Tania recently had the pleasure of conducting this exclusive in-person interview with Mr. Scott Shiflett!

Shifty is Nifty recently had a Q&A with the one and only Scott Shiflett himself! We hope you enjoy this!

Interview with Scott

Scott and me in Southern California Take I

On a warm and sunny (aka typical) afternoon in mid-September in Southern California, Scott Shiflett met with me to have lunch, hang out, and to answer some questions for this site. We wound up spending over three hours conversing about a wide-range of topics: if there's one thing you learn about this man it is that he has a lot to say. This was something I learned when I met him for the first time in '03 at a Jackson show in upstate, NY. Some other things I learned about Scott four years ago which remain true: he's down-to-earth (no ego or attitude), he's affectionate (a great hugger), and he's very generous with his fans, as evidenced by meeting me during my first trip to California.

Scott and me in Southern California Take II

Dressed casually in shorts, a tee, and a hat, Scott's face belied his 41 years. His claims of being an "old man" were met with protestations. For a guy who "can't grow a beard for the life of (him)," he was sporting some stubble. These days, his hair is "longer than it's been in years," and shaggy. Although he'd like to just "cut it all off," he's keeping it long for now as his wife likes it long. His trademark shades were kept on during our meeting, and as Scott explained, he doesn't wear them to look "cool" or even to imitate fellow musician (and someone Scott and I are both fans of), Bono, but for protection as the sun hurts his hazel eyes. He demurred that inside he does take them off (sometimes), but alas, we were eating outside in the sun.

Scott wanted to order a strawberry lemonade at first but then went with OJ.

For those dying to know what Scott Shiflett likes to eat, he ate a good vegetarian meal (I'll leave you to guess what that was) along with a tall glass of OJ. Yes, Scott is a vegetarian. But he can handle when other people eat meat (as my friend who was there did) in front of him. Which is a good thing, considering baby brother Chris loves his red meat.

Whenever Scott spoke of his wife, Rie, his voice took on a softer tone and the love and respect he feels for her was obvious. He praised her skills as a dancer and masseuse. That love and respect was also apparent whenever he spoke of those whom he's closest to, certain friends and of course his family, particularly his older brother, the mysterious Mike, and his younger brother, Chris. There is a lot of mutual love, affection, admiration, and respect amongst the Shiflett brothers. Scott also spoke lovingly about his role of uncle to Chris's sons. Being the middle son himself, Scott feels a special kinship to Dash—Chris's middle boy. Uncle Scott is highly amused that one day Chris will likely have to deal with rebellious teenage boys, payback for his own teenage years. Although his esteem for his nephews is clear, that doesn't mean that he wants to tackle fatherhood himself. Scott and his wife are very happy together raising their two cats Big Pappa and Belo, that they call their kids, even whipping out the cell phone to share kitty pictures. So even though females gush when they see Scott holding one of his nephews, Scott is happy to just play uncle and then "hand the boys back to Chris to deal with diapers and tuition." :)

Scott and Chris Shiflett

All three Shiflett brothers are musically-inclined. Scott took a lot of inspiration from older brother Mike and he in turn inspired younger brother Chris. Knowing that, I questioned Scott that if he was unable to make a Gimme show, would Mike fill in for him, thus completing the Shiflett Brother Trifecta. Without hesitating, his answer was "no." According to Scott, Mike is "shy" and has no desire to be onstage. Scott says he likely wouldn't even ask Mike to fill in but knows his brother well enough to assume that he'd say no. Mike is happy in his role as a music teacher. Another thing the Shiflett brothers have in common? All three are high-school drop-outs. Personally I think they should have formed a band together called "Shiflett High School Dropout Brothers." ;) Radical! Not that he encourages kids to drop-out or anything, but in Scott's case (as in the cases of his brothers), he made it OK. Unlike Mike who took his proficiency exam and Chris who eventually got a GED, Scott did not. Given that he has a great wife, nice house, and good job, he feels that he's successful. The brothers see each other often, though they see less of Mike as he lives in their hometown of Santa Barbara. Because he's the only one with kids, Chris's house is where the family congregates. He's the focal point for them. The happiness of the youngest generation of Shifletts obviously means a great deal to the family.

