GLENN HUGHES Talks CALIFORNIA BREED Split, Upcoming Solo Album And Collaboration With BILLY RAY CYRUS

On June 5, myRockworld conducted an interview with legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK SABBATH, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, CALIFORNIA BREED). You can now listen to the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On the breakup of CALIFORNIA BREED:

"Well, to be very, very honest with you, I haven't really spoken about this breakup; you're one of the first people I spoke to. When Jason [Bonham, drums] left the band, he left the band right at the start, when we were supposed to start touring. And when Jason left the band, I had a decision to make. I had [to decide] to fold the band completely [and] walk away with Jason, or continue with [guitarist] Andrew Watt. The reason I chose to stay was because tickets [for our tour] were already on sale, and I am the kind of person, if someone has bought a ticket to see me, I'm gonna show up. Now when Jason left, he left for reasons of his own… whatever he wanted to [do]… but I felt it to be… It wasn't really a band anymore; it was more, basically, based around my thing. So I thought, at the end of the tour, when we finished [supporting] Slash in December in England, I thought it would be best for me to go back to my solo work and do things again, like… I haven't really done a solo tour in seven years, so it's time to come back and play the European market and South America and the Far East and North America. I'm gonna be playing everywhere."

On whether personal differences caused the CALIFORNIA BREED split:

"The reasons why people leave projects is because of sex, drugs and rock and roll. I think, for Jason, he just wasn't prepared to go on tour last year; he really wasn't prepared to do that. But, unfortunately, we were on sale and I couldn't… I couldn't leave with him. It was a band that I put together with Jason. There's no ill feelings, everybody is fine, everybody is talking. I just feel sorry for the fans that didn't get to see CALIFORNIA BREED, because it was a really great band. But if anybody knows me, they know that I'm a workaholic, they know that I'm always working on something new, always with people that are exciting. After the band broke up, I spent a few months at home… I'm writing a new album right now. And I said to myself, 'I'm gonna call my manager and I'm gonna see if I can go back out to Europe and go to South America too, and get back to playing some live shows,' because I have a great fan base. So I'm really looking forward to coming back."

On his plans to record a new solo album:

"You know, I'm gonna give you an exclusive. I have been writing… You know that I write songs all day long; I write songs every moment of the day. I have been writing songs for a solo album. I am going to make a solo album this year. It will be released next year. I can't say when I'm gonna record it, because I'm very busy, but I can say this to you: by the end of this year, the album will be finished and mastered, and the artwork will be done, and it will be coming out early next year. Again, it's been seven or eight years since I released my last solo album, and the next album I make, it's gonna be, again — I say 'again'… Since BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION has brought me back into the rock community really big, I'm definitely gonna make a rock record with very Glenn Hughes-sounding music. So the songs I'm writing are very, very… I'm very excited about the emotional quality of my songs; I'm very, very happy."

On other projects he has in the pipeline:

"Well, right now I'm working with [singer-songwriter] Billy Ray Cyrus. And when you say Billy Ray Cyrus, you probably go, 'What?' it's crazy. I mean, he's Miley's father, and he's doing a TV series in America, which is gonna be a great series. And I'm working with him on new music for an album we're making together. Again, if you know me at all, you know that I like to do strange things, like THE KLF record in the early '90s. I have a lot of friends who are country stars, and I have a lot of of friends who are rock stars and a lot of movie stars. I really like to do things that are different, and for me to cross over into Americana music is really interesting. But just remember this, everybody: I am a rocker, [and] I will always be the heart of rock music. Of course, I would always like to work with new people, or my friends, or… I always like to work with people that give me something that I haven't done yet. That's why, with Billy Ray, it's very interesting. I've just done a song with Billy Ray Cyrus and [Canadian singer] Bryan Adams for the title song of Billly Ray's TV show called 'Still The King'. So… You're the first person I'm talking to about this, so hopefully people, when they hear this, they'll go, 'Oh my God!' They'll probably go, 'Glenn and Bryan Adams and Billy Ray Cyrus. That's crazy.' Just remember this: I'm a little crazy, and I like to do things that make people think, 'What is he doing now?' And I like to shock people. I'm not someone who likes to live a normal kind of life; I like to do things a little different. And remember this now: it's rock and roll. If I'm gonna be singing on a track, you're gonna hear the Glenn voice; it's gonna be that voice that you know it's my voice. And I'm very excited. I'm very excited about crossing the genres in music — from rock to metal to soul to country music, man, 'cause country music is now rock music. If you think of country music, you don't really think of those guys from fifty years ago, like Johnny Cash, who I love, and George Jones, who I met [and] he's a wonderful guy. My friend Steven Tyler [AEROSMITH] has just released a country song, so it's what it is."