Ep. 7 // Grecco Buratto (Lionel Richie)

Welcome Back Friends!

On this episode we have Grecco Buratto. I met Grecco on the Enrique Iglesias gig (like many of my guests). He was part of the band for many years. Originally from Brazil, Grecco came to the states and studied at MI then went on to start working with some great artists. Grecco is a true artist and guitar player that has seen it all.

Hope you all enjoy this episode you can find this on Apple, Spotify and anywhere you get fine podcasts, as well as YouTube.

Hit the link below to find everything related!!!

https://linktr.ee/JeffSuburu

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

All of a sudden paper comes out. It's like, okay, well the ten finalists. These are the ten finalists for the thing. The final is gonna be held at the this bar, this venue, this stage, blah blah blah blah blah. And I was in the ten. I was in the top ten. And I'm like, alright. You know, made it to the top ten. I'm good. Yeah, you know, gotta practice. Um, alright. Go in. The final thing play it, and I end up winning.

SPEAKER_05 0:39

Episode seven. Welcome back to the NoFlix Podcast. That is Greco Barado. And I'm gonna have to apologize. We lost our feed, so the audio is a little different than normal, but we got through it. And I hope you all enjoy this episode with Greco, amazing guitar player. Here we go. What's up, dude?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Oh, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:09

The hair looks great. Always the hair, the hair always looks great.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Well, how I get all my gigs anyway.

SPEAKER_05 1:15

Hey, I mean, as it should be, you know, it's uh it's part of the deal. So where are you? Are you in Los Angeles right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:25

Yeah, I'm home.

SPEAKER_05 1:27

Nice. And um, that was funny. I saw your message on our WhatsApp. You said you saw Fernando spotting in the Miami. He was on your flight, yeah?

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Yeah, he was on my flight to LA. I just saw him as I was getting out the plane, he was still, you know, half drunk and I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:50

Oh, we love Fernando. So Fernando's the our awesome manager for Enrique Glacius, quite the character. And we were all coming back from Tabasco, Mexico. That's where we were coming from. Yeah. Nice little show. So where were you coming from?

SPEAKER_02 2:07

I was coming from Miami.

SPEAKER_05 2:09

Nice. Uh with Lionel, was it a Lionel gig?

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Or yeah, we played for something to do with the F1.

SPEAKER_05 2:17

Oh that's cool.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Thing. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_05 2:21

That's awesome. So he man, he's busy, right? He he just keeps going. Yeah, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

He loves to um he loves to work and to you know go out there and and perform and connect and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_05 2:38

It's so amazing. Um, and I mean it he's at least is he 70 years old or somewhere in that zone?

SPEAKER_02 2:46

No, he's close to 80.

SPEAKER_05 2:48

Oh my god. Yeah, what a legend. That's he like he looks great, and just the fact that he's like, man, we're going out. I know you guys just did uh I mean that was a tour, right? Like the last year was yeah, we did three months in Europe. Wow, that is so awesome.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

And uh I mean we had we know we had a B stage in the middle of the arena, and we had a catwalk, and and he was running. Dude, we had to we had to run with him, and I was exhausted by the end of the show. So it was like, man, hats off to you.

SPEAKER_05 3:32

Yeah, what a specimen. I mean, if you watch so I love those old like Commodores live shows where he's just they're out there and there's so much energy, whether it's you know, there's they have some extra fuel that they were using maybe back in the days, but yeah, I mean the 70s and the 80s, whatever. Oh dude, those I mean, so much energy, and he's still got it, obviously. That's yeah, that's pretty cool. Um how how long have you been doing that gig?

SPEAKER_02 4:04

So I started as a sub in four years ago.

SPEAKER_06 4:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

April 29th, 2022, and then um and then in 24, at the end of 24, they decided that they needed somebody to be there more constantly or consistently, I guess. I'm not sure. Yeah, you know, and then since I I I was there subbing for the last two years, they were like, Well, what do you want to do? And I'm like, uh, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 4:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

But obviously, you know, I you know, I I never set out to, you know, take anybody's gig. That's not the that's not what we do as professionals, you know. You go and you show up and you do your job as a sub and that's it. Um so you know, I called, I called Greg and say, Hey, you know, I got a call from management, what's going on? And he was like, No, you know, we're cool. You know, take the gig. I would, you know, I did the same thing, and I was like, okay, cool. All right.

SPEAKER_05 5:07

Yeah, that's awesome. Um, and so Gray, I don't know him, but is he that's the guitar player he plays in like Sunny Day Real Estate? Is am I right on that?

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Yeah, I mean, he's done so much stuff. He sunny day real estate is his band.

SPEAKER_05 5:23

Um which that's a that is a legendary band for fans that are in that world. Like people really cite them as a really influential band for for what they are.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

That's that's I mean he was um he's been on American Idol for since American Idol changed MDs, I don't know, seven, eight seasons ago.

SPEAKER_05 5:48

Wow, yeah. And so that did it start, was Ricky Minor the first MD.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Yes, I think I believe so, and then they changed it, I don't know, eight years ago or something like that. And then that's when Joe joined the the band, Joe Ayub, our buddy. Yes, we used to play with Enrique as well. Um Greg Saran is in the band. Um so that and that's how he got to be in Lionel's band because they were the guy who used to do used to play with Lionel before was a guy called Ben Morrow. Ben and Ben was with Lionel for a number of years. He's also played with Cher and also um what's his name? Um from the Eagles guitar player.

SPEAKER_05 6:43

Um uh Joe Walsh?

SPEAKER_02 6:45

No, Don Don Felder. Yeah Don Felder. He plays with Don Felder. Um, I mentioned Cher before. He did a bunch of stuff. Anyway, I think the pandemic came and he kind of decided to um to go to college and get a degree in music therapy or something like that.

SPEAKER_05 7:08

Interesting, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

I mean he still tours, but he I think he he got his degree and and yeah.

SPEAKER_05 7:15

Anyway, what's so what's they were looking to stay local?

SPEAKER_02 7:19

I guess probably right. So he was um they were looking for a guitar player and they thought, well, you know, Greg is here on American Idol, you know him, you've worked with him, let's let's let's get him. And so they did get him for for a while.

SPEAKER_05 7:33

Yeah, that's so cool. Have you have you ever sat in on the American Idol gig? No. In no, is that something you'd ever be interested in?

SPEAKER_02 7:42

As the band or as in the house band?

SPEAKER_06 7:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

No, no, no, um, I don't know. It's a different um it's a different tool set.

SPEAKER_05 7:53

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

You know, I mean, and it's a lot of work. People think it's just oh, you're just no no no, you've you have to learn 20 songs and you have to learn them in a week, and then no, you have to transpose on the spot, and you have to read on the spot, read transpose, and yeah, it's you know, it's a different tool set.

SPEAKER_05 8:14

Um, I uh I've heard uh players talk about it, like I think I heard like Justin Derrico talking about because I think he did the voice, or was he idle? I he was I heard him talking about how he tried to do it without charts, and then he realized like he started losing like childhood memories because he didn't have enough space. He's like, I gotta use charts because it's too much.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

But um it's and also so quick because it's like all right, we gotta learn 20 songs, and then next week another 20 songs, it's and that's gone.

SPEAKER_05 8:46

Yeah, I mean, I would love that would be like my dream gig. And I've talked to Joe about it. I'm like, bro, if you ever you know if they're looking for a you know, yeah, whatever. But um, yeah, that's cool, man. Um, so Lionel's where you're at now. Obviously, you have your your original stuff, which I was listening to. It's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

It's oh thank you.

SPEAKER_05 9:08

Yeah, um, and it just fits your personality so perfectly, which that means you're doing it right because it's like it's Greco, man. You know?

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Oh thank you. That's a good compliment.

SPEAKER_05 9:19

You come from Brazil. I honestly don't know much about the beginning of the Greco that I know. Uh where in Brazil do you come from? Where were you?

