Guitarbinge.com Guitar Blog - Guitar Tricks,Tips and San Diego Band Interviews

★ John St. Claire: "What is Important is to Play from the Heart"

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:30:00 +0000

Can you go into your background, and exactly how you started out with the guitar?

I started playing when I was ten. I went to a Catholic school and so I started playing guitar there and in church…what got me started was I was in 6^th grade and there was some big church service, and they took me out of class to play guitar, and every one of the grades came in and practiced, and I played guitar all day for each of the classes…. so I thought that was pretty cool. One, I got out of class, and two, I got to play guitar all day…and that was grueling, from eight o’clock to three o’clock…so then I got an electric guitar and they wouldn’t let me play that in church…

The devil music!

Right! So I went to high school and got into band. I played viola in the orchestra and won a national school orchestra award for a couple years in a row, got out, studied guitar at San Diego State, and for a couple years taught music at elementary schools. I didn’t’ have enough time to really practice and my teacher, Bill Coleman, had been in he Air Force Band. So I call up the guitar player in the Navy band and he said “come on down and listen to the band”. So I went and it was this huge theater, these guys are dressed up in civilian clothes, they have all the equipment in the world that the government can buy— I mean four piece horn section, the keyboard has four keyboards stacked on top of each other, and they’re just rockin’ out! So it’s about 10:30 when they finished and they say “We’re done for the day. When we don’t do this, we go out on the road, playing concerts, and then we take Mondays off”. And I was like, “that doesn’t sound so bad!” And he was like: “You have to go through boot camp, so volunteer for the choir and you get out of a lot of marching”. So they put me in charge of the choir, and no one wanted to do anything so I just played the blues on the piano in a couple of keys. Boot camp really helped my piano chops.

A long path…

Yeah…then I went back to school studied jazz guitar and electronic music, digital audio editing….went to Mira Costa college, got a degree in audio engineering and live sound production, ran the sound at Triple Espresso downtown …it was the longest running play in San Diego, and I did sound design for a bunch of plays, wrote music for plays, so for example in the play if they open the door to hell, what’s that supposed to sound like? It was fun. Then I started doing commercials and feature films….

Were those sound effects, or music?

Well it depends, some were sound effects…

On one film I did called “The Five Stages of Beer”, the sound person didn’t show up for the shoot and so they just had different people hold the microphone. And so there are two people sitting at a bar and a bartender and behind the bartender is a refrigerator. The microphone is pointing at the bartender and when the two people at the bar talk, they should turn it, right? But they didn’t. So now it’s pointing at the refrigerator and the people that are on camera are not on the mic. And so I got the job of “make it sound like these three people are having a conversation”. “Take out the refrigerator and make these guys sound louder.” It was a slow process…! Then the guy who owns this store [Moonlight Music] calls me up and says “Hey, do you want to work here?” So now I teach piano, guitar, violin, banjo, bass, and ukulele.

Is there a high demand for ukulele?!

No, I don’t have any students for that now, but they come in now and then…

So what do you think about age when it comes to learning guitar? I only started at 19 and I wish I started earlier, like 10 or something…so when do you think is the best time to start?

The best time to start an instrument is between three and ten years old, because your brain is still absorbing language. Now I’ve had some 3 and 4 year old students and developmentally, it can be difficult to get them focused to do something. Some didn’t have the motor skills, but other ones with older brother and sisters pick it up more quickly. One kid who was four would watch his seven year old brother play and imitate. He would play with both hands, sing the pitch and say the name of the note while he played and it wasn’t hard for him.

Do you think he was especially gifted, or do you think anyone has this potential within them?

I think everyone has some ability to do something in music. There are a few exceptions such as those with neurological conditions like amusia— some people are tone deaf. They can’t hear a distinction in pitches…let me recommend a couple of great books, one is called Musicophilia, written by a neuroscientist, and its all kind of wild stories about how music is in your life and the processes by which the brain works….like this one guy, he was a surgeon and gets struck by lightning and all of a sudden decides to become a classical concert pianist, and he does. He never studied music before; it just rewired his brain…

Now some people just don’t have rhythm. White people are historically known to be arrhythmic, to be dorks, but most people can learn to strum a couple of chords and learn a few songs. And if you’re interested, you can take it as far as you want. With guitar, I don’t remember who said it, but they said, the instrument is so simple that you can sit down and learn a song in a half an hour, but it’s so complex that it will take you a whole lifetime to master it. So everyone can fit somewhere on that spectrum.

I’ve had kids who’ve come in for six months and I want tell their parents, “I think you’re just wasting your money”, but I didn’t say anything…and a couple of those kids turned out to be the best players. And so I never judge about someone’s ability even when it seems like they can’t do it because of their persistence. ..

If you’re an adult and you start to play violin and it’s not going well and you hate the sound, you’re going to give it up. With guitar, it’s easier to not sound so bad. One of my improvisation teachers in college had a first line in his book: “anything that’s worth doing well is worth doing badly”. So if you’re learning to improvise, you kind of suck in the beginning….I’ve had guys come in and in a year they learn 3, maybe 4 songs but that’s ok. High powered attorneys that are busy and are just like “hey I’m busy, I just want to learn something”. Then something happens. After people spend enough time and become familiar with the instrument, something happens… have you seen those century plants. They just sit there. Then when they have a flower, it shoots up like 12 feet into the air….something happens after you spend a while playing simple songs. You go, “you know, I want to try this other thing”. If you do it everyday, just a little everyday, it doesn’t matter how much…..

Like you go down to Dog Beach and you see the sand and put your hand out and it’s like just one or two grains of sand, nothing. But underneath is a pile of sand as big as house. The same thing happens if you just do something every day…

If a person has to be told to practice everyday then that person may not have the fires of someone who picks it up naturally…

Everyone who picks up naturally gets to the point where they’re like “I'm playing the same old shit.” What am I doing? The novelty wears off. And so how do you get inspired?

You say you should play everyday, but it’s also what you play. Where is the tradeoff between studying theory and learning some quick and easy songs?

What’s the point of music anyway? I don’t think I can answer that question. What is the point of music?

Hmmm…. To combat silence? To fill the void, the abyss?

Ha ha, in the book, “The Singing Neanderthals,” they mention this. What is the evolutionary advantage of music? You have to read the book to find out, it’s fascinating! But getting back to your question: you should just pick up your guitar…what is important is to play from the heart. Everyone comes in and wants to play a song they heard on the radio and if it’s on the radio, it’s probably not too hard because popular things are simple things. Like this:

[Plays a complicated song on guitar]

No one knows that tune.

And then

[Plays a simple song]

Everybody knows that one, and they’re both by the same guy.

Elegant beauty is simple…

Neil Young said he looks for musicians that can play simply and well and not have an attitude and look down upon you, and that eliminates 99% of musicians. What really sticks with you? So you should practice what you like. If you like simple things it might stimulate you to learn more. If you want to learn scales and it’s like drudgery and you hate it, then that’s work….

That’s not the answer I was expecting. I thought a guitar teacher would say you should learn the fundamentals and not spend too much time on just songs…

Well if we can agree that music is a language, and it’s a form of communication then you think back on how you learned a language….you just listened. And you babble and gurgle and eventually learn to form the sounds, and it’s the same with music…If it’s work you’re not doing the right thing. You don’t work the guitar; you play it….Sometimes I’ll only play one song for six months. I’ll give you an example:

[Plays a complicated and melodious song]

So if you master that one song, you learn all those other aspects of playing guitar. All these subtleties. Just take one song, simple or complicated, and play that song perfectly. Every time I play that I think of something I can add to it…I was practicing for Guitar Wars— a big competition—, and I won with that song. And it is tough competition…

After you have all these nuances, no one notices any one thing by itself, but together, there’s a quality that is indescribable, hypermusical, and everyone stands up and says “that was great!” There’s a playfulness that has to be there with music.

How important is it to have formal instruction? Nowadays there’s so much stuff on the internet, people can just piece together a bunch of random things.

Well I download tabs everyday and every tab I download, I fix. They’re not uploaded by guys of high professional caliber. Now there’s a bunch of ways to play something, but there’s almost always one best way that is elegant and beautiful.

For example:

[plays “Anarchy in the UK” in a complicated way and then in a simple way. ]

So you have this tab and tens of thousands of people playing it that way because they found it on the internet instead of having someone who is a professional go, “you know, though the notes are technically correct, there’s a better way to play it” So you should have a teacher with an education, someone who has studied with other people.

This brings me to what I call the law of laziness. Everyone who comes in at some point has to learn this law. When people watch me perform, they say it looks so effortless.

Now if you have to push down on the string and lift up, you have to do two things. If you’re playing a gig you have to play how many notes? Thousands. So the idea is if your hand is relaxed your finger moves back by itself. If I say you have to try to have the most ergonomic position so you can optimize all your efforts and be the most efficient at what you do, no one wants to hear that. But if I say “if you want to be a guitar player, you have to be extremely lazy”, that’s what they want to hear.

[Plays star spangled banner in a clunky way]

[Then in an elegant way without much hand movement]

So if you have more energy, you’ll be able to do more things. You’ll never be able to do that if you’re making all these herky-jerky motions. How do you strum? Robert Fripp says the side of your fingernail and your thumb are together and you only move your elbow. If you’re moving your wrist, the sine wave of the motion has these extra things in it and is not as precise.

Can you talk about your songwriting process?

One of my teachers said “good composers borrow, great composers steal” and its very true. Find something that you love, learn it exactly.

Say Blackbird by the Beatles— a lot of people learn that tune. So I download 22 versions of it and I have my own way of playing it that nobody does. I love doing arrangements.

[plays]

Some people hear that and say ‘what is that?’ and its so unexpected. So the more you listen to, the more inspiration you have….

John St. Claire

760-522-1695

jstclaire3@gmail.com

Moonlight Music

760-753-6683

www.moonlightmusic.com

★ New Metallica Album to Contain 'The Unforgiven III'

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:58:00 +0000

Metallica unveiled the official tracklist for their upcoming album "Death Magnetic" to be released on Sept. 16, and what is that I see listed as song #7? Could it be the Unforgiven III?

The Unforgiven (I) is by far one of the most popular and enduring of Metallica's many hits and for some reason a large portion of the fanbase greeted the Unforgiven II with howls of disgust. I never really figured out why, but the most likely reasons were it's country twinged sound or the larger perception of Metallica's so called 'selling out' on the Load and Reload albums.

In my opinion, The Unforgiven II is one of the band's best songs, utilizing a great hard-soft dynamic and drawing out the prechorus to lead in to the explosive chorus. I have a feeling that the Unforgiven III will most likely be harder and less catchy, as the band has expressed a desire to return it its roots with the latest release...

The official tracklist is:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. The End Of The Line
03. Broken, Beat & Scarred
04. The Day That Never Comes
05. All Nightmare Long
06. Cyanide
07. The Unforgiven III
08. The Judas Kiss
09. Suicide & Redemption
10. My Apocalypse

Metallica: The Unforgiven Music Video

Metallica: The Unforgiven II Music Video

★ Squirrelly Arts: A Method to the Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:40:00 +0000

Squirrelly Arts is not your typical band. They shun the limelight by wearing masks onstage, and with their aggressive industrial sound, they offer a challenge to what they see as the media’s artificial influence on society. Not unlike an early Marilyn Manson, the group uses a combination of incisive lyrics and outrageous theatrics to drive their point home.

I met up with the full band— Vikki SexXx, ZOMB13, Synn Hellscream, Synthmaster J, and Ridiculous Raymond Raye McShrimpton— for a talk about the band’s sound and unique stage show. They were kind enough to meet me without the masks, but it was clear they wished to keep their identities hidden...

How long have you been together? Explain the back-story of how you all met up.

Vikki: Well first, our real names are off the record. I’m Vikki SexXx. I was made in the mid 80’s at Birth of Plastics Inc. ZOMB13, he’s from the heaven/hell region. He crash landed down to earth—that’s what the crash in Roswell was, and on his way down he got with saint Synn, not much is known about him. ZOMB13 is able to give Synn physical form as different versions of the pope. Then we have Ridiculous Raymond Raye McShrimpton. He took part in the femfuck’s rebellion. Then we have Synthmaster J. He’s the scientist….

Vikki: So Vikki SexXx was build as a sex machine and was bought by a strip club owner in Mexico. And after about 3 days of abuse, Vikki SexXx massacred everybody. So basically Vikki SexXx fled to a third world country and later appeared in Florida and then Columbia. In Columbia, they put liquid cocaine in Vikki’s breasts…

So there was a big drug raid in a warehouse and they found Vikki SexXx and he was wanted so what they did was ship Vikki SexXx’s remains back to Birth of Plastics Inc. Now Vikki SexXx was able to feel things as a human. They shipped him off to a junkyard for termination. And Synthmaster J stumbled upon Vikki in a junkyard and started resurrecting/rebuilding Vikki out of flesh and machinery. So that’s pretty much the gist of where we all come from…

RRR: (laughs) He’s like “thanks for coming dude”

You talked about the whole back-story. Now with most musicians, the music stands alone, they just go up and play and they’re done. But explain this closeness you have to the story. Is there a strong connection between the music? Explain the theatrical side.

There’s a huge theatrical side. We represent our characters all the time. For example I never show my face. I’ll roam around the clubs as Vikki SexXx and that never changes. I’ll do a lot of crazy things onstage – Vikki SexXx is definitely an alter ego of me, the heavily sexual side.

Synth: The cross-dressing…

Vikki: The cross-dressing…yeah

Are you the only one who wears a mask?

No, everybody does.

So you’ve never been seen in any performance without your masks right?

Vikki: Right.

ZOMB13: Well, we’re seen around the club without our masks and no one pays attention, then when we put our masks on, nobody knows we were those guys walking around.

RRR: Its pretty funny man, how for the longest time people don’t realize we’re in the band they think we’re fans coming to see the show. It’s funny as hell. There’ve been a couple times when people see me at the show and say “I love these guys” and I'm like “I know, they’re so cool” and they have no clue who they’re talking to! (laughs) That’s half the fun. Eventually we want to take it to the point where we can’t show our faces at all, and have our masks on at all times.

