Reb Beach

by Alexandra Mrozowska
— Senior Columnist —

Once upon a time (but certainly not so long ago), it was perfectly acceptable and somewhat of a social norm to ridicule all the Rock music made in the 1980s. The actual credibility and accomplishments of particular musicians involved in the ‘80s scene didn’t matter at all. Some of them went to incredible lengths to prove their opponents wrong, often to delightful results music-wise. Others just waited until ‘80s nostalgia hit. But then, cancel culture kicked in as well, close to suggesting the entire ‘80s had better be “cancelled” for our own moral sake (not even to mention the future generations)… There’s no better way to clarify that than to talk with people who were an important part of that scene themselves. Recently, Hardrock Haven caught up with the guitarist Reb Beach (Winger, Whitesnake, Black Swan) to talk his solo instrumental album A View From The Inside newly released via Frontiers Music SRL. But neither that nor even the details behind the upcoming Winger album and change of dynamics in the ‘Snake camp were enough. We simply couldn’t help asking Reb about unfair criticism, political correctness and haters too – all with a slight ‘80s vibe to it…

Hardrock Haven: Although there are people who think the instrumental guitar albums are more of a thing of the past now, your new solo album A View From The Inside revives this exact tradition. Weren’t you tempted to follow the path of your previous solo album – 2001’s Masquerade – especially after enthusiastic feedback regarding your vocal performance on this album?

Reb Beach: Yeah, I definitely wanted to do Masquerade II and I have a lot of songs already written for it – that would be my next record. But my fans have been asking me for this instrumental record for a very, very long time. I had been working on this for years and it was already done, I finished it a few years ago. So it was a perfect time for me to release it right now and even though Masquerade II will definitely happen, the fans of mine have wanted this record even more.

Hardrock Haven: So why did it actually take you so long to release this material and thus revive your solo career?

Reb Beach: I finished all of the writing a few years ago, but then, what had to be done was sending it out to musicians to play on it, and then mixing it and mastering it, and playing drums on it. Drums are a big deal. You have to go to the studio and mic them up… and I never really had time to do that, ‘cause I was always on the road. I’m a touring musician and also, when I’m home, I’m always writing for a project that has a deadline, like Whitesnake or Winger or Black Swan… I always have to just write for that, and so I kept putting the Fusion instrumental album on the back burner. It took COVID for me to actually have the time to just dot the i’s and cross the t’s and finish the record.

Hardrock Haven: One thing about A View From The Inside is that the tracks are actually… well, I won’t say radio-friendly or catchy, but certainly melodic and somewhat accessible, even in spite of having no vocals. Was this effect difficult to achieve?

Reb Beach: Well, that was my goal. My goal was to make it catchy, and I think it is really melodic indeed. You know, I concentrated on the songs first – before the guitar playing. It’s not about me as a shredder, it’s about making instrumental music that it’s interesting to listen to from front to back and doesn’t get boring just hearing guitar all the time. So I played very melodic lines, I think – especially compared to other instrumental guitar records. Even though there is some shredding on it, it was more about the songs and the diversity that I can try and get on it and not just doing all Heavy Metal songs with shredding, shredding, shredding… (laughs) It’s got different styles of music and different sounds and also, there’s different solos – keyboard solos, drum solos… So that was the goal there.

Hardrock Haven: You’ve just mentioned diversity being a key factor on the album. Your fans probably know your musical background is quite diverse indeed, so do you think there’s something on the new album they could be actually surprised to hear?

Reb Beach: Well, the fans that I have all know The Fusion Demos [a compilation of early demo recordings released by Reb in 2001]. I was gonna make this record in 1993, when Winger broke up, so I made demos for it and I shopped them around everywhere and nobody would sign it because it didn’t have vocals. So I put it in my hard drive, but I sold it later on my website and they sold, sold, sold… everyone bought them, even more than Masquerade, and they told me this is what I should do. The fans said, “That’s the best thing you’ve ever done. You need to do this kind of music ‘cause we love this more than anything you’ve ever done.” So I knew I had to make the record and I started working on it here and there… but since the record companies all wanted vocals, I started to work on Masquerade and put the Fusion stuff in the vault for later… Twenty years later, but here we are (laughs).

