Kooymans & Carillo.

George Kooymans and Frank Carillo will be back on Dutch stages during a small Summertour 2011.They will play with the Barking Dogs: Bob Langenberg on Drums, Ocki Klootwijk on bass and Tyn Smit on keys.

Frank Carillo.

Frank Carillo is the epitome of the "musician's musician." Throughout his career, his craftsmanship as a gifted world-class guitar player, memorable prolific songwriting and his warm and affable persona have allowed him to make an indelible mark on the international music scene.

Rails to Kingdom Come.

Frank Carillo and the Bandoleros are wraping up their new CD. All the work is being done at Millbrook Studios with renowned producer and sound engineer extraordinaire Paul Orofino. The CD, "Rails To Kingdom Come," is scheduled for early summer release.

2008 Mescalina Interview

By Christan Verzeletti
Juy 20, 2008

Frank Carillo is a guy who like to tell stories. First of all because he experienced so many all the way through a career that's been lasting for more than thirty years. Of rock'n'roll.

Mescalina:
Frank, first thing is I really enjoy when it comes to interview someone with such a long career: so many things to ask! So let's start from the beginning: how did you start with music?

Frank Carillo:
My mother used to watch the TV show American Bandstand and I saw Duane Eddy playing "Rebel Rouser". I knew then that I wanted to play guitar. I learned my first song on a 1917 Gibson mandolin that my father found in an old house. My mother's brother Mike taught me to play "Beautiful Dreamer". That was the song from the film "Mighty Joe Young" (the original from the late '40s, I think). I started guitar lessons soon after that. That was it for me. That was all I wanted to do.

Mescalina:
Was Duane Eddy a kind of turning point in your life? Was he the one who brought you towards rock'n'roll?

Frank Carillo:
Yes. He was my first guitar hero.

Mescalina:
I know you toured with so many great rockers: Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, J. Geils Band … tell us about those times, how were the Seventies?

Frank Carillo:
Really fantastic. There were so many great artists and I was lucky enough to get to meet and play on the same show with so many of them. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were great to work with as was Bad Company and The J. Geils Band. All of them, really. There was a camaraderie that was just great. No egos to deal with. Lots of fun.

Mescalina:
Any particular memory?

Frank Carillo:
I think one of the best was fishing out of the window of the Edgewater Inn in Seattle with Paul Rogers. We were in his room fishing for mud sharks while Boz Burrell (Bad Company's bass player) and my bass player, Buffalo Bill Gelber, were strapped into one bass and they were playing it together. Paul and I caught a shark and put it in the bathtub. When we decided to get rid of it, we through it out the window. It was still alive. Apparently, a guy on the floor below had a mild heart attack and fell out of his window into the water (he was on the ground floor). We threw the shark out at the same time that he went into the water. What a scene. Turned out that the guy was all right but pretty shaken up. We had no idea that he was in the water but found out later from the firemen that came to Paul's room. All the while, Boz and Buffalo kept playing!

Mescalina:
Real Seventies psychedelic stuff! Even Frank Zappa should know about it … on the other hand what about Led Zeppelin?

Frank Carillo: I met them when I was recording at Olympic Studios in London with my band Doc Holiday
They were working in Studio B and we were in A.

Mescalina:
Any anecdote about them?

Frank Carillo:
Robert Plant would come into the studio and he would jam a bit with us. Bob Mayo was in the band. We would play blues tunes. Bob called him BB Plant. He loves the blues. I played with Jimmy Page when Jimmy took me to see Les Paul at Fat Tuesdays in NYC. Les asked Jimmy to get up and play, and he asked me to play, too. The only problem was that the other guitar player with Les was lefty, so I had to play piano. That was pretty funny as I'm really not a piano player! Good fun, though. When I was signed to Atlantic in the late 70s, I was supposed to open for Led Zeppelin but, tragically, Robert Plants son passed away and the tour was cancelled.

Mescalina:
And let's come closer to present: you played in John Hammond band … how did you meet him?

Frank Carillo:
I met John Hammond when I opened solo acoustic for him in a club in upstate NY. We hit it off and became friends. John's a great guy and so talented.

