Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Her communities. This is Renee Denyou know, on the line now with
Brian Bassett fog Hat. Of coursewe play fog Hat on the River one
oh five nine. You know,I love them coming to Mohegan's Son on
May nineteenth, literally around the corners. So Brian, thank you for joining
us. Ay so glad to behere, you know, I mean,
I for me, especially in thisindustry and growing up in this industry,
(00:23):
fog Hat has every thing I needas far as the elements of what makes
great music. I love like cobo, I love bass and horns and breakdowns
and like I don't know, justlike funk and rhythm and rock and the
voice and every I just love everythingabout fog Hat. I've loved playing your
music over the years. Well thanksso much, and we love playing it.
(00:45):
I mean playing live is what welive for, really, and you've
all been together for a long time. You're one of the founding members of
the band. I mean, thishas got to be kind of like a
surreal experience to still be out therehaving a great time. I've been doing
what you've loved and for so manyyears. Right, Yeah, it's you
know, we're so surprised. Ithink back in the day in the seventies,
(01:07):
and uh, you know, andI've been in I'm not quite a
funding member, but I've been ina plus twenty some years. But you
know, when you get a runof five or ten years in a band,
you think, oh, that's great. But you know, the band
was found in the nineteen seventy one, so that's the long run, you
know. But we're you know,forty plus years now. So to still
(01:27):
be able to do what you loveis a blessing. Well. And some
of your iconic songs are still playedtoday and in regular rotation, as we
would say in radio, from SlowRide, full for the City, obviously,
I just want to make love toyou. Those are songs that are
just iconic anthems in the classic rockworld. What's it like today to play
(01:49):
those songs on stage and see youngerfeasts enjoying them and rocking along to them
as well. Yeah, that's thegreat thing, in a surprising thing.
I think some of the big hits, you know, in movies that appealed
to some of the younger crowd,and also in some of the video games,
you know, like Guitar Hero Ithink had Slow Ride on it,
and that brought a lot of youngfans to our you know, to our
(02:10):
music. So it's great and it'syou know, we always were a live
band and to play those songs infront of a live audience is really where
we get our energy. And tosee people still rocking out to it after
all these years, you know,it's it's great for us. You know,
we just have a ball doing it. And when you're you're playing some
of these classics songs and people arein the audience, they're getting ready,
(02:31):
they're like, oh, we know, it's it's it's it's got to be.
It's it's got to be coming.How do you plan your set list
because you have like multiple encore songsthat you can choose from, So how
do you know which one is goingto be the encore of the night.
Well, you know, every yearwe try to do it. In fact,
we just came out of rehearsals andwe try to do a little bit
(02:52):
of a surprise every year for ourrepeat you know, fans, We have
a lot of people come and seeyou know, every year at some point,
and so we always play our mainhits that everyone expects us to hear,
but we'd like to go into thedeep album tracks and pull out a
couple of surprises, you know,every concerts, every concert year we try
to change it up a little bit, you know, maybe pull some old
(03:14):
blues out that we haven't played fora while, or pull some deep tracks
that may be some people's favorite thatdoesn't get as much radio airplay as some
of the other songs. So justto keep ourselves entertained and also our crowd
interested in our live set, wetry to change just a little bit every
year. And fog Hat, eventhough we're saying like rock and or classic
(03:35):
rock, there's a lot of funkin it and it's perfect for you with
some of your history in the industrywith Wild Cherry and of course Molly Hatchett
has a huge Connecticut drawing by theway, as you know, but now
with Focket, so the I don'teven know how you would describe fog Hat
as someone who wouldn't know. Forme, though, it's like the quintessential,
Like the timeframe of when all thesehits are coming out, it just
(03:58):
seems like that was the black andum and sort of trend setting a little
bit. But like it's got thatfunk, it's got that groove and that
baseline of rock and roll, right, So I don't know how to that's
the best way I could describe Fogcat. Yeah, we were always described over
the years as boogie rock, butI think, you know, rarely it's
a you know, just up tempo, driving blues rock. You know.
