In the twenty minutes I had to chat to Chickenfoot’s bassist Michael Anthony, one of the most oft used verbs coming through the phone at me was ‘fun.’ The dude is almost 60 yet the youthful exuberance with which he shares his tale belies the fact that he’s older than my dad. Had I not known his age or his expansive rock n roll history, I’d have figured the gent I was chatting to couldn’t be a day past 30, maximum. The first instance of the verb comes when he explains the genesis of Chickenfoot – ‘Some years back, me, Sammy and Chad would have these fun jams at Sammy’s club in Mexico, splendid tequila-fuelled nights of hard rock. It was around then that we gave ourselves the name Chickenfoot, just so we could call ourselves something when we played. Then in 2008, Superbowl weekend in Las Vegas, Sammy was playing a solo show and called myself and Chad and Joe Satriani up asking if we’re keen to join him onstage for an encore, something special for the fans, kinda like a Sammy Hagar and Friends thing. So we learned ‘Going Down,’ an old standard blues number and ‘Rock n Roll’ by Led Zeppelin and when we hit that stage, man. The fans were loving it and our chemistry was outrageous. Impossible to describe. So at that point we decided we needed to get into studio or just get together again to jam. We had no plans, we just wanted to have some fun and it snowballed into this whole thing.’
So why then, when it’s all in the name of fun, take on the pressure of forming a band proper and taking it to the next level? He explains that ‘we got in the studio and started goofing around and suddenly we’re looking at each other going, My God, listen to this stuff! We decided that we had to put together a fun thing and see where it goes.’
The result of that ‘fun thing’ was Chickenfoot’s eponymous debut album, which was certified gold in the US. And so, obviously, when simply having fun gets so richly rewarded, it makes sense to rinse and repeat. Hence Chickenfoot III, their new record. Michael says of the album that, ‘despite not having the luxury of a lot of time, as we’re all involved in other projects, we knew we had to do another one. We exchanged demos and ideas and all did our homework so that when we could steal a moment to hit the studio we knew exactly what we needed to do. At that point, the magic starts to happen and everything falls into place. It’s the best record I’ve been involved in.’
I ask what Michael makes of Chickenfoot being labelled a ‘supergroup,’ a schtick that’s often maligned as being a jigged product and a meal ticket for the artists, and he’s quick to point out that it’s just typical media spin – ‘We’ve never rested on our laurels. From the start we’ve wanted to earn respect as a band in our own right. We don’t play Van Halen material or Hagar stuff, we started touring small and have just built ourselves up to this point. We’re seeing a lot of really young people at our shows, people that probably have no idea about our past so it’s good, we’re clearly earning our place.’
Very refreshing to see that kind of attitude from a veteran of rock n roll, three decades into his career and still doing it for pure love of the game. My final question to him – what universal wisdom have you taken away from thirty plus years being a rock n roller – and we find that verb cropping up again. He explains that ‘most importantly, you have to be yourself. People can see right through any kind of façade you throw up and, in my experience, they just love it when they can see you’re being authentic. The other thing is that you gotta really love what you do. To have any kind of longevity you have to have fun – if you’re feeling like you’re punching the clock every time you get up on stage, you ain’t gonna make it. I mean, it feels like Chickenfoot is the first band I’ve ever been in. I’m having so much fun doing it. I figure that kind of attitude is crucial.’
Chatting to Michael was fun. Figure I must be doing something right too. Rock n roll.
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