BILLY IDOL / CAMP FREDDY Guitarist Billy Morrison - "Musicians, By Stereotype, Are Meant To Be The Guys That Get Told Where To Be, What Time, And Look Pretty; I’m Not That Guy"
April 11, 2011, 13 years ago
BILLY IDOL / CAMP FREDDY guitarist Billy Morrison is featured in an in-depth interview with Rick Landers at Guitar International. An excerpt is available below
Rick: It sounds to me that if you were gonna give like a young musician some type of advice, it sounds like you would say, ‘Don’t focus just on one specific area, but broaden your career.’
Billy Morrison: "I wouldn’t give that as advice. That’s just me. I have found myself to be a very broad, let’s use the word ‘artist’, even though I hate it. I’m a very broad artist and I find that I don’t like sitting around at all. So someone might come off of a world tour like I did and sit around for six months. I can’t do that. Within three days of being back off the road, I’m writing screenplays. I’m creating television shows. I’m acting. I’m recording more music myself. I don’t think that I would advise people to do that. If you find yourself creatively stifled, my advice to anyone, any young kids starting to play an instrument is, ‘Don’t listen to anyone else.’ Don’t listen to the people who tell you, 'Why are you doing that? You’re never gonna get anywhere.' Don’t listen to them. I’ve never had a lesson in my life, and for better or worse, I have a career in music. I’m not the world’s greatest guitar player, but I’m certainly not the worst. That’s purely tenacity. That’s purely getting up every morning and wanting it badly; enough to put the footwork in."
Rick: How do you manage the business aspects of all this or does your wife do that? She’s a lawyer, right?
Billy Morrison: "My wife actually does my contracts, but I think some of the people that I work with in business would probably say it’s annoying that I know as much as I do. [Rick Laughing] Musicians, by stereotype, are meant to be the guys that get told where to be, what time and look pretty, and I’m not that guy. My questions when you tell me that are: How much am I getting paid? Why am I getting paid that much? What are the commissions? What is the breakdown of the costs? I’ve been doing it a long time and it’s part of my nature. I like to know the business. And it helps me in other areas. It helps me get taken seriously when I’m sitting in a meeting."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
As previously reported, SEBASTIAN BACH, MOTÖRHEAD frontman Lemmy Kilmister and Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN EXPERIENCE) were among the guests that joined Camp Freddy on Monday, January 24th at Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, CA for a benefit event to create awareness and raise positive vibes in celebration of breast cancer survivor Carolyne Williams.
Footage from the show can be seen below: