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The Sum of All Wisdom is built on a simple idea: music IS the sum of all wisdom.
More than a podcast, The Sum of All Wisdom is a community and resource platform dedicated to exploring music as a way of knowing. Music is humanity's oldest way of knowing and one of our best technologies for making meaning, and through long-form conversations with musicians, producers, writers, and cultural thinkers—along with performances, essays, and educational resources—we investigate the creative life and what it teaches us about memory, identity, creativity, community, and the human condition.
Whether you're a musician, artist, scholar, or simply someone who loves music and believes it matters, The Sum of All Wisdom is an invitation to listen more deeply: to great music, to the people who make it, and to the wisdom gained through a life devoted to music and musical worlds.
Because music is more than entertainment. It is one of humanity's most ancient ways of understanding the universe and our place in it.
Scott Catey (00:00)
This episode shows us an artist returning to music with a sharper sense of time. Greg Amici's band Big Honey were making waves in the nineteen nineties when a vocal injury interrupted their journey. Years later, after surgery and exploring other creative avenues, Greg realized that he couldn't live without making music. So he got back to it, wrote and recorded his recent album, Tragicomic, and was preparing to tour.
When another injury and physical recovery interrupted the live return he had planned, as well as the follow-up album. But more than a simple comeback story, Greg's experience highlights resilience, how he keeps finding ways to continue, and his dedication to keep creating while he can. We also had a revelation that changed the shape and tone of the episode for me. I didn't realize going into the conversation with Greg that I had seen him with Big Honey all those years ago.
At that moment the conversation stopped being merely a retrospective with a stranger, and I realized that I had been there for Greg's earlier chapter. It felt a little like getting reacquainted with an old friend, with a few surprises along the way, plus a lot of good creative process discussion. Here we go, hope you enjoy it.
Greg Amici (01:20)
I'm doing very well. I'm you know, I've been I've been stuck in an area I'm usually not. So my I'm not in my usual music room to do the podcast because I've had two torn quadricepteurs in my tendon in my two torn quadricept tendons. So I can't like go up and down stairs yet. So I'm stuck in the dining room and Moose is running around. I hope he stays quiet. I c I can control the people, but I can't always control him.
Scott Catey (01:46)
Yeah, I
get it. I you gotta explain that, Greg. Two torn quadricep tendons. What the hell happened?
Greg Amici (01:52)
Yeah, I was in Florida. We go down there for a decent amount of winter and tripped on a curb, tore one of And then I I came back to do a gig in New Jersey and in Asbury Park. And about three days when I after I got back, I into it I went down the stairs to go to my office to my music room and I tripped it I I didn't trip. All of a sudden my knee buckled as I went downstairs.
And the other knee buckled with it and the one the one that had been repaired, the bone went through it and there was blood everywhere and my my significant other had to save my life with a tourniquet. So
Scott Catey (01:09)
You c that
I mean what? That's crazy. That's a
Greg Amici (01:14)
Yeah. It was it was a it's been like I said, this people are asking me how this year's gone and I'm saying, Well, I'm all optimistic and everything's good, but I have spent a decent amount at either in the hospital or in rehab, so it hasn't been that easy.
Scott Catey (01:26)
That is no good. I'm sorry, first of all, I'm sorry for the damage, but damn, I'm glad your your significant other was there to help.
Greg Amici (01:33)
Yeah, because it was taking the the EMS guys a long time, so they had to instruct her over the phone on how to do a tourniquet. And I couldn't believe it she actually did it. I thought I was done, I was just bleeding out, but she she pulled it off and here I am, all of me
Scott Catey (01:51)
Least what's left of you, right?
Greg Amici (01:53)
What's left to me, yeah. But that's been the case for years now.
Scott Catey (01:57)
So this is kind of been a theme over your life. You know, the things get in the way of you doing the shit you want to do. So tell me that let's back up a bit. and talk about the this is your comeback. You're making a comeback this year, twenty five, twenty six, you've put out Tragicomic the album. you've
Greg Amici (02:13)
Right. Right.
Scott Catey (02:14)
done a a ton of music videos to go with the tracks on that thing, which are fantastic. I love the visual aesthetic, but as well as the music, right? So
You got a lot of stuff going on, but this is coming after sixteen years of something else happened. So back up and tell me a little bit about how how you are where you are.
Greg Amici (02:34)
Well, you know, I've been doing music since high s later high school because I was always a jock before then. And then I really started getting serious about it in my early twenties, had a a a couple of bands. we got on an album that Matt Pinfield put together, a compilation album, but that was that was about it. We just it was never really happening there. I moved to New York, I became an actor, I did some of that, and I got back into music whenever the opportunity arose.
And for once I was on my own writing and and singing. So I started doing everything myself and including stuff that's not natural for me, like playing guitar and singing in front of people. I was used to being just a front man. So I was doing that acoustically. I got started building up a a fan base, I guess you call it, I hate to say fan base, but you started building up people that like the stuff. And I had a band called Big Honey, and everything was going nicely. you know, as nicely as I could, considering the business, it was the nineties business, which would
Scott Catey (03:31)
Yeah,
yeah.
Greg Amici (03:31)
still
could get signed by a label, but you had to get barcoded up and down the coast or wherever you're you're touring. That's how long ago that was. And so then I was doing a CMJ, which we used to be a big, you know, a big to-do the C college music journal music festival. And I was halfway through the set and I all of a sudden I had problems in my lower register. And turned out was a polyp on my vocal cord. I didn't know what to do with it.
so I saw several guys, several doctors, and they said, Well, you could try rest, but it's probably gonna have to be removed. So I tried rest to the point that I was writing off a palimpsest living with somebody for four months, just writing and not talking. Didn't work. So then I got it removed eventually. I wish I had right from the start, because I might have been able to save the band, which was the problem. I lost the band in the in the hiatus.
Then I went to California. I had an opportunity to go out there as a writer and and an actor. So I went out there and I spent time there. Came back to New Jersey, got my my master's at Brooklyn College. And then I was in a movie, I had a small role in it, and the I mentioned to the guy, hey, you know, I got a couple of musical ideas for this. I I I do music. He told me to go with it. I wrote a couple of songs, worked with this guy, James Mastro, who's my producer.
And all of a sudden I realized 16 or whatever it is now, years later, that this is I can't live without it. So that's when I started. We recorded, and we were kind of lucky that was during COVID. So we recorded two albums worth of material. I would not be able to get the musicians I got had it not been for that. I'd say COVID being lucky, but from that perspective. And so then you know, that's when I was like, I'm going full bore Another difference is I have some money now. I didn't have that when I was a kid.
When I was younger, so now I can finance things myself that I could never do. So that's when a comeback.
Scott Catey (05:20)
that's good. I I it's it's
a hell of a comeback. It's a hell of a story, Greg. I I as I was researching for, you know, preparing for this episode, I realized that you were in Big Honey, as you said. And I had a girlfriend from Upper Montclair back in the day. And sh I met her in Missoula, Montana. We were both going to college at the University of Montana. And so we went to Upper Montclair and we saw you with Big Honey. Yeah.
Greg Amici (05:46)
Are you serious? Wow.
Scott Catey (05:48)
I remember I we saw you. I can't remember where it was. I the the details are there were some adult
Greg Amici (05:54)
Tell me about it.
