Let’s see here: mid June of 1987. I was graduating from Silver Creek High School in eastside San Jose, California in a few days. MY gf’s brother’s friend had Among the Living on casssette and we were hanging out in someone’s garage and someone popped in the tape. I heard the title track and blew my fuckin’ top, pretty much. I had never heard songs nor double bass drumming played at that speed before. The guitar was heavy and muted, the singer actually sang, and they were kinda silly dudes. I loved that. They’re from New York? RAD!!
During my graduation ceremony where you walk across the stage, I did my “walkin’ dude” strut. My dad was less than impressed. Killjoy.
At this point in time, Van Halen had disappointed me with 5150 and I was dying for a new favorite band. I was always in search of something heavier, but with a GOOD LEAD GUITARIST. Sometimes you settle for good leads, shit songs, or vice versa. Then, at some stage, you just end up liking the whole thing for what it is. But I always wanted to hear Paul Gilbert and Guthrie solo in Meshuggah. I went from Van Halen, AC/DC, Scorpions, Dokken, to Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeath, Testament, Exodus, etc. Anthrax is a good gateway Thrash band to get into. And I thank them for introducing me to a cool new musical direction (as well as making my picking hand tight as all hell!)
Muted power chords and serious downstrokes would become an integral part of my life thanks to Scott and Danny. Shit, that reminds me, I NEED an Among the Living shirt! Ratt first. Soo many good tracks on ATL. I like them all!!
Why I love Anthrax: Among the Living, first and foremost. My God I could not get enough of that album. And I really like Dan Spitz’s leadwork. He had chops and cool ideas. I love that guy!
I even saw the Among the Living tour, Anthrax and KISS played in SF. We spoke to Scott and Charlie out the back of the venue near their tour bus before the gig. I asked Scott, “How’s the wife?” as I recently found out that he got married. What I didn’t know was that the marriage was going to shit, so when he looked at me and answered “fine” through gritted teeth, I had no idea. I was 19 for fuck’s sake! Anthrax went on first and rushed the songs (I didn’t even know that was possible), and they killed it. Then KISS came on and we left after 4 songs, ha ha ha!!
Bitch please.
I also ADORED SOD Speak English or Die, although it took me awhile to get into it. But once I did, I would have no qualms playing Freddy Kruger in my friend Shaun’s car at peak volume with the windows rolled down. This was a weekend ritual for months. And if it wasn’t the car, it was blasted at the Round Table Pizza joint we all worked at. Good times!! I was even Billy Milano in an SOD tribute band, we played once at The Cactus Club (I have to post that on YouTube).
I also thought Anthrax had a great sense of humor, and I liked that they liked Rap, as I did. And no, not the rank shit that so many NU Metal fuckheads churned out, real rap: NWA, UTFO, Slick Rick, etc.
Rock and Metal in California during the late 80’s was encouraged amongst younger folk, as far as I was concerned. All my friends were into metal, the people I worked with were into metal, it was GREAT VIBE!!!
Anthrax, thank you for pulling me out of the cock rock area and gently throwing me overhand into the mosh pit! Thanks to you, I went into a totally different direction of music listening. I’ve seen SO MANY Thrash bands over the years, it’s incredible.
And , like always, if Jon Donais don’t work out, call me. Here’s my audition vid:
Sept 24, 2013: Scott Olson from Seymour Duncan is hooking me up with pick ups to both of my Ibanez guitars (RG1570 AND 3120). I’m not sure it’s an actual endorsement, but I am in love with SO and SD. We’re having a baby in June.
It’s pretty cool, James Ryan is also hooked up. And Dean Wells from Teramaze (who lives right down the street from me) is also hooked up. WILD!!
Nov 13, 2013: Today my black RG1570 was outfitted with Seymour Duncan pickups; JB Trembucker, Classic Stack Plus for Strat, and Custom 5.
In 1989 these amp heads were $500 from Guitar Center, and worth every penny. Footswitch controlled clean – dirty, reverb, and chorus.
MINE
SINISTER SAM: Scot and I had the exact set up: Ibanez guitars, EMG 81 pick ups in bridge AND neck, plugged straight into the Ampeg SS140Chalf stack. This was just after Pantera’s Cowboys from Hell came out, and we were looking for a sound that could cater to muted rhythms (a la mesa boogie) and which also had enough gain for leads, and this amp had both. It also had cleans (with chorus) that were extremely close to the Roland Jazz Chorus.
We were using the Marshall Artist 30 watt head, which we bought together (we were still in high school). As soon as these Ampegs came out, we were hooked. We ended up owning two each. Amp colors came in blue, then black.
Wanna hear what it sounded like recorded? Well, hear ya go (recorded at Prairie Sun Studios in Cotati, California. The lead tones in the beginning were played through the amp with Scot’s intellifex lead patch, chorus, delay, and reverb. Rhythm tracks were one each, panned hard left and right, played live through halfs stacks).
Same song live: (our rigs were the same as the recorded version – Scot had intellifex, I used head’s reverb for solos)
Live, our singer Gary was hellbent that we put some mids in there, so onstage it was always a battle; he’d walk over and put our mids at 11 o’clock, we’d walk over and put therm back to zero. This went on at every gig (along with the sermons on how important mids were). I can appreciate mids and tube amps now, back then? Not a chance. This was djent before djent was around.
And lastly, at rehearsal (pre intellifex)
I still own mine, I think. It’s at Luke Walton’s joint, I should ask..
And to the Ampeg people responsible for making this 130 watt gem; I love you!! Never had a problem with the amp, could drop it out of a plane and the fucker would still work. We used it for years and years with no complaints, and Scott and I loved our metal tone and were extremely content.
Thanks to California radio in the 80’s, I was introduced to quite a few dudes who burned; Lynch, EVH, Rhoads, Yngwie, DeVille (JK), The Nightranger guys, Gary Moore, Vivian Campbell, etc. (Yes, the list is bigger than this, but I’m not going to spend 46 minutes typing every fucker’s name out.)
To me I always kind of thought of Warren as Lynch’s little brother. I acknowledged long ago that Warren was probably the better player (Frank Zappa LOVED Warren), but I looooove first four albums Lynch. The heart wants what the ears want. I think if Lynch were in the Robin Crosby position my fucking head would’ve exploded. Matching vibrato and harmony leads? Kill me now.
But then of course I heard Racer X and Cacophony and I was off again!!
Why I love Warren: Legato madness, VIBRATO, cool blues vibe, the Lynch-isms, the Japanese art Charvel, LA hot shot guitar flash, give it to me!! Dude looked young as fuck, too. That’s always inspiring. Makes you want to pick up your guitar and follow suit.
“This guitar weighs more than me!”
I was about 15 and my buddy Dave Hull had the Rock Palace Ratt performance on VHS. We’d watch those 4 songs for hours, get inspired, then go into the other room and jam our asses off. We’d get our other guitar playing buddy Eric Fraser in on the action as well. Dave may move over to bass, we switched it up. This was actually (for me anyways) one of the first experiences I had of watching a guy burn on guitar via televised recording. I’d rewind and watch and watch and watch. It was absolutely mesmerizing. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was going to learn how to do that fast finger shit if it killed me. Ed lit the fire, Warren and the others kept that shit burnin’.
The Morning After guitar duel was especially mind blowing. Left hand going wild, right hand (which was that Lynch fan picking technique – AVOID) dipping in every now and then to keep the notes flowing…Hell, you check it out!
I owned Out of the Cellar, and that was about it. This was another one of those albums where I liked pretty much every song. Warren’s solo on In Your Direction was quite frightening and definitely a highlight for me. I learned a bunch of their songs and will most likely post how-to lessons on YouTube at some stage. Like this one I did last night:
Warren? You’re a fucking gun. I’m a tad annoyed I never saw you guys live, you are such an inspiration and an ass kicker. I’d love to know about your time being roommates with Jake and George. If Carlos ever leaves, call my ass.
In 1985, Eric Fraser (high school friend a year older than me) showed me my first three note per string scale. It was D Minor scale starting on the A sharp note, and it was from Mr Crowley.
Why I love Randy: Randy introduced me to the classical side of things. The diminished stuff. Loved it. I was in 7th or 8th grade in the very early 80’s. I lived in a house with three other boys (my step bros), and if you wanted an album but were a broke ass teen, you’d suggest your parents buy it for your brother’s birthday knowing full well you’d hear that album cranked (when the parents weren’t home). So I got Troy (who also played bass in many of the teenage bands I was in) Diary of a Madman. I LOVED IT. Over the Mountain was my song. I played that song into the ground. And that solo? BAD ASS!! When you hear those opening tritones, you know you’re in for a treat. Triple tracking solos? Crazy shit.
His look also played a part. For a kid in high school whose main dream in life was to have long hair (which I did have for a number of years), and to see a dude with long hair and black clothes kicking much ass on the guitar, that is the Metal dream right there!! The polka dot V didn’t hurt either. I love me a painted up guitar!!
In High School my band Knights (which Troy was apart of) played Believer after school, and I sang it!! There’s even a pic of that:
“I’m a Believer….!!” Still two or three years off from mastering Lynch vibrato. Glad there’s no audio!!
I had and loved both albums, but for some reason I gravitated more toward Diary. I like every single song, which is pretty rare for me. Troy was so captivated by the inner sleeve witch alphabet (or whatever the fuck) that he deciphered it. Pretty cluey guy. And of course, Kerslake and Daisley gave stellar performances on rhythm section, even though Aldridge and Sarzo were in the band pic.
I remember hearing on the radio that Randy died. That was 8th grade. I was on a bus going to school and had my Walkman on. I thought that sucked. My friend Eric Fraser looked a lot like Randy in high school, I’m sure he was devastated. I didn’t really get emotional about it until I was in my 30’s. I cried a few times. Beer did play a part.
I really liked Brad Gillis as a temporary replacement for Randy. He did a great job. That would have been a very difficult time. Hats off to him. I love the tone off Speak of the Devil. Surely Mesa Boogie.
Says Eric: Ha!! Thanks for the mention. You’d have to show me the scale now. I remember seeing that concert with Brad Gillis and being bummed it wasn’t Randy. Also remembered that our friend Anthony Sanchez had a bootleg VHS of those rehearsal videos. Pretty rad in 1982!
I did hear that George Lynch did a few shows using Brad’s gear, yet have never seen any pictures or audio to prove this. Could it be bullshit? Am I straight trippin’? I know Lynch auditioned for Ozzy and Jake E got the gig. But I would have loved to have heard Lynch in Ozzy. I think that would have been a great combo.
I greatly respect Randy as a musician. He gave a cool dark / gothic vibe to Metal. I know he wanted to quit metal and go down the acoustic /classical path..
I got this YouTube comment the other day, thought I’d share it:
This probably sounds silly, but I’m 45, and people take technology for granted and use it in ways that I’m not even aware of. I’ve been playing guitar since 1991, and used to buy tablature at first on a friend’s recommendation because I don’t read music. It was very tedious to learn Van Halen solos this way and I didn’t get very far. They just don’t sound right picked out note by note, and I couldn’t make much sense of it. I gave up on tab and settled for just playing by ear and improvising, and after a couple of decades, I got to be a pretty competent guitarist.
I stumbled across your “And the Cradle Will Rock” solo dissection here purely by accident a few months ago. I just never thought about people posting something for free on YouTube that I used to pay for, and with a video demonstration to boot! I watched a couple of your other video demos that day. The bag of tricks you showed me opened up a whole new world. I feel like I’ve been riding my guitar with training wheels all these years, and I’m finally learning how to pop wheelies! I can actually play a lot like Eddie now, something I always wished I could do, so incredibly cool!
So, I wanted to come back and say thanks for posting such helpful videos. Rock on!
My reply: Thanks sir!! It’s pretty immersed in common sense once someone shows you. That’s part of Ed’s mystique; make weird sounding shit that baffles the ear, but once you can SEE what’s going on, it’s all quite easy to grasp. And that’s why I hate TAB, unless it’s written by the dude who played the part. Trust YOUR ears, not some 15 year old kid in Texas who shat out a crappy TAB.
I do notice some clowns coming out of the woodwork charging for EVH solo and song lessons, but Daddy Doug kicks down info for free, pretty much. Stick with me, I try and do it right..Ahhh!! Make sure you watch my fix vids as well. After I post a video, I’ll sometimes hear the solo again, watch another guy on YouTube play it, or an VH isolated track will pop up, and it’ll bother me that my way is slightly off. So I fixy.
I also suggest you watch a couple of guys play the same part. I recommend YoBroMan.
I heard Cacophony around ’87 or ’88. The Shrapnel record label that catered to all these shred bands was located in Cotati, Ca. (I’ve been to Mike Varney’s house. He had a room full of VHS tapes of dudes burning; guitarists, drummers, etc. He also had all the pre CFH Pantera albums on vinyl. Pretty cool!!) Sinister Sam also recorded two demos at Prairie Sun Studios, where all Shrapnel bands recorded. I’ll save that story for another time. Actually wait, there is no story. We recorded two demos out of Prairie Sun and Mooka (studio owner) was awesome.