Fogat came out of Savoy Brown,which was part of the British blues invasion,
(04:23):
you know, along with Cream andJohn Mayo and those bands that took
American blues and rocked it up andsent it back to America. So yeah,
that's you know, there's a lotof blues rock in our music,
and were keeping up tempo and fun, like you said, the hard driving
and danceable. So it's a goodmashup of a lot of good elements for
(04:46):
live music. You know. Istill remember from from my album when I
I have like all these albums thatwere passed down to me for in generations.
And also I started working as athird shift overnight DJ in nineteen eighty
eight, so this has just beenmy life's work. And it's funny because
I look at the album covers andI remember when I would get an album,
(05:09):
it was such a big deal.From the graphic design of it,
reading the cover and just like sittingthere and listening to all your your music.
And I remember looking through all theFogat album covers and things like it
was so so much fun. Ikind of missed those days a little bit,
I have to say, absolutely.And that's how I listened to music
(05:30):
when I was growing up. Youknow, getting an album and it was
a big deal, you know,music being released, you know, an
album at a time back then byyour your favorite bands. And there wasn't
so many things to entertain yourself backthen. You know, there was no
internet, there was no video games, so when a record came out,
that was a big deal. Everybodyhad a great stereo or you know,
(05:53):
you've saved your money up to geta great stereo and just you know,
you put that new record on andread every word on the back cover and
look at all the pictures. Imean, it's sort of got lot in
the digital era. But now thevinyls coming back, I think a lot
of you know, younger people getto experience that same thing that we did
when we listened to those early records. Yeah, it was fun and like
(06:15):
from the and it's funny whenever Ihear or say fog hat. I don't
know, maybe because I'm in thebusiness and who knows. Everybody has their
own weird quirks. But I justsee your logo in Might when I hear
fog hat, I actually like seeit from the album, you know what
I mean. It's like the weirdestthing ever. I don't know why I
would even think of that, butyou know, it's really cool to be
chatting with you. I'm glad youguys are coming. I'm glad you guys
(06:36):
are still playing. I know theband has gone through some changes, some
heartbreak over the years, as withyou know, rock and roll, right,
but you know here you are comingin to Connecticut. You're gonna be
playing at Mohegan Sun on May nineteenth. Tell me about a little bit about
the show and how it's gonna,you know, sort of relate to all
ages of the audiences. I knowyou were just telling you just came out
(06:58):
of practice and you're talking about thatthe set lists and things like But tell
me about the show and what wecan expect to say. Well, a
little bit of old, a littlebit of new. We're just completed a
new studio record, which we hopeto release sometime this year, and uh,
it's in the mixing, mastering processright now, So you might hear
a little bit of a new material. Also are classic hits and you might
(07:19):
even hear something a little funky towardsthe end of their said in the encore.
So that's we like slip in myold wild cherry hit the schedule,
and and we love playing mohegan Son. I mean, that's one of our
favorite venues. We like to playthere at least once a year if we
can. The wolf Stand. It'sa beautiful venue where you get up put
(07:42):
some personal to the band. It'sa great stunting room, and you know
we love playing there. Well,come on, it's just going to be
a fun live show, you know. That's that's what we like to do.
Play, you know, some liverock and roll and get people all
up on their feet and rocking outwith us. Now for a bassist who's
funky, right, Like do youI mean you don't have are you okay
(08:03):
with arthritis? Like seriously, Idon't know how you do that? Like
I always think of guitar players andlike all the stuff, and especially with
the music that you play, becauseit's like a nonstopping. Yeah, because
I think of like Earth Winning Fire. I think of when when when Chicago
did this, you know, theCTA stuff, or like like even Molly
Hatch. But some of the songsthat you play, it's just like a
(08:24):
dozen't stop to this day, youguys. I work out to my favorite
classic Rocks tunes. I will putthat up to any dance pop tunes ever
because it's incredible. But I justthink of, like, my fingers are
hurt sometimes when I think about thefact that you have to play at all.
