Interview | Billy Gibbons

    The fuzzy spinning guitars, the hot rods and the epic beards — the iconography of blues rock band ZZ Top is practically more famous than the songs themselves, which comes as no surprise considering their '80s MTV explosion. But don't call it selling out. Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard have always kept one foot in the blues, playing good, old-fashioned rock 'n roll no matter what the decade. The characteristically cool Mr. Gibbons, guitarist and singer of ZZ Top, exchanged a few words via email with the Tufts Daily amidst a busy tour schedule:

Ryan Zuckman: Cancelled shows aside, how was the recent tour with Aerosmith?

Billy Gibbons: We loved it while it lasted. Great guys who we've know for a long while. We'd always wanted to tour with them anticipating how the bill would look. You know? "The A to ZZ Tour."

RZ: Why play to much smaller audiences on this current tour, as opposed to the usual amphitheater or stadium shows?
BG: We ran with an experimental tour last season called the "In Your Face Tour" playin' the smallest of theaters, minus giant stage production, by design. Much like our early days, which made for a fine, up-close and personal night out ... Truth be told, most of ‘em were wearing shades ... a very dark and mysterious evening's experience!

RZ: ZZ Top has been together for 40 years now. What's the secret to maintaining a successful band relationship?

BG: We're kind of a work in progress, so feel free to ask in another 40. Hey, it's still ... "same three guys, same three chords."

RZ: I understand that you attended a Black Keys show, which resulted in some studio collaboration. How did you enjoy working with them and will any of this appear on the forthcoming record?

BG: We think the world of them and admire how they've stripped it down, maybe even more than us. There's just two of ‘em out there, and it's a blaze!

RZ: Do you have a process for writing and recording? Does ZZ Top have a specific goal for the new record?

BG: Sometimes it's just a riff, and we build on that; other times it's a phrase that opens the door to the lyrics. That and divine intervention, of course. The goal for the new record is to get it as down and dirty as we wanna be.

RZ: Are your collaborations with Queens of the Stone Age and Mastodon indicative of a taste for modern rock, and if not, what are you listening to these days?

BG: Of course we were delighted to spend time with the Queens and to work with Mastodon on their new version of "Just Got Paid" from our "Rio Grande Mud" (1972) album. It was recorded in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Warner Bros. Records, so it reflected a whole lot of threads connecting. Listening to lots of great music, old and new. Country, rock, soul, but mostly the blues. Gotta have 'em.

RZ: You've often expressed your passion for the blues. What continues to inspire you as a guitarist after all these years? Why pick up the axe every day?

BG: B.B. King celebrates his 84th birthday just about exactly when we come off the stage the night of our Boston show. We play the Orpheum on the 15th and Mr. King was born on the 16th … in 1925. That's pretty inspirational right there. We like to throw down as often as possible to keep things rollin'. Talkin' 'bout the blues, you know?
    Some bands have something to say, others have something to prove, and still others are looking to change the face of popular music. ZZ Top, born of a reverence for the visionaries of rock and roll and a passion for playing music, are refreshingly content with simply doing what they love and enjoying the ride. They perform at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the Orpheum Theater in Boston.