a song called ‘Television Politician’ that they used to do live that everybody liked and people kept saying ‘Why don’t you put that on a record?’ And it’s never been on a record. And it seems relevant today as it did 30 years ago.
PCL: Do you still do that live?
Gary Pihl: No we don’t. And the band hasn’t done it since the 70s. But as I say, it is certainly relevant today as it was back then.
PCL: Are there any new artists that you are excited about today?
Gary Pihl: Again, I listen to all sorts of things and there are terrific bands or single artists that just sound terrific and you think ‘Wow this is great!’ and again, it crosses all fields. It’s not just rock and it’s not just country or jazz, yeah, there is so much stuff out there. And as I listen to the radio in the car and maybe I will have one of my kids with me, I will have to ask ‘Who is that again?’ (laughing)
PCL: Touring can be grueling at times, is there anything that you guys do to keep it fresh or entertain yourselves out on the road?
Gary Pihl: You know there’s not much time. People think you get to tour all around the country and see all the sights. Well, no, you don’t. It’s very much like the movie ‘Ground Hog Day.’ You wake up in a hotel room that looks a lot like the hotel room you were just in, and you get up and you go to the venue and it looks a lot like the venue you were just in yesterday and of course you see all the same people because we travel with the same crew and staff. And so, it’s sometimes hard to know what day of the week it is! So you just don’t have time, because you have to get there, do sound check, and then do the show and then try to get eight hours sleep to do it again the next day. Unfortunately we don’t get to see a whole lot. But standing up on stage and people are smiling, that makes it all worthwhile!
PCL: I understand that you guys are touring with a chef. It has been said that an army marches on its stomach. Do you guys do it to eat healthier, or to help guarantee you will be eating well and not be subjected to the hit and miss catering that you find from venue to venue?
Gary Pihl: Both of those and the third aspect is that Tom and I are both vegetarians and when we decided to tour back in ‘87, which is shortly after Tom became a vegetarian, we were talking about it and we were thinking we weren’t going to get any vegetarian stuff after the show. Where are we going to eat? And so well, we said maybe we should take a chef with us and it seemed extravagant at the time, but we found a guy that would travel with us and everything he made was fantastic! I don’t know what it was, but it was terrific! And so there you go, we just have to do that, it’s the best! It’s terrific food and it keeps us healthy too.
PCL: After so many interviews, is there a question you wish someone would ask that hasn’t been asked?
Gary Pihl: You know the question, that every once in a while that comes up and that is, how did you get your first break? That is something that I usually try to tell young people. My story is, I was in local bands, in the San Francisco Bay area, and tried out for a bunch of different bands. We are in a local band, we are looking for a singer and we just heard that Sammy Hagar had just left Montrose. So our manager somehow got a hold of Sammy’s number and called him up and said ‘Hey we’re looking for a singer, do you want to join our band?’ And Sammy said, ‘Well, no I’ve got a band, but I am looking for a guitarist.’ So he was trying out a bunch of guitarist and one day he called me up and said ‘Hey, Pihl, are you into drugs?’ and of course I said, ‘No, why?’ He said, ‘Because, well, the last guitar player we had died by shooting cocaine in the bathroom of a gas station. So why don’t you come down and jam with us?’ I particularly tell this to young people because, what do they know? Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, right? So I appreciate telling young people, that’s how I got the gig, because I DIDN’T use drugs. And that’s why the other guy isn’t here anymore. So that is a life lesson I like to pass on.
PCL: More Than a Feeling was one of BOSTON’s first, if not the first, hits. Was Marianne a real person or factious? And was she the inspiration for this hit song?
Gary Pihl: I certainly asked Tom that question, and he said ‘No”. You know obviously it’s a conglomeration of several girls that he perhaps knew, but it is not anyone specifically, no. Nor is Amanda or Hollyann and any other songs that have female names in them.
PCL: This is the second time you will be in Panama City. Is there anything you remember from your last visit or are looking forward to on this visit?
Gary Pihl: Certainly, after this winter here in Boston, that set a record, this season was the snowiest winter on record. So, I am looking forward to a little warmer weather!
PCL: You met Tom Scholz while touring with Sammy Hagar and then he called you to work on the last song on his Third Stage album. Now in the timeline between those two events, did the two of you correspond frequently? Why did Tom decide to call you? How did that transpire?
Gary Pihl: Well, again, when I was in Sammy’s band, and we were on tour with BOSTON, you know, we got to know the guys because we would see them every day for nine months straight. Tom and I had this common interest of electronics, so I’d be asking him ‘Gee, how did you build this?’ because he would make stuff. He would build things on his own, again, to try to get that BOSTON sound. So I was trying to pick his brain, and say ‘How’d you do this?’ and ‘What is this for?’ and ‘How does this work?’ and ‘Why does this sound so good? What are you doing?’ ‘How do you get that great sound?’ So he knew I had always had an interest in that. We kept in touch a bit. He started his own electronics company called Scholz Research and Development. One of the big products was called The Rock Man (for those folks that remember, the Walk Man, a small music player). It was the same sort of thing, but in this case you plug your guitar into it and use headphones, and it sounds like you are in a huge arena, with your guitar amp on 10, and it just sounds fantastic and he designed that. And so, he would go to trade shows that were for music stores and that sort of thing to demonstrate his new products. Again, we’d kept in touch and he called me up and said ‘We’ve got this trade show coming up and would you be willing to go to it and help demonstrate this product?’ And I said ‘Yeah, sure’ and that was while I was still in Sammy’s band. So we kept in touch on the electronics field in between. And in 1985 when Sammy joined Van Halen, Tom heard about it and said ‘Hey, I heard you’re out of a gig. Why don’t you come back here and help me finish The Third Stage album, there’s one more song to be recorded.’ And at that time, that was all that he had offered and of course, I said ‘Yeah, I’d be thrilled to.’ So, I left the last gig with Sammy, which was Farm Aid 1 and I flew directly from Champagne, Illinois to Boston to start working with Tom and been here ever since. How lucky can a guy get? I wasn’t out of work for a day!
PCL: You are well rounded in all aspects of the music business, including the photography, editing, etc. You’ve got your fingers in all of it, running sound, guitar, keyboards, singing, etc. Is there any one thing out of all those things that you can do that you enjoy the most or that sets you on fire?
Gary Pihl: I am so lucky to be able to play guitar in a band that people like. So, when we are on stage and the audience is smiling and singing along with us and having a good time, there is no better feeling than that!
[author image=”https://www.panamacityliving.com/media/2014/07/Victoria-Stewart-e1404931430894.jpg” ]Victoria has lived in Panama City for the past 40 years. She has worked as a Government Contractor for most of her working life. She is an avid fitness enthusiast and runner. Raised in a family who was immersed in music, she plays guitar and is a founding member of Music Matters. Together with husband Crook Stewart III, they host a monthly music jam at their home where musicians come to network. The venue is known as the “The Ghetto Palace” and has become a Music Mecca where local talent comes to play. Following the success of The Ghetto Palace, Victoria and Crook founded “Music Matters” an initiative that brings life and music to downtown Panama City.[/author]