Vikki: Especially when you look at MySpace and all these other typical bands, they’re so hungry for credit that they have to show their faces and look cool or sexy, and basically it’s a rebellion against sex sells. If you look in the media, sex sells everything. I wanted to be the entire opposite.

So there’re other bands, Slipknot, Mushroomhead, even GWAR, real theatrical bands. What is your opinion of bands like that? Are the masks for that same reason or is it just for shock value?

Vikki: Well from what I know about GWAR, they’re all about theatrics. They’ve never really shown their faces. Slipknot, I really can’t say the same about them because they have come out and shown their faces….I mean I just know what we’re out to do: the anti-sex sells movement. Especially in the music, the lyrical content, we talk a lot about that.

Let’s get into the music a little. I was listening to a few of your songs and I’d generally call them industrial. How would you categorize your music?

I guess that would be the closest. Maybe industrial-metal because we do have guitars…

Soundwise, the first thing that popped into my mind was an early Marilyn Manson and maybe some KMFDM….that kind of sound. So for people that haven’t heard you before, could you name a few bands that you sound like?

RRR: That right there is a great representation. But how we sound live now is way more guitar driven. There is that element of KMFDM or Skinny Puppy in there, but I think we’re really getting into that low tuning—that Korn aspect is coming out, we have some Nine Inch Nails and some black metal influences, the Cure influence…some goth… we even do some southern rock slide just to kinda break things up. We don’t just want to be one thing. We want to take that mold and shape it into our own vision.

Do you have a drummer?

Vikki; No, as far as the electronics are concerned, we use virtual tracks. Bass was recorded, some live drums were recorded for the album, but it was mostly drum-machine driven.

Ok. So in the lineup we have…

Vikki: So we have ZOMB13 on guitar and backup vocals, Vikki SexXx lead vocalist, Ridiculous Raymond Raye McShrimpton as guitarist and some backup vocals. Synth the keyboardist and Synn with the backup vocals, like my other half on stage.

So when it comes to vocals, do and Synn trade off? I'm sure you have different styles and voice tones.

Synn: there are some times in certain songs where we trade off. And some songs that to accentuate a part we’ll do the same part to make it more driven and keep it moving.

Vikki: The first album just started out as one individual recording everything. And like Ray was saying, from that mold, we took the songs and started growing. The guitars are more driven live. Just pounding!

SMJ: If you listen to any track on our CD or website and then hear that same track live, you’ll notice that it’s basically the same but bigger, bolder, and more enhanced.

Can you talk about the songwriting process? Do you all write together or go off separately and then combine your ideas?

RRR: Zom will have an idea and will get together with Vikki and come up ideas, and I and Synth will do the same. And we’ll all add our little pieces. It makes for interesting songwriting because everyone brings their own piece of the puzzle and there’s times when I’ve heard things and thought “wow I’d never have thought of that”. And with us having such different backgrounds as guitar players it’s interesting to see our stuff combine. So there’s no “jam” or anything like that. We don’t have a live drummer so we don’t do that… its more just one idea after another and we add to it and it comes together in a roundabout way.

And lyrics. Is there just one lyricist?

Vikki: Yes. Content just comes from within me. I’m sure that’s clichéd, but everything I write has a point. In tracks like “Learn How to Murder”, there’re lines in there like “do you do everything the media tells you to/and go kill yourself”. It’s an ironic thing and most people won’t get that. I had to put a disclaimer on there, stating what’s on the record and to be aware of that. So “Learn How to Murder” talks about the media and how everyone is so eager to point the finger at what’s not the problem.

So would you say the lyrics are not what they appear on the surface?

SMJ: A lot of it is an exercise in getting society to take a good hard look at itself.

Vikki: Yeah. other statements I make and I strongly believe this – child molesters should be castrated….I talk about that a lot. “Strumpet” and “Guilty Pig” talk about sexual frustration and sex addiction. “Choad” talks about how I view certain females. I think a lot of people can relate to the lyrics.

So the lyrics are definitely controversial, and the stage show is definitely controversial, so can you talk about the reaction, especially the negative reaction? Have you ever been shut down, or denied from playing at certain places?

Vikki: Not yet…

RRR: But its coming…

Vikki: With a lot of people, its like they don’t know what to think..

ZOMB13: They’re too much in awe to even react to the music, which makes them just stand still and observe what’s going on onstage…

Do you play with similar bands? Or do you get booked with random bands?

SMJ (laughs): There’s no one similar to us…

Vikki: Sometimes it’s random.

RRR: We played this one place and we though we’d get lynched. At the beginning of the night we came, all done up and no one in the place was under 60. And we thought “Oh fuck”…but it turned out to be the best damn show we ever had. All these people turned out that heard about us and packed the place. And I was really anxious beforehand, borderline angry, thinking we’d get kicked off. We heard all this talk before the show… “Who are these freaks?” So I thought this might be the show where we got stuff thrown at us. But every time we think something’s going to happen, so far, it hasn’t. It’s been mainly a positive reaction. So we’ve lucked out so far.

As you get bigger, and gain larger audiences, do you feel that constrains what you can do? Like back to Marilyn Manson, when he first came out he was this crazy revolutionary dude, but he went mainstream pretty quickly and greatly changed his style…so for you, do you think it would ever change your approach?

Vikki: I think as far as us getting big, it’s never gonna get to theat point, because we don’t want to go in that direction. I think we’ll always be underground and get a huge underground following. I have no desire to be in the mainstream or on MTV.

And all of you feel the same?

(All): Yeah

Vikki: we’re just doing our thing and its not going to please a lot of people. But a lot of people are afraid to go to the show and they end up being entertained and having a really good time. And I make a point of going down to the audience and interacting with them….

RRR: It’s about growing an underground army…where we can get people who come to the shows dressed up, not unlike the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and they find their own voice and own character and we turn it into one giant Halloween party every single night. That would be so much fun!

Vikki: We try to involve everybody. You see bands play and they try to act bigger than life, as if they are above everybody, and I state that we are with everybody, you come to the show and you’re part of us and having a great time.

So how would you convince people who would never go to come to a show?

Vikki: A lot of guys are not as receptive compared to girls. And I was surprised. It’s weird that they’re more receptive. I think some of the message I talk about they might relate to. In “Death of Plastic” I talk about how “Its so beautiful to be ugly because then I'm nothing like you” and I think that’s one lyric girls can relate to as far as what the media says you have to look like and all this pressure in school and the cliques and the popularity, and they’re like “fuck that shit, here’s something that I relate to”… and I welcome them, I welcome everybody. I'm not going to judge a girl, we don’t have that generalization.

SMJ: …Not having to live up to society’s standards

Vikki: Yeah, and hopefully those that can relate to it can find a home with us.

ZOMB13: Every show gets larger and more creative and more original. From the first show we came up with more effects and more characters, more props and stage setups…so people come to a second show and say “Wow, it was better than last time”.

Vikki: It’s almost to the point that no one knows what’s going to happen, including us. We might have an idea, but everything’s just at the drop of a hat, whatever I do on stage is what I feel like doing in the moment,

RRR: Watching what he does releases the inhibitions of what’s normally done on stage. The masks really help with that because you just become this different animal, and you do things that you normally wouldn’t do if you were in a normal band. You can ham it up. It’s a good thing I wear a mask because I'm laughing my fucking balls off at every show, I'm having such a great time. We will never, ever de-mask ourselves; we’ll never do the KISS thing…

Vikki: I've heard all kinds of rumors floating around about Vikki SexXx… Whether they’re true or not, I can’t state…

That’s good though, it adds to the mystique

Vikki: Yeah, no one knows what’s up…

I saw one of your videos on YouTube, can you talk about your approach to videos?

Vikki: Were definitely going to do other music videos.

Synth: We’re planning another one right now

RRR: I think it adds to the art. Film and music can really coincide, but only if they’re done well. So many videos are done where you’re like “what does that have to do with that song”, it was just some director that decided “ok I have my own vision, lets go with this”, and it does not even add to the song or anything like that. That’s where we feel were different. We want to take that song, put that film together and it’s going to pertain to it number one, and its going to add to it.

Vikki: We’re a complete art form

Where did the band’s name come from? What is its significance?

Vikki: Well, it was a nickname given to me because of hyperactivity and later on I just took it and made it “Squirrelly Arts….”

SMJ: The name doesn’t limit us to being just one thing. You have band like Metallica. Well, that’s obviously metal. They’re going to be known as a metal band. Whereas the Squirrelly Arts—we can do any genre, go in any direction we want, there’s no boundaries, no limits, you know, anywhere we want to go with this art form, we can.

I guess the first thing people would think is: “these guys are devil worshippers”…would you say you’re anti religion?

Vikki: I’d say open your mind and question things. A lot of people view things in black and white. I look at things in gray and I rationalize. I'm not saying there’s anything wrong with organized religion— until there’s wars about it, and this and that and… I’ve talked to Christians that feel high and mighty over me. I think that’s where some of my frustration comes out….

RRR: It’s so funny because so many religions are so similar in their basic beliefs. I'm fascinated by it, including Satanism. I probably lean more toward Satanism than any other philosophy,

You mean LaVeyan Satanism?

RRR: That’s a fantastic book, the guy had some very poignant things to say, but not to say there aren’t other killer stories such as in the Koran, which I’ve read, but when it starts to branch off and take on lives of its own, not unlike music, it’s interesting to see. I look at religion as an outsider looking in, like “what the hell is going on with that, its fascinating…like watching lab mice.

SMJ: I can respect the fact that there are multiple religions in the world and everyone has the right to have their beliefs, and convictions, but don’t shove it down my throat. If I believe one way and you believe another, that doesn’t make me wrong, and it doesn’t mean you have to view us in a certain way. We don’t have to go to war for it.

Vikki: I think the bottom line is it’s about whatever gets you through the day. If you go to church and you’re a Christian, and that gets you through, then do that, if that makes you a better person, but don’t think that works for everybody…so bottom line…were not devil worshipers (laughs).

RRR: But don’t get us wrong, it’s not contrived. Don’t think we’re doing it just to get a rise out of people. I really believe in what we’re doing and having fun but delivering the message and entertaining people at the same time. We’re not just trying to shove it down people’s throats like “we’re gonna shock you!”… and I don’t think we’d do as well in areas that aren’t as conservative as this town. If there were other bands here like us we’d be seen as run of the mill, but because everybody’s got the image and the posing and all that… it’s so killer to shake up a crowd in a town like this.

Vikki: You see all these bands like on MySpace into the superficial side, but with us people will come if they’re into the art. That’s what I want.

SMJ: We don’t want to be poster boys.

Yeah, you guys don’t look like the Backstreet Boys…

(Laughs)

To switch gears a little, can we get into the equipment and the effects that you use? How you get the type of sound that you’re looking for?

RRR: It’s spawned from the souls of fornicators! (laughs)

ZOMB13: I use seven strings, really downtuned.

Ibanez?

Yeah, Ibanez. We also use six strings. We like to keep it heavy, drop tuned. And we just run through a pedal box. Personally I stick to all Ibanez. I apply the color to the rhythm that Ray plays. We switch off, but most of the time I'm playing lead. And it’s totally different because you get two sides. You listen to one side and it’s totally heavy and the other side is totally melodic, and you combine them together. Ray has a totally different setup than mine.

RRR: I think if they were exactly the same, it would be boring…My main guitar is one that I designed and built with another luthier. It’s called “the Tsunami”, I also just call it the Beast. It’s almost four feet long, just a destructo machine, downtuned to A, and I play through Marshall. Distortion pedals, I play with a Dimebag and Expandora distortion and a wah every once in awhile and just go full balls. That’s it, just loud, proud, and mean.

Vikki: Basically, how the guitar parts are written— I look at them like an A and B in how they relate to each other, rather than rhythm and lead.

Is there ever any creative conflict, like you want to take it in a heavier direction, and you want to take it in a more melodic direction, and so on?

RRR: You’d think with the different backgrounds we have, we’d be at each other’s throats by now, but we’ve been together, what, two years now, and we’re still the same fun retards we’ve been since we got together. There’s all these differences between us and if you look at it on paper, you’d be like this will never work, you got Depeche Mode, The Cure, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and fuckin’ Korn over here and Norwegian Black metal, you’d think it wouldn’t work, but it does. I don’t know how it happened, but it does, but I personally can’t wait til we write our next album.

SMJ: We decided to set egos aside and be musicians first and foremost.

Vikki: Yeah, everybody brings a different color to the palette. Like Ridiculous Ray had this idea: “Lets do Girls on Film” by Duran Duran. And we were all like “I don’t know man, but let’s try it out”. And lo and behold, we took it and made it our own.

RRR: There’s some slide guitar in there. It’s like Ministry meets the Allman brothers. It was gonna be Planet Earth or Girls on Film. When we first started it was fuckin’ awful. And we thought ‘we have to rework this”. Most of the time we’re our own worst critics. And now everybody wants to hear it. It’s a killer song the way we revamped it and I’m diggin’ the direction we’re going in…

Vikki: I think what’s really cool about this project is that we all play multiple instruments, and it doesn’t really matter who plays what on the recording, its that it gets done. So it’ll be all these different styles going on.

SMJ: Ok we talked about the guitars, can we focus on the keyboards? I want to have my moment…

(All laugh)

Vikki: Everyone forgets about the keyboard player.

SMJ: I'm here to say that keyboard players fuckin’ rule. I’m using a Korg and Kawai synthesizer and in the studio I use Ensoniq and Roland. And we use virtual tracks because what we do live is difficult to reproduce. The technical process has time constraints. We wouldn’t be able to set up in 15 minutes. That’s why much of what we play is prerecorded. And we play over it live.

Future Albums?

RRR: Probably 2010. Right now we’re pushing Plastic Doll Hole and we’re going to take our time. We don’t want to rush it. We just want to get our name out there. In ’09 we might hit the road….

Squirrelly Arts Concert Dates and Information

★ Battle of 1337: San Diego's Dance-Experimental-Tech-Electric-Progressive Duo

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:00:00 +0000

I recently sat down with Battle of 1337, a San Diego act with a unique take on music. The band is a duo consisting of drummer Noel and bassist, Gustavo.