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Um I come from the southernmost state in Brazil. Um okay. So we border with Argentina, Uruguay, and we're called gauchos as well. That's that's people from Brazil say, oh, you're a gaucho, you're from the you're from the south, and you know, um geographically or you know, vegetation-wise, it looks the same. There's huge plains, and people raise or used to raise cattle and grow like grains and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_05 10:02

Um did you where where you were at, was it um like kind of a rural area? Was it like kind of farmy land, or were you on the coast? Because I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

No, no, it's um no, we were about about an hour and a half from the from the coast. Although our beaches are not the the beaches that you expect from Brazil, yeah. Because there are no like bays or inlets or things like that. So it's like open sea, and the and the sand at the bottom is very, it's it's dark, it's brown. So it's more like a it's like a chocolate sea. It's like yeah, you know, brown. So it's not like, oh my god, Brazil beaches, it's not like that. It winds a lot and it's cold. And yeah, one state up, it's a completely different thing. It's like four-hour drive up and it's beautiful, and white sands and blue seas and all that stuff. So the south, and the south is a lot of um Germans went there in 1825, Italians 1875. Um there's a lot of European influence and also a sense of wanting to belong to Europe and not Brazil. Oh, we're not Brazilians, we're you know, our ancestors are from Europe.

SPEAKER_05 11:24

Oh well, you're like, but you live here.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

Yeah, but we're not really either. We're we're not from the Brazil you kind of know from you know, from everything that's Brazil that that you see out there. It's different. It's like we're the Texas of Brazil. You know, cowboys, we tried to split from the country back in the 1800s, we didn't succeed. Um and you know, like I grew up listening, you know, I and my friends, we grew up listening to like Rush and Iron Maiden and the guitar shredding stuff from the 90s, and and Metallica and Rolling Stones and Beatles. So it's like very Anglo British rock, American rock. That's that's that's what I grew up listening to.

SPEAKER_06 12:24

Right.

SPEAKER_05 12:25

And what's the metal band, the Brazilian Sepultura? There's a sepultura, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Yeah, were you into that?

SPEAKER_05 12:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

No, it was a bit too heavy for me. Yeah, yeah. I think Iron Maiden was as heavy as I got. I mean Metallica, yeah. Sure.

SPEAKER_05 12:42

They can cross over. Metallica could cross over.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Yeah, but I think that was it.

SPEAKER_05 12:47

That's cool. Um, so when did you was your family musical or what what kind of got you into playing music? Was uh oh. What happened?

SPEAKER_03 12:57

Uh oh, sorry.

SPEAKER_05 12:58

I lost I lost your camera, you're back. Um anybody in your family uh musical? Like what was your influence to get into playing guitar? Did you play another instrument before that or after? Was it always guitar?

SPEAKER_02 13:11

It was all well. I wanted to play bass. Whoa, yeah, I wanted to be a bass player because there was this huge band in Brazil at the time called RPM. Uh and they were like, you know, four good-looking guys, and that's the lead singer was really good looking. He played bass, he wore they all wear like trench coats, you know, it's like mid-80s. Cool. And he lived, he had lived in London. Um, so you know, I wanted to play bass, and then bass was too big of an instrument. I remember going to the store and trying it, I was like, Yeah, this is kind of big.

SPEAKER_05 13:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Um, it's like, all right, I guess I'll go to the electric guitar.

SPEAKER_05 13:52

Wow, I think that might be the first time I've ever heard that angle on it, where it's like bass first and then going, ah, I guess I'll play guitar. It's usually like, I want to play guitar, but someone's like, no, we need a bass player. Play bass.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Yeah, you know. Yeah, I you know, I wanted to play bass because of this guy called Paolo Ricardo. He was he was uh I had an acoustic guitar that my mom bought. Um, I don't know why. And she doesn't know why either. She just felt like she needed to buy me an acoustic guitar, an island string guitar.

SPEAKER_04 14:21

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

And she bought me a guitar, and you know, I would put on a a Beatles um compilation album and you know, pretend that I was playing with it.

SPEAKER_05 14:35

Sure. And what age, what age was that when you kind of started first.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Seven to eight. Seven.

SPEAKER_05 14:41

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Yeah. Nice. And and then we moved to a different part of this small town where we used to live. And our neighbor across the street was a guitar teacher, or he was she was a she was a I guess a psychologist student, and but she played guitar, and everybody in Brazil plays guitar or plays acoustic guitar and knows how to play a couple songs, and it's kind of like a thing.

SPEAKER_06 15:02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Or it used to be, I'm not sure today. Um, so it's like, oh, you know, I I teach guitar lessons.

SPEAKER_06 15:10

Oh, okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

So I, you know, I I would go across the street, take lessons from her, and she would have these uh sheets of paper with the lyrics and the chords on top of the lyrics or where I should change the chords. So it was, you know, simple stuff, you know, E minor, D, C, G, and a simple right-hand thing.

SPEAKER_06 15:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

You know, and that led to another teacher who used to do that and just um expand on the repertoire, I guess. And then it was like, well, yeah, I want to play electric guitar. So we're about an hour and a half drive from the capital city of our state.

SPEAKER_06 15:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

My cousins at the time were taking lessons from this guy who used to teach drums, bass, and guitar. And they were my cousins were like, I don't know, 15, 14, and they were kind of a big deal already because they had they had an instrumental trio, um, called Shirt Circuit, I think. And they played this names.

SPEAKER_05 16:20

I like all these names.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Yeah, and they and they played this huge festival in an arena in Porto Alegre. And you know, they were like, Oh wow, these kids can play, and you know, they were playing instrumental music and they were taking solos, and um, and so we thought, well, why don't we go and and and have lessons with this same teacher? So that's when really it kind of started. Then my aunt would take me on a bus once a week. We took like an hour and a half bus ride, got to Porto Alegre, took another bus to this guy's house, and then you know, that's where that's so great.

SPEAKER_05 16:58

So obviously your family was very supportive. So this is great. Yeah, that's that's really cool. Um so uh you s I would imagine you probably as you're getting better, you probably started playing in bands. And yes, right? Um so mate, when when did you kind of I always like to hear about this because when did you kind of make the decision where you're like I think I'm gonna make a go of this and see if I can like I really want to be a musician, you know, like this is what I want to do. You know, was there a moment or did it just kind of all fall together?

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Yeah, it's it's a it's a fuzzy, it's a fuzzy area, I think. Um I remember that I was I wanted to be a movie director too. Ooh, that's cool. So I watched hundreds, if not thousands, of VHS films. Every day I would go to the VHS store, grab a couple, watch them, return them. Um and that's kind of how I that's kind of I learned a lot of my English too, because I would pick up a phrase and I keep repeating it and repeating it and repeating it.

SPEAKER_05 18:15

Um that's pretty do you still collect or have VHS? Do you still have that?

SPEAKER_02 18:20

No, no, no, but I still watched a ton of films.

SPEAKER_05 18:25

Sure. I have some friends that are still like their VHS kind of and they collect. You're like, nah, I'm good.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

No, no, no. I'm I'm like, well, let's get let's uh what's the word? Let's declutter. Yeah, right. I I like decluttering at the moment. Um I'm with you. So I think there was that. There was oh, being a movie director or you know, um, and I wrote screenplays at one point when I was a teenager, and then I I saw the catalog for MI or GIT when I was 12 at my at my cousin's house. I was spending my winter break from school with them because they were musicians too, and they were gonna do a house concert, and and um, and so they showed me this catalog for GIT, and I was like, oh my god, yeah, this is it, this is where I want to go. It's like the idea of like, wow, you can go to a place where you can go play 24-7.

SPEAKER_05 19:27

I know it's incredible. That's that's what it is. Um, I have to apologize. This chair that I sit in is so squeaky.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

I'm not I'm not hearing it.

SPEAKER_05 19:37

Okay, it's just when I listen back to these. I'm sorry, listener. If you hear a squeaky chair, I'm gonna replace this thing. It's whatever. Squeaky chair. So sorry to cut you off. Um that's it's interesting with um like South America, Brazil. It seems like MI Musicians Musicians Institute has a real lock on Brazil. Um like as far as as far as getting the name out to where because even in the states, if you go more Midwest, uh East Coast, people are more like Berkeley. They're like, Yeah, I've kind of maybe heard of MI, but it's more nah Berkeley. I'm going to Berkeley. And even um, well, our buddy Carlos, he went to Berkeley too, but it's but certain areas of the world, I feel like MI gets their name out there really well.

SPEAKER_02 20:27

So well, I think, especially in the mid-80s, there the faculty there was incredible. You had Scott Henderson, you had Frank Gambali, you had Paul Gilbert, yeah, you had Joe Diorio, you had, I mean, yeah. Was Tedesco what what's his name?

SPEAKER_05 20:44

Was he in there too, or was he a little before?

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Well, he was before, but he came and gave a talk when I was there, which was hilarious.