So yeah, I heard Speed Metal Symphony and HATED it. But I also hated Metallica in the beginning as well. My friend Rod used to bag on the lyrics to Desert Island: I want to spend my life at the beach!! I was fine with that. Hell, I want to spend MY life at the beach; Gold Coast, to be exact. Australia’s Florida. Read on!!
I hated Cacophony until I heard the solo to Desert Island. And then, in true John Sanders fashion, I shat my pants. I really dug the first dirty solo just after the little harmonized bit. The part just after the floyd warble-cricket noise is just INSANE!! I had no idea which guy played it. So in my mind, I thought it was Marty. There was no internet, so I basically just took a guess, “Yep, the guy with the curly hair looks more metal and older, he played it. I’ll go see them play live and stand right in front of him, like the 19 year old jack ass that I am. Hand on chin (when my arms are not crossed, mind you), mentally taking notes on every move, scale, power chord, etc. Because “I’m a guitarist and this is what I DO.” That’s what we all did.
So we find out that Cacophony are playing at The Stone in San Francisco, and a few of us go up. The band comes on and I immediately high tail it to Marty’s side. They play Desert Island, I’m standing right in front of Marty, and to my utter shock, Jason’s playing the first solo!! So there I am, scrambling to get to Jason’s side. Ha ha ha!! The second Stone gig I saw them at they had just come back from a tour of Japan. In between songs I’m trying to talk to Jason about the Japanese tour!! “So, how was it, man?” I’m sure there was a strong urge on his part to kick me in my teeth. Glad he didn’t.
I think I’ve seen Cacophony three times; twice at The Stone, once at The Omni in Oakland. Loved it. Saw Jason do the yo-yo thing right in front of my face. Ahh, the joys of living in California!! My only complaint with Cacophony was their rhythm section. I wanted all bad asses like Racer X and got something a little more comparable to Faster Pussycat. Not a nice thing to say, I know, but I was also a teenager and wanted fucking shred from every motherfucker in the group, dig? I wanted to see Dean Castronovo or Atma Anur and got clowned. I’ve relaxed a touch now. Not by much though.
What I love about Jason. Pretty much everything. The songs and solos off the two Cacophony albums are thee shit. Perpetual Burn is a fucking masterpiece. Live, his stage presence was pretty tough. You can’t just stand there, people. The crowd can stand there packed together. Give them their money’s worth (not to mention you have fuckloads of room up onstage) and shake dat ass. I also tripped out on how tall Jason was when I saw him after one of the gigs. He’s like 6’2″ or 6’3″.
I got all my sweep ideas off Jason and Bruce Bouillet. I bought that Jason Becker VHS tape which features the clinic where he shows the Serrana Arpeggios, and I took notes. That totally opened my mind to new ideas, which I’m grateful for.
I called that Jason would get the Roth gig. That was pure common sense. Anyone who saw Cacophony play would have easily made the connection. There was no other choice than Jason. He, at that time, was the best guitarist in the world hands down. I fully believe that. He was the Guthrie of the late 80’s. Here, check out Jason’s 4 track demo of the Roth stuff
His shit swaggers!! He’s the only guy I love doing the blues/shred thing. Him and Kotzen.
I saw him at NAMM one year, he was on crutches, I remember asking what happened. I think he said he fell or some shit. I had a pic of that somewhere. He was talking to Atma Anur at the time, so I didn’t stick around and bailed pretty quick-like. Let fellow band dudes catch up.
When I heard the news about Jason and ALS, I knew there was no God and the world was truly fucked. I’ve cried about it a few times. Even now he inspires. Matter of fact, he’s written more songs with his eyes than I’ve fucking written with a guitar in my lap! So there’s no excuse. You wanna do something, do it. Jason Becker is the shining example of that. Even his body won’t get in the way of what his mind wants to do. And it gets done. I’m sure there are down times, but you just keep going. Great message from a fuckin’ rad dude.
Jason, you are thee shit!! Your playing inspires people, you continue to inspire!
Interested in what Jason’s doing these days? Go HERE
What I love about Marty. Lots. All the exotic stuff. Bending from a note out of key to a note in key. Make the ears fire right up, ha ha!! The cool phrasing, so many cool ideas. I love the shred more on Perpetual Burn, but I love Marty’s songwriting. I feel he’s the more metal of the two as far as riffs go. That last riff in Anvils is thee shit!! I love the Megadeth / Marty years. Great solos, so good that you’d want to play them live note for note. Hitting a high G on Holy Wars? Get the fuck outta here! The perfect Yin to Jason’s Yang, for sure.
Both inspire and leave great legacies for us to dig right into and go, “Yeah, these dudes are the fuckin’ REAL DEAL..”
Tell me that isn’t the raddest hair!! I’d grow that business to my ass!!
Paul (as well as Bruce Bouillet), Jason Becker, George Lynch, Mark McGee and EVH had the biggest impact on me in my formative years.
One of thee most terrifying guitar duos in Metal. And I saw that shit LIVE!! I’d like to have a 7 string in that shape as well. RAD!! Ibanez!! Get fuckin’ crackin’!!
It’s 1986. A friend of mine, John Marks from Silver Creek High School had Street Lethal on album. He handed said album to me and goes, “Remember, this kid is only 19..” I’m like, “Just gimme!!” And I grabbed it straight out of his hands. I was at my drummer’s house at the time, and we slapped Racer X on the turntable and cranked the volume. I didn’t love it immediately, I thought that guitar tone was the weirdest fuckin’ thing I have ever heard, and not in a good way. The Marshall amp used was hot rodded by this company called Metaltronix. A friend of mine Brian Sutherland had a Metaltronix head, and that shit was MAD ASS!! So I’ll blame this aural error I’m now hearing on the engineer at Prairie Sound, whoever that was.
I also heard a pretty big Yngwie influence on there as well, which isn’t a bad thing, but why do Yngwie if there’s already a fucking Yngwie, right? I think I was a tad jealous in the beginning, so I was looking for ANY excuse. I was 17, Paul was 19. It happens.
This album was pre Bruce Bouillet, but that didn’t matter, I really liked a lot of the songs on here. Favorites include Blowing Up the Radio, Loud and Clear, Getaway, Into the Night, Street Lethal. Check it out.
Why do I love Paul? Many many reasons. Second Heat, the album after Street Lethal, was one of them. I seriously thought Shred Pop was going to be The Next Big Thing. Then Nirvana came out and fucked up that dream hard. I’m still annoyed about that, but I love Alice in Chains, so I guess it all worked out. But seriously? Fuck Grunge. Back to Paul.
Another reason why I owe so much to this man is because he took my guitar playing to the next level with his Intense Rock 1 video. There’s STILL shit on there I can’t do, and this was ’87!!!
Master this whole video, then move on to other shit. See you in 25 years.