Before they played their set, they were kind enough to lend me some headphones, but wanting to get the full experience, I bravely exposed my naked eardrums to the auditory onslaught.

Battle’s style is loud and in your face, but over time it also becomes hypnotic, allowing the listener to lose himself in the texture of the music.

After playing through their set, Noel and Gustavo (sweating profusely) sat down to talk to me about their one of kind creation.

So how did you guys first get into music?

N: For me it was around 10^th grade. One of our classmates pulled me aside and said ‘what do you want to play, drums or guitar?’ – ‘cause he wanted to start a band. So I was like, ‘all right I’ll choose drums’, because everyone picks guitar.

So you didn’t have any interest in guitar?

N: I have a lot of family who plays drums, so I figured I’d pick up on it pretty easily, and I did; I’ve only been playing for about three years.

G: I wanted to play drums, but I was like he already has drums, so I thought might as well get something different…

You could have two drums, that would be original!

G: (Laughs) Well I thought might as well play bass, because not that many play bass.

So you were classmates?

N: Yeah we knew each other in high school.

It sometimes seems like everyone plays guitar. And one guitarist often finds another and it’s like ‘we need someone to play drums and bass’. They’re way more in demand…

N: Yeah, so since we were friends we always thought that if we stuck together, we’d always be able to find another guitarist.

G: yeah and pretty much bass and drums go together, they’re almost like one instrument…

So what is your practice regimen? Do you practice just your own songs or other people’s songs?

G: Well, I think all bands start by covering other people’s songs, stuff that you like, so if we have a show coming up, we’ll just practice a set, just to be sure, but we pretty much have it down…

N: When I first started practicing, it was just a bunch of songs from a bunch of bands. I started off pretty easy, learning a lot of Interpol songs and the Vines, and it taught me a lot. Its funny cause after about three months of playing, some guy came up to me and wanted me to play for his band, it was this talent show at a high school. And after only playing 3 months he wanted me to play a pretty difficult song by Coheed and Cambria and I pretty much had a couple weeks to learn that. So I had to rush my ass off to learn every part of the song. And like that, everything I’ve learned with my other bands I’ve had to learn fast, crammed in. I liked it because I learned really quickly. It was a lot of pressure, but still worth it.

When you were learning, did you spend a lot of time on theory?

N: I only took one class and I don’t even remember it (laughs). I know what a quarter note is (laughs). I just kind of skimmed across it. Most of it was just by practicing.

G: we had a bunch of people, like guitarists who were trying out and some would say like, lets play in G and I didn’t learn notes, and I was like ok, lets play in G and because I have a good ear, I just played something that sounded like it was in G.

I think that’s a common story with guitar.

N: I know a couple of guitarists who went straight into theory and it just seemed, from

my perspective that they got too into it, it didn’t really have any expression of the soul.

G: We had one guitarist who came to us and we started playing and he was like “dude you can’t do that, you can’t play like that” and I was like, ‘it doesn’t matter it as long as it sounds good…’

N: We never really liked boundaries, so that’s why we stayed away from theory…that might be a little ignorant though…I’m learning notes right now. I’m really getting into Brazilian samba and Latin jazz and with the stuff that I'm buying now, you have to learn how to play the notes…

I noticed some of the stuff you were playing had different rhythms to it. It sounded like many different genres put together.

Yeah. When I first started, I liked Latin and was always trying to work that in…

I have to ask about the name of the band.

It has a few meanings at least to us…

Should we leave it a mystery?

N: Ha ha. Well I’ll explain it. We’ve always been nerds/ geeks and we always played video games and—

G: right now there’s a lot of gamers online and when they talk to each other they sometimes use numbers instead of letters. So like 1 means L, three means E and 7 means T, so 1337 means ‘LEET’, like elite— its like a gamer slang.

N: The meaning for me for battle is like we use so many different genres in our music, it’s like a battle of different genres. Some indie rock, some hardcore influence….

Can you talk a little bit about your influences, and who you listen to the most?

G: I think we both started real heavy on the Mars Volta,

N: Yeah, Mars Volta, Block Party, Fall of Troy, but we listen to a bunch of stuff. I take a lot of influence from electronic bands like Justice, Daft Punk, and Death From Above,

G: And MSTRKRFT, they’re kind of heavy on dance….

What’s your process of writing something? Do you work on it together, or do you work separately and bring the ideas together…

G: We usually work from the bass and then chop it up and try to do different things to it…

Do you ever feel any limitations with writing songs that consist of just bass and drums? Do you write songs and picture where a guitar or vocals will come in?

G: Yeah, definitely with the vocals. We’re in the process of finding a vocalist and we’d like a vocalist that plays something. But I don’t think a guitar would work because I mainly play riffs like a guitarist, so I think we’ll get a synth…

N: We’ve tried a lot of guitarists already.

So the songs that you have so far… do you look at those like a finished product, or one that will change down the road?

G: Yeah, we’re probably going to add some vocals to some soon, at least to 70% of them…When we play shows and announce that we need a vocalist, people come up to us afterwards and say ‘oh you don’t need one’…

If you do get a vocalist, what type of style are you looking for? Are you looking for a screamer, or something mellower?

N: Something with high energy and a high pitch….

I noticed all the songs you played were upbeat, nonstop. Have you thought of making slower songs, maybe an interlude?

N: Yeah, I like slow parts. But it will probably have to wait on the vocalist. We have some good ideas for slow parts but it would sound kind of empty right now with just bass and drums. We definitely need a third part for some of the ideas we have.

Can you talk about some unique touches that you use? I noticed in one song, the whole bass part was tapped. That seemed really unique.

G: I think that with every song that we play we try to add differences. I mean they’re all high energy, but they’re unique.

N: Yeah, I always try to put one unique thing in each song. Sometimes I’ll reuse beats, those beats that you kind of ride with, but at some point in the song, I’ll have a unique beat going on. Like with the Judas song, I finish it of with a ding ding ding (gestures), I always try to put something in that, you know, catches your ear.

What type of equipment do you use?

G: I use my Ampeg with 2 cabinets. One with 4 10s and one big 15. My head is 1000w—

super loud. I use an overdrive effects pedal, and I crank up the gain and the high (Treble). I also usually use a synth pedal and am looking into a loop pedal..

Yeah, I noticed your tone sometimes has a kind of buzzing, cutting sound. It almost sounds more like a guitar.

(To N) Do you ever listen to a click track?

N: I usually plug it into a metronome, or I sometimes listen to my iPod and try to learn some Mars Volta songs.

And recording. Do you have an album in the works?

All of our songs are recorded—but just demos for the venues.

After you record them, do you add a lot of effects, or do you try to keep it pure to what it was when recorded?

G: I like the live sound…

Tell me about some recent shows. What’s the fan reaction like?

G: I think its really unique because even though its just the two of us, we make more noise than a five or six member band…We have more of a tighter sound.

N: Yeah it’s definitely tight. That’s what guitarists say when they come over and try to play over us, they say it’s hard to play something that fits in.

If you had to classify yourself, what label would you use?

G: Dance-experimental-tech-electric progressive. (Laughs) It’s a long list.

N: It’s hard to label because we use so many genres!