Scott Catey (05:56)
helpers involved, and so not everything is clear from those years, but you know what I mean. But yeah, I think your music is fantastic.
Greg Amici (06:03)
L T B.
Scott Catey (06:04)
I loved it back then. I remember really enjoying the show. And yeah, I'm really
Greg Amici (06:08)
Thank you, thank you. I'm very happy.
Scott Catey (06:10)
glad that.
That we connected and then I got to hear Tragicomic I'm glad you're back. I'm glad you're doing this thing. I really want to hear
Greg Amici (06:15)
Thanks so much.
Scott Catey (06:17)
next question I have is I really want to hear about the band. You right? You say you got really lucky with the band during COVID. And tell me,
Greg Amici (06:23)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Scott Catey (06:24)
tell me like not just the band, but also who you're producing with. You got some Grammy, Grammy folks. You've got some really well known people that are
Greg Amici (06:30)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (06:31)
helping you with this album.
Greg Amici (06:32)
Yeah. James Mastro, he's from the Bongos. That was his
Scott Catey (06:36)
Mm.
Greg Amici (06:37)
in they had a big run in the ninety in the late eighties. And he's been with a bunch of other bands, including Patti Smith. So from Patti Smith I got the bass player, Tony Shanahan, and so he played on a lot of the cuts. and then Dennis Dennis DiBrizzi is from Dion's band. He's he's on it and
musicians of that ilk, n primarily North Jersey known, well known players that like I said, especially Jim Jim's touring all the time. He's doing his own stuff. So so he produced it and he plays, you know, a lot of the instruments on it. So that was and again, I was very fortunate that after the first song I did with him, I knew this was special. We had actually met many years earlier and I wanted to do something with him and back in the Big Honey days.
But he only wanted a little bit of money as a producer, but at that time I had no money. And I thought I had an investor, but she bolted on me, so just never got around to it. I was so happy I got back in touch with him that that much time. That was also a Rip van Winkle thing. We were knew him in the early nineties, came to see a couple of the gigs and then didn't do anything. And now I like we caught up in the two thousand twenties.
Scott Catey (07:49)
It's nice to reconnect, right? After all those years and Yeah.
Greg Amici (07:51)
Especially with a great guy. A
great guy. And and that's the thing. I can't work I I can only work with people I really like. Talent is great, but I have to you know, have to have a nice personality and and he's such a good guy. And all the guys, Ray, Ray Ketchum's the engineer, he's been with a lot of bands and it was his studio. He's just great guys who love the music. See, that's the thing, you know, it wasn't a pro gig for them. It was a pro gig but it was also they they would've they wouldn't come back for more as much as they did if they thought it was like just a a, you know, money gig.
Scott Catey (08:20)
Tell me when you're in the studio with these, you love working in the studio, right? And you're in there with them,
Greg Amici (08:25)
yeah.
Scott Catey (08:25)
your songs are you're starting to, it's starting to gel. You they come in, they bring their vibe, they bring their everything that they come with.
Greg Amici (08:33)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (08:34)
And you start hearing your music come into the vision that you
have
Greg Amici (08:38)
Right.
Scott Catey (08:39)
for it. Tell me about that experience.
Greg Amici (08:41)
well, I had a lot of good demos. and all this music for the with regard to, the exception of the two new songs and part of one song, which I hadn't written the lyrics for, most of the stuff was older material. You know, I have so many such a backlog of stuff to get out. And so they had some demos to go on, and then Jim would turn it to the direction that fit his style, which as a producer, which I loved, a lot of edding, a lot of little quirky instrumentation that I thought was great.
And then there were a couple of songs. there's a cover of the song Jennifer, which was a a nice song that nobody ever heard in the sixties. And and he had I mean, you know, that's that's that's really I came in with the chord progression, I had changed a few things with it, but not that much. And then he took it into onto it to another level, I think.
Scott Catey (09:30)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (09:30)
My book on it I liked was I thought it strong, but it was really I that's the kind of thing Jim really was so impressive on.
Scott Catey (09:35)
Yeah, really came through very well with that.
I get a sense that there's you have obviously literary degree, right? So from Columbia, I think, right? You're
Greg Amici (09:45)
I went to Columbia
undergrad and then I got my master's at Brooklyn College.
Scott Catey (09:48)
Yeah, okay, right. In literature, right?
Greg Amici (09:51)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (09:52)
So you're talking about the palimpsest that you were writing when you had the polyp, right? The surgery. Not a word that a lot of people use. Just wanted to throw
Greg Amici (09:57)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (09:59)
that out there and say thank you. I you know, I have a a
Greg Amici (10:02)
The thing.
Scott Catey (10:03)
a penchant for language, so I I I like that you
Greg Amici (10:05)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (10:05)
use that word. Anyway, the literary nature of your of your education, I think also comes through in your songwriting. And I wonder if there's a
Comedia dell'arte, right? Kind of influence to Tragicomic I'm think I hear Paliacci a little bit in there.
Greg Amici (10:21)
Certainly. Yeah.
Yeah. yeah, that absolutely. I mean, I that was my when I realized that half the songs were sort of t not half, but maybe a third of the songs were tongue in cheek. and the others were, you know, either dramatic or had some aspect of comedy to it. So so I figured i I just I came up with the idea. There's the some of the songs if to me I kind of looked at the not to sound like the English guy again, but I I I
I tried to look at it as the way Shakespeare can his canon worked, where he had histories, he had dramas. I mean he
Scott Catey (10:57)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (10:58)
histories, tragedies, and comedies. So I loosely defined them in that sense. If nobody died, it was a comedy. and if somebody died, it was a tragedy. And then there are the ones in between, which were like dramedies. So that but that's what what the impetus was. I don't remember exactly when I decided Tragicomic might be a good idea, but it just seemed to fit what we were doing.
Scott Catey (11:18)
Yeah yeah.
Greg Amici (11:18)
and I had a great artist and video guy who really kind of brought that out too.
Scott Catey (11:22)
And s serial killer protagonists. This also feels a little
Greg Amici (11:26)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (11:27)
bit literary and like you're you're you're this is a a great narrative story that you're telling with that s with that song.
Greg Amici (11:34)
Yes. that was that was one where the lyrics I had the the basic idea of it's it's March baby, I'm in like a lion. but that was all I really had and this and the music from from years ago. And then I I just decided you know, and I I when I do things, I was interested, I was listening to your interview with Robin Hitchcock, and I'm just so amazed by his his process. And it sounded to me like the one thing I so much of it I have in common with, but the one thing I thought was a little different is he doesn't seem to actually
have periods where he sits down, I'm writing a song, blah, blah, blah. I have to do both because if I don't, I'm not focused enough. I can't just count on being up from two to six in the morning and one of these days I'm gonna get an idea. I have to if if it's not coming, I gotta make it happen. So the music just came, the lyri the chorus just came years ago, but then I had to apply a lyric to it. So I even researched serial killers and and stuff like that.
Scott Catey (12:28)
That's a l how many years you sat on that on the the melody and then tell me where the inspiration for serial killer specifically came in. How did the how did you map that together?
Greg Amici (12:39)
I think I was watching a lot of documentaries on serial killers or something like that. I I wanted what I wanted to do was I wanted the challenge of that Bonnie and Clyde kind of thing, but Bonnie really's not into it in this case. Bonnie's sort of like I think that movie that Oliver Stone did with Woody Harrelson and and Juliet Lewis.
