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Road report with Greg Howard

 

Last time we spoke to Greg he was finishing up with Aerosmith. Now Greg is reporting in from NYC where he is getting ready to do SNL with Green Day.

 

MGS - Greg, thanks for taking the time to chat with us again. We sure

appreciate your time and attention to detail. The last interview went

over great!

 

  GH - Not a problem. Roadies have too much time on there hands anyway...

 

 

  MGS - Whats been up since you completed the Aerosmith tour?

 

  GH -  I took six months off to work on my house and other projects

that are always lacking when I'm gone for 2 yrs straight. Oh and to

hang at home with my wife and dogs...

 

 

 

  MGS - You are in Japan right now?

 

  GH - I was when you emailed me the questions. Now that I'm finally

answering them, I'm in NYC doing Saturday Night Live.

 

 

 

  MGS - Whats your favorite thing to do in Japan?

 

  GH - Shop, shop, shop. Lots of great toys, gadgets and tools here. Oh

and noodles...

 

 

 

 

  MGS - Is Green day playing any of the same venues that Aerosmith did

last year?

 

  GH -  Not too many. Green day doesn't do sheds (ampitheaters), since

there's no pit... But, I'm sure we'll hit some of the same arenas...

 

 

 

  MGS - How did you get the Green Day gig? They are pretty hot right now

arent they?

 

GH - I got word of it from my Travel Agent. Made a few calls, found

out the production manager was a friends with alot of people who knew

me, so I got alot of recommendations. And yes, they're really hot, my

first gig was live tv at the Australian Mtv Awards.

 

 

 

  MGS - You seem to enjoy this part. Can you give us a rundown of the

gear that you are setting up every night? You know we love all the

details.

 

GH - Basically Jason plays a couple of 335's outfitted with piezo

bridges, these are fed via a stereo (TRS) cable to a box that switches

between the acoustic (piezo) and electric (humbucker) pickups. the

acoustic sound goes to a Di the electric through a Line 6 DL4 delay to

a Crybaby to a EB volume pedal then out to a couple of Bob Bradshaw

modded Marshalls into two Marshall 4x12's. Not too complicated. Just a

great rock sound. I do all the switching of the pickups and the delays,

Jason does the wah and volume.

 

MGS - You run the Line 6 DL-4s by hand?

 

GH - Yeah, all the switching. And yes I just push the buttons on the DL4.

 

 

 

 

  MGS - Any smashed guitars or basses yet?

 

GH - No. It's punk rock, so you never know.

 

 

 

  MGS - Do you have to work harder with the Green Day guys? Seems like

they are a little out of control and beat the living snot out of their

gear.

 

GH - Well, it's a faster paced show. And it can be a little crazy. But

I take the same precautions as any gig to make the rig bulletproof.

 

 

MGS -  What trem are they using for BOBD?

 

GH - Sorry, that one's a trade secret. ;)

 

MGS - Im guessing it was a Pro Tools chop in the studio and a track live.

 

GH -Yeah, it is syncopated with the drums, hence the track.