Scott with fellow So-Cal musician (and friend), Marko72

Mike, Scott, and Chris Shiflett are all talented musicians. Their parents, however, did not share their musical inclinations. Mom and Dad Shiflett like music and there was usually an acoustic guitar lying around the house or a piano, but they weren't played. They did have an aunt and uncle who worked for a (now-defunct) record label and they were given a lot of cool band merchandise, particularly of their favorite band, KISS. The enthusiasm for music started with Mike who pointed an arrow which Scott and then Chris followed. Scott was impressed by Mike's talent with the guitar and didn't want to copy him, so his instrument of choice was going to be the drums but somehow he wound up with a bass instead. Chris followed Mike with the guitar. A "victim of the time he lived," Scott didn't fit in with his peers, musically. His hair was long and he was into a different kind of rock and roll. Due to this, Scott was drawn to older friends and was in bands with guys five to ten years older. The "scene" in Santa Barbara was fairly non-existent for Scott's age-group (which also included pal Joey Cape), however by the time little brother Chris got out there, there were more opportunities and SB saw some interest with guys like Marko DeSantis, Luke Tierney, Chris, and more.

Perhaps Scott has swiped these from the Foos!

The conversation eventually turned to the age-old question of "what makes the Shifties so damn nifty?" Laughing, Scott mulled it over for a bit before replying with, "free drinks. It's all about the free drinks." This was after explaining that he will swipe drinks backstage from whomever he's touring with or visiting. If he's not paid for his work in money, he'd better be paid in booze! Despite his love of a good cold one, he's never had a drinking problem or one with drugs. He's always known his limitations and he's known too many people who've succumbed to addiction to want to follow in their footsteps.

Life-long chums admiring their beer bellies

Although he lived in other states like Hawaii and even lived in another country (Malaysia), Scott was born in Santa Barbara as his brothers were. Though he has a fondness for the town, he hasn't been there in a while. Mike is the only Shiflett brother that remains in SB. Even their mom moved to Washington State a few years ago. Scott moved around a lot as a kid and went to a different school practically every year. When he was a teenager, he became best friends with a kid named TJ Cape, someone he knew from school and from the local music scene. The boys were the best of pals for a while but things changed in '83. Rehearsing for a party at the Cape household in Montecito, Scott was wandering around the house when he passed a bedroom that had a bunch of heavy metal posters hanging on the wall. At first Scott thought the posters (and the room) belonged to his pal TJ, but TJ corrected him, telling him that they belonged to his younger brother, Joey. Cue a meeting between the two boys who, according to Scott "shot the shit and became fast chums." As it turned out, Joey was the same age as Scott (whereas TJ was closer to Mike's age). The twosome was the best of friends for a long time, until eventually Joey dumped Scott for his younger brother, Chris. So the Shifletts and the Capes were equal-opportunity brother dumpers. ;) I met Joey Cape a few nights later after a Lagwagon show in San Diego and he corroborated Scott's story, talking about the posters he had in his bedroom which impressed Scott. Joey's fondness for Scott is clear (as is Scott's for Joey) and he was gushing about Scott being a Gimme now. Joey also said that he never thought about the fact that both he and Scott traded brothers as best friends but he laughed and acknowledged that it was true.

Gimme Faker Jackson in Toronto '06

Scott really enjoys the life of a traveling Gimme. He has fun with his friends (guys he's known forever) onstage and just has a blast. Although the Gimmes aren't a "serious" band by any means, he does take his role as musician seriously. He feels he owes it to the fans to play his best and it shows during his performances. When he first took over for Chris as an on-tour Gimme, Scott did listen to how Chris played the guitar parts on the albums and was able to play the songs pretty closely to the way his brother did. Scott is rather adept at playing another musician's part to a T. Eventually though, Scott grew comfortable in his Gimme role and plays a song the way he feels he should. Though he's happy in his role, he has no desire to play on the albums and foresees Chris continuing to do so for future albums. He knows that he's just considered "Fake" or "Not Jake Jackson" in the Gimmes and it doesn't bother him. Fans have approached him calling him Chris from time-to-time (sometimes the brothers' resemblance is particularly striking), but he'll correct them and doesn't take credit for his brother's work. Now, though, there's another "Fake" Gimme, Eric Melvin of NOFX who is filling in for Fat Mike on tour. The twosome gets along really well. When asked what the perks of being a traveling Gimme are, Scott smiled and said, "Free drinks. And cool countries."

