I first heard about Gyasi when Alive Records sent me a promo of his first album ‘Pronounced Jah-See’ back in 2022. I wasn’t sure what to expect and the cover, a brash portrait of the man-himself in Seventies Glam attire, added to my perplexion. But listening to the record (loud!) quickly set the scene. Initial thoughts, Bowie and Ronson, Bolan and TRex, maybe some Roxy, perhaps some Jobriath… it was good, but repeated plays revealed even more. This wasn’t a fully focused or finessed album, but the more I paid attention the more I realised, there are some really good songs in their own right here and not just retro-wannabe’s. Plus, pay attention… this guy can really play some great guitar!
2024 saw his second album, ‘Rock’nRoll Sword Fight’. Recorded live in Nashville, it featured versions of some older tracks as well as new material and gave a better indication of the power that Gyasi and his band could whip-up. But it wasn’t until 2025, with the release of his latest studio album, ‘Here Comes The Good Part’, that it all came together. Twelve tracks that all hit the spot (13 on the CD…) This was the album that the previous releases had been heading towards. Yeah, the same influences and inspirations but these songs were great from start to finish and stand up on their own (stack-heeled) feet. Gyasi isn’t just good, he’s the real deal and if you can’t enjoy this album, then you’re just too old or boring.
After several tours in Europe, the album would also bring about Gyasi’s first gigs in the UK. I managed to set-up an interview without any problems and so found myself at The Lexington just as the band finished their soundcheck. The tour manager introduced me to Gyasi and we went backstage for the interrogation. Despite his flamboyant image, he proved to be very friendly, positive and down to earth.
2024 saw his second album, ‘Rock’nRoll Sword Fight’. Recorded live in Nashville, it featured versions of some older tracks as well as new material and gave a better indication of the power that Gyasi and his band could whip-up. But it wasn’t until 2025, with the release of his latest studio album, ‘Here Comes The Good Part’, that it all came together. Twelve tracks that all hit the spot (13 on the CD…) This was the album that the previous releases had been heading towards. Yeah, the same influences and inspirations but these songs were great from start to finish and stand up on their own (stack-heeled) feet. Gyasi isn’t just good, he’s the real deal and if you can’t enjoy this album, then you’re just too old or boring.
After several tours in Europe, the album would also bring about Gyasi’s first gigs in the UK. I managed to set-up an interview without any problems and so found myself at The Lexington just as the band finished their soundcheck. The tour manager introduced me to Gyasi and we went backstage for the interrogation. Despite his flamboyant image, he proved to be very friendly, positive and down to earth.
Before I even start recording, I mention his unusual name and he discloses that ‘my parents were hippies working in Africa, so they gave me a Ghanaian name’. Never trust a hippy! However, he grew up in a rather remote part of West Virginia…
‘Yeah, but almost the whole State is like that. There’s not that many big cities and it’s the heart of Appalachia, so it’s a very mountainous region and very heavily wooded. It’s a lush place, full of mountains and rivers, but it’s also one of the poorest States in the country. It’s known for coal-mining, which is where the big companies came in, destroyed the land and paid the local people very little. There’s still a lot of exploitation going on in that area but it is, geographically, still a very stunning and beautiful place. It’s full of what’s called ‘hollers’, which is where the mountains form a kind of bowl-shape, sort of like valleys, and that’s where you’ll find little communities of people. I was born and grew up in one of the hollers which was quite remote and the nearest town was a tiny, little place about seven miles away. I think it had been built in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s when the railroad went through there. It had been a booming little town when the railroad was built and the coal industry was employing everyone, but by the 1970’s everybody had left and it became a decaying town. But it has a lot of the original architecture and was still a beautiful little town, in a place where three rivers come together.’
How and when did you get to move away from West Virginia?
‘It wasn’t until I was 18. When I got out of High School, I went to Boston to attend the Berklee School of Music. I was pretty Hell-bent to get out of there because, as beautiful as the State is, culturally it’s a barren wasteland! It could be really horrible and I had a pretty-rough time in High School. I was so different to everyone else there, even though I’d been born there. But my parents weren’t from West Virginia and we weren’t a local multi-generational family, so we weren’t a part of that culture. My parents were from Long Island and Ohio and were sort of ‘back to the land’ hippies, so the way we lived was just so different to the way that anyone else lived out there. We were living in the way that people in the Thirties had lived, so I just didn’t fit in at all. My peers were happy to let me know how different I was and that being different was not considered a good thing in their eyes. There was a real culture of sameness… everyone wore the same clothes and had the same haircut, you know? So by the end of my time in High School, I was like ‘I’m gonna get the fuck out of here
‘Yeah, but almost the whole State is like that. There’s not that many big cities and it’s the heart of Appalachia, so it’s a very mountainous region and very heavily wooded. It’s a lush place, full of mountains and rivers, but it’s also one of the poorest States in the country. It’s known for coal-mining, which is where the big companies came in, destroyed the land and paid the local people very little. There’s still a lot of exploitation going on in that area but it is, geographically, still a very stunning and beautiful place. It’s full of what’s called ‘hollers’, which is where the mountains form a kind of bowl-shape, sort of like valleys, and that’s where you’ll find little communities of people. I was born and grew up in one of the hollers which was quite remote and the nearest town was a tiny, little place about seven miles away. I think it had been built in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s when the railroad went through there. It had been a booming little town when the railroad was built and the coal industry was employing everyone, but by the 1970’s everybody had left and it became a decaying town. But it has a lot of the original architecture and was still a beautiful little town, in a place where three rivers come together.’