Well, you know, over theyears, your fingers sort of adapted
(08:45):
the punishment. I think, youknow, when I think back to when
I first started, I mean Idid actually have blisters on my fingers,
you know, from playing hours andhours when I was young. But over
the years, you sort of getused to it, and um, you
know, becomes second nature after awhile, you know. I think about
it sometimes like that, when werehearse or learn new material, it's like,
oh, my brain can still learnnew songs. That's actually good to
(09:11):
know, right because then you're like, Okay, that's a good thing right
there. Yeah, so it's stillworking. So but yeah, it's a
musician it's an interesting thing about howyou know, you learn and recame material
your body. You know a lotof songs. Yeah, you know,
I'll play a song that we haven'tplayed for several years and you're you know,
it's like body memory. I don'tknow, it's almost like an athlete
(09:31):
in a way. But you go, oh, yeah, that's right.
You go when my brain like whatcomes next? And then my handle autom
actually go to a certain spot onmy guitar, like my hand knows my
brain doesn't. So very it's avery unday playing. But you know,
at this point, it's sort oflike breathing. It's like second nature to
just pick up guitar and play.Well, I love it. Thanks for
(09:52):
that description. I have to letyou know that I have my my workout
tapes, which I don't even knowwhy I would say that's you because I
don't know the last time I workedout, so as sometimes I just play
the music, but I always haveslow ride on there. I always have
I just want to make love toyou. I always I always have empty
pages, cross down traffic. Iknow we're going to different bands and such,
but those are those songs. Andthen um, I do a lot
(10:15):
of CTA. I do a lotof all that, like upbeat stuff and
grand funk I'll put in their footstompon music like I put all those songs
in there, like on one continuoustrack, and like I am like if
I would have really worked out toall of that, I would be in
such great shape right now. Butvery good. I should try that.
That sounds like a good workout taperight there. Absolutely, But anyway,
well, it's been a pleasure tochat with you. Obviously, piece of
(10:39):
music history here on the river Woodof five nine. I heeart meeting here
in Connecticut, Brian Bassett from afog hat. You will see them at
Mohegan sun May nineteenth, and hopefullyyou'll come back and visit us again.
I'd be glad to. I can'twait to get up there. All right,
have a great day you too,
Her communities. This is Renee Denyou know, on the line now with
Brian Bassett fog Hat. Of coursewe play fog Hat on the River one
oh five nine. You know,I love them coming to Mohegan's Son on
May nineteenth, literally around the corners. So Brian, thank you for joining
us. Ay so glad to behere, you know, I mean,
I for me, especially in thisindustry and growing up in this industry,
(00:23):
fog Hat has every thing I needas far as the elements of what makes
great music. I love like cobo, I love bass and horns and breakdowns
and like I don't know, justlike funk and rhythm and rock and the
voice and every I just love everythingabout fog Hat. I've loved playing your
music over the years. Well thanksso much, and we love playing it.
(00:45):
I mean playing live is what welive for, really, and you've
all been together for a long time. You're one of the founding members of
the band. I mean, thishas got to be kind of like a
surreal experience to still be out therehaving a great time. I've been doing
what you've loved and for so manyyears. Right, Yeah, it's you
know, we're so surprised. Ithink back in the day in the seventies,
(01:07):
and uh, you know, andI've been in I'm not quite a
funding member, but I've been ina plus twenty some years. But you
know, when you get a runof five or ten years in a band,
you think, oh, that's great. But you know, the band
was found in the nineteen seventy one, so that's the long run, you
know. But we're you know,forty plus years now. So to still
(01:27):
be able to do what you loveis a blessing. Well. And some
of your iconic songs are still playedtoday and in regular rotation, as we
would say in radio, from SlowRide, full for the City, obviously,
I just want to make love toyou. Those are songs that are
just iconic anthems in the classic rockworld. What's it like today to play
(01:49):
those songs on stage and see youngerfeasts enjoying them and rocking along to them
as well. Yeah, that's thegreat thing, in a surprising thing.