SPEAKER_05 20:52

Anyway, so I think he's a funny guy, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Yeah, I see this catalog and I'm like, this is where I want to go. I go and I take the catalog to my dad, this is where I want to go. So that was happening throughout my adolescence from like 12 to that was the plan, right? But I was still like, yeah, yeah, film and film, but it's kind of it didn't seem like I had a a clear a clear idea of how to go about it. With guitar, it was like, well, you go to MI, and then that's as far as I had worked out.

SPEAKER_03 21:26

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

And then when I was 17, I went into this contest that you had to write a three-minute solo. And this this big production house in Porto Alegre, and they had a club and and you know, a venue. Um, and mind you, you know, the whole shredding thing was really big in this in where I grew up, right? So they do this like statewide, you know, right, imaginary guitar solo is the name of the contest. So you wrote this piece three minutes. Long. I wrote it, recorded it, sent it in, and then it's like, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_05 22:05

On on electric guitar?

SPEAKER_02 22:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:08

So it's like it's just a one a one guitar piece.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 22:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

Yeah. It's not like there's no tracks behind it. It's just like a a piece. Like you said.

SPEAKER_06 22:19

Yep. A piece. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:21

So I I didn't make too much out of it. And then all of a sudden the paper comes out. It's like, okay, well, the ten finalists are these are the ten finalists for the thing. The final is going to be held at the this bar, this venue, this date, blah blah blah blah blah. And I was in the 10. I was in the top 10. And I'm like, all right, cool. Well, you know, made it to the top 10. I'm good.

SPEAKER_06 22:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

You know, gotta practice and okay. Um, all right. Go in that night, you know, the final uh thing, play it, and I end up winning the thing.

SPEAKER_05 23:02

Dang. Right. Do you do you remember or have a recording? I'm sure. Yeah. Wow. Wait, what do you think of it now looking back? Um still proud of it? I mean, you gotta be proud of it. If it won, it's gotta be awesome, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:18

Yeah, I mean, it was you know, neoclassical, you know, harmonic minor, you know, fast scales, and wow. So, and then when that happened, I was like, okay, maybe I'll take this as a as a sign. And it's like maybe to get you know, being a musician is but mind you, I had no idea what it is, what it was to be a musician. I knew how to play guitar and play scales and do exercises, and I played in a band in the town I grew up in, and we played covers and we wrote a few songs, and um, you know, and then I started interfacing with people that are were professional musicians in Porto Alegre, and I got recommended for a gig and I got fired because I had no idea what I was doing, and I was just not prepared at all to just be a professional musician.

SPEAKER_05 24:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

And a lot of that happened to when I got to MI too. It's like the first six months, I was just like, yeah, I I figured I had to learn how to read because I had I didn't read anything. Um, ear training, and then after that, I was just like, you know what? I'm just gonna for the the the second semester, I'm just gonna focus on rhythm guitar because and playing bands, and that's what I did. It's just like I joined every band I could, and I was not interested in taking solos at all. I was like, no, no, no, I'll just play, I'll just play rhythm and I'll just comp and that's yeah, and sounds and parts and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_05 24:49

Mm-hmm. That's awesome. Um, I mean, those failures are so important. That's when the learning really happens. I steal um a lot of my work ethic that I have, where it's like, oh, I have to be on time, or I oh, I have to play this a million times and make sure it's based out of fear, based uh fear from the failures that I've had when I was young, you know. Um, where you show up at a gig and you just fall on your face and you're like, that's I can never let that happen again. Yeah, yeah. Um yeah, it's important. Absolutely. It's so important.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

You know, they're gonna happen. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 25:28

Um, it's gonna happen. It's still gonna happen. On so, you know, certain things are gonna happen for sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:35

Um but yeah, that's why we practice and and do the work that we do is to minimize the you know the possibility of that happening, uh or at least on our part.

SPEAKER_05 25:49

Yeah, right. Exactly. Yeah, pretty much. Um so you go to MI practicing rhythm guitar. Um, I'm what age would you be right here? Maybe 18, 19? I started a couple years ago.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

Was 18 turning to 19.

SPEAKER_05 26:10

Yeah, yeah, and then and you're you're in the States. Had you spent much time in the in the US before that? So everything's new.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

You're just like I spent a month when I was 16 in upstate New York because my father um had a friend from work, and this guy and his family were extremely gracious and generous with with with us and with me. And they were like, no, you know, come come spend the come spend Christmas with us. So, you know, I show up in New York and I'm 16, and you know, I go to what was it, Manny's, you know, to to buy like a 50 watt JCM 900 and you know a real a real New York amplifier, you know. Yeah, so it's just like 50 watt head, and you know, and anyway, I spent the crew uh the December with them and it was amazing. I went to high school because their kids were about the same age as I was and got to got to experience that, and then once I did experience that, it was just like, all right, yeah, yeah, this is definitely where I want to come to, you know, where I I have to come back. But yeah, at MI, I everything was new. Yeah, um, I was under 21, which meant I couldn't go to most of the bars or any nightlife. So there was one pub that I think it was, there's a couple, but one pub walking distance that I could go to.

unknown 27:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:45

And you know, a bunch of us Brazilian guys would go there at uh at you know Friday night or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 27:53

Yep. And then the rest is just practicing 24 hours a day, basically. That's MI was so I look back at that time and I'm like, oh man, all you had to do is just play guitar. It was so cool. Uh yeah, such a good time. Um, for me at MI, I've talked about this a few times on this because I've had some other guests that went there, but I still had a ton of growing up to do. Like after I got out of MI, you know.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

Oh, you did? Oh, this is from your guests. From me, me. Well, you did go to no, yeah. I went.

SPEAKER_05 28:24

I did go, yeah. Um, yeah, I was like 2005, is when I went. Um years after I did it. So, but it would for me it was kind of interesting because I moved to LA with my big rock and roll dreams with my band. Got a little record deal, band falls apart, and I actually started working professionally. But when I was working professionally, I realized I was way behind these other players, and that was when I was like, I need to learn fast. And so I went to MI. Then I got out, but anyways, it took me a long time to start working again, just just the way it was for me. So I'm curious about you before we go any further.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

My little class here is not recording. Is that okay?

SPEAKER_05 29:08

Um, I'm recording, so we're good. Okay, yes. Um, it's all it all comes to me, so we're good.

SPEAKER_02 29:14

Okay, yeah. So yeah, I remember that I, you know, I've at the end of MI I got a scholarship for another year because they were trying to, yeah, they were trying to do a thing where they they were investing in students that they felt had potential to you know catch attention from the industry and so they could use that to promote.

unknown 29:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 29:42

Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

So there was a thing called a band clinic project. Very much like American Idol format. So I was in a band and we had to go and you know, we had to present a song every week to a panel of three judges, and the judges would, or mentors, they would say, you know, give us advice or tips or ask for for things. So I did that for a year. Then I got another six months, did that for another six months. Then I was out of school, um, and I didn't have a car. I was in a band, we were playing, you know, original stuff. Um, so you know, the lead singer of the band would come and pick me up, we go to rehearsal, we would rehearse every day. We did the whole, we got a production deal, we recorded a demo with uh a good engineer producer at the time. He was just stepping out as a producer. His name is Neil Avron. He has since produced a bunch of stuff. So we did that, we showcased for all the record companies, nobody wanted us. And looking back, it's like, yeah, of course not.

SPEAKER_05 30:50

Yeah, yeah. But in the time, I'm sure you're like, what's happening here? We why why yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

We were crushed, uh, obviously. We were, you know, totally crushed.

SPEAKER_05 30:59

We've all been there. What what kind of music? What kind of music was it?

SPEAKER_02 31:03

That's the thing. It's um, yeah, that's the thing. You couldn't it I don't I don't think it had a uh not at that time, not in 90s. This is 97. I think we hadn't really figured out who we were, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 31:22

And being a um, this is something that really happened to me, and I think a lot of musicians, even still that are kind of hired gun guys, when you learn you go to music school and you learn all this stuff, then you feel like you can play a lot of different styles. And so you're like, like for me, I'm kind of like, well, I'm a rock guy, but this verse would be cool if we went into some cool jazz chords or something, you know, and you're trying to flex all these muscles of what you know, and it kind of the music sometimes can suffer where it gets a little confusing. I don't know if that's what happened, but I used to do that. I used to do that.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

I I think it's part of growing up and figuring out, yes, you know. I as as a as a side musician or as a studio musician, I think we are paid to. I like to say I'm a good actor because I can convince you that I've played this style of music all my life when in reality I just learned it for this. Yeah, yeah, but it doesn't mean you know, it um, you know, I'm playing a part. I'm not, I don't live that part.

