As a drummer, Brian Tichy has landed gigs with everyone from Gene Simmons to George Lynch, but with his latest project, Led by Vultures, he’s making like Dave Grohl and stepping out from behind the kit – but it’s not easy.
“Being self-taught and also being a drummer has left a bunch of holes in my playing,” Tichy tells GW. “But it’s an ongoing thing, like anything, to just keep trying to get better.”
But that’s not to say that Tichy is a novice as much as he is modest. “Guitar players are all very concerned and fixated on tone,” Tichy says. “But it mostly comes from within. We all have a sound in our head, and we’re trying to achieve it in our own unique ways.”
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Tichy kicked Led by Vultures off with a single, Get it Right, with a full-length LP to follow. “I just had fun with no rules,” he says. “I thought about what would make something jump out as far as fun guitar stuff goes.”
Gigs on drums with Simmon and Lynch are Tichy’s main bag now, but he hopes for more. “Hopefully,” he says. “Led by Vultures will be something that becomes a priority and takes up more time as it grows. I’m now in a pretty good place; I have no excuses not to do this with 100% focus.”
What’s your history with guitar?
When I was seven, my dad showed me a couple of chords and the riff to Day Tripper on his high-action acoustic guitar. Then, in 1980, a friend showed me power chords, Iron Man, Back in Black, Smoke on the Water, a pentatonic, a pentatonic flat-5 scale, and a Phrygian scale. Then Blizzard of Ozz came out, and Randy Rhoads’ playing just floored me.
On some level, this is reminiscent of what Dave Grohl did after Nirvana with the Foo Fighters.
A year after Nirvana, he was fronting his own thing on guitar and vocals. How can you not be inspired by that?
When I was a kid, the dream was to have your own band and sell out Madison Square Garden. I got close; our cover band in the ’90s packed the Madison Inn in New Jersey! [laughs] I was definitely influenced when Dave Grohl came out with Foo Fighters. A year after Nirvana, he was fronting his own thing on guitar and vocals. How can you not be inspired by that?
You’ve played drums with everyone from George Lynch to Gene Simmons to Don Felder to Slash. What did you learn?
I definitely didn’t geek out as hard as I should have with all of them. You’d think I’d constantly be picking their brains, but as the drummer, that’s the priority. But there have been many times when I’ve sat around with some of them and either talked guitar, jammed guitar, traded licks or analyzed licks from our heroes.
I’ve learned that there are so many small details that separate one player from another, but the main thing that makes them unique is touch and feel.
What sort of player are you?
One important thing is vibrato. Mine is average. I try and try and know how important it is, but it’s not as good as I’d like. I have also put time into picking and some technical stuff, but it’s limited compared to all the freaks out there.
What gear are you using?
A Tacoma 6-string, and a Washburn 6 and 12. I used some old ’70s Les Paul Standards, a 1980 Les Paul Custom Silverburst, and a 1980 Explorer.
One important thing is vibrato. Mine is average. I try and try and know how important it is, but it’s not as good as I’d like
I have a Dean ML, my black-and-white-striped EVH, an original 5150, my modded Marshall JCM 800, and a 4×12 cab with 30-watt greenbacks. And a bunch of stompboxes, like an MXR Phase 90 flanger and octave pedal.
Does it bother you that some people won’t take you seriously as a guitarist?
No, who cares? It comes down to: I named it a band. If you like it, that’s all that matters. This is me saying, “I’m not just a drummer and never have been. I’m doing what I love as much as I can while I’m here.” If a naysayer doesn’t take it seriously, does one stop because of that? Nope. It has no weight compared to the weight I’ve put on myself to prove to myself I can.