Scott Catey (13:01)
yeah, yeah, yeah. America.
Greg Amici (13:03)
I don't I don't like didn't it's not that graphic. I didn't want to get into that graphic of thing. I wanted to allude to stuff.
But you know, there's implications that there's bad stuff going on all the time.
Scott Catey (13:11)
And so when you sort of when you sit down to do this deliberately, what is it? What's your what's your process look like, Greg? Is it
Greg Amici (13:20)
It's really good if I have a due date. You know, that's that's always been kind of key, you know.
Scott Catey (13:22)
Yeah, yeah. Focuses the mind, doesn't it?
Greg Amici (13:26)
Yeah, because I'm not naturally focused. it's really been a struggle all my life to keep a daily schedule, to get done what I need to get done. And the good thing is sometimes I don't have to do that. I'll be, you know, walking on a and then all of a sudden an idea comes to me and I write down, like he said, you go to the phone, I do as much on the phone as I can, and then kind of let it lie. And then I have to think back.
When I have melodies running through my head or songs running through my head that are fragments that I wrote 30 years ago, if they keep coming back in my head, I know that's the one I kind of gotta go with. So then I'll I'll say, like, all right, I need more I need more material here. I'm gonna make sure that I have not only the songs I've completed that haven't been recorded, but I I take pieces of that and then there are new ideas constantly that I'm noting. And if the the mo the toughest thing for me is when you've done this as long as I have and you have kind of limited output.
I mean, I I I if Jim were around more, I would do you know, three albums in in a year, you know, three new albums in a year. So
Scott Catey (14:23)
Mm. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Greg Amici (14:25)
I got a lot to get out. so
that's
Scott Catey (14:26)
So
Greg Amici (14:27)
my process is that you know, I I force the issue with myself and I go to where I already think something has a direction that's gonna take me there and get me what I want,
Scott Catey (14:36)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (14:37)
what I wanna say.
Scott Catey (14:38)
You got a room where you do it? Is it a particular place? Shut everybody out, send the dog away, have the dog in the room. What's your
Greg Amici (14:44)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (14:44)
what's your atmosphere like?
Greg Amici (14:46)
The dog he the dog doesn't like my singing, so that's one thing I'm pretty pretty lucky with. and that scares him out of there fast. But you know, I go to my I have my music room downstairs, which I say is like my everything room. So for the last for this year, this will be the first I went down finally, the was able to go down the stairs, so finally got back into it. And so I'll be down there a hell of a lot more. And being down there does definitely help get the juices flowing. But I can write a lot, I write a lot in my bed.
you know, also, and play in my bed because I you know, back issues and so forth. It's just like sometimes I'm just like I wanna stay in bed a little longer before I do my exercise and and then that's tossed there with a guitar and come up with stuff. Like I'm in my college dorm, you know.
Scott Catey (15:33)
Some things change and some things never change, right? Yeah.
Greg Amici (15:33)
So both places I would say. No, no,
no, it's very romantic.
Scott Catey (15:39)
so s the years that you were that you were out for the the polyp and the surgery and and between Big Honey and the comeback, tell me that's a that's a shitload of change. That has been a lot of technology change, music industry change, distribution change. I see you're pressing vinyl and you're pr you've printed CDs and in addition to streaming and and digital delivery. So tell me what it's like to come back into this.
very changed world from from what you were doing before.
Greg Amici (16:12)
Well, the world since I started with my early bands, I don't do if you know who Jimmy Ienner is. He
Scott Catey (16:18)
yeah.
Greg Amici (16:18)
was like, Yeah, Jimmy actually was one of the few people in like 1983 or who actually sent the demo of our band to these teenagers. And and he wrote back that that I had a lot of potential. Wasn't right for them right now, but had a lotta potential. I gotta keep going. He's sure I'm gonna have things happen very shortly. And
Yeah, so that's a start where you were trying to get signed with a label like that. And
Scott Catey (16:42)
Right. Yeah, yeah.
Greg Amici (16:43)
then it goes, I said it goes into the nineties where music becomes fragmented and you're like, Well, if I could get on a good indie label and I would do those Tony Robbins things where I'd force myself to call. This is for me so difficult. Call, make the calls and see if I could get in, so I did that and you know, that was when the barcoding was going on, where they're like, Yeah, well, you know, we want to see what you've done, not just a demo. We want to see you sell some albums.
So did started working on that and that's when the polyp hit. and so it's been like three eras. I missed the time where with like a Jimmy Ienner type would say, I believe in you, kid, and I'm gonna help you get, you know, even if the labels did rip you off, at least you got your stuff done. Now nobody wants to be on a label. I mean, I don't, I sure don't. I don't
wanna,
Scott Catey (17:27)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (17:28)
you know, take my catalog for what? For ten thousand dollars? It's you know, take my my masters for that. So I have
You know, that's I think the difference is now you don't want to be on a record label unless you're an eighteen year old beautiful girl with a great producer, you know.
Scott Catey (17:44)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. And that sound that everybody wants to hear apparently.
Greg Amici (17:47)
Whatever that might be at this point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good question.
Scott Catey (17:48)
Whatever that might be. And the thing,
you know, I one of the things that you point to that for me is so, I don't know, it just it's the real distinguishing factors, less the technology and it's more the personal touch. Like like he would write a letter back to you would never happen today
Greg Amici (18:06)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (18:07)
right?
Greg Amici (18:07)
Yeah. What a great guy, 'cause years later, and I didn't even remember until recently I c found that letter that it was same Jimmy, but Jimmy I got in contact with him about a screenplay I wrote. And again, he was like really cool about it. And this is like Jimmy Ienner you know, and there were guys like that. And
Scott Catey (18:24)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (18:24)
I I love those kind of guys, even if nothing ever happened. I just was like, Well, this guy's, you know, he is he's stand up
When I was wined and dined in in LA for the screenwriting stuff like that, it that was just you know, I had like the George Costanza tour of all this, you know, all these things where we were pitching things and and it was so miserable because somebody did the whole time you're thinking, I have made the greatest pitch I could ever possibly make. And then I'd find out from the agent that that was a t horrible pitch. They they hated it. It's like, you know, the the phoniness that people talk about in Hollywood is is so
Scott Catey (18:57)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (18:57)
real.
Scott Catey (18:58)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (18:58)
That
you know, and I just can't live that way. That's why I also I I I had opportunities to continue there, but I was like, I can't do this, it's not not for me.
Scott Catey (19:05)
And you
you can't break through that that fakery either. There's no way to
Greg Amici (19:09)
No.
Scott Catey (19:09)
get the and what was it about my pitch that was that was bad for you? It's like, you know, they never
Greg Amici (19:13)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (19:14)
will tell you. So you can never really improve.
Greg Amici (19:16)
Yeah, it's
it's and it wasn't I knew what was bad about pitching and it wasn't me. But then like I say, then you get out of there and you realize that you know, the that's they they weren't they were thinking what I was thinking. So but they were all smiles and boy, you know, this could go on this, this could go on that. Didn't go on anything.
Scott Catey (19:35)
Well, thanks for
nothing, right?
Greg Amici (19:37)
Thanks for nothing. And like
I said, but but that's where, you know, Jimmy Ienner will always I don't I don't even know if he's still alive, but he'll always be in my heart because he was a stand-up guy and so few people in the entertainment industry and on the business side of it are stand up. There are some and and most of the artists are are I I think are stand-up people. They don't try to screw other artists over from my experience. I've had good experiences with other
Scott Catey (19:59)
Yeah. Yeah.
Greg Amici (20:00)
artists.
Scott Catey (20:00)
Same. My experience is about the same with with the musicians on the on the side of the musicians.
I think I heard you say that you cut two records worth of tracks when you guys were together. What's next for you? What's coming next?
Greg Amici (20:14)
it's a s it's an album that we're probably gonna start releasing singles for in in the beginning of fall. it's called Songs for the Lads to Sing.
Scott Catey (20:22)
Mm.
Greg Amici (20:23)
And you know, again, when you have your back catalog, even though it's okay to go back and play a a younger person or whatever, so many of these songs were, you know, coming, you know, not from a mature person's angle. And it seemed like they ranged from teenage to early teens to when a guy got had his first kid. So
It's loosely based from on the a youthful experience from teenagerdom to responsibility. So that the that thematically it's consistent. It's just not the same person necessarily all the time. So I didn't write it with that intent, but I saw that was it's like with Tragicomic I saw that's what the direction it was going. And I just wanna make it clear, you know
Even though obviously any song I write, I don't say that it's me. But I want to make sure people don't think I'm, you know, the the first song is called Lodestar, and the line is I roam the halls hunting for teenage queens, I am a Jaguar. I don't want people thinking that's me.
Scott Catey (21:18)
Right, right, yeah.
Greg Amici (21:21)
So you know, that's that's part of it. and it just it really fit together. And I can't wait because I actually I think the first album is really good, but the second album
Most of the songs are later and we really had the connection then for how we were working as we went
Scott Catey (21:36)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Amici (21:37)
along, got better and better. So each song we record is better, I think. We put out singles every now and then. We did a cover of Father Christmas. Actually that's probably the last thing we did. And that we put out every every holiday season and you know, a couple other singles. But this this is that's the goal right now, is to get the second album going.
Unfortunately with Tragicomic I wanted a tour and I wanted to do all sorts of stuff. Then I fall down well then I fall down a staircase and that's out.
Scott Catey (22:03)
I I was thinking about the videos for the for the the tracks you've released. Were you this these were made prior to the injury, I presume.
Greg Amici (22:11)
yeah, everything with the album that's currently a actually all the stuff that's that was first two albums, it was all done before the injury. it's just was really when I wanted to play out a lot this year, starting in the winter I had some some other things that kept me from from playing it's you know, it's tough to get gigs when you're a solo artist and you haven't put a band together. So I've been working with a band really perfecting the material.
Ready to go out in January. That's what I was doing since the release last year. but the thing is it's just tough to get people who are pros who are great artists in the same room at the same time. So that was the initial delay, and then I go down the staircase. So
Scott Catey (22:46)
The the band you were th hoping to tour with, is that same guys from the studio or part of the same team?
Greg Amici (22:52)
some s you know, two of the guys are from the from the album. And my other person is is a guy from Big Honey that I've known all my life. But the other players were you know, James Master would recommend, like great great players like Larry Heinemann, he's a bass player, he's the original blue man group guy. Really Dennis De Brizzi, like I said, he's from Dion's band and he's incredible player.
So I met them through Jim and that's how that evolved. Again great players, but now I have to go back to them and say, Hey guys, I'm ready to go now and see who's still around.
Scott Catey (23:26)
And you're gonna like tiptoe, right? Very cautiously putting your feet down for a while.
Greg Amici (23:29)
Yeah. Well well
well the other thing is I have, you know, I have a bench, you know, I have so many people that I'm like, hey, if y I know you're not available full time, but if I got in a situation like this, can we get the songs down so you can so that's what I was doing. I was doing all that and then I kinda realized for now, because I can't be jumping around stage, I better stick with acoustic shows. So either be me and two other guys, and then hopefully by the later fall I can do the full band stuff again.
Scott Catey (23:55)
Cool.
How do you how has your songwriting changed? You you mentioned, you know, what you wrote as a teenager sounds like a teenager wrote it, right? Well how's it how's it now? What's different for you now as a songwriter?
Greg Amici (24:08)
I'm better. I'm better in the sense that well, you know what's interesting. I don't know. I I'm a little bit right now, I'm going through a little writer's block, not because I don't have ideas, but because I I feel that I have to, you know, I don't want anything to kind of get you know how most most of these most people just seems that they as they go on, you know, they're just not as good as they were, or they're experimental and interesting. And that's I that I I would I would like to be a little bit more experimental. But the thing I would say mainly is I'm so
I I don't I overwrite now. I didn't in the past. I would write then I'd say, That's it, I got it. And if I didn't have it, then the next day I'd be able to change it. But now I'm making sure I go into it with six different verses for six different possibilities for one verse. It's a little overwhelming. It may not be the the approach I do long term, but that's the thing I I'm I'm very in intent on having everything work out. To me it's always important that the story at least makes sense to me. And they're almost all story songs that I do.
Though I would like to do a l you a little more painting with it too. And that's where I say like to get into a little more experimental stuff. But primarily, yeah, it's just like trying to do something slightly new each time, musically and you know, and just having so many ideas that I can work with that I choose ones that I think are taking me in a newer direction the most.
Scott Catey (25:25)
It's sort of easier to edit things down when you've got a lot than it is to
Greg Amici (25:31)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (25:31)
come up with new stuff. So the over-writing seems to me like that's a pretty decent strategy to to be working with.
Greg Amici (25:37)
It is. The only thing is then like I said, then y you know, I that's kinda like it's my excuse for why isn't this Christmas song I started working on two years ago done yet? Because
Scott Catey (25:47)
Mm.
Greg Amici (25:48)
you know, I'm keep like I'm c say, is that good enough? You know, and change so I gotta get over that for but I haven't had to get over it because I got it over you know, too much material to promote right now anyway. But that is the the one thing I if you ask me what I'm doing different songwriting writing wise. And you know, just I
I read, I study more. I mean I wanna you know, I study more poetry, I wanna understand the mathematics behind writing as well as the inspiration, 'cause I always wrote from inspiration. and the more I understand the mathematics of it combined with inspiration, the better things are.
Scott Catey (26:23)
Tell me about the mathematics, Greg.
Greg Amici (26:25)
I well what I'm that's that's yeah, I guess I'm using it euphemistically. What I mean is is understanding theory, understanding why things go here, because sometimes you'll find that a chord you weren't aware that would fit in there nicely be a little different what than what you had in the past. So you're not repeating yourself And I've never been a theory guy because I'm just not my brain doesn't work that way so well.
Scott Catey (26:49)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (26:50)
especially like as I become a better guitar player, I want to be a better understander of music, theoretically and you know, challenge challenge myself with that because it's you know, I hear things, I write by what I hear.
Sometimes there's one song on the new album that it's the only one I can ever think of where I was just working on a chord progression and it came out and it's probably the song everybody likes the best. This is on the next album. So, you know, there's something to be said for that.