How and when did you get to move away from West Virginia?
‘It wasn’t until I was 18. When I got out of High School, I went to Boston to attend the Berklee School of Music. I was pretty Hell-bent to get out of there because, as beautiful as the State is, culturally it’s a barren wasteland! It could be really horrible and I had a pretty-rough time in High School. I was so different to everyone else there, even though I’d been born there. But my parents weren’t from West Virginia and we weren’t a local multi-generational family, so we weren’t a part of that culture. My parents were from Long Island and Ohio and were sort of ‘back to the land’ hippies, so the way we lived was just so different to the way that anyone else lived out there. We were living in the way that people in the Thirties had lived, so I just didn’t fit in at all. My peers were happy to let me know how different I was and that being different was not considered a good thing in their eyes. There was a real culture of sameness… everyone wore the same clothes and had the same haircut, you know? So by the end of my time in High School, I was like ‘I’m gonna get the fuck out of here
How did you first get interested in music and what styles did you get to hear back then?
‘I was really lucky because my parents had good taste and my Dad had a lot of really old Blues music. He collected original Blues 78’s and back then, you could still get them really easily. Not like it is now where they’re really hard to find. He was able to go to yard sales and buy things like Bukka White, Sonny Boy Williamson or Bo Carter records, some of which are now super rare. He also had lots of old Jazz and early Rock’n’Roll and liked Calypso music and African music, so there were always lots of things to listen to. I think my first favourite band was probably The Beatles, who I heard when I was three or four years old. I really responded to my parents record collection and, apparently, I started dancing to music soon after I could walk. I remember, when I was a little bit older, I would set up boxes and pots and try to play drums along to the Beatles. Drums were my first instinctual musical instrument and I think they probably still are. But later on, when I was about 6, I started getting intrigued by guitars and my parents bought me an acoustic from a local flea market. I immediately started making-up songs and trying to give these living-room concerts for them! I didn’t even know any chords, I was just picking one note at a time. The Beatles were the thing I was really into at that time, but as I got older I also got into the Stones, who became my favourite band for a while. I finally got a real drumkit when I was 8 years old and played that a lot, then I went back and got my first electric guitar. I didn’t have any proper guitar lessons until I was 12, but I’d already been trying to figure things out for myself before then. I think that when I get in to something I get really obsessed with it and it wasn’t always music as I was into a lot of diverse interests. But when I got into playing guitar, over time that became the one thing I kept learning. I spent all my time with an electric guitar and then I switched back to acoustic for a while and spent an entire year learning how to play with open-tuning. Then I found-out about 12-string guitars and slide-guitar and it seemed there were all these different languages within the one thing. So I never got bored and never had to move-on to something else…’
How did you get into the Glam-Rock style?
‘A lot of that actually came from a Russian family who lived next-door to us in West Virginia. The father of that family had been a part of the underground rock’n’roll scene in Russia, while it was still the Soviet Union. They were trying to smuggle-in all these illegal Western records, things like Bob Dylan and all that stuff. And because these things were forbidden, they really appreciated them so much. If they got a lyric sheet, they’d translate the songs into Russian so they could study them and study the artwork, as well as everything else. I’d go and have tea with them almost every day while I was a kid and they would put these records on and discuss the lyrics or why this record was important, just talking about what was going on. That became another part of everything I was into at the time. I think I was about 13 when I really got into Led Zeppelin and I became obsessed. I was hyper-focussed on them for about four years but then, after I’d gone really deep into that, I kind of got more into song-writing and I think that’s when the Glam element came around. I realised that I really wanted to play something that was more like straight-ahead rock’n’roll, while I also wanted to explore these themes of individuality and self-expression. When I was younger I was also interested in a lot of more theatrical things, like story-telling and creating characters. I liked artists like Charlie Chaplin, who were more physical and used their bodies to communicate, almost like mime. I wanted to see how I could combine them with music and the only style that seemed to do that was Glam Rock. So I started writing more in that style and it just seemed to feel right. I naturally went in that direction, but the introduction of those different influences made it more like Glam, I guess.’
