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Bill Leverty - FIREHOUSE Guitarist (October 2002)
From their first self-titled album to their most recent record, "O2", Firehouse has always been a band you can trust to make a good, melodic rock record with a few make out songs thrown in for good measure.
Here is the Music and the City review with Firehouse guitarist, Bill Leverty.
THE EPIC YEARS (1990-1996)
1. How old were you when the band got signed to Epic? Did you have any college or other career choices in line besides music?
We got signed in 1990 and I had only one year of college from Virginia Tech's school of engineering. No other career choice was even considered. That's why I took a "leave of absence" from college.
2. How did the band get signed, initially? What type of deal was it, in terms of budget, advances and publishing rights?
We got the new artist boiler plate deal from Epic/Sony. We also signed a publishing deal with them. The artist deal was for 8 albums, all of which were THEIR options.
3. What was the highlight of "The Epic Years"?
Winning the American Music Award for best new Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Artist of 1991, beating out Nirvana and Alice In Chains.
4. What led to the band parting ways with Epic after the "Good Acoustics" record?
Lack of promotion. For "Good Acoustics", they didn't put one penny in promoting it in the states, but where it was promoted, it had great success.
CATAGORY 5 (1998)
5. During the mid-90's, a lot of hard rock bands were breaking up and changing musical direction. Did Firehouse experience any low points due to the changing musical climate?
Of course we did. We were faced with an industry that had said, "we're not playing that kind of music anymore". It was very frustrating to say the least, but we vowed to stick to our guns and write the best melodic rock album we possibly could, not jump on any trendy bandwagons, and tour our asses off.
6. How did "Catagory 5" come to be released on Mystic Music? How did this release get distributed by WEA?
We first decided to release it ourselves only on our website and then shop it to all the labels. Since the album wasn't available in the stores, any label could still have a chance at making some money by distributing and selling it in the stores. Mystic loved the album and decided to cut a lisencing deal with us for that album in the states and Europe. Mystic already had distribution through WEA.
7. I noticed Perry Richardson co-wrote quite a few very good songs on this record. At what point did he leave the band and did it have anything to do with his songwriting?
It had nothing to do with his songwriting. We parted company with him about two years after that album was recorded.
THE SPITFIRE YEARS AND BEYOND (2000-PRESENT)
8. How has your own songwriting changed over the years?
I think it's just developing into something deeper and more mature. I guess different things are important to me now, but I still like to write songs that have positive messages for the most part.
9. Write liner notes for the following songs.
All She Wrote: One of my favorite FireHouse songs off the first album. I love to play it live.
Reach for the Sky: One of my favorite songs off the second album. I love to play this one live too.
Love is a Dangerous Thing: One of our many songs with more than one meaning. I love the production of the third album.
Here For You: Great song! I really like the solo.
In Your Perfect World: Alternate tuning: with the G string tuned up a half step, and the little E string tuned down a half step, it's a very unique song with a Latin vibe.
Can't Stop the Pain: This song was written after the loss of my father.
The Nights Were Young: This song was written about the great years we had as kids.
Loving You is Paradise: This is a song written before we ever had a deal. I'm glad it finally got to see the light of day.10. Your live shows tend to focus on the first two records. Although these 2 sold the most, are there other songs that you would rather play?
Yes, but we've only got about an hour and a half when we're headlining, and we want to give our fans the songs they are most familiar with. Those would mostly be off the first album.
11. How would you compare touring on your own vs. being part of a package tour?
I love playing a headlining set because that's where you get to play a full FireHouse show: solos and all. Playing for 30 minutes, like we sometime have to do on a package, is nowhere near long enough. We've had more songs in the top 40 than we could play in 30 minutes, but that's the downside of playing on a package, especially if you have to be the first or second band to play. The upside is that you get to play in front of more people.
12. Do you feel that being part of the 80's hard rock scene has ever held the band back from certain opportunitities?
Sure it has. The industry has pigeon-holed us in that genre and everyone from that genre' is suffering from that today. However, I'm very proud of the music we've made and very proud to be a part of the decade of melodic rock that came out of the decade. The decade was filled with great vocals and guitar sols. When's the last time you heard a modern rock song with any vocal harmonies or guitar solos? I'm still waiting for that to come back.
13. Your music has taken you around the world, which is very inspiring. Do you have any stories that you'd like to share about your travels? Where do you like to go? How does it differ from the U.S.?
Indonesia was awesome. I hope we'll get to go back. The people are so nice. I love Thailand. The people are great and the food is awesome. Japan is my favorite foreign country to play. Our live album was recorded there. In spite of all the great places we've been around the world, I still think that there's no place like home.
14. What should we expect from your upcoming solo album and the future of Firehouse?
My solo album will be similar to the vibe on the song, "I'm In Love This Time" (song #7) off of our latest album, O2. It's more of a Southern album. I'm singing all the vocals and playing the guitars, Bruce Waibel is playing bass and Michael Foster is playing drums. It should be out by the first of the year. I'm very proud of the album. FireHouse will have a new album out this spring.
Thank you so much for doing this interview! Thanks for giving us a dozen years of great music so far!
Thank YOU for your many years of support......
Click Here for "Catagory 5" and other Firehouse CD's at Amazon.com