SPEAKER_05 32:31

Yeah, right. Yeah, like you'll play our knowledge of it, it will convince you that we've been playing it, but if you asked us some real questions about like if it was like slide guitar, if you went back a few generations, we might not have the answer.

SPEAKER_02 32:47

Yeah, we'll get the job done, yeah, and that's the job. It's like, okay, let's, you know, what do you want? Oh, I want this, and you know, again, it's all within the context of pop music. Sure. So, you know, people are asking us to do, oh, can you play flamenco? No, but I can play it in the context of pop music where you know, because you don't what you're hearing is not, you know, the guy who like just plays that. I know, yeah, because that maybe doesn't fit the pop production. So you want somebody with the sensibility and a foot in both worlds, yep. Right. So anyway, going back um in the band, and then I get a call to play this gig, and I go play this gig. It's at a school and we're playing three RB funk tunes. I think it was Shining Star. Um, that sort of um Ain't No Stopping Us Now and another song. It's a graduation for kids who have been abused or in gangs, and it's kind of that kind of gig. All right, I go, I play, and the keyboard player is like, Man, my church needs a guitar player. You know, do you want to come play? And I'm like, Man, I would love to, but I don't have a car. You know, it's like it's gonna take me an hour and a half on a bus to get there.

SPEAKER_05 34:11

And if anybody that doesn't know, which most people do, LA is a driving city. You got it's it's stuff is so far apart.

SPEAKER_02 34:19

Yeah, it's yeah, yeah. So anyway, a year goes by, I do the same gig. He's like, We're still looking for a guitar play. I was like, Yeah, I still don't have a car. So excuse me. So at the end of that year, my dad comes to LA to visit me, and I say, Hey, you know, I've I have job offers, but I I need a car. He was like, All right, my neighbor was selling a car, and because he was moving back to Brazil, we end up buying the car, and he's like, All right, but here's the deal. I, you know, here's here's the car, but you have to pay for everything, you have to pay for gas, insurance, maintenance. This is you know, it's like, yeah, great. And then I called my friend at church, like, hey, you still need a guitar player? Yes. Show up, they went, they went a long time without having a guitar player, or they were having guitar players, they were not working out. I don't know. Anyway, I show up, I play, still there, and this is like South Central LA. I'm the only white guy there.

SPEAKER_05 35:20

Yeah, I've done, I've done this, I've done this kind of vibe.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

And you know, I was like you paid 50 bucks a week, and I had to go play Wednesday night, rehearse Thursday night, and play the Sunday morning service.

SPEAKER_06 35:32

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

All right, well, I have to pay bills, so I'm like calling everybody I know to like, all right. I ended up selling Christmas trees for a couple of weeks, and then from there I got a gig at an art gallery, and I was helping the guy who was the guy at the art gallery. So I was like sweeting floors, hanging pictures, transporting pictures, doing everything. And then I meet at the a church concert, I meet this other guitar player called Bibi McGill, who ended up MD for Beyonce or playing guitar with Beyonce. And at that time, she was, you know, she had the swag, she she was a professional musician, you know. And I was like, Man, Bibi, how do you do this? What's the and she's like, you know, if you make yourself available, work will work will show up. And I'm like, hmm, okay. That stayed in my mind, and I went to work at the art gallery the following day or a couple days later, and I'm like, yeah, you know, okay, fine. Give my notice, you know, two weeks, that's it. And then they start, they begin to instead of paying me 50 bucks a week in church, they go, like, well, we want to hire you. It's like this is, you know, and we're not gonna pay you 150 a week. Yeah, and so with that, I made like, all right, that's 600 bucks a month. That can cover all my expenses. Yeah, you know, rent, car. It's like, all right, okay. And so that became the thing. And then because I, you know, I knew a bunch of Brazilian guys, I got called one night. I came back from rehearsal at church and it's like, man, what are you doing now? I'm like, I'm here at home. Come to this bar, the guitar player's not gonna make it. Um, you know, bring your guitar, bring your amp. And I'm like, no rehearsal, didn't know the songs, didn't grow up listening or playing those songs, but I knew that because of school, I had the tool, I had the tools, it's like, all right, well, it's rhythm guitar, it's ear training. It's like, all right, it's right hand guitar. I was like, okay, cool, yeah, I'll make it work. So I went and the whole night the guy was, you know, shouting changes in my ear, and he was playing the percussion pattern that I was supposed to play with my right hand. Nice, like cool.

SPEAKER_05 38:08

So this was like Brazilian music or what kind of music? Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_02 38:13

Music from Bahia, Brazilian music, but music from Bahia. Yeah, Jamar stuff, huh? Yes. The guy was a percussion player and singer, he would sing and play, you know, and there's like a dive bar, and it was like 20 people in there. But then from then, it's like, man, we have another gig next week. Do you want to do it? I'm like, yeah, sure. And then I went to this other gig and I met a singer, and she's like, Yeah, I got this uh, you know, duo, acoustic guitar, and vocal at this restaurant in Hollywood starting next month. Do you read? And I'm like, Yeah. Can I have the book beforehand? Yeah, she's like, Yeah, yeah, of course. Like, yeah, okay, cool. And you know, again, never had never done that before, but got the book and kind of I didn't have a nylon string either. Borrowed it from a friend and like, all right, let me see which of these songs I can okay. Made a list. Oh, we can play these and these, and yeah, and that's that's it. Started.

SPEAKER_05 39:14

Yeah, just getting out there. Yeah, yeah, that's that's great. And my my reference to Jamar, that's one of our buddies that plays percussion, amazing musician who's in a regays band. Anyways, okay, so now so now you're like in it, you've phased out the the odd jobs pretty much, I would guess. Um and so what was like your first uh what was like the first gig that you got called for that was maybe a like a bigger like where you're like whoa, this is like a either national or right any kind of touring or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

What was the first one that I think that was Sergio Mendes? Um yeah, I I I had been playing in the Brazilian scene around town. I played with most of the bands, and in one of the bands, the keyboard player was also Sergio's keyboard player and MD.

SPEAKER_06 40:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

Um, and he's like, Yeah, Sergio wants to wants to try a different guitar player. Would you be interested? And I'm like, oh yeah, of course I'd be interested. Um, all right, well, there's not gonna be an audition. We're just gonna do a show in Miami, and that's gonna be your your audition.

SPEAKER_06 40:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

Okay, we're gonna have rehearsal. It's you know, a couple rehearsal, I think it was. So learn the material. Um, I still read on stage for that one, but I remember that I, you know, I remember that I had a a Bradshaw system, and he I lived two blocks from his shop.

SPEAKER_05 40:51

Oh wow, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 40:54

So, and I and I knew that Paul Jackson Jr. had done a a bunch of recordings for Sergio, and I just showed up or called him and say, Hey Bob, can you uh I'm doing this thing, I gotta get some Paul Jackson Jr. tones, and it's like, oh okay, sure, yeah. He uses this and he does that, and you know, he, you know, I'm like, okay, cool. Dial the sounds. And I took the I took the my rack to to the gig, actually. Flew without a you know, I don't know, 120 pounds in the case. I was just like, man, the pedal board, but I was like, no, I'm gonna do it because it's my sound and blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_05 41:34

I know. I hear you. That's how it was. Like with when you're starting out, if you find a sound, you're like, I have to have the sound. It's the only way and it's and it's about like this is gonna impress them, and like it's the sound, you know?

SPEAKER_02 41:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I think it's more about you feeling comfortable and completely safe, and it's like, all right, I know it, I know how I can sound, so I'm yes, yes, I'll go the extra mile. So I did that, and then after the show I was like, Yeah, great. Do you want to do some more? I was like, Yeah, sure. So that was 2001, and I did that from 2001 to 2003.

SPEAKER_06 42:08

Cool, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:09

That's and then I at that time, because I was waiting on my papers, I couldn't really leave the country. Um, so I you know intentionally said, well, I'm gonna just focus on recording as much as I can. You know, and it doesn't matter if it pays or if it doesn't pay. The the point is every week I have to do a session for somebody.

SPEAKER_05 42:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

To get my truck stopped.

SPEAKER_05 42:34

Yep, that's cool. So you're just recording for any anything, anything that calls.

SPEAKER_02 42:40

Anybody who would call and heck yeah, sure. If it paid and some paid, some didn't pay. But I was um and actually a lot of the stuff I done came from a session that didn't pay.

SPEAKER_05 42:54

Yeah, that's generally how it can go, right?