I think some of the big hits, you know, in movies that appealed
to some of the younger crowd,and also in some of the video games,
you know, like Guitar Hero Ithink had Slow Ride on it,
and that brought a lot of youngfans to our you know, to our
(02:10):
music. So it's great and it'syou know, we always were a live
band and to play those songs infront of a live audience is really where
we get our energy. And tosee people still rocking out to it after
all these years, you know,it's it's great for us. You know,
we just have a ball doing it. And when you're you're playing some
of these classics songs and people arein the audience, they're getting ready,
(02:31):
they're like, oh, we know, it's it's it's it's got to be.
It's it's got to be coming.How do you plan your set list
because you have like multiple encore songsthat you can choose from, So how
do you know which one is goingto be the encore of the night.
Well, you know, every yearwe try to do it. In fact,
we just came out of rehearsals andwe try to do a little bit
(02:52):
of a surprise every year for ourrepeat you know, fans, We have
a lot of people come and seeyou know, every year at some point,
and so we always play our mainhits that everyone expects us to hear,
but we'd like to go into thedeep album tracks and pull out a
couple of surprises, you know,every concerts, every concert year we try
to change it up a little bit, you know, maybe pull some old
(03:14):
blues out that we haven't played fora while, or pull some deep tracks
that may be some people's favorite thatdoesn't get as much radio airplay as some
of the other songs. So justto keep ourselves entertained and also our crowd
interested in our live set, wetry to change just a little bit every
year. And fog Hat, eventhough we're saying like rock and or classic
(03:35):
rock, there's a lot of funkin it and it's perfect for you with
some of your history in the industrywith Wild Cherry and of course Molly Hatchett
has a huge Connecticut drawing by theway, as you know, but now
with Focket, so the I don'teven know how you would describe fog Hat
as someone who wouldn't know. Forme, though, it's like the quintessential,
Like the timeframe of when all thesehits are coming out, it just
(03:58):
seems like that was the black andum and sort of trend setting a little
bit. But like it's got thatfunk, it's got that groove and that
baseline of rock and roll, right, So I don't know how to that's
the best way I could describe Fogcat. Yeah, we were always described over
the years as boogie rock, butI think, you know, rarely it's
a you know, just up tempo, driving blues rock. You know.
Fogat came out of Savoy Brown,which was part of the British blues invasion,
(04:23):
you know, along with Cream andJohn Mayo and those bands that took
American blues and rocked it up andsent it back to America. So yeah,
that's you know, there's a lotof blues rock in our music,
and were keeping up tempo and fun, like you said, the hard driving
and danceable. So it's a goodmashup of a lot of good elements for
(04:46):
live music. You know. Istill remember from from my album when I
I have like all these albums thatwere passed down to me for in generations.
And also I started working as athird shift overnight DJ in nineteen eighty
eight, so this has just beenmy life's work. And it's funny because
I look at the album covers andI remember when I would get an album,
(05:09):
it was such a big deal.From the graphic design of it,
reading the cover and just like sittingthere and listening to all your your music.
And I remember looking through all theFogat album covers and things like it
was so so much fun. Ikind of missed those days a little bit,
I have to say, absolutely.And that's how I listened to music
(05:30):
when I was growing up. Youknow, getting an album and it was
a big deal, you know,music being released, you know, an
album at a time back then byyour your favorite bands. And there wasn't
so many things to entertain yourself backthen. You know, there was no
internet, there was no video games, so when a record came out,
that was a big deal. Everybodyhad a great stereo or you know,
(05:53):
you've saved your money up to geta great stereo and just you know,
you put that new record on andread every word on the back cover and
look at all the pictures. Imean, it's sort of got lot in
the digital era. But now thevinyls coming back, I think a lot
of you know, younger people getto experience that same thing that we did
when we listened to those early records. Yeah, it was fun and like
(06:15):
from the and it's funny whenever Ihear or say fog hat. I don't
know, maybe because I'm in thebusiness and who knows. Everybody has their
own weird quirks. But I justsee your logo in Might when I hear
fog hat, I actually like seeit from the album, you know what
I mean. It's like the weirdestthing ever. I don't know why I
would even think of that, butyou know, it's really cool to be
chatting with you. I'm glad youguys are coming. I'm glad you guys
(06:36):
are still playing. I know theband has gone through some changes, some
heartbreak over the years, as withyou know, rock and roll, right,
but you know here you are comingin to Connecticut. You're gonna be
playing at Mohegan Sun on May nineteenth. Tell me about a little bit about
the show and how it's gonna,you know, sort of relate to all
ages of the audiences. I knowyou were just telling you just came out
(06:58):
of practice and you're talking about thatthe set lists and things like But tell
me about the show and what wecan expect to say. Well, a
little bit of old, a littlebit of new. We're just completed a
new studio record, which we hopeto release sometime this year, and uh,
it's in the mixing, mastering processright now, So you might hear
a little bit of a new material. Also are classic hits and you might
(07:19):
even hear something a little funky towardsthe end of their said in the encore.
