Bringing It Down To The Bass: The Tony Levin Interview

The 1980s King Crimson material is so tough that even Tony Levin, who originally played this material, had a hard time getting back into it for the upcoming Beat tour.

Joined by his former bandmate Adrian Belew, as well as Steve Vai on guitar and Tool's Danny Carey on drums, the new prog rock supergroup will finally take the stage today, Thursday, September 12.

As we patiently waited for this day to happen, we got the chance to chat with the almighty bassist and Chapman stick maestro. Among other things, Levin reflected on rehearsals and how things went down for this new quartet.

[MikeKobb]

Very nice interview. You can tell that Tony was pleased that you had actually listened to the album and read the liner notes and so on beforehand.

[rapidfirerob]

I look forward to hearing his new album. I saw Tony and Pete open for Soft Machine at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley about 5 years ago.

[pCeLobster]

One thing no one talks about is Tony's vibrato. I would love to hear him talk about the subtle nuances of his playing. The slides and vibratos, the little fills he does. There's always something slightly alien about it. He's showy in a stealthy way. There's always a sense of menace to it that has given so many songs their teeth.

[frugalbassist]

Too many drummers is a very good problem!