Generation Axe bassist talks touring and his time with Zappa Plays Zappa and Dethklok
Exclusive video interview with FBPO’s Jon Liebman
February 11, 2019
By David Sands
Grammy winner Pete Griffin is no stranger to the top echelons of rock, jazz, metal and pop music, having shared the stage with the likes of Edgar Winter, Stanley Clarke, Mike Portnoy, Steve Vai, Chick Corea, Danny Carey and Jean Luc Ponty. A graduate of Northwestern University’s music program with a background in jazz and classical, Griffin made a name for himself in the early 2000s touring with the pop-rock group Hanson. Not one to be musically typecast, he later took the radical leap of joining on as the bassist for Zappa Plays Zappa, a tribute ensemble led by Frank Zappa’s eldest son Dweezil. His work with ZPZ led to a Grammy for “Best Rock Instrumental” in 2009. More recently, he’s toured with the metal band Dethklok and Generation Axe, a rock-and-metal supergroup featuring Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi. In addition to his work as a sideman, Griffin also releases music with his instrumental progressive fusion outfit, Gryphon Labs, and through his electronica alter-ego, Captain Apathy.
During a recent performance at the Fillmore Detroit theatre, FBPO’s Jon Liebman had a chance to catch up with Griffin about his gigs with Generation Axe and Dethklok, the impact ZPZ had on his technique and side projects with Giraffe Tongue Orchestra and Legend of the Seagullmen.
Watch our interview with Pete!