‘I was really lucky because my parents had good taste and my Dad had a lot of really old Blues music. He collected original Blues 78’s and back then, you could still get them really easily. Not like it is now where they’re really hard to find. He was able to go to yard sales and buy things like Bukka White, Sonny Boy Williamson or Bo Carter records, some of which are now super rare. He also had lots of old Jazz and early Rock’n’Roll and liked Calypso music and African music, so there were always lots of things to listen to. I think my first favourite band was probably The Beatles, who I heard when I was three or four years old. I really responded to my parents record collection and, apparently, I started dancing to music soon after I could walk. I remember, when I was a little bit older, I would set up boxes and pots and try to play drums along to the Beatles. Drums were my first instinctual musical instrument and I think they probably still are. But later on, when I was about 6, I started getting intrigued by guitars and my parents bought me an acoustic from a local flea market. I immediately started making-up songs and trying to give these living-room concerts for them! I didn’t even know any chords, I was just picking one note at a time. The Beatles were the thing I was really into at that time, but as I got older I also got into the Stones, who became my favourite band for a while. I finally got a real drumkit when I was 8 years old and played that a lot, then I went back and got my first electric guitar. I didn’t have any proper guitar lessons until I was 12, but I’d already been trying to figure things out for myself before then. I think that when I get in to something I get really obsessed with it and it wasn’t always music as I was into a lot of diverse interests. But when I got into playing guitar, over time that became the one thing I kept learning. I spent all my time with an electric guitar and then I switched back to acoustic for a while and spent an entire year learning how to play with open-tuning. Then I found-out about 12-string guitars and slide-guitar and it seemed there were all these different languages within the one thing. So I never got bored and never had to move-on to something else…’
How did you get into the Glam-Rock style?
‘A lot of that actually came from a Russian family who lived next-door to us in West Virginia. The father of that family had been a part of the underground rock’n’roll scene in Russia, while it was still the Soviet Union. They were trying to smuggle-in all these illegal Western records, things like Bob Dylan and all that stuff. And because these things were forbidden, they really appreciated them so much. If they got a lyric sheet, they’d translate the songs into Russian so they could study them and study the artwork, as well as everything else. I’d go and have tea with them almost every day while I was a kid and they would put these records on and discuss the lyrics or why this record was important, just talking about what was going on. That became another part of everything I was into at the time. I think I was about 13 when I really got into Led Zeppelin and I became obsessed. I was hyper-focussed on them for about four years but then, after I’d gone really deep into that, I kind of got more into song-writing and I think that’s when the Glam element came around. I realised that I really wanted to play something that was more like straight-ahead rock’n’roll, while I also wanted to explore these themes of individuality and self-expression. When I was younger I was also interested in a lot of more theatrical things, like story-telling and creating characters. I liked artists like Charlie Chaplin, who were more physical and used their bodies to communicate, almost like mime. I wanted to see how I could combine them with music and the only style that seemed to do that was Glam Rock. So I started writing more in that style and it just seemed to feel right. I naturally went in that direction, but the introduction of those different influences made it more like Glam, I guess.’
Did the visual side of your stage presentation develop at the same time?
‘Oh yeah! It just appealed to me a lot. The androgyny of it… When I was going to High School, being androgynous just came naturally to me. I’ve always felt that way, naturally effeminate. I felt that playing with it was fun, and it’s funny how provocative that can still be. I mean, you’d really think it would be so passe by this point. But right now, it’s so ridiculous but the whole thing seems to be becoming even more of an issue again than it has for a long time. Even if you’re just speaking-up about it… But I don’t agree with anything against individual freedom. Like, going back to what I was saying about the Soviet Union, the people didn’t have their freedom and that’s why the underground music became so important.’
I believe you wrote, recorded and produced your first few releases pretty-much by yourself. Does that make you the Prince of Glam Rock?
‘Oh yeah! Ha ha! Although no, no-one could touch Prince, he was in a league of his own. But, yeah, I think with those early recordings it was just out of necessity. I’d wanted to be in a band for such a long time and I tried a bunch of things but I could never find the right person or people. I’d wanted to be in a band since my teens and I always wanted it to be the best band ever, but there was never a moment when I found someone and felt, this is it! So I decided, fuck it all, I’ll sing. During my teens, I had hyper-focused on playing guitar and I never really thought about singing. But I eventually decided that maybe I should sing. I’d started writing songs and even went back to West Virginia for a while, thinking that I might be able to start a band with my old High School buddies or some of the other sort of hippy kids who were part of the scene out there. But it quickly became pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to happen. We were never going to break-out of West Virginia! I had already saved-up some money to buy an 8-track tape machine and some mics and I set them up in a room at my parents house, then I hired a drummer to come and play, one of the best drummers in the State, and we recorded all the songs that I’d written over the past few years, like, 26 songs in three days! It was an explosion of all these ideas, while I was still figuring-out how to record on tape and how to mix. We completed everything in two three-day sessions and that was basically how I got enough songs for my first EP and first record. I spent some time mixing and experimenting with the tapes and then decided to move to Nashville. I’d already lived there for a brief period, after I finished in Boston, and once I went there I was able to put a band together and book some shows because I had those tapes that I could play for people.’
