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Dearly Beloved's Rob Higgins on growing up with Uncle Geddy

Tue, Apr 22, 2014@1:35PM | comments

Rob HigginsRob Higgins is the bass player and frontman of Canadian band Dearly Beloved and he also happens to be Geddy Lee's nephew (his mother is Geddy's older sister). Higgins was recently interviewed by MusicRadar.com to discuss the band's latest album Hawk vs. Pigeon, and he also ends up talking at length about what it was like growing up with Geddy Lee as an uncle.

... [Geddy] would get stuck babysitting me. So for me, I was lucky! I was sitting in the corner of rehearsals. He'd have to look after me for the afternoon, so if he was going to rehearsal I was going to rehearsal. I would sit in the corner and watch the band for six hours without saying a word. I was always a quiet observer. They maybe thought I was tuned out, but I was absorbing every interaction, evert attempt at a song, every beat, every note. I was so enthralled with all of it. Growing up, he was my cool uncle. My mom would take me over there and we would have family visits. He was the uncle who always had the instruments in a sound proof room in the basement. My mom would visit with the family and I would spend the whole afternoon just bashing around on drums and guitars and basses. ...

Higgins then relays a couple of stories about traveling with the band and being given the opportunity to sit in on recording sessions, and how much these experiences influenced him as a musician. He tells one story in particular about hanging out with the band at Le Studio when Rush was recording Grace Under Pressure:

... It was fascinating to just be in the studio for hours and have nothing to do, just to see their work ethic. Whether laying down a part on a song or figuring out an overdub or working with a producer to get the most out of a piece of music, it was fascinating to be a fly on the wall. In particular at that studio, because it was a remote location and an intense session for them. ... One of the greatest moments of my entire childhood happened that week actually. Geddy was working on this keyboard overdub for this song called Between The Wheels. He hadn't quite nailed it yet, and I'd been sitting there watching him doing it a few times. I had a pretty good handle on what the part was. So when he left the room, I started fooling around with the keyboard a little bit. The producer was like, 'hey, you wanna put one down?' And I was like, 'yeah, sure, let it roll!' I did my own overdub of the part, or at least my interpretation of the part. When Geddy came back he said 'hey, shall we pick up where we were and listen to the last take?' But instead of playing him Geddy's take he played him mine! That was the big laugh at dinner that night. You know, novel experiences that certainly were inspiring, but also great personal memories that I'll cherish. ...

You can check out the entire interview online at this location and learn more about Dearly Beloved by visiting their website or following them on Facebook/Twitter.

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