Hardrock Haven: Better late than never (laughs). You’ve mentioned how the collaboration with other musicians actually prolonged the recording process. So, who did you work on the album with and, with the obvious exception of Michele Luppi [who worked with Reb in the past as a session musician and now is a member of Whitesnake], how did you hook up with each of the musicians that ended up on the album?

Reb Beach: Dave Throckmorton is the drummer – he was the drummer on Masquerade and also, in my little band The Reb Beach Project that we play around town in Pittsburgh, PA where I live. Throck is my favorite drummer of all time and the reason I have The Reb Beach Project here in Pittsburgh is because I just wanna play with him. That’s just so much fun – he’s incredible. So, he was a sure candidate for a drummer [on all songs but the sixth track on The View From The Inside album, “The Way Home”, which features Robert Langley on drums]. John Hall played some bass and he’s my bass player from The Reb Beach project. Then, we also had Phillip Bynoe from Steve Vai’s band. I was looking for a Funk bass player, and a friend of mine told me about Phillip Bynoe and told me to look at him on YouTube. So I did – and he was perfect! So I called him and he said, “Sure”. And then Paul Brown was the keyboard player friend of Kip’s [Winger], who was great at getting ‘70s sounds. I was looking in particular for a keyboard player who could play Fender Rhodes, the clavinet, B3 [Hammond Organ] – all ‘70s sounds. And this guy, that was his thing, so he was perfect on the record – and that’s everybody.

Hardrock Haven: So with some of the musicians actually playing with you for years, was chemistry a key factor in their participation in the recordings?

Reb Beach: Well, you know… they weren’t in the same room with me (laughs). As long as they played their parts right and were in time and in tune, that’s really what I cared about (laughs). There wasn’t like a chemistry thing, you know… maybe a little bit, as the bass player has to listen to what I’m playing and would play off of that, but that’s kind of a typical bass player thing to do – and that’s what the bass player should do in this kind of music. So, as long as they played the parts rights and added something to it, rather than subtracting from it, we were fine.

Hardrock Haven: You’ve already mentioned that the COVID pandemic gave you time to actually finish the album. But were the last stages of the process of working on it – perhaps putting the finishing touches to it – impacted by the ongoing situation as well?

Reb Beach: I think I started sending it to them even before the COVID hit. Honestly, it was a couple of years ago when we started doing it, when we started the drums… And with COVID, that just gave us time to mix and master it and just do all the little things that are involved. You know, the artwork and picking the order of the songs and all that stuff… In general, COVID didn’t really have much of an impact on the recording process because it’s just done with sending the songs out to somebody, and they send them back.

Hardrock Haven: It wasn’t like that when you started, obviously. So what are the pros and cons of this kind of working process compared to when you were working in one recording studio together with all other musicians involved?

Reb Beach: I don’t know how does it sound to you, but it sounds okay to me (laughs). I know everyone wants the band to play the song live and they want to think that the band is playing this live and they’re hearing it, but that just isn’t how people record anymore. It’s a pain in the ass to record like that. You can do it, but you have to get everybody in the same place – fly them in – and you have to mic up everything… mic up the drums… you have to be in a separate room with the guitar, the bass, vocals… although there’s no vocals on this [The View From The Inside], but you know what I mean… Everyone has to be in the separate room. And then, everyone has to play it perfectly in one take – which nobody does… So everyone would redo their parts anyway, so there’s not really much of a difference. That’s the way that it happens on every album – on Black Swan, on Winger, on Whitesnake… Everyone redoes their parts – that’s just the way that it’s done, ‘cause you don’t wanna mistakes on there. And yeah, I love the ‘70s albums where you can hear mistakes and where they did it as a band – like The Beatles and stuff… That’s super cool. But nobody records that way now.