‘Oh yeah! It just appealed to me a lot. The androgyny of it… When I was going to High School, being androgynous just came naturally to me. I’ve always felt that way, naturally effeminate. I felt that playing with it was fun, and it’s funny how provocative that can still be. I mean, you’d really think it would be so passe by this point. But right now, it’s so ridiculous but the whole thing seems to be becoming even more of an issue again than it has for a long time. Even if you’re just speaking-up about it… But I don’t agree with anything against individual freedom. Like, going back to what I was saying about the Soviet Union, the people didn’t have their freedom and that’s why the underground music became so important.’
I believe you wrote, recorded and produced your first few releases pretty-much by yourself. Does that make you the Prince of Glam Rock?
‘Oh yeah! Ha ha! Although no, no-one could touch Prince, he was in a league of his own. But, yeah, I think with those early recordings it was just out of necessity. I’d wanted to be in a band for such a long time and I tried a bunch of things but I could never find the right person or people. I’d wanted to be in a band since my teens and I always wanted it to be the best band ever, but there was never a moment when I found someone and felt, this is it! So I decided, fuck it all, I’ll sing. During my teens, I had hyper-focused on playing guitar and I never really thought about singing. But I eventually decided that maybe I should sing. I’d started writing songs and even went back to West Virginia for a while, thinking that I might be able to start a band with my old High School buddies or some of the other sort of hippy kids who were part of the scene out there. But it quickly became pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to happen. We were never going to break-out of West Virginia! I had already saved-up some money to buy an 8-track tape machine and some mics and I set them up in a room at my parents house, then I hired a drummer to come and play, one of the best drummers in the State, and we recorded all the songs that I’d written over the past few years, like, 26 songs in three days! It was an explosion of all these ideas, while I was still figuring-out how to record on tape and how to mix. We completed everything in two three-day sessions and that was basically how I got enough songs for my first EP and first record. I spent some time mixing and experimenting with the tapes and then decided to move to Nashville. I’d already lived there for a brief period, after I finished in Boston, and once I went there I was able to put a band together and book some shows because I had those tapes that I could play for people.’
Once you and the band were ready to play, what kind of reaction did you get?
‘It was good, you know… We were just playing in tiny Nashville bars. It’s actually funny, as Ricky who plays with me now actually played at the very first show we ever did. I didn’t know him so well at the time and he was also involved with all these other bands, but he played that one show with me. I guess that was in 2018 and we got a pretty good reaction, but it wouldn’t be until about a year later when we played a show in front of a packed house, like 300 or 400 people. That was our first show in front of a real crowd and I remember we had a very intense response. It took some time for things to come together… That was in 2019, but we didn’t start to tour until 2022. Obviously we couldn’t do anything in 2020. We lost a whole year there and didn’t start playing again until 2021, just in Nashville. But we went on our first tour in 2022 and from that we got an agent, got a manager and got signed to Alive Records. All these things eventually happened really fast, but it had been a slow process in the beginning.’
Alive Records are a pretty well-respected independent label and certainly seem to have done a good job with your releases. How did you get involved with them?
‘Well, it was slightly more involved than I just said… During 2020, while nothing was going on, I got a phone call completely out of the blue. I’d actually moved back to my parents house because nothing was happening. I’d booked a bunch of dates in 2020 which should have been our first tour, but then everything got shit-canned due to Covid. But then I got a phone-call from this French guy, Patrick, who lived in LA and runs Alive Records. Someone had sent him my recordings and he wanted to know if I’d be interested in releasing something on vinyl. He suggested taking tracks from those recordings and maybe some new songs if we had any ready, and releasing them as an album. I was happy to agree to that, so the first LP was 50/50, six songs from the early releases and six new ones. But as Covid happened, the vinyl was delayed and couldn’t go to press for ten months or so and even then it was delayed further because the pressing plant was all backed-up. But it was such a big thing for me and I was so excited to be doing something on Alive because it’s such a taste-maker label. It got me on the radar of the right kind of people, especially the French music press who really liked what I was doing. It opened-up so much more for me.’
‘It was good, you know… We were just playing in tiny Nashville bars. It’s actually funny, as Ricky who plays with me now actually played at the very first show we ever did. I didn’t know him so well at the time and he was also involved with all these other bands, but he played that one show with me. I guess that was in 2018 and we got a pretty good reaction, but it wouldn’t be until about a year later when we played a show in front of a packed house, like 300 or 400 people. That was our first show in front of a real crowd and I remember we had a very intense response. It took some time for things to come together… That was in 2019, but we didn’t start to tour until 2022. Obviously we couldn’t do anything in 2020. We lost a whole year there and didn’t start playing again until 2021, just in Nashville. But we went on our first tour in 2022 and from that we got an agent, got a manager and got signed to Alive Records. All these things eventually happened really fast, but it had been a slow process in the beginning.’
