Music Radar caught up with Mr. Big guitarist for a Q&A session about life on tour. An excerpt is available below.

Q: What’s the best venue you’ve played in, and why?

Gilbert: “On the beach in Santos, Brazil. There were 100,000 people and giant video screens so they could see the band from the back rows. The trick with the big venues is to make sure that they still put the drums and amps close to the front of the stage. I hate to rely on monitors to hear myself and the drummer. I want to be close to the band and the music.”

Q: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve witnessed on tour?

Gilbert: “An elephant strolled up next to our van while we were waiting at a stop light in Thailand. The elephant stopped. When the light turned green, the elephant started walking again. There was a guy riding on top, so he might take the credit for the stopping and starting. But still, it’s not something that I see every day.”

Q: What’s the nearest you’ve come to a Spinal Tap moment on tour?

Gilbert: “Well, getting a Makita drill caught in my hair in front of 10,000 people, of course. I wish that had been caught on video, but it was before everyone had cell phone cameras.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.

TC Eectronic caught up with Paul Gilbert at the legendary Budokan in Tokyo, Japan to take a peek at his live setup for this year's tour with Mr Big. Check out the clip below.

The new album Defying Gravity deftly showcases that patented Mr. Big blend of crunch and melody, from the freight-train ride of opening cut "Open Your Eyes" to the harmony-laden wonderment of "Damn I'm In Love Again" to the grateful/wistful nostalgia of "1992" (recalling the days when the band was flying high atop the singles charts with their international #1 smash "To Be With You") to the barnburning slide-blues closer, "Be Kind”. Overall, Defying Gravity is prime evidence that the only thing Mr. Big remains tethered to is their ongoing pursuit of achieving creative excellence.

Original members Eric Martin (lead vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitars), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Pat Torpey (drums) reunited with producer Kevin Elson (who was behind the boards for the band’s 1989 self-titled debut, 1991’s Lean Into It and 1993’s Bump Ahead) for an intensive six-day recording session in Los Angeles. While Torpey was unable to perform some of the songs on Defying Gravity due to a recent diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, Matt Starr has been filling in for him on a majority of the album. Starr also been touring with the band for the past couple of years, with Torpey able to play a couple of songs at each stop.

“It was great to get back in the studio with our original producer, Kevin Elson,” says guitarist Paul Gilbert. “Kevin recorded all of our original classic albums from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and we immediately felt that magic chemistry with him on Defying Gravity. We basically played live in the studio. Over the years, we’ve all had a chance to experiment with every recording technique possible, but it’s still always the best just to play together as a band. Most of my guitar solos were tracked live with the band. I’ve worked hard on my improvisation in the last few years, and it really paid off on this record…both melodically, and on the face-melting stuff.”

Defying Gravity tracklisting:

“Open Your Eyes”
“Defying Gravity”
“Everybody Needs A Little Trouble”
“Damn I’m In Love Again”
“Mean To Me”
“Nothing Bad (About Feeling Good)”
“Forever And Back”
“She’s All Coming Back To Me Now”
“1992”
“Nothing At All”
“Be Kind”

DVD contents:

“Defying Gravity” (music video)
“Everybody Needs A Little Trouble” (music video)
Making of Defying Gravity (video)
Making of “Everybody Needs A Little Trouble” (video)
Track by track interview

“Defying Gravity” video:

“Forever And Back”:

“Mean To Me”:

“Everybody Needs A Little Trouble” video:

"1992":

The Making of "1992”: