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Billy Sheehan: “The More I Know, the More I Realize I Don’t Know”

The legendary bassist talks about The Fell, the importance of songwriting, playing for an audience, finding your own voice, and why he still approaches the bass like he's 16.

Billy Sheehan has spent a lifetime proving that the bass can be much more than a supporting instrument. From Talas and David Lee Roth to Steve Vai and The Winery Dogs, his career has been defined by technical brilliance, musical curiosity, and an unwavering love of playing.

Now, with The Fell, Sheehan is embracing a new chapter—one built around songs, chemistry, and the simple excitement of getting on stage.

Building The Fell Around Songs

Metalshop: You released Killswitch and then Footprints with The Fell. How did the sound evolve between the two?

Billy Sheehan: It's the first time I've done a band that was based on songs. We started with songs and then went to band.

Mike Krompass contacted me years ago when we both lived in Los Angeles. He said, "I've got a bunch of songs that need bass. You want to come down to my studio and lay some bass down?"

I went down and started working out the songs. I'm thinking, "Man, these songs sound great. Who's that singer?" He said, "It's Toby Rand, this guy from Australia. He's a great singer."

At the end of the session, Mike said, "I can pay you for the session, or if you're interested in getting involved, there's no bass player yet."

So we started building more songs and getting things together. We had a little business glitch with our singer's previous contractual obligations, but that's all over now. We're finally reinvigorating our original purpose.

We did five or six shows recently just to get our feet wet and see how it works on stage. Everything went swimmingly well. It's an unknown band—a new band—so we're taking it slow. The live performance was wonderful, and the response was great.

“We Know How to Make It Work”

Metalshop: The band has an outstanding chemistry. You can hear it.

Billy Sheehan: Yeah, I've been lucky. I've had some wonderful ensembles.

We're all at the spot in our lives where we just came together, and it was easy and fun. There was a lot of mutual respect. These guys have supreme talent.

When we tried it out in front of people live, by the second verse they were already singing along, even though they hadn't heard the songs before.

The Fell is really song-driven. The songs are put together really well, and that brought us together. We've all had a lot of experience in other bands, too. You can take that with you when you leave a band. What you learned stays with you.

We know how to make it work and how to make it happen on stage.

Playing for the Audience

Metalshop: What did you learn from the warm-up shows?

Billy Sheehan: That we could get on stage and deliver the goods.

You think, of course, you could. But it doesn't always work that easily. Sometimes you get up there and it feels like putting on a pair of shoes that are too small. It just doesn't feel right.

But it fell right together. We were having fun and laughing our very first night.

We rehearsed hard to make sure we deliver what the audience is paying for. We want them to get their money's worth and have a great night.

We got lucky. It fell together very sweetly. Singing harmonies, cool songs—we had a blast.

Why Start a New Band Now?

Metalshop: What made this the right time to start a new band?

Billy Sheehan: Any time is the right time to start a band.

Mr. Big is over with. The Winery Dogs are gone. And I love playing live. I play live to live.

I thought maybe we could do some shows with the fellas. It'll be great. Everybody was in line, and we wanted to do it. I get a chance now to get up on stage—new songs, new people. I'm excited about it.

I'm also doing my original band, Talas. We sadly lost our lead singer soon after the last record we made. Now we've had the great fortune and good news that his son, James Naro, will be taking his place.

Between the two bands, I'll be booked up solid, and I'll be on stage a lot, thankfully.

“The Audience—There's Nobody More Important Than That”

Metalshop: You don't see as many star-quality frontmen as you used to. Am I seeing it wrong?

Billy Sheehan: No. I had lunch the other day with Joey Dee of Joey Dee and the Starliters. What a wonderful guy.

He was one of those guys. He was the frontman. He made it happen. He knew how to talk to an audience. He dressed the part. He looked the part. He sang the part.

I think nowadays people are a bit more casual about it, and for me, that doesn't necessarily fit.