So, he completely got my picking up to scratch. Remember, I was into Lynch (probably more than VH at this stage), and Gilbert had all the shred rock techniques covered. It didn’t hurt that his hand was huge as fuck, but take advantage of whatever you can. At this stage he was in his most Metal form, he had the Lynch vibrato as well.
A year later, we piled everyone into my ’66 Chrysler New Yorker (that I bought for $50), and we headed to the Stone in San Francisco to see Racer X and another crazy Shrapnel band I had never heard of, Vicious Rumors. Racer X were on fire that night. I was able to see Paul’s hands close up, and I understood what was going on, even though I couldn’t do it. Fuck they were bad ass. My friend John was there, and he took GREAT pics. I still have a few somewhere. I had seen Racer X a few times, even once without Paul and just Bruce.
I was fucking THERE, man!!! And yes, I am aware that’s it The Omni in Oakland, but I went to that gig as well.
I had also seen one of the first incarnations of Mr Big. It was Paul, Eric, and a few dudes from Tesla. Good show, Paul still had fire, but I was getting pretty sick of the blues element in rock. I can probably handle it more-so in Pantera, but I don’t want my favorite shredders playing blues.
And that’s where he lost me. Mr Big, blues, weird, thin lead tone, etc. If it was a perfect world, Racer X would have gotten heavier, may have busted out the ole’ 7 strings, and fucked everyone’s ears and asses right into the ground. I still love Paul Gilbert. I owe him!! That first video did wonders for me. Paul, If you ever read this, I love you. You are thee shit. I totally ripped off your right hand picking technique. Yeah, not a huge fan of your blues shit, but that’s life. You have made me a better player. I got to witness Racer X in a club environment. I’ve met you at NAMM and you were way nice. I even think we did the hand size comparison, ha ha. His hands are fuckin’ HUGE.
This story takes place in 1984. I was a teenager then. These blogs are basically a thank you letter to all the bands / guitarists who shaped me into the bitter mean old cocksucker I am today. Kidding, you fools, I is lovely!!
Let’s see, I believe it was a Sunday night, and I had school the next day. There was a metal show on KSJO or KOME, I don’t remember which. These FM stations were thee big rock stations in San Jose California at the time. And they were just as good as each other. You just had to decide what DJ’s you liked. KOME MAY have been a bit more risque at the time.
So I’m listening to this metal show, and they play a blurb of a band called Icon, the solo section to On Your Feet.
Which, of course, they’d be featuring on next week’s show. I listened the week after, like the rabid metal dog that I was, and was very impressed by what I heard. And the week following I bought that first album. And turned my friend Dave Hull onto it. He got more into them than I did, and bought the other albums.
My criteria with anything metal is, gotta have a rad guitarist. I admit, I’m shallow and I don’t give a fuck. Rhythms gotta be sweet, but the lead player has got to BURN. It helps immensely if they have that wide, George Lynch style vibrato. If they don’t, I’ll overlook it..(Songs over solos, at the end of the day). I like Dan Wexler and John Aquilano for sure. Their call and response solos in the clean intro on Out For Blood is RAD!! Rad I tells ya!
Second criteria, bad ass singer. Stephen Clifford had gruff AND range. He could hit a high E note easily. His voice is very signature. I would have killed to see them live. I was also 14 at the time, so that wasn’t gonna happen. My family was far from cool in that aspect. I think I would have prospered more with hippie parents (tear falls, cue emotional piano theme).
Here’s what I know; they’re from Arizona. They made a few more albums, I think Night of the Crime was probably TOO cock rock for me, but I still had a listen when I was at Dave’s house. And as soon as Stephen Clifford left, I wrote them off. I heard the new singer and wasn’t interested.
UPDATE: I listened to night of the crime on YouTube and lost my shit! Bought album on iTunes. Yes, it’s that good. Great rock radio tunes.
My fave tracks aside from On Your Feet were World War, Under my Gun, ah look, they’re all pretty cool, even the ballad. But yes, I fucking LOVE this album.
Ace Frehley got me into lead guitar. It didn’t hurt that he looked bad ass!! (yes, I know you don’t hear with your eyes, but I was TEN!!)
I believe I bought Double Platinum and Love Gun on the same day. I’m a bit bummed that I showed up to the party late, but at least I got there.
The first time I heard two handed tapping on guitar wasn’t Eruption, oh no. It was Ace’s solo on Alive II. In the 70’s KISS were absolutely at their zenith in terms of everything. Yeah, Gene may have fucked up the brand by putting their name on every single thing under the sun, but what can you do? I owned about roughly 15 of their albums, bought the KISS dolls (well, mom did as a XMas gift back in the day), and one year I was Peter Criss for Halloween. Yeah, Peter. But that was my drum phase. As a ten year old, I didn’t know they were average players. I was more into enjoying music and not worrying about what technical level these dudes were at as players. I even taped Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park on audio tape!! We didn’t even have a fucking VCR in ’78!!
My favorite albums would be Hotter Than Hell, Dressed to Kill, Destroyer, and Rock and Roll Over. That artwork is straight up bad ass. I think I was totally done after Animalize. I do, however like The Oath off of Music from The Elder. What a putrid time for them.
Obviously I love the Ace solo album, just like most people with ears. I’m glad Ace cranked that out, as I see Gene being a bit of a dick. Gene’s solo album was pretty shit, if you ask me. My wife screams whenever she hears When You Wish Upon a Star. I laugh my ass off. I will say, as much of a douche as Gene is, I do like his bass playing. I think he writes good bass lines that are pretty musical, so hats off to him there.
Favorite era costume? Probably Destroyer or Love Gun. Although with Love Gun, it’s like he had a touring suit and a photo op suit. I like the real silver suit. I’d like to know the story behind that. So yeah, most likely getting Ace Frehley solo album portrait as a tattoo at the end of ’14. I was gonna get Zappa, but I know a mad ass tattooist that will knock it out in no time. And he loves KISS, so why not? I’ll most likely YouTube the experience as well. If it wasn’t on video, it didn’t happen, right?
The first time I heard Gary Moore was 1983-ish. I would have been in 8th or 9th grade. It was on the radio, probably San Jose’s KOME 98.5.
The song was End of the World. That intro guitar solo was MADDENING! My first thought was, “Oh shit!! My precious Eddie!! There’s another freak out there as crazy as you are!!” Anyways, I heard the song and bought Corridors of Power not long after. I looove that album. It was great, my school friend Dave Hull (who was more of a blues guy) liked Gary Moore as well, so we’d swap records, listen and jam together, that kinda thing. Actually, Dave and I were into AC/DC, Ratt, VH, Ozzy, Icon, etc..It’s good to have a friend like that.