Alive Records are a pretty well-respected independent label and certainly seem to have done a good job with your releases. How did you get involved with them?
‘Well, it was slightly more involved than I just said… During 2020, while nothing was going on, I got a phone call completely out of the blue. I’d actually moved back to my parents house because nothing was happening. I’d booked a bunch of dates in 2020 which should have been our first tour, but then everything got shit-canned due to Covid. But then I got a phone-call from this French guy, Patrick, who lived in LA and runs Alive Records. Someone had sent him my recordings and he wanted to know if I’d be interested in releasing something on vinyl. He suggested taking tracks from those recordings and maybe some new songs if we had any ready, and releasing them as an album. I was happy to agree to that, so the first LP was 50/50, six songs from the early releases and six new ones. But as Covid happened, the vinyl was delayed and couldn’t go to press for ten months or so and even then it was delayed further because the pressing plant was all backed-up. But it was such a big thing for me and I was so excited to be doing something on Alive because it’s such a taste-maker label. It got me on the radar of the right kind of people, especially the French music press who really liked what I was doing. It opened-up so much more for me.’
Obviously, you do get comparisons to people like David Bowie and Marc Bolan but the thing that sets you apart is that you add your own voice and character to the songs…
‘Yeah, well, that’s the whole idea! That sound was engrained in me from such an early age and it’s just part of who I am and how I make music. It just comes out that way. I think Bowie’s approach, just as a human almost, his life philosophy as well as being such a musical genius… He had such a well-rounded world-view and I think that’s what is so inspiring. Everything is fair-game and I think that inspires me to approach my music in this way. The idea is to keep combining things and then exploring where it takes you. With each new song and each new release, it’s a matter of finding what feels the most like me. What’s the combination that will sound the most like how I feel? I’m not interested in doing something that’s just going to be nostalgia. The thing I love about Bowie’s music is how great it is and how great the artistry is. That’s the part that I want to aspire to. Anything else, I don’t really care about.’
Your latest album, ‘Here Comes the Good Part’, has been very well-received and is certainly your most fully realised so far. It seems that you’ve really focused on what you wanted for this album… Is that what the title refers to?
‘It is now. It wasn’t at first but I realised that it kind of works that way. Originally it came from this funny story that my Dad told me about himself and one of his best friends, who is also my Godfather. This guy lives like a hermit in Virginia, not West Virginia. He lives out there like a total hermit but he’s a musical genius and gifted beyond almost anyone I’ve ever met. He just plays acoustic guitar but he’s so unbelievable. We would go out there and visit him throughout my childhood and I would sit across from him and we’d play together for hours. He never really taught me anything, but as we played together I would just absorb whatever I could and a lot of how I play guitar really comes from him… Anyway, one of the stories that they always told me was about the two of them back in the Seventies. They’d been doing acid and decided to go hitch-hiking. After a while they got picked-up by this old-timer in his old, beat-up truck and they ended-up driving along listening to an old cassette tape or something that he had. They’d be talking and then, all of a sudden, he’d say, ‘Oh wait ! Hold on!’ and he’d turn the tape up and tell them, ‘Here comes the good part!’, regardless of what the song was! They both thought it was hilarious, probably because they were stoned, but sure enough when the next song was playing, it would be ‘Oh my God, here comes the good part!’, as if the rest of the song really sucked and this was the only part that was any good. I always thought that was funny so it stayed with me like a potential title I had for something. Later on, I’d be telling my friends about it and they’d say that maybe it was also symbolic of the hard work I’d put into the band and the music, since I was a little kid… maybe now I’m going to get to the ‘good part’? I always thought that each new record should be better than the previous one and that’s really the main idea. But it’s strange because, honestly, while I was working on the latest record and was in the process of creating something, it’s very challenging to have any kind of perspective on it. I just wanted to get it done. Even when it was finished, friends would ask me if I liked it and I would tell them, ‘I like that it’s done!’ But then as I moved away from recording it, I really began to like it.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s the whole idea! That sound was engrained in me from such an early age and it’s just part of who I am and how I make music. It just comes out that way. I think Bowie’s approach, just as a human almost, his life philosophy as well as being such a musical genius… He had such a well-rounded world-view and I think that’s what is so inspiring. Everything is fair-game and I think that inspires me to approach my music in this way. The idea is to keep combining things and then exploring where it takes you. With each new song and each new release, it’s a matter of finding what feels the most like me. What’s the combination that will sound the most like how I feel? I’m not interested in doing something that’s just going to be nostalgia. The thing I love about Bowie’s music is how great it is and how great the artistry is. That’s the part that I want to aspire to. Anything else, I don’t really care about.’
Your latest album, ‘Here Comes the Good Part’, has been very well-received and is certainly your most fully realised so far. It seems that you’ve really focused on what you wanted for this album… Is that what the title refers to?