So that's we like slip in myold wild cherry hit the schedule,
and and we love playing mohegan Son. I mean, that's one of our
favorite venues. We like to playthere at least once a year if we
can. The wolf Stand. It'sa beautiful venue where you get up put
(07:42):
some personal to the band. It'sa great stunting room, and you know
we love playing there. Well,come on, it's just going to be
a fun live show, you know. That's that's what we like to do.
Play, you know, some liverock and roll and get people all
up on their feet and rocking outwith us. Now for a bassist who's
funky, right, Like do youI mean you don't have are you okay
(08:03):
with arthritis? Like seriously, Idon't know how you do that? Like
I always think of guitar players andlike all the stuff, and especially with
the music that you play, becauseit's like a nonstopping. Yeah, because
I think of like Earth Winning Fire. I think of when when when Chicago
did this, you know, theCTA stuff, or like like even Molly
Hatch. But some of the songsthat you play, it's just like a
(08:24):
dozen't stop to this day, youguys. I work out to my favorite
classic Rocks tunes. I will putthat up to any dance pop tunes ever
because it's incredible. But I justthink of, like, my fingers are
hurt sometimes when I think about thefact that you have to play at all.
Well, you know, over theyears, your fingers sort of adapted
(08:45):
the punishment. I think, youknow, when I think back to when
I first started, I mean Idid actually have blisters on my fingers,
you know, from playing hours andhours when I was young. But over
the years, you sort of getused to it, and um, you
know, becomes second nature after awhile, you know. I think about
it sometimes like that, when werehearse or learn new material, it's like,
oh, my brain can still learnnew songs. That's actually good to
(09:11):
know, right because then you're like, Okay, that's a good thing right
there. Yeah, so it's stillworking. So but yeah, it's a
musician it's an interesting thing about howyou know, you learn and recame material
your body. You know a lotof songs. Yeah, you know,
I'll play a song that we haven'tplayed for several years and you're you know,
it's like body memory. I don'tknow, it's almost like an athlete
(09:31):
in a way. But you go, oh, yeah, that's right.
You go when my brain like whatcomes next? And then my handle autom
actually go to a certain spot onmy guitar, like my hand knows my
brain doesn't. So very it's avery unday playing. But you know,
at this point, it's sort oflike breathing. It's like second nature to
just pick up guitar and play.Well, I love it. Thanks for
(09:52):
that description. I have to letyou know that I have my my workout
tapes, which I don't even knowwhy I would say that's you because I
don't know the last time I workedout, so as sometimes I just play
the music, but I always haveslow ride on there. I always have
I just want to make love toyou. I always I always have empty
pages, cross down traffic. Iknow we're going to different bands and such,
but those are those songs. Andthen um, I do a lot
(10:15):
of CTA. I do a lotof all that, like upbeat stuff and
grand funk I'll put in their footstompon music like I put all those songs
in there, like on one continuoustrack, and like I am like if
I would have really worked out toall of that, I would be in
such great shape right now. Butvery good. I should try that.
That sounds like a good workout taperight there. Absolutely, But anyway,
well, it's been a pleasure tochat with you. Obviously, piece of
(10:39):
music history here on the river Woodof five nine. I heeart meeting here
in Connecticut, Brian Bassett from afog hat. You will see them at
Mohegan sun May nineteenth, and hopefullyyou'll come back and visit us again.
I'd be glad to. I can'twait to get up there. All right,
have a great day you too,
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