Hardrock Haven: Exactly, these days are long gone now. So, speaking of what you were up to recently – during the summer you played with Dokken again, filling in for Jon Levin. After videos of these performances went viral, people started to criticize Don for apparently not meeting their expectations as far as his live performance was concerned. What’s your stance on that and similar outbursts of hate towards the artists?

Reb Beach: Well, Don wasn’t having a good night that night for sure (laughs). For me, it was really, really fun to play those songs again… And he’s got a great band with the guys from House Of Lords [Chris McCarvill on bass and BJ Zampa on drums]. We became very good friends and I text them all the time now… You know, I had a lot of fun playing it, ‘cause it was really the only gig available. I mean, we played like a fifteen hundred seater and there were two hundred and fifty people there, so everybody was distanced. And yeah, there’s people on the Internet that say horrible things about anything. Don had an off night – it happens.

Hardrock Haven: It surely does. So as we can’t omit the other bands you’re in, obviously the first choice is Winger. As you guys are working on the new album right now, can you actually reveal anything about it? Will it be a continuation to 2014’s Better Days Comin’?

Reb Beach: I feel like it’s more towards [2009’s] Karma, the way it’s going right now. I like it better than Better Days Comin’ already. We’ve written eleven songs and we are not gonna use six of them, so now we have five songs. It’s because Kip has this very high bar for this record, and he wants every song to be undeniably cool with Progressive riffs… He doesn’t want any riffs that are predictable, so it’s up to me to come up with really cool, unique riffs that are progressive – yet, ones he would be able to sing catchy melodies over. That’s kind of what Winger is. With “Seventeen”, when we wrote that, I never thought in a million years that riff could be a chorus, and Kip heard it as a chorus immediately. That’s the cool thing about Winger – that we write this kind of more complicated riffs, and yet he can sing radio vocals over it. So, we’ve got five awesome songs and I’m going there in two weeks to continue the writing and we’d like to have it out early next summer, in May or June.

Hardrock Haven: So you’d probably agree that Winger was one of the most underrated and misunderstood bands of the late ‘80s and early 90s. What do you think caused people to label you as yet another hair band in spite of all the things you had to offer musically and the Progressive vibe that was always there in your music?

Reb Beach: Well, why did that happen…? I think we’ve got it worse than anybody else because we were the easiest to make fun of. We were four guys who were serious musicians – and we professed to be serious musicians. Like, you know [in a pompous voice]: “We’re studio musicians. I went to Berkeley and Rod Morgenstein is from the Dixie Dregs. We’re great musicians.” (laughs) Of course they’re gonna make fun of that when your hair is a foot above your head and you’re wearing spandex and pleather… And also Beavis And Butt-Head with that nerd they had, they put Winger on his t-shirt and made fun of him. That’s why we got it worse than anyone had, ‘cause it was funnier for that character to have a Winger t-shirt rather than a Poison t-shirt. They [Poison] didn’t profess to be good musicians – they were just like, “We just like to have a good time and we’re not great musicians, but we like to rock.” It just wouldn’t be this funny with Poison, but it’s funnier with Winger. So I kind of understood that. It’s too bad that happened, but I think Kip Winger really brought that around by going around the world playing on acoustic – just him and an acoustic – and showing people, “No, no, no… (laughs) This band is really something, listen to this guy’s singing and his compositions.” And then he scored an album with an orchestra. He wrote an entire album and was nominated for a Grammy for it. So I think those days are kind of over when people are making fun of us. Yet, once in a while there’ll be an idiot who has no idea what’s going on and will say, like “Winger…? They’re stupid!” (laughs) No, they don’t know what’s going on and they’re just ignorant of what that band is about.