‘It is now. It wasn’t at first but I realised that it kind of works that way. Originally it came from this funny story that my Dad told me about himself and one of his best friends, who is also my Godfather. This guy lives like a hermit in Virginia, not West Virginia. He lives out there like a total hermit but he’s a musical genius and gifted beyond almost anyone I’ve ever met. He just plays acoustic guitar but he’s so unbelievable. We would go out there and visit him throughout my childhood and I would sit across from him and we’d play together for hours. He never really taught me anything, but as we played together I would just absorb whatever I could and a lot of how I play guitar really comes from him… Anyway, one of the stories that they always told me was about the two of them back in the Seventies. They’d been doing acid and decided to go hitch-hiking. After a while they got picked-up by this old-timer in his old, beat-up truck and they ended-up driving along listening to an old cassette tape or something that he had. They’d be talking and then, all of a sudden, he’d say, ‘Oh wait ! Hold on!’ and he’d turn the tape up and tell them, ‘Here comes the good part!’, regardless of what the song was! They both thought it was hilarious, probably because they were stoned, but sure enough when the next song was playing, it would be ‘Oh my God, here comes the good part!’, as if the rest of the song really sucked and this was the only part that was any good. I always thought that was funny so it stayed with me like a potential title I had for something. Later on, I’d be telling my friends about it and they’d say that maybe it was also symbolic of the hard work I’d put into the band and the music, since I was a little kid… maybe now I’m going to get to the ‘good part’? I always thought that each new record should be better than the previous one and that’s really the main idea. But it’s strange because, honestly, while I was working on the latest record and was in the process of creating something, it’s very challenging to have any kind of perspective on it. I just wanted to get it done. Even when it was finished, friends would ask me if I liked it and I would tell them, ‘I like that it’s done!’ But then as I moved away from recording it, I really began to like it.’
Unexpectedly, the next album you found yourself working on was ‘The Revenge of Alice Cooper’, featuring the long-awaited reunion of the original Alice Cooper band. Sadly, guitarist Glen Buxton passed away some time ago, but the band decided to ask you to fill his place… How did that all come about?
‘It was something that literally just fell out of the sky. I mean, there are so many things that you can really work hard trying to try and get in this business, but then something really great will just fall out of the sky in front of you! In this case, I was on tour and I got a call from a good friend of mine in Nashville, Mike Grimes, who owns a record store and two venues, one of which is The Basement. It’s the place where, if you’re new in town or coming to town for the first time, that’s where you’re going to play. Mike will be there almost every night, so he knows everyone in Nashville and he’s helped a lot of bands to get their break. He knows a lot of people because he was there when they were first starting out and he always tries to help them. He’s a huge supporter of the music and a key part of the scene in Nashville. Anyway, he’d seen us playing in all the different venues around Nashville and I think he realised just how much work we’d put-in. He’d seen us growing as a band… So, Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper’s long-time producer) asked Mike if he knew any appropriate younger guitarists and I’ve got to say, kudos to him for doing that because, let’s face it, he could just as easily have asked someone like Slash to work on a project like that. But instead he decided to ask Mike if he knew of anyone suitable. According to Mike, he kind of thought I’d be a good fit but he decided to get some other opinions. The first person he asked suggested me and then he asked another friend and again, they suggested me. So he sent Bob a copy of my latest record and then Bob sent it to Alice and the next thing I knew was that Bob was calling me while I was out on tour. He asked me to come into the studio and play two songs with the band. There were no promises, but they wanted to see how it went. I met all of the band that day and we ended up recording two of the songs for their new album. Then they called me back the next day to do some over-dubs and the next day they sent me another 14 songs to work on. At the same time, I was still doing my own shows and I had one booked that night, so Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith came along and I think that helped to reassure them that I was the right fit.’
Dennis said in an interview that he was particularly impressed that you came out first and played a Blues set, before returning with the full band for the main set…
‘Well, at the time we had this regular gig in Nashville and it was a kind of dinner-and-show venue, which was a rather strange gig for us but it’s a really nice place with great sound and lights. Early in the evening most of the people would be having their dinner so we thought, rather than come out with the full on rock thing while they were eating, perhaps I could come out and play some Blues songs. I hadn’t told Dennis and Neal that I was going to do that so I think it was a bit of a surprise for them. I mean, it’s not a regular thing that we do when we’re on tour because it would mean having to bring along extra guitars and set-up for two sets every night. Generally, it would just be a bit too much, unless I’m wanting to play for two hours and do the whole Gyasi deep-dive! But as that gig was in Nashville, it was a lot easier to do and it made sense because it worked with the timing of the show. But I love doing it because I love that music.’