SPEAKER_02 42:57

You know, I did the first one, the producer paid, and he's like, Man, I have so many more songs I could use you. And I'm like, Well, let's do this. When you have three songs, call me up, you know, buy me a pizza, pay for my gas. Yep, and we're good. And then one song that he wrote and produced ended up being on a voice to men demo, and then they wanted to record, and then I get a call from another producer saying, Hey, you know, we're going to New York to record with Boys to Men, and I'm like, Oh, great. Well, have a great trip. I'll see you when you come back. And he's like, No, no, no, no, you don't get it. They want you because they heard the demo and they want you to come and re-record.

SPEAKER_05 43:39

And I'm like, Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay, that is awesome. So, what uh what were you? I see this is great because I'm I'm learning this with everybody else. So, what were what tracks were you on?

SPEAKER_02 43:54

Uh I think it was L U V apostrophe and Apostrophe you loving you. And that was the first track. And then you know, we're in New York for three or four days, and we're at the Sony Studios, huge studio, and they have you know two rooms going at the same time. And you know, it's like, oh yeah, you're here, great. We're doing another song downstairs. Come downstairs when you're done here, and and do the like okay, went and did that, you know, and that I think was the end of the road. And then a couple years, a few years later, I got a call from Sean. Um, I want to say Stockman, which is who's one of the the guys in Boys to Men and is like, hey, we're we're producing this album called Throwback, and it's all a bunch of covers that we're doing it. And um, and then I did a few for that for that album too, and one of them was human nature, which I thought it was kind of cool because it was cool. I had to figure out all the parts and kind of adapt them for steel string and nylon string guitar.

SPEAKER_05 44:58

Yeah. Wow, that is really cool. Uh, I didn't know that. So so when you're doing stuff with these massive artists like that, is that something where they're like, you know, it's a Sony production? Are they just like, all right, Greco, like you're kind of a new guy? Like, here's a day rate kind of a vibe, or are they like, do you get like points on that stuff? Like as far as royalties?

SPEAKER_02 45:21

No, I no, I didn't know about the points stuff, and you know, but I did know about the union.

SPEAKER_06 45:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:27

So on those sessions, I knew it was it was union, and yeah, awesome. Yeah, and at that time I was just like, Well, it's double scale, and they were like, Okay, no problem.

SPEAKER_05 45:38

That's cool. So, you know, and you you had to you had to bring that to them like that.

SPEAKER_02 45:45

Well, whoever I was dealing with, the producer, not the artists, not the artist per se, but the producers like, well, you know, this is you know, it's such a this is the stuff they don't teach you at school, right? You know, and it how to and it's it's interesting because it's so I had an experience a few weeks ago, it's actually meta in that sense, because I was talking to Mi about coming and doing clinics, and and they were like, Well, how much would you want? And that's kind of that question is interesting to me because if you ask me what I want, I'm gonna say what I want. Right, yeah, right, and then I say, Well, I want this much, and then never heard back.

SPEAKER_05 46:27

Exactly. It's like the question of because you kind of want to say, Well, what's your budget? Right, you know, that's that's the right approach, yeah. And so, but then you kind of start going back and forth because yeah, if you say what you want, then it's yeah, you want to make it. We don't want to close doors, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:45

So it should be more like, hey, this is how much this is how much, yeah, or or you know, this is how much I get for doing things like this.

SPEAKER_05 46:54

Let me know what you have in your budget, and we can yeah, yeah, always leaving the door open, but kind of setting like this is kind of my standard, yes, but you but you know, I want to do it, so let's yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 47:08

I want to be involved, I want to do it, yeah, yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_05 47:10

Yeah, and you know, that's that's interesting. I mean, it's really important for people to understand that you just have to be looking out for yourself because no one's gonna come to you and say, Man, Greco, you're the best. I'm gonna give you what do you how much you know, like I'm gonna give you this much money. It's like it just doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_02 47:28

No, I think I don't know if I don't know many uh many professions where, and maybe I am mistaken and happy to be corrected about it, but if you call anybody to fix anything in your house or in your car, it's like they're not gonna say, Well, how much do you have? Or you know, it's like, well, here's the bill. I know, I know, you know, the plumber is not gonna come here and fix anything and say, Well, yeah, how much do you want? It's like, no, this is my rate.

SPEAKER_05 47:59

And then I mean, this is funny because I I've we've talked, I've talked about this exact subject and this exact metaphor of like, if someone comes to fix something in your house and and they said, Yeah, it's it's uh $1,500, and you said, Yeah, I was thinking more like $800. And they go, they would just go, no.

SPEAKER_02 48:21

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05 48:23

But we're musicians, so that's maybe maybe it's creatives.

SPEAKER_02 48:26

I'm not I don't want to say just musicians, but maybe true that. You know, it's like okay, well, yeah, but yeah, I and you know, it's uh it's an interesting it's an interesting thing, but there's you know, it's a skill.

SPEAKER_05 48:41

Yes, obviously you've learned it well just through experience, and it's something you can massage and and hopefully, you know, I think it's an ever going lesson. I think it's still it is it really sometimes it's like, oh man, I should have ah I know you have to really be good with with people and be able to read them, whoever you're negotiating with. Uh that's what I found, you know.

SPEAKER_02 49:05

See, that word to me is I remember I remember talking to this about about this with somebody, and it was the here's the thing you're dealing with people whose job is to negotiate.

SPEAKER_06 49:18

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 49:19

That's what they do. I know that's what they do, that's all what they always done. So to me, it seems like it's an uneven playing field to begin with.

SPEAKER_05 49:29

You're right, you're very right. Because you it's like if we want to talk about music theory, yeah, we might have the upper hand, but when it comes to numbers, they're like, listen, man, this is my world.

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Yeah, they they know they know exactly how to, you know, and that's that's their gig.

SPEAKER_05 49:46

That's so true.

SPEAKER_02 49:47

So it's kind of um I don't know if I don't know if as creatives we have the capacity to step out of that of that persona of just like, oh, I just want to do music, I love doing music, to like the business side of things, right?

SPEAKER_05 50:04

Or that switch, I don't know if it's that easily right because we we do our job is something that we love to do, and to be honest, most of us would do it for free in the case. Of course. And so knowing that if you're gonna be a real negotiator, you have to be willing to walk away from something. Yes, um, is a hard pill to swallow. Where you're like, if someone calls, you get an offer, and you're like, wow, this actually sounds really cool. I want to do it, but they're not offering me enough money. And then you have to be willing to go in and be like, I might lose this. Yeah, and and to be okay with it, that's really hard.

SPEAKER_02 50:43

That's a really hard that's the only power we have. That's that's what I think. It's just like, yeah, no, yeah, you know, they're loss, not mine.

unknown 50:52

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 50:54

And I've walked out of tour and gigs because of that. It's like, well, same thing. How much do you want? It's like, well, I can do it for this.

unknown 51:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:02

Oh no, management said I can't do it for that. I'm like, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_05 51:06

I know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:07

Why do you ask me then?

SPEAKER_05 51:09

I know, yeah. It's it's pretty interesting. And there's a lot of people that their job is to put up the walls, you know, you have the goat keepers to so it doesn't even get back usually to the artist.

SPEAKER_02 51:21

So it's yeah, um see, yeah, that's another tricky thing because I think as a business owner, every business owner should know the ins and outs of their business.

SPEAKER_06 51:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 51:33

So the card of, oh, I didn't know anything about this, I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I I I understand it's a it's a position you have to perhaps take in order to protect yourself, and I get that. Um, but at the same time, it's like if this is what you're offering and you know that that's what you're offering, then I don't want to be on stage with you.

SPEAKER_05 51:56

Right. Yeah, yeah. I know it's it's tricky, it's a tricky world.

SPEAKER_02 52:01

Very tricky, very delicate.

SPEAKER_05 52:03

It's very delicate. There's so many moving parts with um this business. And I know we were talking about studio work, but in the touring world, there's so many people involved and so much management, so much middle ground of production that a lot of times the production, they're the ones setting up the budgets, and so they're kind of creating this thing, and also they're the ones that are kind of making the calls on how people are getting hired and what they're getting paid based off of budgets, at least what I've seen. And uh it's it's tricky, you know, it's tricky. You gotta you gotta look out for yourself and be able to know what I always think no matter what, I have to give myself or I have to make sure that I'm making the amount to where I'm just happy to be here and I'll do this job, even if it's rough, I'm gonna be okay with it. Because you don't want to be the guy that's just grumpy, and it's it's all on us. We all have the right and the ability to say no. So if someone's unhappy, it's it's really on them, you know. Yeah, that's that's what I say.