Hardrock Haven: I remember from the gig you played in my homeland Poland many years ago – when you were promoting Karma – that there was a solid representation of the early Winger era in the setlist. There are artists who feel somewhat dissatisfied with or embarrassed of their early songs, so what are your true feelings about songs like “Seventeen”?

Reb Beach: Oh God, “Seventeen” is great and “Madalaine” is a great composition. If you look at it from an arranging standpoint, it’s really interesting. It’s very well-written music – you know, try and top “Headed For A Heartbreak” as a composition… It would be rough. All the musicians all around the world tell me that Winger is kind of a step above as far as composition, arranging and the musicianship [is concerned] if you compare us to other bands of the genre.

Hardrock Haven: I absolutely agree music-wise, but what about the lyrics and the videos? Do you think “Seventeen” and many other relics of the ‘80s era – not necessarily Winger’s only, but in general – can be now considered inappropriate or offensive for someone born and raised in the world of political correctness and cancel culture?

Reb Beach: Tell that to The Beatles. “Well, she was just seventeen/You know what I mean…” (singing) Or, you know, “You’re sixteen, you’re beautiful and you’re mine” (singing). And tell the same to KISS with “Christine Sixteen”. Come on, who cares…? This is the dark interview that we’re doing here!… (laughs) This is darkness!… (laughs)

Hardrock Haven: (laughs) But it does happen, like with this example of people demanding the Christmas classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” to be banned on the radio…

Reb Beach: That I think was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. I was embarrassed to be an American when I saw that, honestly. It’s just the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen – that haven’t been heard of. People just go too far and they have too much time on their hands, so they need something to complain about… I hate that whole thing. I don’t wanna know people like that and I don’t wanna have a beer with that person.

Hardrock Haven: Yeah, that’s crazy. So, our next stop is Whitesnake. Musicians come and go, line-ups change, but your position in the band seems to be really stable. What do you think is the secret of such a long collaboration and partnership with David Coverdale?

Reb Beach: Well, I avoided David for the first four years (laughs). I hid in the closet whenever he walked by and when he entered the building, I would hide, ‘cause I was terrified of him (laughs). But we’ve known each other for so long now that I can call him a friend, and we lived with each other for a year doing that last record and I got to know him very well. He’s a beautiful human being. We went out to dinner together three nights a week and I would cook him a dinner. He loves my cooking! We wrote together, we partied together, we watched movies together – I took him to the movies once a week… He’s just a lovely guy and he loves music more than anyone I know, honestly. He’s got one of the biggest music collections in the world on iTunes – he’s got every song you can imagine. But what’s the key to my being in the band for so long? I’m easy to work with, I don’t make waves… I hate confrontation and I hate problems. I just like to make everybody happy, so I think that has helped that I’m kind of easy-going guy.

Hardrock Haven: Right, the last Whitesnake studio album with new material – Flesh & Blood – included five tracks you co-wrote [and one more on deluxe edition of an album]. With this happening, do you feel you can finally bring all your talents to the table when it comes to recording with Whitesnake?

Reb Beach: Yeah, I didn’t write until Doug [Aldrich] left. Doug was the music director and he had a relationship with David – they were the writing team. So when Doug left, I stepped up to the plate and called David and said, “David, I wanna come and write with you.” So I flew out there, and we started writing. That simple. You know, someone had to do it once Doug was gone… (laughs)

Hardrock Haven: You’ve already mentioned another group you’re in – the super-group Black Swan… Your first album saw the light of day this year too. Do you see it as a one-off project only, or are there plans to continue?

