San Diego Reader

Formed in 2008 by guitarist and vocalist Jared Mullins, Heavy Glow recorded an EP at Velvet Revolver's L.A. studio in 2008, with San Diegan guitarist-producer Stevie Salas (Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, George Clinton, Justin Timberlake, T.I.).

“Slash’s guitar was there,” says frontman Jared Mullins, “and I played it while we recorded. I met [GN’R/VR drummer] Matt Sorum. Big dude. The kind of guy that would definitely kick your ass. Nice, though, and very funny. Definitely a rock star.”

According to Mullins, “While we were there, we stole our fair share of Velvet Revolver guitar picks and Duff’s bass picks, as souvenirs.”

Actor Michael Wincott (The Assassination of Richard Nixon) also dropped by the VR studio. “He ended up playing the drums with us for about 20 minutes,” says Jared. “Cool guy. We gave him a pair of sticks, so he’d let us take a picture with him.”

Recorded in just four days, the EP's six songs were all tracked live, with only minor overdubs added later.

During the recording, Salas invited Jared to a Record Plant session for T.I.’s new album, with Justin Timberlake producing. “Timberlake and T.I. were both pretty chill. I didn't talk to them too much, because I didn’t want to be THAT guy.”

“Justin had some great melodic ideas for the songs,” says Mullins. Very intuitive, and very impressive knowledge of appropriate chord changes and melodies. He came off as the kind of person who wants to push the boundaries…I remember him saying ‘Once in awhile, you get to be the lucky son of a bitch that gets to take chances,’ or something to that effect.”

Jared confesses that “Before I went into the studio, I honestly didn’t know who T.I. was. All I remember is that he was wearing purple.”

The band counts among their fans Matt Sorum (Guns N' Roses), actor Michael Wincott, and their VR studio producer Stevie Salas.