In a new interview with Chris Akin Presents, Mr. Big drummer, Nick D'Virgilio, was asked about replacing Phil Collins in Genesis on the Calling All Stations album. Watch the video below.
Chris Akin Presents: Replacing Pat Torpey, you're stepping into big shoes as we talked about before, but these are not the biggest shoes you've ever stepped into before. Obviously with Genesis, you stepped in for Phil Collins, which that's jumping from size fives to clown shoes almost! I mean, those are massive shoes to fill. One, talk about the experience. But two, is there any part of that where you're even a little bit overwhelmed, even if it's just at home the day before you go to the studio the first time where you're just like, “Oh my God, it's Phil Collins. You know, he sold 200 million records or whatever. Now I'm stepping in here.” Is there any of that kind of nerves that goes into your mind?
Nick D'Virgilio: "Well, of course, especially when I got to the studio for the first time and I walked down the little hallway to his drum room and it's just lined with all the platinum records and stuff. And then you get to the stone room where he recorded so many of their tunes in their own studio in England. Yeah, that was pretty amazing. The Gretsch kit. There it was. It was mind blowing, to be quite honest with you. Listen man, I never in my wildest dreams expected that to happen. Phil Collins was my drumming idol as a kid. Anybody who knows me, knows that's who I look to up to the most. I knew every Genesis song backwards and forward. I learned how to play drums quite a bit from that man. And to the fact that I even got the call to send in more music to see if, you know, this could actually happen. Then they flew me there to audition, I was like, 'how is this even possible,' 'cause no one ever expected him to quit and to move on from Genesis, right? So this, you know, it's just crazy how it all worked out, especially with that particular band because they were my favorite band growing up as a kid. So again, I just never expected. So it was totally overwhelming. You know, I had done a lot of stuff. So I know I kind of know how to behave and act in certain situations. And I'm, I could be faking it, you know, on the inside, but, but that's kind of what I did. And those guys are super mellow. Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks were really just low key mellow guys in the studio. It wasn't like there was any weird pressure or the vibe was strange. They were just sort of quiet and hung out and gave me their opinions on what they wanted to hear. And I would go and I'd play, I'd come back and they go, ‘yeah, try this... cool.' You know, they didn't say play like Phil. They wanted me to play like me. So, yeah, I mean, once we got started and the music started, it was just like playing with another musician friend. It really kind of eased quickly after that. But those initial moments, especially when I first got in the studio and I shook their hands for this first time, I'd never met them before. It was like, 'I really like that record you made,' you know? It's that total Chris Farley thing from Saturday Night Live and he's interviewing Paul McCartney. It was sort of like that. Yeah. You know, So it was crazy and super fun and just what an experience."
D'Virgilio will miss most of the upcoming European / UK leg of Mr. Big's The BIG Finish! Tour due to commitments with his other band, Big Big Train. D'Virgilio will be temporarily replaced by Edu Cominato, a drummer from São Paulo, Brazil who has previously played with Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan and singer Eric Martin, as well as Jeff Scott Soto and Geoff Tate, amongst others.
Mr. Big released the following statement via social media: "As we prepare to hit the road for another EU / UK leg of our The BIG Finish! Tour, drummer Nick D'Virgilio, due to commitments with his band Big Big Train, is unable to be with us the first part of the run. He will rejoin us for the final week — August 13th onward. In Nick's absence, we are excited to announce that Brazilian drummer, Edu Cominato, will fill in and rock with us July 13 - August 13!"
Confirmed dates for the European / UK leg of Mr. Big's The BIG Finish! Tour are as listed:
Mr. Big have announced the July 12th release of their tenth studio album, appropriately titled Ten. They have shared the official video for their new single, "Good Luck Trying", which can be viewed below.
You can pre-order the album in various configurations here.
The tenth studio album from Mr. Big (Eric Martin - Vocals, Billy Sheehan - Bass, Paul Gilbert - Guitar and Nick D’Virgilio - Drums) features 11 new original tracks written by Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert, Andre Pessis and Tony Fanucci. This album is produced by Jay Ruston and Mr. Big.
The Limited Edition 180g Color Vinyl LP comes with an A2 band poster, available in only 1,000 pieces.
Tracklisting:
"Good Luck Trying"
"I Am You"
"Right Outta Here"
"Sunday Morning Kinda Girl"
"Who We Are"
"As Good As It Gets"
"What Were You Thinking"
"Courageous"
"Up On You"
"The Frame"
"See No Okapi" (Instrumental - Japan Bonus Track)
"Up On You"