What advice would you give to those just starting out, learning instruments or trying to get their band going?

N: As far as practice goes, just practice what you love, if you have certain bands that you like, just keep playing what you like and eventually you’ll get the hang of it. That’s what I did—it just crammed it into me and they can do the same and have fun doing it.

G: It’s just another job, it takes time and it takes money too..

N: Definitely takes money. Laughs I’m so in debt right now! My kit was like four grand…

Can you talk about your future plans?

N: We're concentrating on getting a vocalist right now. We've actually started working with a really talented vocalist this past week and its going great so far, but we'll keep playing shows till we can fit someone in the act.

myspace.com/battleof1337

★ The Wendy Bailey Band Rocks Southern California

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:42:00 +0000

The Wendy Bailey Band has been rockin' San Diego, gaining a steady following, and constantly crafting its unique brand of pop-rock. Wendy Bailey, the band's cheerful and energetic songwriter, sat down to talk about the band's style and direction, and of course, her love of the axe...

Why don’t we just start out with the basic stuff…how did you get in to music?

Well, I’m Wendy Bailey and I'm originally from Colorado, but I moved around – Seattle, Nashville, been here for about six years or so…really been involved with music since I was a kid. I’m the youngest of three and my older sister was very much into music, into piano, singing and violin, and really I kind of followed in her path. I knew I had to play violin...it was pretty much more like the first real instrument. I’ve always been singing, piano came more seriously afterwards, and then I started teaching myself guitar. That was a few years down the line. So really when it comes to guitar, I’ve stuck with it because its very mobile and you can sing and play versus trying to sing with the violin (laughs) and you can’t carry a piano around— at least not a full sized.

So really I’ve been playing guitar for a long time. I should be a way be a way better guitarist for the length of time I’ve been playing!

The current band…its…

I’m kind of in the process of rebuilding the band. I’ve got a great bass player Neil Gutierrez who’s also in a band called Team Abraham, and I’m in process of finding a drummer. There're a few folks that we’re auditioning. I’m really anxious for that (finding a drummer). I’m currently playing a lot of acoustic shows on my own but there’s nothing like having a full band where you can be nice and loud…

The band is a trio?

Right.

Do you ever find it difficult to sing and play at the same time, and have you ever thought about adding a second guitarist?

I thought about that, but I think the way that I write---I pretty much write for one guitar. And for me that’s kind of a good challenging thing too. One of things I’m trying to be seamless with is easily switching from rhythm to lead (snaps fingers). I enjoy being the only guitarist. But there could always be opportunities down the line for throwing someone else in…

For people who haven’t heard your music before, what would you compare yourself to? I know most artists don’t like to compare themselves to others but…

No it’s cool! A little bit of PJ Harvey …maybe a little Foo Fighterish, a little Jimmy Eat World and I think a bit of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is being thrown in , and I think that’s what it’s evolving to, but now it’s a little more ‘rocky’ rather than poppy. The newer stuff is still pretty melodic, but now it has a little more crunch to it.

So the music is generally upbeat?

Yeah, upbeat, pop, like for example at a show we’d be loud the whole time… no real pause for quiet. Pretty high energy, yeah.

As far as guitar goes, what is your practice regimen? How much do you concentrate on the theory and the ‘heart’ and the tradeoff between them? And for the songwriting, how often is it like ‘ok this is a I and a IV so I need a V’? Or do you just go wherever….

I self-practice as much as I can, always starting with warm-ups, then scales, then building my fingering speed with my metronome. As for songwriting, well, theory and heart….I tell you...I really enjoy theory and for me it helped learning a little bit in school and college and stuff and I’d love to study even more of it frankly. I loved singing in choir; sight reading was pretty easy, that was a really fun challenge too. But at the same time when it comes to the heart and writing, I’ll sometimes rely on the rules…but…(sighs) not all the time..

So the theory is just a rough map for the journey…

Yeah, and sometimes it depends on how I’m writing at the time—I don’t write the same all the time. Sometimes I’ll think of the vocal line first which patterns it out. I like theory, because it often works for pop music…make it more simple and predictable , but sometimes when it comes down to moments of inspiration it’s nice to follow that flow. Overall, I try not to force it …I don’t want to it to be constricted. It really all depends… But it’s very much ok to break rules.

Yes, I've heard its good to learn the theory first and then forget it— then you have so much muscle memory built up that it just comes out….

Yeah, it’s different for everyone. I know some people that are just strict ear people and they tried to study theory and they just cant wrap their heads around it… but I really like theory and messing around with inversions and so on.

If you were to recommend to a beginning guitarist on how much they should concentrate on learning songs and going with that versus sitting down with a metronome and doing the hardcore stuff, what would you advise?

I think it needs to be good combination of both. I had a combination of both…only playing scales or exercises at first can get boring really quick, so accompanying scales/theory with some simple songs helps make it fun. So you need to at least make it fun along with the tedious. Learn to play something and it….

Spurs you on?

Yeah, I think there’s a healthy balance. I’ve been taking lessons with someone in fact…There was a point a couple years ago where I felt I plateaued in my playing and I felt I needed to break through and become more of lead player…At this point its pretty much technique but I’m learning leads/solos in songs as well. Right now I’m concentrating on speed and dexterity, you know. I don’t totally want to be wooooo oooohhh (imitates a shredder). I don’t necessarily want to do that exactly, but if I wanted to throw in elements of it, I want to be able to.

And if you play fast it can help in playing slow…it is more about the dexterity…

Yeah…I did a little recording at a friend’s laying down a few songs recently. And recording just always puts a total microscope or magnifying glass on how you play…your techniques. Live, at least for me when I’m playing, I do fine, I’m a little sloppy, but its ok … it’s loud and I’m having fun and trying to get the crowd into it. But when you’re recording you have to be just really tight. I’d like to be able to able to whip out a bit more of the precision playing. …I’m sorry; I’m so off the main point….

Ha ha it’s ok

Where did we come from? Oh yeah, we were talking about scales theory, technique….

Hmmm… Do you ever think you’d get to the point you’d learn too much theory and it becomes counterproductive? Like I’ve seen all these guitar videos, speed players and whatever and many seem like they know everything inside and out but seems to be missing the heart and soul…whereas you have someone like a Kurt Cobain with some power chords make songs that are just immortal…

Yeah, no doubt, I know what you mean. I don’t think I’ll ever get to the point, or at least I hope not. Some really progressive players I love such as Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew from King Crimson; Adrian Belew is so out there he creates these wonderful like animal sounds with his guitar! I mean like whale sounds and train sounds…whereas Robert Fripp is so very technical-- he’s the guy sitting backstage with the metronome and he’s just spot on. He’s just so sickingly good. However, at least for me, I hear some heart and soul in the technical—I don’t hear anything lost. Last year I saw Rush; they’ve been at this for a long time and they looked like these three kids just having fun playing all this crazy complex stuff…..

Let’s talk about advice you’d give to unsigned artists. There are a lot of local artists, and on the one hand because of the internet there are many avenues they can explore, but at the same time it’s like…there’s only so far you can go without that…that connection….