Reb Beach: Black Swan does really, really well and everybody loves Black Swan. And Black Swan was just a bunch of Winger riffs that Kip didn’t want. So lo and behold, I have fifteen riffs that Kip didn’t want (laughs), ‘cause it wasn’t progressive enough – and that would probably end up being Black Swan II. And [Jeff] Pilson called me last month and said, “Do you have riffs…? ‘Cause we’re gonna need riffs ‘cause we’re definitely gonna have to do another record.” This thing sold really well and everyone loves it. So, it starts with me – I’ve gotta have the riffs or else we’ve got nothing. I feel confident that I’ve got some really good ones that are perfect for Robin [McAuley]. Robin can sing over anything and it sounds great, but I’ve got some good stuff for the next one and I’m sure we’ll probably get together next year, early – maybe January, February – and start writing it. We wrote the whole thing [Black Swan’s debut album Shake The World] in ten days, ‘cause I had all the riffs. So hopefully Jeff will like the riffs again and we’ll bang it out.

Hardrock Haven: Ten days of writing only – that sounds like an easy process… Was the experience of working on Shake The World really that easy?

Reb Beach: You know, I did Erase The Slate [1999 Dokken album] with Jeff, and we just sat in a room and we wrote it together. So when he proposed doing Black Swan, I knew that’s what it was gonna be again. He said, “Look, you have to write the riffs,” and I was like “I know, I know…” (laughs) And that’s how we did it. I flew to his house, sat in the room in him and we wrote it in ten days. And that’s how it goes. For me, it’s better with two people – I need a collaborator, I can’t write it by myself. Jeff Pilson and Kip Winger are excellent because they’re both arrangers and composers and that’s not my strength. My strength is that I can come up with guitar riffs all day long. But I need a real guy who went to school for it that can put my songs together for me. It goes a lot quicker that way than if I’m left to deal with all that stuff. So we just did it the way we always do it – it’s just me and the other out, and we just bang it out.

Hardrock Haven: And as the year is slowly coming to an end, what are your future plans and hopes for 2021?

Reb Beach: I’m hoping that Winger goes out in May and that our record is out in May or June. And as for my solo album, coming out on November the 6^th, I’m hoping to get on tour with that one day – maybe do like a G3 or a Generation Axe tour, one of those really cool guitar tours… I’d love to do something like that. And right now, I’m just giving guitar lessons (laughs).

Hardrock Haven: And what is this experience like for you?

Reb Beach: I’ve done 200 lessons. I’ve been doing since COVID and I love it. I’ve been talking to people all around the world and met so many lovely people… I’ve made some great friends… and I’ve actually learnt a lot about my own guitar playing. Like, I didn’t know what a Phrygian scale was until three weeks ago, somebody said, “So that’s a Phrygian scale” and I was like, “Wow, is that a Phrygian scale…? I had no idea!” (laughs) ‘Cause I taught myself how to play. So, it’s been a great learning experience and I love it, but I really need to get the hell outta here and get on the road again, ‘cause I belong on the road. I’m a road dog.

Hardrock Haven: What do you think about online lessons being said to be somewhat less effective than meeting with the student in person?

Reb Beach: No way, no! It’s exactly like sitting in a room with me, totally. And it’s exactly better ‘cause they get a video of it that I record for them. So, they can go back and look at everything we did. It’s actually better.

Hardrock Haven: Do your students treat you like an accomplished musician, or a Rock star – especially that you are both…?

Reb Beach: Some are just a little nervous (laughs), but most of them are just happy to be there and I show them lots of easy, fun, new riffs so they’re excited about that to have all kinds of new stuff to practice and play. And a lot of it is easy, so instantly they add more to their own thing. They have new riffs instantly just from being with me (laughs).

Hardrock Haven: Is there anything you’d like to add in the end?

Reb Beach: Nice to talk to you! Well, just check out my album and hopefully you’ll like it – I think if you’re a guitar player, you’ll like it. It’s very listenable, it’s not your typical mechanical shredding album. It’s actually got good songs on it and it’s got great reviews, so check that out. And if you want a guitar lesson, I’m around – just google “Reb Beach guitar lessons” (laughs).

The Official Reb Beach Website

Photos appear courtesy of Brian Kaldorf Photography.