SPEAKER_02 53:11

Yeah, I mean, you know, we get, you know, we we oh, but I need the I need the money, I need to pay bills. Yeah, okay. Well then, you know, if you need the money, and this is the gig that you have, you have to me, you have two choices. You either do the gig and until you have a better gig, or you don't do the gig and start, you know, figuring out figuring it out because nobody wants to, but then again, it's human condition, you know. If you want to hear a musician can play, give him a gig. Give him a gig. That's what they say, right?

SPEAKER_05 53:46

And it's it's so true.

SPEAKER_02 53:49

So it's like, but uh, you know, it's that's why, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 53:53

That's why most music yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:55

I'm with you. It's like, okay, this is I'm I'm good with this, and yeah, would I want to be making a lot more? Of course I would, sure. But I'm okay, I'm okay with this, and I'll come do the gig, and that's you know, and I'll be there 110, 100. I'm there.

SPEAKER_05 54:16

Absolutely. Um, so Sergio Mendez, you're working with him for a couple years. I know eventually you got into the Gwen Stefani camp. Yes. Um, that was that way later. I mean, I don't know your your order of so here we go. Yeah, yeah, let's let's break it down.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

Sergio, and then I started doing sessions, and then I figure out that I want to be doing more um less Brazilian stuff and more American stuff. So I start, so I quit Sergio. I said, hey, such date's gonna be my last date. Okay. Um, then I start. Um, this was 2002, do a bunch of sessions because of my paper situation. Um, end up working with Pink in the studio. I do a movie called First Daughter with a producer called Damon Elliott and director Forrest Whitaker. I meet a guy called Blake Neely, who's a composer, and then I do a bunch of TV shows with him. I ended up recording with Earth, Wind and Fire because in that studio scene I get recommended and I knew a couple people. Um 2003, 2004, 2005. Um I produced this song or a couple or an EP for a singer call, a song, singer-songwriter called BC Gene. And I call um a bass player uh named Dan Rothschild, which is a legend, and he's played with Cheryl Crow and a bunch of, you know, great, great guy, great bass player, amazing. A couple months later, or a month later, I get an email from his one of his buddies called Yogi Lonich. Uh, hey Greco, this is Yogi. I'm you know, we're looking for a sub on Anastasia. There's a oh wow, there's a 20-day promo tour in Europe, and we play one real show in Amsterdam at the end at the beginning of it, and then we do an acoustic song at the end of it. And this is like the first big, you know, big tour, you know. It's like, yeah, yeah, of course. I'm in. Uh, so we rehearse at SIR for or center staging for a week. That's where I meet Tony Bruno.

SPEAKER_05 56:38

Ah, gotcha. Okay. Tony Bruno, MD to the stars, Enrique Glacius, Rihanna, yes, Anastasia. Great guitar player. Yeah, Anastasia. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 56:49

So I meet Tony because I'm subbing for him.

SPEAKER_05 56:52

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 56:53

Right? It's him and Yogi, so I'm taking his place for for the month because he he couldn't make it. All right. I do this gig. Um, and then he's like, Yeah, I think uh Enrique's gonna tour next year, 2006. I think he would like you. Maybe, you know, let's stay in touch. Right, let's stay in touch. 2006. And I'm doing a few other gigs at the same time with like world music artists and uh a piano player named Keiko Matsui. She does her her brand of smooth jazz.

SPEAKER_06 57:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:27

Um all right, cool. 2006, yeah. Enrique has a gig. We have a gig in Spain and a private gig the day after. This is your audition. So I meet Tony at a poo party. We I show up with charts, and you know, we're rehearsing the songs. Okay, cool. Show up in Spain, rehearse at a hotel ballroom, play the gig. I think it was only like six or seven songs, but you know, MTV thing, 100,000 people on the beach, just massive. Yeah, okay, cool. Great. He likes you. Do you want to do more? I was like, yeah, of course I want to do more. Okay, great. So I'm in the band. So I start working with Enrique 2006. We do another little tree at the end of the year in 2007. Um, I was playing also with Airto and Flora at the time, which are two Brazilian jazz iconic people they used to play with Return to Forever, Chikaria, a bunch of stuff. So I would I'd be playing with them. We'd be touring all around Blue Note, Japan, uh Europe tour, blah blah blah blah blah. 2007 comes in, and I have to basically say, Well, okay, cool. I have this eight and a half week tour with Enrique starting, I don't remember when, September. You know, and so okay, that was that. But I think it was the middle of that year. Um, I do a session with Katie Lang.

SPEAKER_06 59:06

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 59:08

You know, and I go in, she hears she hears me playing on a track I did for Flora, actually. Um, and she's like, who's that? This is so-and-so. The engineer is a mutual friend. Great. So I get called, I go in, I play this this song that she has. And I'm like, man, I feel so good after the session, just working with her and just the I don't know, the the exchange that I had with her in that session. Um and obviously it was it was not like you said, you know, there there was not all these different gates and gatekeepers that happen inside a big pop uh tour or show where it was just a little room, I'm playing guitar, she's sitting next to me, and the engineer's in front of me, and that's it.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:04

So it was super intimate, super, super comfortable. And I'm like, man, I I would love to. And then I go to a vocal lesson afterwards, and I like I tell that to my vocal teacher, and she's like, Oh yeah, close your eyes, let's hold hands, let's visualize that. And you know it's like, all right, sure. So we do that.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:22

So, how old are you right here? Like 26 or something?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

This is no, I'm 31.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:28

Oh, okay, sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:29

Yeah, all right. So I again I continue doing sessions and meeting people, so I fly to Australia to do a session for a producer that split his time between LA and and Melbourne at the time.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:43

That's a tough split.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:45

Yeah. But he he was super uh successful in Australia, you know, and he was trying to make the move to LA and he had worked with The Matrix, and you know, he was playing the game in LA, yeah, you know, a few months at a time. All right, but he was like, Well, I'm producing this album for I have two albums for you. It's like two weeks worth of work. Come down to Australia, let's have a good time, let's do some music. So, yeah, sure. I fly to Australia. When I get there and I land there, I get a text or an email from KD's management. Hey, this is so-and-so, and KD's putting up a band, you band together, and she asked me to get in touch with you and see if you're available and interested. And this is before the Enrique tour.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:31

Yes, right, which you're still on the books for.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:35

I'm I'm still doing the Enrique tour.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:37

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:37

All right, do the session, come back, and and at the time I'm like, yeah, I don't know about Katie Lang, I'm not sure. You know, and I have all these, you know, I go and I meet the manager at his office and he gives me a DVD, I watch the DVD, and I'm just not not there yet. Um, and partly it was because, you know, the Enrique camp is such a fun camp. Everybody's amazing, everybody has a good time.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:09

Who was was were you playing with Tony at the time?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:12

Yes. Okay. So I was second, I was second, second guitar. Yep, gotcha. So it's Tony, uh, blue on keyboards, Joeyoub, Van, Jomar, Laura.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:23

There it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:24

Yeah. And and we're going to all these exciting places, you know, these private parties, and and that's like and that band was full on in those days where it was.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:33

Oh my god, yes, party on.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:36

Yeah, it was more about the hang. That was the audition.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:39

Yeah, and Enrique's just astronomically blowing. He continues to keep having hits, and yeah, so yes, yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:47

So I'm like, yeah, I don't know. It's like, you know, uh, Monaco or Kansas City. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:54

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:55

And and then it gets to a point where she calls me and says, Hey, hey, it's like, what's up? Well, you know, I really thought we connected in the studio, and I was, you know, really looking forward that we make music together next year.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:11

And I'm like, okay, well, this is personal.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:15

That feels pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:17

That's another, it's like you want me for me. You don't want me because I'm just, it's like, okay. So I hang up the phone, call the manager, and it's like, okay, I'm in.

unknown 1:03:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:25

You know, and I get a text from her, it's like, oh my God, amazing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Now I have to go do the tour, and I have to tell Tony, hey, listen. Um, so eventually we get to it, and the tour is long. It's eight and a half weeks. It's it's super long, you know. And if you're burning the candle at both ends, it gets to a time where everybody's just, and mind you, that in the middle of it, we still had a couple one-offs with Anastasia where Tony and I would you know fly somewhere and just do a trio gig with Anastasia.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:00

Oh, and he'd be there with you on that too.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:02