If you're up on stage, you've got to deliver the goods. People are paying their money to come and see you, so give them the best thing you've got.

I try to be presentable—like I would be if I were going to meet people who were important to me.

The audience—there's nobody more important than that.

Everything I own, my house, my car, my savings account, everything comes from somebody buying a ticket, a T-shirt, or a record. They're special to me, so I want to make sure and be the best I can be when I'm up in front of them.

Still Learning

Metalshop: Your two-handed tapping and lead bass style have influenced a generation. How has your technique changed as you've gotten older?

Billy Sheehan: I still approach the bass like I'm 16, and I'm always learning something new.

When I'm home, I get up, feed the cats, and I'm down practicing for a couple of hours every day. Every day, I come up with something that I never knew before. I do something that I never did before.

I can revitalize something I did back in the '60s, '70s, '80s, or '90s and reincorporate it into what I'm doing now.

The more I know, the more I realize I don't know, which is a good thing.

The more you play any musical instrument, you're heading to the top of the mountain, and the top keeps getting higher the more you go. There's so much more.

I'm always trying to do better and trying to improve. That's very important to me. It's my life's work. It's what I do. It's all I do.

Finding Your Own Voice

Metalshop: What do you say to a younger player who's looking for his own voice?

Billy Sheehan: Learn songs. Play songs.

Every great player—almost every one, with a few exceptions—played songs.

The Beatles played songs at the Cavern Club. Van Halen played songs. Everybody learns by playing songs.

Every artist learns by imitating those who came before them. Famous painters and great artists in every genre copied the greats who came before them.

So everybody copies. You learn from those who came before you.

For me, I learned a million Beatles songs, a million Beach Boys songs, The Dave Clark Five, Three Dog Night, Grand Funk Railroad, Crosby, Stills & Nash—songs by all of them, over and over, played night after night in clubs.

I'm over 6,000 gigs lifetime total now, and that really set me up to learn my own music.

For a young musician now, find your favorite record and learn the whole thing. Pick a great classic record that all your friends love. Learn all the songs. Learn all the parts.

Pretty soon, you've got your own voice and your own ideas, and you speak your own ideas.

I think that's the way to do it.

What Does Success Mean?

Metalshop: At this point in your life, what would you call success?

Billy Sheehan: Having the bills paid and not having so much worry about how I will sustain my life, so that I can spend time on this—more time than ever.

That is a real joy to me, and I'm grateful to everybody that ever bought a record, a ticket, or a T-shirt and gave me the means to have a life where I can have that luxury.

That's success to me.

I can play my bass any time I want and for as long as I want. I can record. I have free rein over what I want to create as a musician and what I want to enjoy as a musician.

I'm good.

I don't need a private jet. I drink cheap Malbec wine—no $100 bottles of wine at my house—but we have just as good a time.

The Meaning of “Footprints”

Metalshop: Tell me about the song "Footprints." What is it about from your perspective?

Billy Sheehan: Our singer, Toby Rand, is a great lyricist and a great writer.

It's about change and changing yourself. The footprints make an image of what you are. As you walk, you look behind you and see what you were.

I thought it was brilliant. It's a great way to concisely say something that's philosophically deep, but make it simple and easy for everybody to relate to.

I instantly fell in love with that song.

“Everything Stops. We Must Reevaluate.”

Metalshop: Let's talk about "Killswitch."

Billy Sheehan: We did a video for that in an underground bunker outside Warsaw, Poland, from World War II, which was used for chemical warfare.

A kill switch is a way to just turn everything off—dead, stop. A kill switch would be a way to stop everything.

Everything stops right now. We must reevaluate.

Metalshop: Yeah. Some days I wish we could do that.

Billy Sheehan: Hello, everyone. My name's Billy Sheehan. I'm your bass player. You're listening to my dear friend, Charlie Kendall, right here on Metal Shop. Enjoy. your text here...

Metalshop talks with Billy Sheehan