By NATHAN ANCHETA

Scene Editor

While on the “I Am Music” tour featuring rapper Lil Wayne, Eric Roberts, bassist for rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes, talked to the Creightonian about traveling, hip-hop shows, and Lil Wayne – the “hologram.” The tour stops at the Qwest Center on April 6.

Q How’s the tour going so far?

A: It’s really good. This is the second leg of it. Since the last tour was practically the same tour, we were already comfortable to this crowd and comfortable with the people we were on tour with, so this is a really good second leg so far.

Q: Your band has such a diverse sound and now you’re on this primarily hip-hop bill with Keri Hilson and Lil Wayne. How have the crowds reacted to your sound?

A: It’s different. I mean, obviously we get lots of different reactions just because of, like, the sheer amount of people we have been playing to. You know what I mean, like up to 20,000 some nights, you know? So that’s tons of different reactions going out. For the most part, we’re, like, definitely able to get everyone into it because this tour is a hip-hop tour. It’s unique in the way that Lil Wayne even has a lot of bands performing with him too, so you know the crowd reacts to that way better I think. They see live instruments and they take the electrics a lot more serious.

Q: You were in Japan earlier this month, now I’m talking to you in Sacramento and next week you’ll be in Omaha. How do you deal with all the long distance traveling?

A: (Laughs) Lucky for us, someone else takes care of the driving these days. Like when we first started out, we had a van and everyone would have their own shift. But the long drives aren’t that bad because usually we’re sleeping half the time, you know? If we’re awake, we got 13 people on a 12-person bus and this set has been going on well over a year, going on two years, so we pal around a lot. It’s not a stressful environment. We don’t really get stressed out by the travel part of it.

Q: When you come to Omaha, you’ll be playing the Qwest Center – a 17,000 seat arena. What is your favorite thing about playing these big concerts?

A: I’d say the stage room. With all the room on stage, I can bounce around like a crazy person, and I definitely have my own space. But you know, honestly, the sick thing about this tour? Probably the babes in the crowd, man. Like, you got Lil Wayne as the headliner. You got 20,000 fans there. You know you’re definitely going to see a lot of really, really hot babes. That’s probably my number one thing.

Q: You’ve been touring with Lil Wayne for a couple months now, so could you describe what he’s like in person? Any good stories?

A: I don’t have a really good story, but the only story I do have is that, to me, he’s like a robot, like a figment of our imagination almost. Because, like, seen the dude in person or, like, I haven’t even met him yet, but I’m afraid if I did actually meet him it would actually be a hologram of him and he’s actually on his bus doing studio work which is just crazy.

Q: On Twitter, it says you got a new “Weed Bass Pedal.” How’s that working out?

A: Awesome, yeah. We were in Japan, I think we were in Tokyo, and next to this venue we were playing there was this big you know, I dunno, the Japanese Guitar Center but times ten. It has everything cool that you can think. It doesn’t have all that beginner bass stuff or like beginner guitarist stuff or like DJ equipment. Everything there was pretty dope and it was me and a bunch of the guys and we were going through all these pedals and you know, basically you don’t get a lot of selection when it comes to that kind of thing. Actually Tyler our keyboardist was like “Hey man check out this pedal, it’s called Sweet Bass by this guy named Weed.” Weed is actually the guy who creates the pedals. But the name of the pedal is Sweet Bass, like you have to say it, like you know, with a Japanese accent or it’s not even funny. But yeah we loaded it up, we tested it out and it’s probably one of the best pedals I’ve ever played. It’s just a perfect little fuzz box. So uh yeah man. (in Japanese accent) Sweet bass!

Q: Since your newest release “The Quilt” came out last summer, you’ve been touring nonstop. What is up next for the band?

A: One of the biggest things that’s happened to us recently is that our guitarist had a baby boy. It’s amazing. And we have to give him and his new family life the utmost respect. Coming up, over the summer, we are actually going to be writing a little bit, close to his kid and his girlfriend so he can spend time with his family and we can room again to write. So, that’s pretty much it man. I mean, we got the tour that’s going to finish up – this Lil Wayne tour. Then we’re going to follow that up with this little college tour. And then we’re going to be writing again. Hopefully, we’ll do another album cycle and you know that’s all we do and that’s all we’ve been known to do and that’s all we’re gonna keep doing and so on.

Q: Just a random college question to wrap up: if you had to pick a college major, what would you pick and why?

A: Oh my. Well, actually I used to attend college before I was a member of Gym Class Heroes and I was going to culinary arts school doing the Le Cordon Bleu part of the college they got there. The reason I chose that was because it was a family trade. My dad and his parents, same thing with my mom and her parents. We’ve always just been doing the restaurant biz pretty much for three generations, so it’s just natural for me to go that way. But on the other hand, I’ve been playing bass for like 12 years as just, like, a hobby. But that’s what I was originally doing with my life, going to college for culinary arts.