Scott Catey (27:16)
Yeah, I can't wait to hear that.
it's it's easy to to s I mean it's a cliche one, four, five, right? To write the that chord progression and drop some lyrics in and you know, we've been doing that since Buddy Holly and before. But to do,
Greg Amici (27:27)
Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Catey (27:29)
you know, one five four or a diminished fourth or a fourth of the ninth in there, something else makes it a lot more interesting. And
Greg Amici (27:33)
Exactly.
Scott Catey (27:35)
that turns into you take the corner into a different melody that maybe you hadn't anticipated.
Greg Amici (27:40)
Exactly. You want to broaden the palette. now I find myself using alternative tunings,
quite often. the problem with that is playing it live, it's gonna be very difficult for me to go with the E flat tuning, you know. It's it's not
Scott Catey (27:54)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (27:54)
so easy. But as far as what I want on the album, yeah, I have some things that are, you know, that are being aided by using open tunings. And I'm also working more off the piano, which I never did. I occasionally would come up. I translate
late what I was doing into the guitar front on the piano just to see if there were possibilities, or vice versa. I'd start on the piano, then come back to the guitar and I'd have a bigger palette because of the piano and then I'd have to see how that would work on the fretboard. so just, you know
Scott Catey (28:21)
That's totally interesting. the
the moving back and forth and the the open open tunings, right? Tell me about the open tunings. I'm like I'm thinking Joni Mitchell and you know, there's a lot of really
Greg Amici (28:31)
Yeah, that basically.
Scott Catey (28:32)
interesting singer songwriters who do that. What what's your what's your approach?
Greg Amici (28:36)
sometimes it's just experimentation. It's like, you know, Crosby, Still, Nash & Young use this tuning, 'cause it's tough for me to figure out what chords I'm playing in that within that with that thing. But what I do like particularly are are drop D and high and low. So I you know, it gives it that rich feeling that one of the songs on this album, No Fool, I'd written in that with that open tuning or that change tuning. And
I wanted to try to make sure it came off as much as possible in the in the recording. Kinda loses it because it's in a different. It's better, I think, in a lot of ways. But also when I do it acoustically people are like, Wow, that sounds so different. It's because yeah, I'm using open tuning, I'm using I'm accenting the ninths not a big fan of major chords except for passing. it's to me it's sa you know, minor seventh, ninths,
major sevens, major six, minor six, you know, that's what I I I like to do. Plus if you're and you get that sound if you're doing it in open tunings. So I've been experimenting with that. but that one, two songs I written past were, you know, upper and lower D were tuned down and made the songs very interesting to me.
No Fool came out like a lot harder than it was originally was, but I wanted
Scott Catey (29:51)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Amici (29:51)
it that way too.
Scott Catey (29:52)
I think the depth, the richness in the lower register, especially really comes through well. And I think you do that fantastically. I'm I'm glad to know that.
Greg Amici (29:59)
Cool. Thank you.
Scott Catey (30:02)
Yeah, yeah. God bless the kinks.
Greg Amici (30:07)
God bless the kings. That's there
Scott Catey (30:08)
Tell me.
Greg Amici (30:09)
you go.
Scott Catey (30:09)
Yeah. Father Christmas. How'd you come to that one?
Greg Amici (30:13)
I had years with again, my his name's Joe Gentile he's from Big Honey. but he's my guy. So I would go up there and we'd r record different ideas I had, and I changed some chords around for that and a couple of Who songs, and I had my way of doing it. And then you know, it was always in my head, and I was like, I really want to get this out.
And I said to Jim, I don't care if I just go in there and we just do an acoustic version of this. And and that's how it started. I was just gonna play with Joe and we're gonna do our harmonies on it. And then he said, Well, why don't we, you know, why don't we take it out? And boy, I was I happy that that's what what happened. I'm always very skeptical when you write something that sounds great acoustically, and then you're like, Well, how's that gonna translate? And it doesn't always translate as as well, but in this case, it really, it really he took it to another level.
Scott Catey (31:00)
I think it translates really well. I I thought that so it seems like the logical progression of what the Kinks did originally is you've you've really sort of completed something, right? It's a s it feels like a cycle.
Greg Amici (31:12)
Yeah, I
I love the kinks are are my favorites. I didn't want to do as hard a version. I wanted to do a more a folkier version of it.
Scott Catey (31:18)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Greg Amici (31:20)
you know, you I so many times when I have songs I love, you don't wanna you don't wanna really touch Because I mean I I take a song where I think something is a little a little off or could be better. Or sometimes I will if I think, well, this could sound better or the slower or faster. But that song, I mean, it was just like
I just I do again, it's it's all open open chords and sus chords and they're doing more of a hard, straight, you know, rock thing on it. So that one is one where I took a song that's great to begin with and tried to do something, whereas I think it's a lot easier sometimes if you take songs that are really good, but there's something that you could think you could do a little bit more with or different with.
Scott Catey (32:01)
put together the video for that. Did you was that your brain child? Because the footage that's in that
Greg Amici (32:04)
Yeah,
Scott Catey (32:05)
thing is I think really interesting. The it's a very dark vision of Christmas, right? And the Christmas players
Greg Amici (32:10)
Yeah, yeah.
Scott Catey (32:11)
kind of thing.
Greg Amici (32:12)
Yeah, that was my vision. I I am again Robin Hitchcock was talking about technologically not being there. I can't do anything. So I I I I have a guy that does my videos. he I just told him I said, Can you do a bunch of get a bunch of silent movie clips? And I found some of the silent movies. I said, Can you put this together and make it? And and he did a great job, I thought, with it.
David Fagan is his name. He's in New Jersey and he's he's a musician primarily, but he also does that on the side and he's done most of my lyric videos. and I think it's great. And and that one, but that one I I'll tell you when it's something where like wake like the video for Girl Next Door is all him. I mean the guy this is Mark Jaworski, he's a great artist, great, he does a lot of album covers. That was his vision. I came in that day and I
He didn't I didn't know what song we were gonna do. I just knew I wanted to work with him.
Scott Catey (33:08)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (33:08)
In the other case, this this particular case, I I had a very strong vision of what I wanted the video to look like with with that. Also with Junky Eyes that just came out, I had a vision of that and then the guy took it and ran with it and I think did a great job.
Scott Catey (33:21)
I think the the video for Father Christmas is really the vision and the execution of that vision. I think are really perfect with the lyrics, right? The way that that some of those
Greg Amici (33:33)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (33:33)
images appear with the lyrics, right? If we get
Greg Amici (33:36)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (33:36)
annoyed and there's really interesting and the the grainy footage, I think it's really well done.
Greg Amici (33:43)
thanks. That's
public public use or whatever they're called, so I don't have to worry about somebody dragging it down. You know, that's always a question too. It's gotta be from that Getty library or whatever. But
Scott Catey (33:55)
Right, yeah, yeah.
Greg Amici (33:56)
but yeah, I I think he, you know, like I said, I I told it's it's good when you have that kind of synergy with I have with Jim, I have with the with the guy who does the album covers and everything. And it's just a synergy so I can have confidence that they're gonna take it and run with it.
Same thing with David. I I know if I give him an idea with a video, he's gonna eventually get it. Sometimes like I'll be back when it took me a while, but he'll he'll get the vision or he'll have a vision. and I if somebody has a vision that's better than mine, do it, babe.
Scott Catey (34:24)
And the tragic clown, the imagery, right, in your videos, you in the clown suit.
Greg Amici (34:28)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (34:29)
Is that you or is that coming?