Yeah, I’d say whatever information you get, clue me in on it too! (Laughs). You know I’ve been doing this on my own for awhile and it has its advantages, but it would be great to have some help. I don’t know if getting signed these days, the way the market is now, is worth it. First of all, not many labels are signing right now because no one’s buying music…it all just one or two tunes or just ripping and sharing you know…

You don’t do that of course, heh heh…

I have a hard time with it… there’s a part of me that’s like ‘yeah just grab it’ or whatever, but there’s another side of me that knows how hard it is for artists, established or trying to get established, to earn enough money to even pay rent. I know so many bands where their label is all excited about them and then the next day the label gets purchased or all their funds get cut and the band is dropped. And then they have these beautiful songs that aren’t going to be able to reach the mass populace. And, it’s not like they’re given a severance package or anything. I hear stories all the time about how these big major labels layoff a ton of people and a radio promotions department which had ten people now has one person…how can an artist/band have a successful career with such limited resources? Even as a signed act? And I gotta think it’s hard for label staff too. I mean what label is hiring these people who have a passion for music and want to work in music and can’t? I’ve heard stories about A&R reps who haven’t been able to work in their field for 2 or 3 years. So it kind of sucks all around—for artists and for those desiring to work in the record business. I ask people who are in the industry: what do you think is going to happen? The industry is scrambling. I don’t think it will ever be like it was before. I have a hard time thinking people are going to be making crazy rockstar money anymore….someone was saying that in about 5 years, all recorded music will be free and the only money that will be made will be from touring…and I was like that’s cool, I’d be up for that. For me that’s most of the kick, playing live. Although that’s expensive especially as gas prices continue to go up… I mean a tour bus? Yeah right.

How about promotion?

I think these days you have to be creative. Do all the stereotypical things, do the Myspace, do the Facebook…but those avenues are getting…

Saturated?

Yes, saturated. Its like, I think you have to be creative…I heard this on NPR actually, and they were talking about the industry and tying in advertising…they were talking about this one singer/songwriter gal in New York who did a lot of house concerts and people seemed to pay pretty well for those. Some major corporation heard about her and was like, if this is what she’s doing, we’ve got a new product that fits the demographic; so we can sponsor her and when she does these house concerts we’ll have this product that they can try— and that way they can get marketing information— and I thought dang! That’s smart! This artist gets a good draw at these shows and is sponsored---her career and stomach are fed. So these days I say use whatever route works that doesn’t make you starve a whole lot… just keep trying.

Ok, to switch gears, lets get into equipment. Guitars? Effects?

My electric guitars— I’ve got a Fender American Telecaster that I’ve had for years. I also have a Gibson Les Paul Studio which is great. They both have nice sounds they fit me well…but if I had more funds I’d go nuts! I wouldn’t mind Gretsch or a Gibson 335 that wouldn’t suck. But the amps…There’s one amp that I’m using and it’s a tube amp. It’s a Marshall combo JTM60 which has three 10s in it so its kind of a piece to lug around, but I really like the sound. It’s a warmer sound, and I really prefer that….I’m not really digital, I’m more analog…stompboxes, all that.

What is your standard pedal setup?

Tuner, digital delay, a couple types of distortion, a tremolo, a phaser. There’s a little phaser on “Harmless”. There’s only one real thing that I call my secret weapon…more people have it up in Seattle than here… there’s I guy I did some recording with and he makes his own pedals--and they put out a couple of really good gritty distortion. I’ve got a demo model. It has this silver casing and this cool blue light….I’ve got a wah as well and a loop station that I’ve been working with and I need to integrate into what I’m doing because that would be just too fun.

And acoustic?

I’ve got a Taylor that I’ve had for years. It’s a big dreadnought, mahogany. It gives out this beautiful warm sound especially as it has been aging. The sound has been getting nicer and warmer.

When it comes to effects, how do you decide how stripped down you want a song to be or how effects heavy?

It really depends on the song… when playing live, that’s when I kick it up a little…there’s room to go nuts as long as the band is all in sync.

How about string thicknesses and pickup types?

All standard. I purchased my studio used and its funny because I got it from this guy who was a friend of a guy who’s in this really intense punk band, and he was selling his Les Paul and there were a couple modifications, but I got it and found out one of the humbuckers is in there backwards, and I’m like, ‘I should really just go in there and flip it around’, but I’m a little afraid to mess with it…

But it gives it some character…

(Laughs) Yeah, and also at the top of the guitar, I don’t know how it got written in there, but a few years ago, I was in a Heart tribute band and I was like the sister that played guitar, I was the Nancy. And I saw this saying written on the guitar: “This machine kills Fascists” –Arlo Guthrie originally…I thought “That’s awesome!’ Ha ha…

But string thickness…hmm…in terms of my high e, they’re generally 10s, I used to do 11s but now I do more bends, and it’s easier to bend with 10s. D’Addario strings work good…

(Laughs) They should pay you! That’s product placement!

(Laughs)… yeah…I haven’t messed around with the innards of my guitars very much. I like the sounds why mess with it? I’d love to be able to build a guitar. My guitar teacher has done that a little bit and showed me different sites where if you like the feel of the neck of a tele, you can buy the neck of a tele, or if you like the body of a Les Paul or a hollow body or whatever, and you can input whatever innards you want….

One band I like is Muse…another trio, and wicked digital. Matt Bellamy is just an amazingly psycho player. I was reading about his guitar and he gets his custom made and works with a luthier in Exeter to create his guitars and my gosh...he's got digital effects in the guitar...these cool little thinkpads at the base of the bridge where he can manipulate the sound and signal… its crazy. That’s just fun stuff to learn about…so yeah

I wouldn’t mind a Gretsch Duo Jet or a Gibson ES335. Ampwise, there’s part of me that wants a hiwatt because that’s what Pete Townshend uses…and Matchless is pretty matchless… it would be nice to go the orange route and get a little funky… it would be cool.

You talked about your influences before. Can you go into what types of music you listen to? I know some people who listen to say, death metal, also listen to rap. And they may get things in one genre that may come out in another form…so what’s on your iPod?

Well, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Who, Def Leppard, some serious guitar rock. But at the same time I love classical music... there’s also a part of me that can really appreciate country music today. Even though nowadays its more pop and slick, I think I just respect it from a writing standpoint, because that’s a real skill, so I can respect that….so what else….Travis…I cover one of their songs, I think its off The Invisible Band…great writers…and I saw them live at the House of Blues…. their songs were bitchin’… they really melt your heart.

So how do you feel about more ‘manufactured’ music, American Idol and all that?

(Laughs) I don’t watch American idol… well I watch the funny ones…you know it’s a smart business idea…but…hmm, well if I had the opportunity to write a song for someone affiliated with American Idol, its not very indie to say, but I’d jump on it. It might be some good exposure that might lead to other opportunities that might help me in my art…I don’t look at it like selling your soul, especially these days…no wonder bands like ZZ Top go on there….last year when Sanjaya was around…to see Joe Perry up there? That bummed the crap out of me, but it’s a smart idea….it wasn’t right, but it’s more exposure to these kids that may not be familiar with Aerosmith. So yeah, it’s karaoke, but hey, but if they can make a career out of it and they’re happy that’s good…not necessarily for me but….

What’s your favorite song?