Mescalina:
If I'm not wrong you entered the band during the sessions of "Wicked grin", which was such a great album … guess you love Tom Waits, don't you?
Did you play also with him?

Frank Carillo:
I actually started to play with John after the Wicked Grin session. He had some rough mixes of the CD and he and his wife Marla were spending Christmas with my wife Barbara and I. He played me the tracks and I loved it. He asked if I would be in the band. Who could say no to that? It was all of the guys from the CD minus Tom Waits, so I took that guitar seat for the tours. Yeah, I do like Waits a lot. We both have gravely voices!! I got to play with him when he joined John and the rest of the band on stage in San Francisco. A nice man and really brilliant.

Mescalina:
How long did you play with John Hammond?

Frank Carillo:
I played with John for about 2 years. 2000 and 2001. It was a great experience.

Mescalina:
And here we go to Bandoleros: listening to your band you can hear influences coming up from folk, American rock and British blues …

Frank Carillo:
I guess all of the music that I have loved and listened to through the years creeps into what I do. It's really not a conscious effort. It's just what comes out in the writing and playing. That's goes for most every musician, I think.

Mescalina:
How were the sessions of "Someday"?

Frank Carillo:
The sessions were great. I like to let people bring what they have to the party. I really don't tell people what to play. That way, you get different feels going on. We had a lot of fun and it was pretty effortless to record. The Bandoleros are a great bunch. Not only to play music with but just to hang out with. That makes it so much easier to create.

Mescalina:
You have Augie Meyers playing keyboards on the album, who is another great musician especially on organ … how did you come up together?

Frank Carillo:
Augie and I met during the "Wicked Grin" tours. He played keyboards on the CD as well as in the band. We hit it off immediately. He is an amazing storyteller and a great friend. I wish we lived closer together but he's in Texas and I'm in NY, but we do try and get together as much as possible. He is truly amazing. One of the most musical people I've ever met.

Mescalina:
You yourself play also a laud bringing more folk atmosphere: tell us about this instrument and how you got it

Frank Carillo:
during one of John Hammond's tours and Augie and I decided to go exploring. After lunch and few beers we found this music shop and I saw this laud hanging on the wall. I fell in love with it. I bought it and have used it on countless sessions. When we were recording John Hammond's CD "Ready For Love", I mentioned it to David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) who was producing. He told me that he plays one, too. I love different stringed instruments. I've got some from Thailand and India, as well.

Mescalina:
There's a kind of magic also in the lyrics of songs especially in "Eastern time" …

Frank Carillo:
Actually, "Eastern Time" was inspired by a trip to Hong Kong and Bangkok. My wife is a designer so there is a reference to jewellery, but it's a made-up story about two smugglers. I like to tell stories.

Mescalina:
Then there's that blues style in that title-track and some soul singing in "The way out" … trying to gather all of your musical passions and skills?

Frank Carillo: Again, it's just what comes out when I'm writing, although, with the title track, "Someday," I wanted to write a song with just one chord. We recorded it in one take. Eddie Seville (my drummer) played slide and my brother Andrew played mandolin. The only overdubs were the backing vocals and the harmonica.

Mescalina:
Tell us about "Glass heroes", which seems to be a picture of all those rock stars fading too fast … guess you met more than a few, didn't you?

Frank Carillo:
I have met a few over the years. "Glass Heroes" is really about heroes that have died. Nothing lasts forever. I've had a number of musician friends pass on and that's really what the song is about. I was thinking about Jimmy Dewar (Robin Trower vocalist and bass player), Bob Mayo (Peter Frampton) and George Harrison when I wrote it

Mescalina:
Are youlistening to any new or old record at the moment?

Frank Carillo:
Actually, I'm listening to a lot of old records. Motown, the band Love and stuff like that. Also I'm listening to a lot of Indian music and Ray Davies' new one. But I am really enjoying The Ranconteurs and Arcade Fire.

Mescalina:
No plan to come to Italy

Frank Carillo:
We would love to come to Italy
We hope to be there in 2009

Mescalina:
I guess you played here before ?

Frank Carillo:
I played in Italy with John Hammond a number of times.
It was absolutely beautiful. Great people, and the food and wine can't be beat.