SOCIAL MEDIA

Twinmusix got to speak to Reb from Winger about their upcoming tour and more.

TM - Hi, this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix and we are here with Reb Beach from Winger, thank you for having this interview with us today we appreciate it.

RB - Thank you.

TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour?

RB - It depends if you have seen Winger before, if you haven't seen Winger it's not what you think, it will be different. You can just go to YouTube and see what it is. I hate doing that you know, if there is a movie I want to see I try not to watch the trailer but if I do I try and watch 3 seconds of the trailer and say I'm going to save it for the movie. Winger is like a heavier version of Toto and I am not saying we are as good as Toto because they are amazing live and we are good live. We are like a Toto that's heavier with heavy rock riffs. We have a badass singer called Kip Winger who plays bass and our drummer is award-winning and an incredibly fun drummer to watch. It is all original members, which is very rare in this day and age for a band that is at least 35 years old and we play the hits and serious jams.

TM - Are there any tourist attractions you want to see in Australia?

RB - I like the people in Australia, just drinking a beer and eating a steak sounds good.

TM - What's your favourite song to play live?

RB - I like playing "Rainbow in the Rose" It shows what Winger can do, but we play all the hits. I don't even know the setlist, Kip sometimes just calls them out, and we play them.

TM - Can you tell us a story from touring?

RB - I fell into the drums one time, I was swinging the guitar around my head and it slipped out of my hand and went into the audience and broke in half.

Another time we stopped playing the song and Paul didn't hear that we had stopped and he kept on playing and that was pretty funny. We have had a lot of Spinal Tap things happen throughout the years.

RB - Our first show was the worst show we ever did because we were all studio musicians and we had never played together as a band. We opened for the scorpions in 1988 or 1989 and Kip didn't know how to talk to the audience yet and he had a very low voice and it was kind of boring when he talked. He said something like you people are great, thanks for being here, this is our next song and The Scorpions were watching us and we almost got fired because we were so bad. Kip could hardly sing, but then he watched the Scorpions after that and the lead singer of The Scorpions was very upbeat with his voice and we just stole that for the next night.

TM - What was the first band you saw live and can you tell us a story?

RB - My dad sent me to boarding school and whenever we went on vacation I would always go and visit my brother in New York City. I would only go for a couple of nights and the show that was playing the first night I visited him was "Parliament-Funkadelic" which is a very famous punk band and they were playing at Madison Square Garden. I went because I had heard of them and I love funk. My gay brother and I were probably the only white people in the whole Arena and I was only thirteen and the dude in front of me handed me a joint, it was my first joint so I got high and the bass player took his clothes off while he was playing bass, it was amazing, it was a great show. The next time I went to visit my brother he said there is a band playing called KISS have you heard of them and I said oh my god I can't believe it. He took me to KISS at 13 years old in 1977 and it was the KISS Alive II tour, that is when I knew I wasn't going to be a piano player. I thought Ace Frehley was from space and I knew instantly I was going to be a guitar player. I rushed right out and bought an electric guitar and that's when it started it all.

TM - What's your favourite memory of watching someone else perform live?

RB - I did mushrooms, and the pig hit the ground on the Pink Floyd tour, that was amazing. They had giant inflatable Pigs, and the Pigs fell to the ground as they were making noise on the instruments, that freaked me out. There have been a lot of amazing shows I have seen.

I learned guitar from a country rock band called Molly Hatchet and I got to jam with the lead singer, that was another great moment for me. He put his arm around me and did the foot stomp and that was a big deal for me.

TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs, what band would it be, what song would it be and would it be in your style or their style?

RB - It would be in their style and I would choose Kings X doing "Junkyard Dog".

TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?

RB - We love Australia, you get such a wonderful Vibe when you are there. I always get a great Vibe when I play there and I haven't been there in a long time. We have no idea if people are going to show up but I hope they do because this is it, come and see the show. I hope you won't be disappointed and you have never seen the band like this with all the original members plus John Roth who is an incredible guitar player and singer.

TM - Thank you for having this interview with us today we appreciate it.

RB - Thank you.