Making a Monster Part 5: Charles Cote on stage with REM.... It really happened, well sort of...

REM and I have actually crossed paths a couple of times. Actually, Mike Mills and I have actually crossed paths more than once, and I am sure that I remember it more than he does. Obviously, he is the more famous one, and when a member of REM is around, everyone knows about it.

The first time Mike Mills and I crossed paths, my brother Bill and I were members of a band called Multi Color House. One night several years before, we were playing at a club in Atlanta in Little 5 points called ‘The Point’. Our singer at the time, Natty Moss Bond, saw Mike Mills in the audience, which caused a few moments of excitement. It was cool to see him in the audience watching the show. I didn’t get a chance to meet him then… he had left shortly after we got off stage, and life as a club musician is more moving gear around than actually socializing.

Later in the REM sessions, my band at the time “The Miracle Field” was playing at The Cotton Club in Atlanta. Mike Mills’ brother was playing in a band that was on the same bill that night. He watched his brother play, and he made a point to stay for our show too since I was working for REM on the record. He had some nice things to say about our music too, which was great to hear.

Then of course, there was the famous Cat pee ride in the smelly pickup truck (see earlier blog). Now, our paths were about to graze each other again, in a slightly different way.

The day started earlier than usual. REM was going to start recording tracks again, and it was time to get some sound levels. Bill Berry was behind his kit, banging away while sound engineers were busy getting drum levels. It was also time to get some bass sounds, but Mike Mills hadn’t made it in yet. Studio time is expensive, and engineers spend many hours over the life of a recording session merely testing and tweaking sounds levels to perfection, so that they are ready to capture the perfect take.

“Where is Mike”, asked one of the engineers.

“He is still feeling a little under the weather”, said Bill Berry. “He won’t be in until later. Does anyone here play bass so that we can get some levels?”

My ears immediately perked up. I opened my mouth, and out it came. “I play bass… “. Everyone looked my direction. “Ok Chuck, get up there and we will get some sounds”, said one of the engineers.

A surprised Microwave handed me Mike Mills ‘70s Fender Precision. It was a well worn instrument that had seen many years of use. As I remember, it had a maple fingerboard and an Ash body with stock hardware. I put the bass on and walked up the stairs to the stage.

This was a pretty cool moment for me. I plugged in the patch cord, and as I had done hundreds of times before, I approached the drummer. This time, the drummer was Bill Berry. I didn’t really say much to Bill. Instead, I just started playing. I played the first notes of “Texarkana”, and Bill Berry immediately joined in, as he had no doubt done many times before, only this time, the beverage guy was on bass.

While I was enjoying my brief moment on REM’s stage, engineers were measuring bass levels. One of them interrupted my jam session “Ok… that sounds good… but Mike Mills is using a pick for this session. Can you play with a pick?” As a rule, I hate playing with a pick… but there are times when you can get a really cool sound that way. I pulled a pick off of the top of Mike Mill’s amp, and started picking away.

This jam lasted about 20 minutes. There was a pretty funny moment when the owner of the place, his name is Billy, stopped in to check how things were going. Even though I was working for REM, my services were being provided as part of the facility. One of the reasons that I got this job was that I agreed not to bother the band or get in the way. You can imagine the look of panic on his face when he walked in and saw me on the stage playing Mike Mills’ bass instead of working the refreshments.

Well, the coolness of my jam deteriorated slowly into a bad blues session. It was time to get guitar sounds, and instead of Peter Buck joining us on stage, Microwave picked up a guitar and started jamming on some blues. It got the job done though… the sound levels they were looking for were captured. With our job complete, Microwave and I returned to our supporting roles.

The remaining members of REM arrived, and took the stage. Mike Mills was back in the saddle, and everyone was excited to get back to work.

Bill Berry clicked his sticks to start the count, and REM launched into *69. This was my favorite song on the record. It sounded great. “I know you caaalled… I know yooouuu caaallled… I know you caaalled… Star 69…”

That's all for now. Check back soon for the next installment of "Making a Monster" called "No More Playing Around...The Producers Arrive"

Oh, and when you get a chance, stop by and listen to some sound clips for our new CD, Max Q at http://www.theReverseEngineers.com. If you want to hear what we sound like, here is a clip: Sunshine with the Shade wma | mp3

Charles Cote
Bassist -- The Reverse Engineers