The first F2F video

Being a musician has afforded Scott the opportunity to travel to many places. Of course getting there is never easy as he has a long-abiding fear of flying. He's a tiny bit less afraid of it than he used to be, but he prefers to be "knocked out" and unaware of what is going on as he's convinced that one day he will plummet to his death on a plane. For the record, he avoids taking Xanax or any other anti-anxiety pill before flying. This fear of flying has hindered him somewhat as in not wanting to travel if he doesn't have to. Calling himself a "bad son," Scott hasn't flown to visit his mom in WA, although she's flown to CA. Still, his fear of flying is understandable and even relatable for me. Although Chris is in a band which has its own private jet, Scott has never taken advantage of the connection and flown Air Foo Fighters. When he does travel, Scott's favorite place to visit is Tokyo. Japan is a country he's loved touring in/visiting for a long time, as mentioned on the Face to Face: The First Seven Years video. For touring, Scott loves to visit London and Scotland. For living, his city of choice is LA.

Scott and Chris in Brazil

Jackson United's sophomore album has long-since been recorded, but as of yet, there is no date for a release. February of '08 is something that Scott heard as a possible date but he hasn't heard further from Chris who is very busy with the tour for Foo Fighters' recently released sixth album, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Although it may be some time before fans get a chance to hear the new album, Scott promises that it is "more rock and raw." He talked about the difference between recording this new album and its predecessor, Western Ballads. Scott likes the first album and thinks it's pretty good but he's happier with the results of the new one and he's proud of his brother's efforts, saying that Chris learned a lot from making the first one and implemented certain changes in the making of the new one. The new album contains some politically-tinged songs as well as a song about Jackson United's trip to Brazil a year ago. Scott let my friend and I listen to some tracks off the new album and we both gave it two thumbs up! I dug the more straight-forward rock sound. It's not nearly as mellow as the last album. For those curious, Chad Blinman was not the producer of the new album. Months ago, the cat was let out of the bag that there are two very famous guest drummers on the album—Chris's bandmates, Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins who split work on it. When asked if it bothered Scott that a lot of attention would likely be on it because of the famous duo, Scott did not hesitate to say that he didn't mind it one bit. He says whatever it takes to get the news out is OK with him. However, he did say that he used to be wary of advertising certain connections—such as with the first Viva Death album, no one even knew who made up the band, let alone what bands they were also apart of. But by the second album, he was OK with having a sticker which said "featuring band members of Face to Face, A Perfect Circle, and Foo Fighters." Scott wants the new JU album to be heard: he is proud of his work and his brother's and if the Foo connection helps, so much the better.

Just say no to Phil Collins!

While music is a big part of his life, as both a musician and connoisseur of different music styles, Scott is not well-acquainted with whatever new/hip/hot thing that is out there. If he's not driving his wife's car which has a cd player, the radio station in his truck is set to 88.1 which is a jazz/blues station. Considering the jazz influence in his bass lines, it's no surprise that he's fond of jazz music. When it comes to the age of a band, he is not bothered by liking someone young or old. Quite frankly he often doesn't know how old a band member is nor does he care. That being said, he was unable to provide an answer for what song he hates the most (and it's not a Phil Collins song!).

The question which plagues Scott

As Scott has been interviewed countless times in his career, he's been asked a lot of questions over and over and many of those have been annoying. Since I previously interviewed him twice, I couldn't help but throw out the question, "what is the most annoying interview question you've been asked," giving him the opportunity to name one of the questions I've asked. Whether he was being kind or lying, he didn't take any issue with my questions, past or present. The one question that bugs him the most is "Why does the new album suck so much?" Europeans, in particular, ask that a lot. He's not sure why it is, but many times when he travels overseas the interviewer will talk about how much he/she loved the previous album but this one sucks and why does it suck? He also noted the irony that the next time he tours there with a new album they will once again claim to have loved the previous album (which before they said they HATED) and then diss the new one. Scott noted that some fans don't want change that they want the same thing over and over and we talked about different fan reactions to albums by Face to Face, Foo Fighters, and U2 amongst others.

Our interview concluded with a final question of any advice Scott had for the fans or for people in general. His answer? With a wry smile and laughter echoing, he replied, "Buy my fucking record." :)