‘It was something that literally just fell out of the sky. I mean, there are so many things that you can really work hard trying to try and get in this business, but then something really great will just fall out of the sky in front of you! In this case, I was on tour and I got a call from a good friend of mine in Nashville, Mike Grimes, who owns a record store and two venues, one of which is The Basement. It’s the place where, if you’re new in town or coming to town for the first time, that’s where you’re going to play. Mike will be there almost every night, so he knows everyone in Nashville and he’s helped a lot of bands to get their break. He knows a lot of people because he was there when they were first starting out and he always tries to help them. He’s a huge supporter of the music and a key part of the scene in Nashville. Anyway, he’d seen us playing in all the different venues around Nashville and I think he realised just how much work we’d put-in. He’d seen us growing as a band… So, Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper’s long-time producer) asked Mike if he knew any appropriate younger guitarists and I’ve got to say, kudos to him for doing that because, let’s face it, he could just as easily have asked someone like Slash to work on a project like that. But instead he decided to ask Mike if he knew of anyone suitable. According to Mike, he kind of thought I’d be a good fit but he decided to get some other opinions. The first person he asked suggested me and then he asked another friend and again, they suggested me. So he sent Bob a copy of my latest record and then Bob sent it to Alice and the next thing I knew was that Bob was calling me while I was out on tour. He asked me to come into the studio and play two songs with the band. There were no promises, but they wanted to see how it went. I met all of the band that day and we ended up recording two of the songs for their new album. Then they called me back the next day to do some over-dubs and the next day they sent me another 14 songs to work on. At the same time, I was still doing my own shows and I had one booked that night, so Dennis Dunaway and Neal Smith came along and I think that helped to reassure them that I was the right fit.’
Dennis said in an interview that he was particularly impressed that you came out first and played a Blues set, before returning with the full band for the main set…
‘Well, at the time we had this regular gig in Nashville and it was a kind of dinner-and-show venue, which was a rather strange gig for us but it’s a really nice place with great sound and lights. Early in the evening most of the people would be having their dinner so we thought, rather than come out with the full on rock thing while they were eating, perhaps I could come out and play some Blues songs. I hadn’t told Dennis and Neal that I was going to do that so I think it was a bit of a surprise for them. I mean, it’s not a regular thing that we do when we’re on tour because it would mean having to bring along extra guitars and set-up for two sets every night. Generally, it would just be a bit too much, unless I’m wanting to play for two hours and do the whole Gyasi deep-dive! But as that gig was in Nashville, it was a lot easier to do and it made sense because it worked with the timing of the show. But I love doing it because I love that music.’
It must have felt good to be asked to play with those guys?
‘Yeah, it was so cool. I was so glad when they chose me and I felt honoured to be a part of it. I was just so happy to be in the room with them, even though I was really just a supporting role to the original members. But it was great to be able to help and get those guys back together and playing again.’
Has there been any talk of the band playing live again?
‘Yeah, we’re going to be playing on November 15th (2025) in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s something that Alice does, a big fundraiser called the Christmas Pudding Show. This year, the whole band will be playing a full ten-song set, so that will be our first show as a group. There’s also been talk of other things but it’s all a little complicated due to various factors, including the age of the guys. I mean, Alice is in really good shape because he tours all the time and has been doing that for years. But I think the idea of them doing a whole tour isn’t going to happen. There has been talk of them doing some special one-off shows but I really don’t know at this point… I’m just the guitar player, but if they call me, I’ll be there! Personally, I think it would be cool if they did play some proper shows, because so many people only know Alice Cooper as the singer, whereas originally it was the whole band. I mean, being in a room with all of them and seeing how they all play together… the way that Dennis plays bass is so unique and the way they play together is so defining of that sound… if you want the real Alice Cooper sound it really has to be those guys.’
You’ve played in Europe several times, but this is your first time in London and the UK. How come you haven’t made it over here until now?
‘I’ve wondered the same thing! I mean, this is our fourth time in Europe, but my European agent is French so I think that may have had something to do with it. I’ve heard that it’s a little bit harder to tour in the UK these days? We’ve been coming to Europe since Brexit happened and I know we had to jump through a bunch of shit to get here today. But I’ve been pushing my agent since we started working together to book some shows in the UK. He would tell me it was tough to get over here now because it would be a lot more expensive and we’d get paid less. But I always thought, we have to go there, we have to play in the UK. So we’ve finally made it… He had been trying the last two times we were in Europe but couldn’t get anything that made sense for us. This time he finally managed to get some things put together well enough to make it happen. Hopefully these dates will go well and we’ll be able to make it over here again.’
Do you have plans for another record yet?
‘Yeah, in fact I was working on new material up until last week and we’re probably going to be playing one brand new song tonight, something that I only wrote in the last two weeks! After I get back from these dates, I’ll be doing the Alice Cooper thing but as soon as that’s over, I’ll probably be in the studio until February. I guess I’ve got about 36 song-ideas that I’m working on right now, so I’m keen to see which 12 of them will make it on to the next record. So definitely, definitely, there’s another record on its’ way.’