So where was I? Ahh, Gary Moore. Mad player. Those fast picked maj7 motiffs he does are awesome. John Sykes and Vivian Campbell totally ripped him off. As much as I harp on about EVH and Lynch, Gary Moore absolutely inspired me and shaped my playing. I owned Corridors of Power and Victims of the Future. Dave had We Want Moore, and I borrowed the fuck out of that. This was all pre CD times as well, ha ha.
I think the reason I liked Gary a lot was his playing was aggressive, but he was so fucking musical while doing it. And at that point in time, he was the guitarist’s guitarist, everybody was digging on him. Check out these clips. The songs and solos are VERY COOL.
Gary, you were extremely inspirational to many guitarists. You had followings in both metal and blues. And well, I love you. For reals.
I think was about 20 when I first heard of Forbidden, and I don’t even remember how. Here’s what I do remember:
I was living in San Jose (Ca) when I bought Twisted Into Form. They had just acquired a new guitarist (Tim Calvert), and that album was fucking GREAT. Mean rhythms, mad leads, great vocals, stellar drumming. There were all age gigs at The Mountain View Theater every now and again, but I think I was about 21 when I started seeing Forbidden live. What a treat!!
After my buddy Scot and I went to a few Forbidden gigs, we start bugging Craig Lucicero after every show: How did you get signed? Where did you record? This happened pretty much every single time we saw him. And like an absolute champion, he was never bothered by it. In fact, we started getting invited to their after parties which took place at their rehearsal room in Fremont. Mad shit!! We were partying with Thrash Metal royalty!!
I always thought of Craig as my heavy metal guidance counselor. And when Forbidden toured Australia in 2011, he hasn’t changed!! It was funny!! He even looks the same. He was schooling me on how to introduce my wife to him, etc. I felt 21 all over again.
Craig be far left
When Scot and I finally had our own band going (Sinister Sam), we were sooo happy that we got the opportunity to support Forbidden AND Vio-Lence. Both bands helped us acquire a nice little Bay Area following. And we loved watching them and hanging with them. Both bands were very friendly and quite supportive. Both were quite an influence on Sinister Sam in the early years, for sure. We even intro’d one of our gigs with Forbidden’s Infinite and Vio-Lence’s I Profit. I wished I had that shit recorded.
Imagine you’re 19 years of age and it’s 1988. One of your first club going experiences is Racer X at The Stone in San Francisco.
So, as I remember, it was a four band bill, with Vicious Rumors, a band I had never even heard of, in the support slot. Set times: first two bands, half hour sets. Support, 45 minutes, and headliner would get an hour plus.
So, first two bands went on, had pretty good guitarists. By this time in my life I was very much into the Shrapnel label, George Lynch, Gary Moore, EVH, Vivian Campbell, etc. I could differentiate between good and bad playing, and I knew what I liked.
Out comes Vicious Rumors. Man, you would have thought THEY were the headliners!!! These guys were awesome!! They’re described as power metal. I’d even call it High Energy Metal. The band consisted of two guitarists (both lead players) and an absolutely kick ass vocalist, who had the vocal gruff of Ronnie James Dio, but with the range of Geoff Tate. All the boxes were pretty much ticked. Drums / bass combo were cool as well, holding that shit DOWN. The drummer had a pretty cool presence.
Vicious Rumors (as it turns out) were a Shrapnel band. Vinnie Moore used to be in it. Well, the guy I saw (Mark McGee) was on par with Vinnie, easily. Long ass curly hair, moved around lots, provided backing vocals, this guy was my inspiration!! Every now and then I forget, but he was, and there’s no denying it. Racer X hadn’t even come out yet and I was ready to leave (glad I didn’t, as they were fucking nuts as well). Ahhhh, what a joy to be there. I loved that gig and I’ve seen YouTube footage of that era for both Racer X and Vicious Rumors. For the people who post those gigs, a trillion thanks.
(Mark’s second from the left, and his site is HERE, and I have Dave Starr the bassist as a Facebook friend. Cool!!)
I had seen VR quite a few times, and eventually had the balls to walk up to Mark and tell him that he was awesome and I loved him very much, ha ha. I even gave him a steel pick during one of our post gig meetings. He was always nice, and he told me how much he loved the band Heart. I thought that was cool. Variety.
Half a year later or so Vicious Rumors were headlining The Omni in Oakland. I was wayyy into Siouxsie and The Banshees at that stage, and I was wearing this pretty gothy Siouxsie shirt, that had her black and white face on the front:
Carl with my shirt, possibly? A dude who read this blog posted this photo in the comments section below. If this picture was taken at The Omni in Oakland, then this is most definitely my shirt. If the sleeves are cut off then this was definitely my shirt and I am drunk in the audience. My one regret was that I didn’t let him keep the shirt. I should have at least traded for a VR shirt. But 21 year old boys will be 21 year old boys. Read on!!
Very cool if you’re a goth (which were called ‘mods’ in the late 80’s). And I was letting the world know that, yes, I am a metalhead, but I love other shit, too. Well, the singer of VR, Carl Albert, saw my shirt. Before they went on, he comes up to me and goes, “Dude, that is a killer shirt, let me wear it for the gig, we’ll trade shirts..” I go, “okay, but I want BEER.” He takes me backstage into their room, we trade shirts, and he shows me where the beer is, and I start a chuggin’. I was in Heaven!! Not only am I seeing a rippin’ band, but I’m drinking their fucking beer backstage!! Loved it. And no, I wasn’t driving so I was fine, thanks.
They played a great set, Mark had a guitar solo, which of course was nothing short of bad ass, and after the gig, Carl and I traded shirts again. In hindsight, I probably should’ve told him to keep it. I think I was going to, but while that was spinning around in my head, we were both taking off shirts to re-swap.
Many years later I found out that Carl had died in a car accident. How utterly upsetting. This guy’s voice was fucking incredible, and to lose a talent like that would’ve been absolutely horrible for his band, fans, friends, etc. The world lost a great singer. It still makes me sad.
Cheer up!! The music lives on!! Check out VR’s Digital Dictator and Vicious Rumors, and thank me later. Mark? You are an inspiration! You took the time out to talk to a 19 year old kid who had never even gigged by that point in time, and you treated me as an adult, and not a kid or a ‘fan’. Cheers for that.
It’s a blessing and a curse. You have websites, video clips, and content coming out of your ass, but you also have a short attention span and 397 other commitments. I don’t envy you one bit. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure if I was a teenager in this current era, I’d be a crappier guitarist than I am now. Lucky I did all my woodshedding pre internet. Otherwise I’d be waaay fucked. It’s all about time management and organizing, anyways. So, this blog is dedicated to the guitarist who is going to learn without a private guitar teacher.