Greg Amici (34:31)
well, the clown character was mine, which I only wanted for this album. I'm I wasn't gonna go on stage and and become a I might have done it for one for one tour if I'd actually had one, but but I was you know, I approached it more as a character each time and this was that was the character for the album cover and everything. And then I w when we did the video he said, you know, why don't we do it whereas with the clown thing? I said, Okay, I'll do it again. I'll give rent a clown suit again. And and I brought that in and then
And he also had spliced in shots of the real and me. He likes me in sunglasses all the time. I just doesn't let my my eyes that much. So he spliced those in. And I mean, this guy is just the reason I have the album in the C D that was so important to me is A, I'm old school, but B, when you have a guy that that can do that detail and really he makes it like an album you'd see in in 1974. and so that's why I was like, I want I I encourage people to buy it, not because of the music. I'm just like, you can get the music on the internet.
Buy 'cause it's beautiful. I I think.
Scott Catey (35:30)
the double gatefold, right? On your on your vinyl. Yeah. And liner notes. This is what I miss about
Greg Amici (35:32)
Yeah. Yeah, I think these Yeah.
Scott Catey (35:36)
the C D revolution and everything that comes after is you
Greg Amici (35:40)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (35:40)
know, you really have to dig for liner notes and that's no good. I want them fingertips.
Greg Amici (35:44)
Yeah.
All the lyrics, I mean, that's always important to me that the lyrics are are printed. It's strange because one thing I'm trying to do as a singer now is not to enunciate as clearly as I do on all this stuff. But with me, you probably don't need a lyric sheet because of the enunciation. And I know my voice is, you know, I d I still train with voice and it's getting better, believe it or not, even though my range isn't what it was when I was in, you know, younger. But
And one of the things I've learned is I don't have to enunciate so much, but in this case people don't they can get the lyrics pretty easily from hearing it. But I'm not I wanna, you know, I like it when it's a little bit more blended into everything that else is going on. That's a direction I'm going in right now.
Scott Catey (36:25)
do you make your your vocal your enunciation how do you how do you make that less understandable?
Greg Amici (36:35)
Well,
it's not the goal to make it less understandable. It's the goal is to make your mouth move in ways that you're gonna get a richer tone. Now, I was a big inf very much influenced by Ian Anderson. So a lot of my stuff is rather especially when they're the the kind of clownish songs, they're they're you know, or not clownish, but the more comedic songs, it's very nasal. And I've really tried to go to the other way now. And as if if you hear a couple of the songs on the new album, it's a richer vocal.
The one one I think is best on that album is Jennifer. that I didn't obviously wasn't trying to be nasal with at least on the choruses. So that I'm trying to remove myself from the Ian Anderson thing and and get a little richer tone. and I have a great voice teacher, so she's you know, not one of these things where I have to go and learn your crap. I mean, she's great. And so I again I'm so lucky to have people like that. And anybody who just doesn't want to get better at that stuff and and says, I sing well enough. Well God bless you.
Scott Catey (37:32)
Speaking
of Ian Anderson, any chance she'll cover Tull's Christmas song?
Greg Amici (37:39)
which one I mean, I if I were gonna do a Tull song, you know, I love Songs From the Wood so I would probably do something like Songs from the Wood, and then
Scott Catey (37:45)
god, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Greg Amici (37:48)
I wrote a song once called Chanticleer, which was very inspired by Jethro Tull And I was thinking of actually doing that's one song I might go back to, but again, that's getting a little out of. I try to keep some stylistic theme going on, and I don't want to take it too far out all the time, but if I can make it work within the style.
And there's some of the motifs that we have musically we can bring into that to make it, you know, not just like a a rip-off of Ian Anderson. it's a possibility. But yes, I am Thick as a Brick is is my favorite part, my favorite song. I would love
Scott Catey (38:22)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Greg Amici (38:23)
to do that without going any w taking it out like he takes it out. Get I wouldn't do the jazz thing. I would just go with the song itself, the framework.
Scott Catey (38:28)
That's some kind
that was a th threshold moment in rock and roll history, right? The the release of that album. Yeah. Something else.
Greg Amici (38:33)
yeah. He's
he's so underrated historically. I mean, at the time in the seventies, you grew up Tull as it, man. You know, Tull Floyd, dude. But now it's sort of like he's he's not taken as seriously and the guy's genius. You know, part of the problem was he lost his voice years ago, so that kind of hurt things. You hear him in the nineteen seventy six Madison Square Garden concert, it doesn't get any better.
Scott Catey (38:55)
I was in radio for about two decades, classic rock commercial radio. And my program director for most of that time was a dude who came out of sixties AM radio, right? So he was very he knew what he liked and he knew what he didn't like. And he did not like Jethro Tull. He was programming the station, right? He's programming Floyd and Tull and he hated he hated psychedelia. He just it was not his
Greg Amici (39:21)
Really?
Scott Catey (39:21)
thing.
Like you you first of all, you probably shouldn't be programming this station at this time. Second of all, stop condemning me for all the stuff I like because I like Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd and I like playing that stuff and he would come in and make fun of me while I was on the air, jackass.
Greg Amici (39:37)
You know,
I mean, and he's a program director of a rock station. That's and did they have like I mean, I presume since he played that, even though he didn't want to, that was a format that he had to follow, or Yeah.
Scott Catey (39:47)
Exact. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Greg Amici (39:49)
Because I mean there's certain like there there's certain type of music I don't particularly care for, like really saxy, like old time rock saxy stuff, unless it's right. so but I would play it anyway. I mean, you can definitely find some good songs that you like that have that. You know. And I love
Scott Catey (40:03)
Yeah. I had another guy,
another program director who refused to play Dylan and he refused to play Elvis Costello. I like, I can understand a little bit on Costello because he is a little hard for a lot of classic rock folks to get. But Veronica, come on, you gotta play Veronica.
Greg Amici (40:21)
Yeah.
Well and also classic rock now is it's like my guitars are are all, you know, vintage guitars now. To me, they're contemporary guitars, but they're vintage.
Scott Catey (40:30)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (40:31)
Same thing with I mean, I I was always surprised then when you hear Guns & Roses on classic rock or eighties or nineties bands. To me, classic rock is that I heard in the eighties was seventies and sixties rock. So,
Scott Catey (40:41)
Right.
Greg Amici (40:42)
you know, it it's I I I I the Bob Dylan is is, you know, I could never write a sa or a
I wouldn't care to write a songs as long with as many verses as he wrote in the past, but God, he's he's he's my guy.
try not to get into cult of personality, but to me the guy's just so cool too. I I just love Dylan. I love that he's still touring at his age. He's barely standing up and he's still doing everything he can. I love people like that. I
Scott Catey (41:07)
I do too.
if you get old and don't change, whatever. Kind
Greg Amici (41:10)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (41:11)
of kinda don't have any feelings for you. But when you do what Dylan does and Robert Plant and so many of the greats who just keep
Greg Amici (41:13)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Catey (41:19)
coming up with new stuff, even you know, there's a a legacy, there's a feeling of yeah, this is Dylan, but it ain't what we expect, right? That's what I love about
Greg Amici (41:28)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (41:28)
him.
Greg Amici (41:29)
No, even I mean the you know, the stones are coming back, you know, with some interesting material. Yeah, a little bit of it. Enough
Scott Catey (41:32)
great record. Have you heard it? Yeah. Four in tongues and it's
Greg Amici (41:35)
to enough that I want to hear the whole thing, you know.
