Paul Gilbert

I'm Not Afraid of the Police' is the first song I wrote and recorded since moving back to Los Angeles. It's a loud-pop, crazy-guitar, big-harmony song with all the police sirens created by guitars and ADA flangers.

The instrumental stuff is a good challenge, and it keeps my fingers athletically tuned, but I'm totally happy to bang away on some chords, sing some harmonies and play some wailing blues solos after the second chorus.

When I look back at the span that Mr. Big lasted, we had some unbelievable times. But there were grueling times, too.

From the start, I held the pick in an unusual way. I used to bend my thumb way back in order to get a good angle for fast playing. I played that way for 10 years.

I think I had heard Al Di Meola on the radio when I was a kid, that acoustic record, 'Friday Night In San Francisco,' with Paco de Lucía and John McLaughlin. His picking was unbelievable. I thought it was incredible."

After playing for 40 years, I've been able to evolve the way I see the fretboard and how I hear the guitar in my head.

As far as pedals are concerned, the test for me is if I step on it, do I seem to be playing better?

I did take some cooking classes in high school. Boys weren't really supposed to take them. I had to risk being made fun of.

Being a fan of pop music and rock bands, I am a reluctant convert into the art of instrumental rock music.

Mostly, I'm much more of a guitar player than I am a singer.

That's the nice thing about being in Mr. Big, is I'm not only the guitar player. I'm the background singer, and so I get to do both of those things. Sometimes we even switch instruments and I get to be the drummer.

I went from wanting to be a Beatle to becoming a ‘widdly-widdly' guitar player.