Because yeah, because he's he was the MD as well.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:05

Yeah, I see.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:06

So anyway, so I get to a point I tell him, hey, listen, my last show, I'm gonna do this thing, you know, it starts. So, you know, we do the last show of 2007 in Mexico City. The next day I fly back in, two rehearsals with Katie Lang. We rehearse. We do, I think we did like a hundred shows in that year, 2008. You know, we spent a month in Australia, a month in Europe, two months in the US, Canada. So we do that. Um, this is 2008, 2009, 2010. She calls me again, you know. Hey buddy, hey, what's up? Listen, if you have this is June or something like that, if you have any job offers for next year, 2011, I want you to go and take it. Because the guy who produced my record as a guitar player, he's gonna, I'm gonna, you know, I can't take three guitar players on a road. So I'm like, okay, it's like well, it's still amazing because you called me to tell me that first and only time that has ever happened.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:22

You know, it's just like, wow, okay, well, thank you. And we continued in to be in touch, and I went to see the show, and then you know, met the guys and um 2011. So it's 2010. I was like, man, I need to I need to find a gig, I need to finish my album. I start, I make a list, call everybody that I know. Hey, looking for a gig, if you hear of anything. One of these, one of the persons that I call is Brandon Buckley, yeah, who I've played with and we've done a few things. Um, and he had been with Shakira since '98 or. 99. And he's like, Man, at the time we're not, I think we're good here, but if something happens, I'll let you know. This is June or July, in I guess August. Hey, so I think she's gonna want to try a different guitar player for this upcoming tour. They had already done the World Cup thing in South Africa, and they were about to start production rehearsals. I'm like, okay, would you wanna can I recommend you? It's like each, I think it's like we're auditioning five people. You know, each one of the band is gonna recommend somebody, and I want to recommend you. It's like, yeah, sure. All right. They call me, hey, can when can you be here? Rehearsals in Toronto. When can you be here to audition? It's like, oh, I can be there Wednesday. Okay, great. Sandy of the flight, got the flight, red eye, got to the hotel, take a shower, got the songs ahead of time. Um, and at this time I had already done an audition for Pink when Justin got in, because my buddy Hoffa was her player for a number of years.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:10

Hoffa Hoffa blew my mind the first time I ever saw him play. Yeah, just what he does that uh he kind of changed my life a little bit seeing him play, and he's he's the reason that I really got into Bogner amps. Oh, sure. Because I saw him playing and I was like, I know I can't play like that, but I want that tone, I want to try. Sure, anyways, yeah. Hoffa Moriera, fantastic, insanely just yeah, phenomenal guitar player. Yeah, he's played with everyone.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:39

So he recommended me for to audition for Pink when he was leaving, right? Yeah, and I went and I, you know, I was not the guy for the gig, obviously, because Justin has been there ever since. But I also didn't feel good about the audition. I felt like I didn't do a good job, and that kind of it's like one of those failures that we we talked about earlier.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:02

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:02

Yeah, and so when the Shakira thing came up, I'm like, not this time.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:07

Oh, I'm gonna show up ready.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:10

And I did, and I went on an audition, came back to LA. I was producing an album at the time, and then I got the email on the during the sessions like, hey, you know, the job is yours if you want it. Yeah, when can you be here? This was Saturday, and I'm like, Tuesday. So we had sessions Saturday and Sunday, and then I had Monday to kind of sort everything out.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:35

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:36

You know, bills, gear that I was gonna take, pack. You know, just like, all right, that was it. One day. That was it, yeah. And then Tuesday I was there, and we started rehearsals, and then we did rehearsals, and then we did the tour, and the tour you know lasted until October, I think. So it was from September 2010 till October 2011. Wow, yeah, massive, massive, yeah, 120 shows everywhere. And then in February of 2011, Brendan, we were sound checking in Abu Dhabi, and Brendan's like, hey, um, I got called to do this tour in Asia with this artist. They're they're looking for a band from LA. Do you wanna can I recommend you? I'm like, Yeah, sure. All right, so finished the tour of Shakira. We had played a show in Singapore, met the MD for this other Asian tour, and they're like, Yeah, we want you guys. Okay, cool. So we finished the short the tour with Shakira, and then a week later we were in Taipei rehearsing for the this tour that we did with this guy called Wang Li Home. And it was like, I don't know, 50 stadium shows, and it took wow, two years, two and a half years to do. Great. So so we did that, and then I ended up doing another tour with another artist in Asia for another two and a half years.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:12

Wow. Did you live? Did you live no in Asia? No, you're coming back and forth. No, we would fly out of LA. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:19

We would fly on Wednesday, back on Sunday. Wow. And sometimes do that two times a month, sometimes three times a month.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:28

Um racking up those points. Yes. And then after that, I got an offer to do uh an Asian tour that was uh or a tour with an Asian artist that was like 300 shows.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:41

Whoa.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:43

And then at that point, I was like, man, I've been gone for so long that I'm I'm out, I'm out of the scene in LA. Nobody knows me. I don't know anybody. I know the people that I knew back then, but I don't, you know. Uh people still think I play with Shakira, and it's been four years since I've done my last show. So I'm like, I said no to the tour in Asia. Um and one day I'm driving to, I think I was either teaching yoga or I was taking a class, and I got a call from Will, Will Hollis. Hey, um Tarek recommended you, and and you know, can you come down and play with us on rehearse with us it's Saturday? And I'm like, sure, send me the song. Sent the song, showed up, and it was just me and him and the Pro Tools guy.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:38

Yeah, you know, Marco was it?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:41

Yes, Marco, yeah, and and and they were like, all right, cool, just uh have fun. And I'm like looking around, I was like, joking. I know it's just me. I was like, oh, I get it. Okay, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:56

Play have fun, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:57

And then you know, played and filmed with phone and angles, and it's like, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:03

That's that's tough. That is not easy to really get a vibe get a vibe going when you're just when you're it's just you playing to playback or whatever. It's not easy.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:13

No, and no, and it was more like okay, well, you know, it's like uh you're acting.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:18

You're acting, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:19

It's it's it's uh it's uh what's the what's the word? It's uh it's an act. It's an act. That's what it is. You're you're putting an act. So it's like okay, okay, guitar player mode. Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:32

And the the funny thing too about this, so we're talking about the Gwen Stefani camp now. Um, Will is the MD and the coolest guy ever. And you talk to him and he's a keyboard player. For me, it took a while to realize, oh, you're not even in the band. No, like you're not, yeah, and cause Will, he right now he plays keyboard for the Eagles, and has for a long time. Okay, so and you meet him and you're like, what's up, man? And he looks like he plays for the Eagles. You're like, you're like, what I and I was like, wait, like, but he he's the MD based off of because I think uh the management is the same as the Eagles, yes, and so it took me a minute to figure out like, oh, you're not in the band, you know, because it's like, yeah, I'm a keyboard player, and I'm like, well, where what do you who's that then? You know, yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:21

So anyway, you know, and it and it took a while for the real audition with Gwen for me was um or when she you know she saw it and she was like, Oh, okay, okay, this is my band. So I did, I went in, they recorded the video, they probably showed it to her. I remember that a lot of guitar players auditioned for that tour.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:40

Yeah, and one of them I think was Alex Fetter.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:44

Oh, really?