Scott Catey (41:37)
They I think
they've
They've done it again for me. I think it's a very good record. Yeah.
Greg Amici (41:41)
Yeah, they don't settle. You can't
settle and like I don't know who wants it. It's the that Ricky Ricky Nelson song, garden went to a garden party and they want him to play his old stuff and he's like, Nah, I'm trying to change and he winds up writing him one of the best songs from that era about wanting to change and not being able to without people booing you. That takes balls and he did it. So God bless.
Scott Catey (42:03)
It does take balls,
Tell me about your what do you play?
What's your speaking
Greg Amici (42:05)
Okay.
Scott Catey (42:06)
of your guitars, your vintage or not guitars?
Greg Amici (42:09)
Yeah.
I I play guitar, I write off guitar. on this on the records I hardly play any guitar because I that's a a phobia I always had was of the click track. But I've gotten over it. But when we were still recording, I was kinda like, Why don't you guys I'll sing out if there's a part I really want, I'll sing it out, you'll play it way better than I do. But you know, I played I've played guitar on and off for years and I'm finally getting better on guitar because I didn't
really work to get better. I work to be able to perform when I was playing pro when I was playing myself or with a with some bands. But I was, you know, also content to have other people do the recording stuff. And now I was I'm getting better on guitar. And I've started in addition to you know writing off the piano, I started taking lessons on that. Unfortunately my new beautiful piano is downstairs. So this year I've yet to play the piano.
It's starting to really get into it. So you know, I would hope my goal is i is is is to be able to pull like a Neil Young on stage, minus the harmonica, I guess, but to be able to to to to play a enough keyboard to enough piano to back me up on some songs when I'm doing a solo thing. That's a goal, a long term goal. I don't know how long my term is, but that's a long term goal.
Scott Catey (43:27)
You know, I saw Neil Young one
of the bridge school shows before they shut that thing down. He had
Greg Amici (43:33)
yeah? That must have been great one.
Scott Catey (43:36)
Jerry Lee Lewis come out and the two of them played together. And that was that was a such a memorable moment,
Greg Amici (43:40)
Wow.
Scott Catey (43:41)
right? It's like two of the best just up there jamming. It was great.
Greg Amici (43:44)
Yeah.
Yeah yeah, no, I s I saw him because he re kind of reunited Richie Furay in in in
Scott Catey (43:50)
Mm.
Greg Amici (43:51)
one of those things too and was doing the you know the some of the Buffalo stuff. I you know, big fan of his music. I mean I I do a lot of Neil Young covers and I'm not a cover band guy, but I I like when I have when I get a chance like to just play with people, they're like, Hey, why don't you come up and do some songs?
I I don't wanna play my stuff 'cause people aren't gonna know it. I will sometimes
Scott Catey (44:12)
Yeah, sure. Yeah.
Greg Amici (44:14)
but I do like it's that's my chance to have fun and play some Neil Young and do stuff like that.
Scott Catey (44:18)
Tell me about your
new piano, Greg. What'd you get?
Greg Amici (44:20)
Dennis DeBrizzi actually recommended it to me
And and then they got me the piano and it's it I just know it's they kept telling me eighty eight weighted keys So it's you know, it's an electric piano, I guess you'd call it or you can synthesis can do everything with it. So cool. Makes me sound good even though I can barely play.
Scott Catey (44:36)
speaking of piano,
I one of the things I really like about Tragicomic is the instrumentation. And I'm thinking of I'll Be Back right? And the piano and the sax in that really I mean it's it like I found myself really wanting to crank it and listen to what is actually going on musically in that song. And then I
saw the video, right? Or the the like your your references to the Odyssey.
I want to hear your your sense of
How how the Odyssey, as a guy who's trained in literature, right, how the Odyssey
Greg Amici (45:09)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (45:09)
and your songwriting and this new release from Christopher Nolan how how does that all come together?
Greg Amici (45:17)
You know, when you're barking up a tree that no one's really looking at is how it was for me when I tried to get that movie through my film contacts, get them this song. 'Cause I don't know I haven't seen it yet. I I don't know if they have any pop music at the end of it or anything like that. I figure they probably don't, so it doesn't make me feel bad. But
Scott Catey (45:35)
Mm.
Greg Amici (45:35)
you know, at the time I did not know. I've learned a lot about syncing, but I did not really know much about it then. But I really wanted somebody to try to get it to They did.
tried but they couldn't get it to the guy. because I was thinking, how what how perfect? This is a song about the Odyssey. And but no but it isn't it isn't because that was you know what inspired that was a personal breakup. But then I just kinda wanted to write it in and as I saw it was creating three different scenarios that were basically in the Odyssey. So I haven't seen the movie yet. somebody my one of my social media people, because I've talked
with her about the Odyssey and how that song. So she put it up with me, like superimposed on one of those one of the more on Matt Damon. So
Scott Catey (46:17)
Yeah. I like that. Yeah. Yeah.
Greg Amici (46:22)
how do I feel I I hope I sounds like he's done a really he's tried to do a great job with it. Only thing I can say is when I heard at the beginning they were using like Western accents, for me that's a little bit tough. I still like to hear, you know, John Gielgud and and guys like that. I know it's ridiculous because nobody was speaking like that during the ancient Greece.
Scott Catey (46:40)
It
matters
though, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Greg Amici (46:42)
It gives you that high that high art feel. So
that I I didn't wasn't particularly drawn to, but I mean it it looks like he's a masterful work.
but it you know, the movies are they're challenging and interesting and are far and few between. The T V shows are much more interesting. And whoever thought that.
growing up with a love boat and you were like stuck on a Saturday night watching that garbage 'cause you didn't have a date. And now that is is turned into like the f the medium for for great work.
Scott Catey (47:07)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Greg Amici (47:09)
and I I actually I had one teleplay that I've been working that I had worked on that I thought was great. But again, going back to the well with that and having to deal with all the things in LA.
That's why I stopped. The worst thing about writing screenplays and teleplays is when they don't get done and you're just there, you know, what are you gonna do? Because you're too expensive. but it's always informed my other writing. So, you know,
Scott Catey (47:29)
So
Greg Amici (47:30)
here just let's say with Girl Next Door, I had worked up was on this on a pilot, and then I wrote the song for the pilot. So I have no no no no teleplay there, but I did get a song out.
Scott Catey (47:41)
That and the the when you said that you tried to get I'll be back to Nolan's people, I wonder is there a future for you in scoring? do you ever think about that kind of work?
Greg Amici (47:54)
I'm I'm I'm right. I'm a I'm a literary guy, as you said. I'm I
Scott Catey (47:58)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (47:59)
what I bring to the music is I try to make it as good as possible, but it's it's modern classic rock. I I like to tell stories. I'm I'm not it's I I'm not a composer of
Scott Catey (48:11)
Mm.
Greg Amici (48:12)
you know I think but what I would like to do is what I've been really getting into is the whole idea of syncing and getting songs into movies and TV shows that they're appropriate for.