‘Yeah, it was so cool. I was so glad when they chose me and I felt honoured to be a part of it. I was just so happy to be in the room with them, even though I was really just a supporting role to the original members. But it was great to be able to help and get those guys back together and playing again.’
Has there been any talk of the band playing live again?
‘Yeah, we’re going to be playing on November 15th (2025) in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s something that Alice does, a big fundraiser called the Christmas Pudding Show. This year, the whole band will be playing a full ten-song set, so that will be our first show as a group. There’s also been talk of other things but it’s all a little complicated due to various factors, including the age of the guys. I mean, Alice is in really good shape because he tours all the time and has been doing that for years. But I think the idea of them doing a whole tour isn’t going to happen. There has been talk of them doing some special one-off shows but I really don’t know at this point… I’m just the guitar player, but if they call me, I’ll be there! Personally, I think it would be cool if they did play some proper shows, because so many people only know Alice Cooper as the singer, whereas originally it was the whole band. I mean, being in a room with all of them and seeing how they all play together… the way that Dennis plays bass is so unique and the way they play together is so defining of that sound… if you want the real Alice Cooper sound it really has to be those guys.’
You’ve played in Europe several times, but this is your first time in London and the UK. How come you haven’t made it over here until now?
‘I’ve wondered the same thing! I mean, this is our fourth time in Europe, but my European agent is French so I think that may have had something to do with it. I’ve heard that it’s a little bit harder to tour in the UK these days? We’ve been coming to Europe since Brexit happened and I know we had to jump through a bunch of shit to get here today. But I’ve been pushing my agent since we started working together to book some shows in the UK. He would tell me it was tough to get over here now because it would be a lot more expensive and we’d get paid less. But I always thought, we have to go there, we have to play in the UK. So we’ve finally made it… He had been trying the last two times we were in Europe but couldn’t get anything that made sense for us. This time he finally managed to get some things put together well enough to make it happen. Hopefully these dates will go well and we’ll be able to make it over here again.’
Do you have plans for another record yet?
‘Yeah, in fact I was working on new material up until last week and we’re probably going to be playing one brand new song tonight, something that I only wrote in the last two weeks! After I get back from these dates, I’ll be doing the Alice Cooper thing but as soon as that’s over, I’ll probably be in the studio until February. I guess I’ve got about 36 song-ideas that I’m working on right now, so I’m keen to see which 12 of them will make it on to the next record. So definitely, definitely, there’s another record on its’ way.’
We end the interview at this point and I head downstairs to meet up with various friends. There’s already a good atmosphere in the place and you can tell that the gathering audience are really keen to see Gyasi for the first time. A couple of drinks help to soak-up the time and the conversation is so good that we all miss the support band (mind you, they did do a drum sound-check in the middle of my interview so it serves ‘em right!) But soon enough, we head upstairs again and get good positions down at the front. I don’t think the gig is completely sold-out but it’s comfortably full and there’s a palpable buzz in the air as we wait for the show to begin. The band come out onstage and start a short intro before Gyasi bounds on to the stage and launches into ‘Cheap High’ from his latest album. It was one of those gigs where the energy levels start high and just don’t drop until the very end. Gyasi is a natural showman and his band nail-down the set perfectly. But the main thing are the songs, catchy, exciting and full of attitude. ‘Sweet Thing’, ‘Baby Blue’ and ‘She Says’ all high-lighting the excellent ‘Here Comes the Good Part’, while tracks like ‘Androgyne’, ‘Fast Love’ and ‘Godhead’ present the best moments of his earlier records. They played for just over an hour but it seemed to go by in half that time and by the end, everyone is clapping and cheering for more. I’ve been waiting to see Gyasi for several years and goddamnit, this was so worth the wait! No more messing … when he returns to the UK, you really need to see him. Fair enough, it’s easy to make quick comparisons but listen to the ‘Here Comes the Good Part’ album or, even better, see him live and you’ll soon realise that he’s the real thing.
Final comment...
In an unexpected move, Gyasi has just released a new album, 'Songs From The Holler', but instead of it being another stunning example of contemporary Glam-rock, this album is a collection of Blues songs high-lighting that side of his musical character. However, rumours suggest that his next full-band album may already be finished and will be following in the not-too-distant future. That said, 'Songs From The Holler' is a fine album in its' own right and well-worth checking-out. But if this interview has piqued your interest in Gyasi for the first time, this record may not be the best place to start listening...
In an unexpected move, Gyasi has just released a new album, 'Songs From The Holler', but instead of it being another stunning example of contemporary Glam-rock, this album is a collection of Blues songs high-lighting that side of his musical character. However, rumours suggest that his next full-band album may already be finished and will be following in the not-too-distant future. That said, 'Songs From The Holler' is a fine album in its' own right and well-worth checking-out. But if this interview has piqued your interest in Gyasi for the first time, this record may not be the best place to start listening...