I’m just going to list the way I’d learn things in somewhat of an order. Now, obviously, this isn’t etched in stone, as there’s young kids out there who can grasp music, technique, feel, all that shit intuitively. And to that I say, skip over this and join a fuckin’ band, write and record some songs. Because songs are where it’s at. That’s always gonna be where it’s at. But yes, I am painting with broad strokes here. Take what you like, throw away the rest.
I find it odd that many people want to burn like Loomis or Gilbert, they want to do sweeps, but they don’t even know the note names. So this’ll be a fairly broad list of stuff you should know (or want to know), and the order. Finding a buddy to jam with early on is also in your best interest. In high school I had a few friends to exchange ideas with (Scot Miller, Dave Hull, and Eric Fraser. All still playing today).
1. Note names / major and minor chord names
2. All 5 boxes on the Major and Minor Pentatonic scale. In E minor and A minor. You’ll understand later.
2.5. Vibrato. Andy James says it’s categorized under the ‘feel’ category. Paul Gilbert says vibrato and phrasing are the two biggest challenges in guitar today. Do me a flave, watch this clip and rip off George’s finger vibrato. You’ll make everyone pleased as punch. for reals.
3. Modes of the C major scale in three note per string form. Why? In shred/burn, all the fast stuff is usually three note per string. Makes sense. This will help get you there.
4. Ear training and jamming with a band. I was in bands since I was 14. The earlier you can start jamming with people, the better. This can actually go at 1.5, ha ha.
5. Legato (Left hand burning, a la Nuno, lynch, De Martini, Garsed, Holdsworth, Govan)
6. Staccato (picking every note, a la Yngwie, Gilbert, Becker, DiMeola)
7. Tapping (EVH, Rhoads, sweep taps, etc etc)
8. Sweep arpeggios (This is usually first with every young fucker I run into). Can’t write a song or grasp even basic theory, but you’re happy to sweep all over the place. The enthusiasm is cute, but mostly annoying. It’s like trying to teach a toddler jiu jitsu. It ain’t gonna happen.
9. Hybrid picking (If you’re into that. I’m trying to get into it now and finding it quite a lil’ bitch, tbh).
10. Ugggh, I’m running out of steam. Repeat all that shit until you die, I guess.
When I was 19, The first Paul Gilbert Video (Intense Rock 1) came out. I was busy for years. I still don’t have all of it down. I’ll add that video and the Vinnie Moore one, and that’ll seriously keep you busy for a good 3-5 years.
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Practice time. I did 3-6 hour days from about the ages of 18-21. I’d say if you REALLY want to make some progress, do a minimum of an hour a day. Jam with friends, listen to all kinds of music. Check out what Chris has to say on practicing below.
GOOD LUCK!! I have once again run out of steam. Oh, and limit the fucking forums you’re on. Wouldn’t you rather be playing than typing?
What’s ear training? Simply put, it’s playing by ear. Learning a TV commercial jingle, a song on the radio, stuff off your fave metal album, a keyboard line. Take a music class in college and ear training will be part of it for sure.
Why is this important? It’s the quickest way to learn a song. Real good if you’re in a cover band. The ears are where it’s at. Even if you transcribe something and you’re off here and there, at least you’re LEARNING shit. That’s why I hate TAB. It’s cheating. Your eyes get the benefit, not your ears. Not to mention, the tab is more than likely wrong and done by a 14 year old in Nebraska.
I only trust TAB by: The writer of the music or Guthrie Govan. I’m sure there are great transcribists out there, but I’d rather just do it myself.
How did I fall into it? Why, I’m glad you asked! As a young teenage boy growing up in San Jose, California, music was looked down upon by my father. Typical business man mentality. “Waste of time, pipedream”. He sees the light now, but if I wanted to learn music back then, I’d have to do it all on my own.
So guitar lessons were out of the question. But I wasn’t going to let lessons get in the way of me learning. In high school I had friends show me stuff, and vice versa. Those friends were Dave Hull, Eric Fraser, Steve Lane, and Scot Miller (all still playing, teaching, etc). At home it was up to my turntable and myself. This is was 1980’s and there was no YouTube or Google, so self motivation was KEY.
I suggest if you’re going to give the ole’ ear training a crack, start with easy shit. KISS, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Dokken, Ratt, Ozzy, and Van Halen were the bands I cut my teeth on as a teen. That was what was on the radio (KSJO and KOME), and let’s face it, it was RAD!! So, I’d slap on a record, make sure the guitar was tuned to the song, and start. I’ll try and give you some tips as to what helped me.
You have to know the song real well. At least I did, I was way into being able to play it perfect to the album. I’d be able to sing all the lyrics, guitar lines, bass lines, solos, drum fills. You have to love it. If it feels like work, then you’re probably doing it for the wrong reasons. Wait, it will feel like work. You have to be pretty committed to work on ONE SONG for countless hours. If you’re doing it because you think it’s cool or your friends are doing it, chances are you won’t stick with it. I’ve seen it happen millions of times. To some, playing music is a phase, and that’s fine. But your motivation levels will drop and your frustration levels will rise. I’m not saying it’s all roses, but if you don’t feel some sense of joy or accomplishment when you’ve mastered a song and can play it from beginning to end flawlessly, I dunno..sell your shit. Unless you’re a dabbler, and that’s okay too. But be realistic.
Be Patient. I spent HOURS on one song. When I was 18, I learned the solo to Dokken’s Tooth and Nail. Took me three hours to learn the solo. I spent the next three hours playing it in sheer joy. That was my reward. You need lots of free time for this to work. Best to bust a move whilst you’re still in school, the older you get, the more responsibilities you have, time goes out the window, and well…you’re fucked. Sad but true. I just quoted a Metallica song. KILL ME.
Don’t get discouraged. That shit ain’t gonna help anybody, especially you. Put down the guitar, come back to it later.
Where to start?
Here’s some songs I learned by ear as a kid, and played them at many backyard parties in San Jose with my step bro Troy under the band name of Knights. Yes, highly original.
KISS: Shock Me, Love Gun, Detroit Rock City, Parasite, Cold Gin, Calling Dr Love
AC/DC: The whole Back in Black album, Big Balls, Let There Be Rock.
VH: You Really Got Me, Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love, You’re No Good, Outta Love Again, I dunno man, the first four albums, songs and solos.
Dio: First two albums
Dokken: First two or three albums.
Ratt: Most of Out Of the Cellar.
Ozzy: Blizzard and Diary albums.
Gary Moore: Corridors and Victims albums
Iron Maiden: Number of the Best through to Somewhere in Time.
There. My teenage song list in a nutshell. Until June of 1987 when I heard Anthrax Among the Living for the first time. That’s a whole ‘nother blog.
