Last time we talked to bassist Nathan East about his experience in the wild world of Daft Punk, which included his playing on the smash hit “Get Lucky” and a star-studded Grammy performance. This time we went deeper into the past to dig into East’s time with eighties hitmaker and movie theme icon Kenny Loggins, for which he had to turn down a massive job, but included the Number One, Oscar-nominated track “Footloose,” and the performance at Live Aid that earned him his next huge gig.

AllMusic: Before we get into “Footloose,” what have you been working on since we last talked?

Nathan East: I was in Seoul promoting my record, and that went really well. The Korean audiences were young, vibrant and energetic, it was amazing. I went from there to Japan with Fourplay, we had a good run, and I went to Moscow, Denmark, Germany and the UK to do some bass clinics, so it was pretty extensive travel. We just got back from the Bay Area with Fourplay, and we’re starting our 25th anniversary album.

Also, I just played with Steven Tyler up in Canada. It was amazing, it was for the David Foster Foundation charity gala that he does every year, this one was in Calgary. Jennifer Hudson and Babyface were there, too, they participated in the show, but Tyler was my fave. We were the house band, so all those songs that we usually jam around on, like “Walk This Way,” we got to play with him, it was huge fun. That afternoon we determined the songs we’d play and we ran through them, but those songs are just in your psyche, so shame on you if you don’t know them. We had his stuff down. He had a good time, and it must be interesting to play with people who aren’t Aerosmith.

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