In a recent conversation with Ultimate Guitar, Paul Gilbert looked back on his early amateur band experiences.
After talking about how they would learn and arrange songs together with Russ Parrish, the guitarist said:
“Growing up playing in cover bands, I learned a lot of songs, but we sort of kicked that into overdrive with the three of us. We called the band the Electric Fence. And that name has cropped up in bios of mine, but I always sort of cringe, because we never recorded anything. So, if anybody hears about it, and I guess you could probably go on YouTube and find some stuff.”
What Did Satchel Say About Gilbert?
In his early days, Gilbert spent a lot of time with Steel Panther’s Satchel. They enjoyed listening to the same genres of music. Parrish previously reflected on how it was to hang out with Paul in an interview with Guitar World:
“I used to hang out with Paul a lot. He was very inspiring, but one thing I realized early on was that I’d never be able to play like him. He has really big hands and this ability to cross strings really fast… only he can do it like that. If you get really good at doing Paul Gilbert licks, you’re only going to sound like him.”
Satchel also praised Gilbert in 2019, saying:
“He’s been a huge influence on me, not just as a lead player, but as a musician. He’s a very creative person, he loves to play piano and other instruments and brings all of that into his songwriting. He’s incredibly well-rounded because I guess he wanted to play everything.”
In another earlier interview, Paul mentioned that Satchel rented a room in his house when he first bought it. Paul was often on tour with Mr. Big at that time and wanted someone to watch over his house. Satchel used Paul’s studio to create demos on an eight-track Tascam cassette recorder. When Paul returned from tour, Satchel would play him these demos.
You can see a video of Gilbert’s early band below.