SPEAKER_05 1:13:45

I think so. Um, because he mentioned that he did go in for it and he was really concerned about his hair, what he was gonna do with it. And he sure and he said that he because he had hair that kind of the the that stuck up a little bit like on the trunk, that's how it was. And he said he got a haircut, and he because he's like, I'm gonna try something different, and he cut his hair, and then he's like, and I didn't get the gig, and then I found out Greco got it, who has the hair stuck in here.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:13

Oh, here we go, full circle from the beginning of the session.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:16

Yeah, from he's like, damn it, I cut my hair.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:18

No, you know, I don't know what it was.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:20

Yeah, no, I mean it's always you know, every little detail does add up to what makes the decision. Yeah, but when you don't get something, you do kind of dwell on things, really.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:32

Yeah, we overanalyze it, but you know, it took a while because I remember that you know I did the the thing at the studio at uh at the rehearsal studio, and then a week went by and they were already rehearsing, you know, working on arrangements and stuff, and I'm like texting Will say, Oh, hey, what's up? Yeah, she still doesn't know about it, but here's the you know, come around. We have this uh Disney Award show on Saturday, so come rehearse with us for the week. You do the gig on Saturday, and then whatever happens, but whatever happens, happens, but just come around. All right, I learned a song, went and rehearsed for a week. Um, I'm not sure she went to rehearsals. I don't remember. Yeah, maybe she did, but we were sound checking on stage uh at the venue for this award show, and she was staying behind the front of the house. And I remember this I remember distinctively because her voice came through, and she's like, Oh, this band looks cute. That was it. To me, that was it. That was like looking at the whole thing and go, like, oh, okay, yeah, he fits with the with Steven and Brian and Day Day. Okay, cool. Yeah, but you know, even in rehearsals, I always felt like, well, they had three risers and no space for the guitar players, so I was down on the floor, and you know, everybody else. Um, I was the only white guy, and I'm like, maybe you want a different guitar player, but you couldn't find him, and I'm kind of just like a stop um gap kind of thing. It's like, okay, yeah, sure, he'll do. Uh-huh. I don't, I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:20

Yeah, sure. But I mean, at the same time, it's kind of like, well, if I got the gig, I got the gig. That's cool. I I always feel like imposter syndrome where I'm like, yeah, you're just kind of like settling for me, but whatever, we're good.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:33

That's yeah, that's how I felt. And then I did the tour, and then we did a few one-offs at the end of that year, and and then after that, I was and then right before the tour, or right after the tour, I get a call from KD again. Hey, nice. And I'm like, Man, I've been waiting for this call. And I was like, Well, here it is. Yeah, what are you doing next year? And I'm like, playing with you.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:58

There we go. It all comes around, man. That's so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:01

I was like, Yeah, we're doing so. We did another tour from 2017, 18, ended in 19.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:10

Yeah, that's awesome. Um, yeah, and then kind of coming back around, we're at 2019. You continued to sub with Enrique here and there, because that's where I met you. Um you came out on tour with us one time, and actually we had a little bit of a our it was my fault. I'm gonna say it was my fault. We had a train wreck on the C stage, but I don't know if you remember that.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:34

No, it was not your fault. No, I I was not I was not brave enough to actually do the part I should have.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:40

Well, like like I was saying, how we go through things in our head.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:44

Um it was not your fault. Whatever. We I chickened out, I chickened out because that part is that it's a tricky one, and I thought, no, maybe you you know the part, maybe you should do it. But he was expecting me to do it and the monitor for everybody, and whatever.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:00

Either way, the show goes on, but so that was that wasn't when I met. I think I met you before that. I think we played a show in like Dubai one time.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:08

Um, yeah, I've because yeah, because pandemic hit, and I had been talking to Van. I was like, Yeah, you know, I'm looking for a gig, and it's like, oh, maybe you know you can come back and do some more gigs with us. I was like, Yeah, sure. And then I think I think Enrique either texted me or called me because he wanted Alex to do it, which I completely understand. And I was like, dude, you don't have to apologize, you don't have to, you don't have to even have this conversation, right? You want Alex? Great, it's all good. And then because of that, Alex started sending me to sub with LP.

SPEAKER_05 1:18:46

Oh, yes, that's but didn't you play bass? Did you play bass?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:51

No, that's later, okay. Yeah, so he was like, Yeah, well, I'm gonna be out with Enrique. Do you want to do this LP thing? He's like, Yeah, I'd love to. So I started subbing, and then I kind of I realized that I really loved subbing. Oh, because it was, you know, I was not attached to the tour, I didn't participate in the politics of the tour. Yeah, I was just a guy who would show up and save the day, you know, and the challenge for me was to show up with no rehearsal and play and just nail it. That was my whole like uh that what that was my drive. It was like, okay, cool. Yeah, no rehearsal, let's go.

SPEAKER_05 1:19:36

Yeah, just not no strings, just in like an assassin. Bam, out in, out.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:42

And I love doing that, and you know, and then I did sub for Alex, and then you could make a couple gigs, and then I sub for you. And then I was like, oh, great, now I know both sides of the stage. So yes, yeah, so that's cool. I like that too. And then LP I was subbing, and then I found out that they were looking for a bass player, and I know Brian and I know how he plays, and I straight up wrote management and say, Hey, um, if you ever needed another bass player for upcoming gigs, and I'm available, I'd love, you know, give me a shot. And and it did happen. I play bass on I don't know, four or five shows.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:22

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:22

So that was another challenge, too. You know, it's like, okay, I have to, it's a different instrument, and obviously Brian plays mostly with a pick, that's why I said yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:20:31

Otherwise, I your childhood dreams coming full circle.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:37

And then the the Lionel thing happened too as a sub.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:41

Because of that, because of preparing and having that thing of like, all right, I'm just gonna rehearse on my own.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:49

And um, you know, Alex would lend me his pedal board for LP, and I would practice the moves, and you know, with Enrique, we don't have to do that anymore, but yeah, not so much, which is great, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:21:02

I know. Um, so with Lionel, I'm curious. Uh man, that freaking um uh what's the song with the iconic solo? Is it solo easy? Easy, easy that solo, I it's iconic to me because it's like such a fuzzy, you know. Uh so are you what are you using? Like a quad cortex, or do you do they let you use amps, or what are you rocking with that?

SPEAKER_02 1:21:32

Uh we actually um we actually I actually built a I had a my Bradshaw rack from 25 years ago. It was sitting in storage, had a pre-amp, had two drawers of pedals. Um and so when I knew that I was gonna do the tour, I was like, well, you know, that's if I don't do it now, I'm never gonna do it. So I called Bradshaw. And the guy, Matt Moran, who takes care of Guitar World, lives in the same city as Bob and has worked with Bob and knows Bob is a friend of Bob's. So we decided, you know what, let's go for it. Let's build a I'll I'll use some elements that I have already. We just have to build a new system with a pedal board. And so the curious thing about the easy solo is that once I was officially in the band, I get a note from from the uh MD. It's like, yeah, man, I you know, Lionel talked me. And he he asked me about the solo and hello and that sound, you know, he wants it to be just like the record. Because until then, I was just subbing and doing the best I could, you know, and again, never had a rehearsal.

unknown 1:22:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:48

It was just show up, sound check, get line, get levels, play the parts, yeah. Yeah, and until then I was using a Freedman IRX because I felt that was the most natural sounding thing that I played. I tried a bunch of things. I tried the universal audio pedals, I tried the camper. Um, but that to me sounded the best. So I got one of those.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:14

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:15

Um it's like, okay. And then Matt calls me, says, Hey, you know, I got a uh call from Chucky DMD, and and I'm on it. So what it is is a JHS color box, which is a Neve preamp.

SPEAKER_05 1:23:33

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:33

In a little white pedal, right?

SPEAKER_05 1:23:35

The white pedal.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:36

There's a white and there's a blue one, bluish, navy blue or battleship gray or whatever.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:42

Um, so that's what that's what I'm using. It's just uh color box into my preamp, and then what we use is a uh ISO cap.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:55

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:56

With uh EV12 speaker, nice like a 250-watt speaker. Cool, yeah, very low volume.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:07

I heard that that original solo, I some of these listeners probably do not care at all about this, but I heard it was originally just into the board, just and just overdriving the board. And it sounds like a fuzz, so everyone's trying to fuzz it out, right?

SPEAKER_07 1:24:21

But um yeah, exactly. That's cool, man.

SPEAKER_05 1:24:25

Yeah, well, dude, thank you for giving me so much time. Um you're welcome. I don't I don't I don't need to take up any more. Anything you want to add or tell listeners what to go to to listen to your music? Your website. I know how to do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:39

Yeah, I'm on my website or just Greco Barato. You can find me online and Spotify and all that stuff, Apple Music. And it's very different. I mean, I have two albums out. One is like songs that I sing and wrote in Portuguese. And then the the last one is just acoustic guitar, an island string, and it's one acoustic guitar. There's no beautiful, there's no overdubs, and it's it's very I guess very meditative or calming music, and it's it's good to uh wind down, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:13

Absolutely. I love it, man. Well, brother, thank you, and I hope we play again. Yeah, me too. Soon. Yes, dude. Be fun. All right, all right, man. I'll talk to you soon.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:25

Okay later. You take care. Thank you.

unknown 1:25:27

Bye.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:27

Bye-bye.

unknown 1:25:28

Bye.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:28

Thank you, Greco. And once again, thank you to everyone that's listening to this pod. Hope you're all enjoying. Go find the podcast on YouTube. We're on all streaming platforms, and on Instagram is where I do most of my promotion. That is the Noflakes podcast on Instagram, and then on the link there, you can find everything. So glad you're enjoying it, and we'll talk soon.