Scott Catey (48:21)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (48:22)
That's been because when I first did it with
That's kinda pissed me off is I had no idea I all the time I was in doing work. So I just asked Hollywood friends of mine if they could get it and it's you know, s so kind of ridiculous. Now I know how to contact music supervisors and and and work with that. So my goal is to get my stuff in the in the mus into TV shows and films or commercials even the mu the instrumental parts. Because I I you know, I I I have no problem with that. but I really like the idea that idea of
of connecting to that industry because I am so involved in the past with film and and television. But scoring, I don't have the I don't have the patience or it's like writing a novel. I started writing a novel many times. I don't know if I'll ever get through it because it's just I like you go into the studio, you have a song, you put out this you you create the song and then you distribute the song. That is so natural for me, whereas,
Music scoring, it's like skiing. I people love skiing. I I never had any interest in it. I have a tremendous bucket list, skiing and I don't know, diving with sharks are two things I have no interest in doing.
Scott Catey (49:29)
Right. Yeah, yeah.
Well, we don't want you to have your jump to shark moment anyway, right? To get back to happy days. So
Greg Amici (49:35)
No, no, it's
and that's always, you know, that's the boy. I've seen so many people jump the shark. I you hardly get through any of these great T V shows without the sixth season jumping the shark early. No.
Scott Catey (49:46)
It. Tell me,
Greg, I wanna you said you're not gonna write a novel. What about a memoir? You've had an interesting life. I think that would make a good book.
Greg Amici (49:57)
Don't you have to kind of be known? I mean, like Robin Hitchcock's, you know, he he's I you know, I would I would certainly do that, but it would have to be, you know, kind of a t a a a tongue in like for example, I was gonna do a a sort of a sports fan memoir thing about being a Met fan, and
Scott Catey (50:16)
Mm-hmm.
Greg Amici (50:17)
it would have to be as a sort of a semi fictional approach. So for me to just confess you know, my
deepest secrets, which I actually am pretty easy about to confessing my talk to people. But I I don't, you know, I don't know. I I mean, now that you say that, hey, you know, publisher might consider my my memoir, I'm down with it. But it's just so many other things I have, you know, I've often been too scattered with what I've tried to do. And I'm trying to stay focused on what I can still do with what's left of my life and make it worth it worth, you know, maybe a memoir is it. Maybe that's the end. Maybe that's the end game.
Scott Catey (50:54)
You
know, just to plant a seed, th there's publishing and the big publishers and record labels are a lot alike. You don't need to go with them anymore. You can self-publish And
Your idea for maybe like bookending the the the fictional character on the sort of to get into the story and then to tell you it's not confessional. It's it's you know, resilience, let's call it that. How you've done what
Greg Amici (51:18)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (51:19)
you do for
You know, you've been doing it for forty, fifty years now. So that's the I think that's
Greg Amici (51:24)
Yeah.
Scott Catey (51:24)
the interesting part.
Greg Amici (51:26)
Well, I I like that. I appreciate that. And you're now you're sticking that in my head. Maybe I'm not gonna write a song for a while. Maybe I'm gonna start on my memoir. You know, it's as long as the same as long as it's
Scott Catey (51:34)
I'd wanna take you away from writing songs though, Greg, 'cause obviously you're good at that as well. So
Greg Amici (51:40)
I'm gonna but you know, whatever time I have left on the planet, I gotta get as much creative activity done. And of course when you get over to my age, this is what you're thinking. Well, what is I don't I don't have kids either. So my only legacy if
I always said I would have a legacy I could die with if I were in a strip club and all of a sudden those girls were waving their hair around to one song I wrote. Now that's kind of you know, that's not for real, but that's sort of the idea I had 'cause I heard Metallica song once. I don't go to strip clubs as a rule,
Scott Catey (52:09)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (52:11)
but but you know, when it's in my twenties, strip I heard and they were playing some talk and their hair was all going in different directions. I said, That's what I want. Of
Scott Catey (52:16)
Right.
Greg Amici (52:18)
course I don't write songs like that, but you know
There's something to say about immortality in the strangest places.
Scott Catey (52:25)
I think
you you have a s an absurdist bent, right, to your to your storytelling and your songs. Here's what I propose.
Greg Amici (52:30)
Yes. Yes.
Scott Catey (52:33)
You get find your strip club, whoever that whatever club that's gonna be, and you get the girls to dance to No Fool Like an Old Fool refrain. I think that's perfect.
Greg Amici (52:43)
I always
thought that that was that you know it's funny you say that and I could be, you know, could do a video there. I could be the old fool. I
Scott Catey (52:49)
Right?
listen, I know we're we're at the hour. I if you have a minute, I one other thing I wanna ask you about is syncing. You've you've mentioned this a couple of times. I would love to know what how you how do you do syncing? How how does that happen?
Greg Amici (53:02)
you have to build up a a cadre of of music supervisors and you have to know what they're looking for. it's not easy. I've had some access through some people to I've learned about how how you really do it professionally. you have to do a lot of research. You have to know what shows they're doing and what might be something that your stuff would fit with.
I you know, it's the kind of the practical, non non artistic way of going about it. It's business kind of approach to it, which has never been my forte. But I that's that's the thing. It's like I said, the idea of doing that and plus, let's face it, it's it's it's a little bit of a payday too, because when you're in this current, you know, what am I gonna get at a gig? You know, I'm I'm invest way more in my career than I'm ever gonna make back.
I unless, you know, like I said, you get a couple like
My thing one of my things is supposed to go into a T V show that's a network T V show. so that's the idea is is both for financial reasons just to kinda get back to breaking even maybe at some point in my life.
It it ain't easy, but like you these music supervisors I know, I mean, they really are doing a lot of cool stuff. So you know, just continue to expand on my on my roster of people to
Scott Catey (54:14)
Yeah.
Greg Amici (54:14)
go to because they put also they put your things if they're not using it for that particular project, they do go back to that when their project is right.
Scott Catey (54:22)
Well, good luck with that. I wish you all the luck with this b both with syncing but also with the record. and when's the new one
Greg Amici (54:27)
Thank you.
Scott Catey (54:27)
coming out, did you say?
Greg Amici (54:29)
I think we're gonna start releasing singles in September and I would say probably about February the album will come out twenty seven.
Scott Catey (54:35)
And you'll be
band camp, your website streaming on Spotify and all that to any other places?
Greg Amici (54:40)
Yeah,
yeah. If you I always say if you go to Amici, gregamici dot com, that's me, G-R-E-G-A-M-I-C-I. If you go there, that has the link tree to everything. I think my YouTube videos are always cool. So you can just go to my YouTube station. I I I like that because I think that you know, I like that my lyrics are up there for most of them. And yeah, I mean, and then hopefully I get the gigs going and then you know we'll be promoting them and trying to get people to come to the gigs.
Scott Catey (55:09)
Cool. We'll put all that in the show notes for you, Greg.
it's been a real pleasure, I'm so happy to have caught up with you. And I really appreciate that you joined me today. Thanks very much for for being here.
Greg Amici (55:18)
Thank you, Scott. Maybe I'll get back for the other album. Legs plural.
Scott Catey (55:21)
Take care of that leg, man. Stay off it until it's ready to walk you around.
Greg Amici (55:26)
Yeah, legs plural. yeah, I can't have any more bones going through my skin. That's my goal.
Scott Catey (55:31)
Ever. Yeah, at all. All
right. Take care, brother. It's good to see you. Bye
Greg Amici (55:36)
All the best.
Scott Catey (55:37)
bye.