Get crackin’.
Check out these two kids absolutely smash a Periphery song. They used a combination of ear and TAB. Tab to probably get in the ballpark, and ear to fine tune. Try all ear. Go on. It can be done!
I was lucky. I had a musical family (Mom played piano by ear, aunt and grandfather played acoustic guitar and sang). Not to mention we always had a jukebox in the house. I’d listen to Zep’s Black Dog every morning, putting on clothes in front of the heater. This was Fresno, California early to mid 70’s. PS – I hate Fresno.
I had three older sisters (who were stoners, let’s face it) and they were into Credence, Zeppelin, Elvis, Deep Purple, The Doors, etc. I was the last born, annoying little brother who destroyed all their record player needles, one by one. I was an asshole early on.
My sweet sisters, they’be both retired! The blonde is Lori, and Lynda’s the other one. My other sister Kim was either too cool to be in the pic or she wasn’t there.
When I was 5, my oldest sister Lynda gave me Emerson Lake and Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery. Even as a 5 year old, I embraced that album wholeheartedly. I loved Giger’s artwork, the length of the songs, the sheer craziness of the whole thing. It was music, sweet music, and I was HOOKED!!
Later that same year, my grandmother took me to see Elvis at Fresno’s Selland Arena (the place that Van Halen loved playing so much). This was during his fat years, and we were pretty far back in the nosebleed section. All I really remember is kicking the seat in front of me, Elvis constantly drying his face, and throwing the towel into the crowd. The women screaming and fighting over towels was WILD to say the least. Even at 5, I was going, “Fighting over towels? For reals? That’s batshit crazy”
Life in Fresno kept moving along at a nice pace, I guess. I liked whatever was on the radio; Styx, Queen, Cameo (Shake Your Pants was a huge fave of mine), ABBA, Fleetwod Mac, etc.
I was probably more into baseball than music at this stage, and that was fine. Until I heard KISS.
I was 10. I think I bought Love Gun and Double Platinum on the same day. My mom gave me $10 a week in allowance and that went to KISS albums for a very long time. I was soooo into KISS that I remember being at this girl’s house, she was playing VH’s Women and Children First, and I thought that shit was way too heavy for me!!! Can you imagine that? “Hmm, not KISS, so fuck it.” Idiot. Hey, I never said I was smart. But Jennifer Brown sure as fuck was. My obsession with KISS was sad. I even audiotaped KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park. This may have been PRE VHS days. Ha ha.
At 12 or 13 I had come to accept there were other bands besides KISS. I was getting stuck into lots of AC/DC and Van Halen II at this stage. Hadn’t even heard Eruption yet, but when I did, it was Xmas. I was 13, and then I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be Eddie Van Halen.
So my teenage years comprised of being in love with any band who had a killer guitar player. Van Halen, Dokken, Icon, Ratt, Dio, Frank Marino, Gary Moore, anyone who could burn on guitar. Rock radio in San Jose California (I had moved, thank GOD!!) was AMAZING, to say the least. KSJO and KOME opened my step bros and I into even more heavy music.
I’d do a lot of trying to learn a lot of songs and solos by ear. I spent countless hours in my bedroom doing this, and at times it did feel like work, but once I nailed something, it was a celebration. I learned how songs and solos were written. Totally invaluable. I was in my first band when I was 14. All we could play was You Really Got Me, Pretty Woman, two Y&T songs, two John Waite songs, and that was it. We’d have six hour band practices and just jam on four songs, ha ha ha!!
Electronica. When I was 13, we had taped over a Thomas Dolby cassette; The Golden Age of Wireless with VH’s WACF. But after the VH ended, TD began, and my step brothers and I started really digging the new wavey electronica vibe that Thomas Dolby was kicking down. I bought that particular album on CD as well as TD’s Aliens Ate my Buick. Fucking awesome!!!
My sister’s husband Dave was a MASSIVE Zappa freak; had all his albums. So, I’d go visit, grab his headphones, throw on a Zappa record, read the lyrics, check out all the visuals, and laugh at the hilarity of the words and the absolute impeccable musicianship. Some people need to work at liking the Zappa catalogue. I got that shit right away. My favorite albums are Sheik Yerbouti, You Are What You Is, Broadway the Hardway, Overnight Sensation, Tinseltown Rebellion, The Man from Utopia..Lots, from the sounds of it.
1986 was the change from cock rock to Thrash, and it’s all thanks to Van Halen’s 5150 album. It was 1986, 5150 had just come out. I bought the album, went to my girlfriend’s, played the whole thing once, and said, “Wow..Fuck this..” I was sad. The cock rock era was getting more and more pussified, and I was 18 and angry. Thankfully, Anthrax had rescued me.
My love affair with Anthrax started June of ’87.. Their muted power chords (for me) were on par with hammer ons or pinch harmonics. I fell in love with that sound immediately. And I had never heard double bass drumming played that fast!! So now I was on a Thrash binge. Anthrax, Metallica, Megadeth, Forbidden, Vio-Lence Which Sinister Sam eventually supported) Iron Maiden (who I’d been into thanks to MTV). Loved it. I even saw the Among the Living tour in SF, with KISS as the headliner. KISS were unmasked and fairly gay at this stage, so it’s pretty safe to say that I had watched four KISS songs and fucked right off. Now in addition to all the trash I was getting into, I still had my ear to the ground. One of my girlfriends had turned me onto Siouxsie and the Banshees, who I still listen to even now. And Tears for Fears Songs from the Big Chair had a pretty big impact on me as well. The bass line in Head Over Heels is very catchy.
And let’s not forget the Shrapnel catalogue. Racer X, Cacophony, Tony MacAlpine, Greg Howe, Apocrypha, Joey Taffolla, man…By the time I was 18, I was totally and utterly burnt out on guitar instrumentals. I even hate them to this day. If you’re not Holdsworth or Satch, I don’t wanna fuckin’ know about it. Wait. My all time fave guitar instrumental album is probably Jennifer Batten’s Tribal Rage, and not because my friend Glen plays drums on it. It’s just perfect. For me.
Sinister Sam was started in High School. I had met Scot Miller (the other guitarist) in 1986 and he totally influenced my musical catalogue. He got me into Sting, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Hillel period), Fishbone, Toto, They Might Be Giants, Billy Idol, Mr Mister, Steely Dan, etc. In high school we were just a shitty cover band playing parties without a vocalist. Pretty bleak I’d say. It was until we got out of school, started adding Funk and Jazz into the mix, and not putting solos in every songs that the shit started getting wild. I’d say Sam was Pantera style thrash rhythms with Jazz and Funk interludes. Man, that was a great time to be in that band.
