SIXX: A.M. Frontman Interviewed

Elianne Halbersberg of Gibson.com recently conducted an interview with SIXX: A.M. vocalist James Michael. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Gibson.com: How has your approach to working with Nikki [Sixx, SIXX: A.M. leader and MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist] changed over the years?

James Michael: That's a great question. It hasn't changed at all. The day he showed up at my house to write the first song for [MÖTLEY CRÜE's] "New Tattoo" — he's the same person. That question excites me because I realize that our friendship has stayed consistent and we still have that good give-and-take and appreciation for what each other does.

Gibson.com: Can you be too comfortable working with an artist?

James Michael: I guess you could, but that would then make you not as effective as a producer. You always have to throw a fistful of nails in when things get too comfortable. For me, it's instinctive to do that. The music-making process is about the discomfort, working through things, challenging yourself and discovering new things about yourself.

Gibson.com: Nikki's roots go back to analog and tape, what one might call the "old-school" way of making records — "old school" now meaning anyone over 30. How does this impact what you do?

James Michael: Mine are in analog and tape, too! I was very lucky to start engineering at 14 on large analog consoles and two-inch tape machines. I was always a tech geek, so as soon as the first Mac Classic came out, I was pushing it to the limit. I have that old-school style, but I'm also cutting-edge efficient on digital recording. I'm one of the handfuls of guys who cut his teeth on the cusp and can do both. Having the same recording experience as Nikki, we speak the same language and that's very important. We appreciate the old and the new and can find the sweet spot between the two. We also know when we've gotten there. Being from the other era of recording gives us an advantage.

Gibson.com: Are the "new-school" producers missing out on that history?

James Michael: I think that if I answer "yes" to that question, which I could, I would also have to say that some purists are missing out as well on some amazing new advances. From a personal standpoint, a new engineer who never sat in front of speakers and listened to a song on vinyl, yes, he's missing out on the magic from the past. But a guy who has only mixed drums by cutting tape with a razor blade and who needs three days to edit a take when I can do it in ten minutes on Pro Tools is missing out, too. It's important to find the hybrid, the common ground, to make the best music you can make.

Gibson.com: What led you to production and engineering?

James Michael: Frustration. The frustration of writing a song, giving it to an artist, and the producer either doesn't get it or doesn't produce it adequately. A number of times the songs weren't interpreted the way they were intended, and sometimes it was a little issue — the way a note on the guitar rubbed with the melody line was overlooked by the producer and the magic was completely lost. Sometimes it wasn't even in the ballpark.

As we talk, I realize I'm a complete control freak and maybe I need to go talk to someone! [laughs] I need to see things to completion, and I think what my colleagues know and appreciate about me is that I do it on time, within budget, and make it the best it possibly can be.

Gibson.com: Some of the songs on "The Heroin Diaries" were years old. How did you keep them modern and fresh? What was added, musically and technically, and how did you keep them from being just an experience of living in the past?

James Michael: Those are great questions. First, an old song is an old song if it was released a long time ago, and none of those songs were ever released. I wrote four of the songs: "Dead Man's Ballet", "Van Nuys", "Permission" and "Courtesy Call". They were all written for my album and they happened to fit with "The Heroin Diaries". That's a heady answer, but it's not a matter of keeping a song modern. If you wrote it ten years ago and release it now, then it becomes what modern is. You produce it with modern sounds, the way it sounds good now. You don't take something you recorded ten years ago and try to mix it and give it a fresh sound. The fact that the record has done so well and established a sound for SIXX: A.M. means, I guess, that you can consider this a modern sound. But if it had tanked, people would listen to it and say it doesn't seem relevant today.

Read the entire interview from Gibson.com.