I’m starting to get a headache, ha ha. What do I listen to now? Classic VH, Basia, The Orb, Thievery Corporation, Endorphin, The Orb, Goldfrapp, a shit ton of electronica. No words? Even better. I like soundscapy stuff. I respect bands like Periphery and that group of metal/shred three-guitarists-in-a-band vibe, but I don’t listen to it. Not often, anyways. And if you’re a band that plays to backing tracks, well, that’s horseshit in my book. It’s band karaoke, and I won’t be apart of that, thanks.
I won’t lie, there’s music I abhor; all R’n B (from every era), all country music (aside from instrumental shit and anything Brad Paisley does). And commercial rap. But I LOOOVE gangsta rap.
So, listen to everything!! I have dishes to do and a birthday party to attend. Rawk!!
So Alarum and Levitation Hex did the European tour, we landed at the Melbourne International Airport, put all our gear in our respective cars, and away we go: HOME.
Now, I was going to take a cab, but Scotty from Levitation Hex said I could go with him and his lovely girlfriend and they’d drop me home. This was Thursday October 25 (2012) at 2:45 in the morning, mind you. I gladly accepted.
We get to my joint, Scotty open the trunk, I grab my backpack, and my Ibanez (in the Hiscox case) was under his guitar. I grab the handle, pull with semi manly force, and viola!! Out comes the guitar.
Now, just as the guitar was at about face height, the handle broke off and the guitar hit the concrete face down, with a kick ass SPLAT!!! Ha ha, I wasn’t worried about the guitar at all, I knew that bad boy was fine. I was more worried about showing up to future gigs cradling a no handled guitar case looking like a douche.
After the jet lag, a gig in Perth that very weekend we got back, and a bit of downtime, I decided I’d email Hiscox and see if I could buy another handle. I have two of their cases as well as my Ibanez J Craft moulded case, so I’m not totally helpless, ya know? I’ll use one of those for the time being.
Now, what you don’t know is that this particular guitar case had been overseas two times prior to the 3 week tour I went on. I lent it to someone and he’d taken it for a good two months. I’ve had both cases for roughly 6 years with no issues. Ever.
Anyways, I email Hiscox from their site: Hola, I’m Doug, I want to buy a handle, bla bla bla. Hit send.
I don’t hear anything from them for about a week. I mentally keep a note of that, but life gets in the way….
On a Monday after work I pull up just outside our gates and go to my mailbox. Ah, a package, nice!! I see who the sender is: HISCOX!!!
They sent me the handle, screws, all the shit I need to put the new handle on. I am floored!! Here I was, happy to buy another handle and these dudes give me one!! Turned my semi shit day totally upside down! The spring in my step returned. They also included good, solid directions on how to install that bad boy. Which I’ll need because I’m fairly dumb when it comes to building shit.
Later that day I told my wife what had happened and she gently reminded me (because she bought both cases for me as gifts) that those cases come with a lifetime warranty. WHOAAAAA!!! I had no idea!!!
Yo, Hiscox: I LOOOVE YOUR CASES. They are very lightweight and sturdy protective sonsa bitches. And they are very balanced when you’re walking with two. Sooo awesome. Thanks so much. I’m speechless and I encourage any serious travelling musician to purchase the case you need.
It was roughly 1996 or ’97. I was living in San Jose, California, and I was getting ready to move to Melbourne, Australia. I was deeply entreched into the album Destroy Erase Improve. I hadn’t had a favourite band in years, and these guys came along and I was totally hooked.
Anyway, fast forward a few months. I was living in Melbourne (Greensborough, to be exact) Australia, I had just acquired my first free email account (sadsab69@hotmail.com), and I was teaching guitar and doing Ibanez clinics for Australis, who was (and still is) the importer for Ibanez out here in Oz.
Pic of myself around the time I was trying to help the guys, that Jem right there was a loner. Bummer!!
By this stage I had emailed Marten (Meshuggah rhythm guitarist) a few times to kiss his ass (as well as the band’s), and I figured since I’m doing Ibanez clinics and they’re playing the Ibanez 7 strings, why not try to get them an endorsement? Surely it can’t be that hard.
Through Marten I received Fredrik’s email address and started contacting him. I also emailed him questions for a website I used to run called killuglytv.com, and asked him some technical questions about the production of DEI. I told him I was doing Ibanez clinics and I was going to try and get them an endorsement, but that I needed CD’s of all their material to give to Ibanez. I think I said I wanted two copies of each album, ha ha; one for myself, one for Ibanez. I think that’s pretty fair. Fredrik gave me the email address to his manager, and I emailed him. (Note: at this time I was known to these guys as John Sanders; I hadn’t done radio yet. That’s a whole other blog)
Meshuggah
And then, nothing happened. At least that’s where the momentum stopped, pretty much completely. I can’t remember why I couldn’t get the CD’s. I was fairly annoyed, because finding a complete Meshuggah catalogue in a cd store was not an easy thing. Well, it was easier at JB Hi Fi , but I don’t think I knew that then.
In the end I thought, what’s more important, getting free CD’s from my favourite band, or trying to help starving musicians maybe get a break on some guitars? So I emailed Ibanez . I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but it was to the effect of, “Hey, I do clinics for you guys out here in Oz, and there’s a metal band out of Sweden that pretty much kick the shit out of everyone, and if you want to do the right thing (and you should, because they’re already using the 7 strings), you had best snap them up.” Or something like that. Probably a lot shorter and a lot nicer, ha ha.
A few weeks later, I got a call insanely early in the morning (Australia’s 17 hours ahead of the US). It was Rob Nishida from Ibanez, who was running the custom shop at the time. He wanted Fredrik’s phone number, which I had. We did small talk, I told him Ibanez were stupid for not mass producing the BSB Jem as a 7 string. The conversation was roughly no more than two minutes.
So that’s it. I stopped emailing both Marten and Fredrik. I figured they were busy and they probably had lots of people befriending them, etc etc. I wasn’t gonna be a thorn in their sides. I was happy to listen to the music, buy the CD’s and shirts, and support my favourite band. I mean, I sure wouldn’t have turned down a 7 string BSB Jem as a thank you from both the band and Ibanez, but that’s fucking fantasyland style shit. Ha ha, still, one can dream.
And yeah, I sent an email to Ibanez and a dude from there called me and I gave him another dude’s phone number, I’m not stupid; Meshuggah were gonna get a guitar endorsement regardless. I just facilitated the speed a touch.
Never dismiss the power of an email. I emailed Line 6 regarding Meshuggah with the same Spiel. Twice, bitch, twice!! (And the funny thing is I ended up doing clinics for those guys as well. Another blog, yeah?)
Now that I’m in a signed band, I should probably hit Ibanez up.
Bitch please.
Doug Steele 