Oh geez!

And you have to pick one….

Well I’ll tell you my favorite one right now. Is that cool? The song is by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It’s called ‘Berlin’. And its off a fairly recent CD. They’ve put out some B-sides after this but they had a CD which came out called Baby 81 and the song is great because its so driving and the bassline just makes me so happy! It’s so beautiful. I was cranking it up on the way here…and oh yeah, I lost a little steering ability! I was like yay!

So you write all the music. How do you feel about input from the other members? Does it ever cause conflict?

No, I welcome input. Its good to get another perspective and sometimes its like yeah, that would tighten it up more… I want to keep it open for creative input and make it fun for [the other bandmates]. However, I always have the final say…heeheeheehee…

You were talking before about the songwriting process, but how about the inspiration part? How much is drawn from your own life and how much of it is the standard themes...?

A lot of it is drawn from life, but it varies. Like “Harmless’. I remember writing that and I was like ‘I’m not going to think about formulas or anything, I’m just going to freakin’ write. I'm not going to think about lyrics blah blah’, and that’s what came out. “She Walks Groovy” is about a friend of mine in Seattle. We were walking down the university district by the University of Washington. She’s a particular curvy girl and someone was giving her some catcalls…and that’s where that came from. But there’s other songs that haven’t been recorded yet that are really release outlets from frustrations. And that’s where music is my help, it helps me organize those thoughts and I hope it can help others.

Have you had feedback from fans, like if a song affected them?

Yeah there’s a song that’s on my previous EP called “Was It Time”. That one people relate to…just about disappointment in a friend.

Today I was writing a little bit before coming over and there’s a lot of standard music that musicians seem to have as an influence that I never got growing up...For example Bob Dylan. I was in Seattle in a coffee house and I heard a Bob Dylan song. One that Joni Mitchell sings on and I was listening to his strumming pattern and I was like ‘yeah that’s Dylan, that’s his style’ and so I started messing with that strum and I started coming up with something. So I’m finding other avenues and it’s a fun challenge and it keeps it interesting. I think my best songs come out when I’m just relaxed and not thinking so critically.

Yeah it sounds like there’re a bunch of routes to the same source.

Exactly.

Ok…what’s the craziest thing that happened at a show?

(Laughs) I know exactly the story. My band and I were playing in this bar in La Mesa and there were the occasional drunk regulars… but there was this homeless woman and its kind of sad…that they let in and there were like 5 people at the bar making sure ‘homeless woman’ wasn’t getting carried away, but she was dancing on the dance floor, no one else there, full-on flashing us! And my guys were so good. They were so focused on not looking and I was trying to look above her and everyone was like aaaahhhhh! That was one for the books…

Tell me about future plans and upcoming shows.

There are a few fun things going on. We’ll be auditioning a few drummers in the next few weeks and I’ve got a couple acoustic shows coming up. One in east village,

downtown San Diego in Java Jones, another one in a place in Temecula. And at the end of July we’ll be playing in Orange County for something called the International Pop Overthrow Festival. It’s something along the lines of South by Southwest and there’s this guy who organizes these festivals and has all these bands organized…so we’ll be part of that. Looking to do a music video…there’s a videographer in Los Angeles who said I’d like to do this for you for the price of a good burger and I’m like ‘hey I’m right there with you man!’

Cool, thanks for speaking with me.

Thank you!

Experience the band's music at:

myspace.com/wendybailey1
wendybailey.com
sonicbids.com/wendybailey
last.fm/wendybailey

★ Troy Van Leeuwen and A Perfect Circle Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sat, 03 May 2008 16:54:00 +0000

Readers of this guitar blog may have detected that I have a bias toward melodic guitar music, especially when artistically pulled off by complex bands such as A Perfect Circle. Unfortunately, APC is no more and Billy Howerdel has moved on to his somewhat lackluster project ASHES dIVIDE...But this old interview with Billy's former axemate Troy Van Leeuwen hearkens back to the good ol' days of Mer De Noms. In it, Troy talks about APC's unique guitar sound.

This sound has much to do with APC's use of open string chords further up the neck -- a usage which gives dreamy, droning tones..Try it yourself! If you tune down to C# standard (Billy Howerdel's popular tuning), put on some reverb and delay and play random arpeggios with open strings you can't help but sound like APC.

★ The 37 Craziest Guitar Shapes of All Time

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:34:00 +0000

My buddy went to Japan a while back and sent me this picture taken in a Japanese music store. It got me thinking about the wide range of body styles way beyond the norm that exist-- and hence this guitar blog post of the craziest, most amazing and most hilarious guitar shapes...

It is well known that a number of guitarists are closet nerds (Led Zep and Lord of the Rings anyone?) It is not surprising that fantasy shapes abound, from Yngwie's astonishing custom (below) to many dragon-esge motifs. Also seen are macabre and hellish themes..

Some shapes are just too cheesy to be believed:

And others are downright violent:

BC Rich guitars, popularized by Slayer's Kerry King have been synonymous with thrash and are known as much for their wild shapes as their tone.

The speed player Michael Angelo Batio is known for popularizing multineck guitars

But 5 necks?! Now that's just crazy....!

I couldn't resist throwing in what have to be the manliest guitars of all time, including the legendary Wangcaster!

★ Two Free Metronomes for Guitar Practice

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 06:43:00 +0000

Practicing the guitar to a metronome is one of the most important habits a guitarist can get into. For shredders, the regular beat forces them into a disciplined, economical style. And any guitar player can greatly benefit from the metronome’s mathematical regularity, a regularity which underlies all music. So, without further ado, here are two free computer based metronomes that are must-haves:

Weird Metronome

Yes, the name is literally weird. This metronome is simple, basic and free. The pros are that it’s a downloadable program so you don’t need an internet connection. It allows you to program simple patterns with other instruments and save these for future practice.

One feature is a red graphical dot which dilates and contracts based on the beat—very handy if the sound of your instrument starts drowning out the metronome and you need a visual cue. The cons are that the smooth running of the program depends largely on your computer system performance. In other words, if your computer is running many programs at once or has low memory, then the program may skip beats, making the timing irregular and unreliable.

MetronomeOnline.com

Unlike the metronome above, this online metronome is regular and consistent, but requires you to be connected to the internet. Another con is that instrument sounds or exact beat number cannot be selected…but hey, its free!

Online Metronome

An Easy Way to Know Where All the Notes are on the Guitar Fretboard

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:17:00 +0000

One pain in playing the guitar is finding out where notes lie on the fretboard. Well, it’s a pain no longer! With this method, you can locate any note in all its positions easily. The first step is to memorize the notes on the 6^th and 5^th strings. (C’mon, you have to do some work..). This is very easy:

6^th String notes: (E open) F F# G G# A A# B C D D# E F …..

5^th String notes: (A open) A# B C D D# E F F# G G# A A# …..

Now just memorize the layout of the following triangles:

Diagram I: Strings 6, String 4 and String 1
Here, the orange boxes mark the location of the same note in different places.
In this case all the notes are: G

Diagram II: Strings 5, String 3 and String 2
Here, the orange boxes mark the location of the same note in different places.
In this case all the notes are: D

This shortcut method can save some time and is the foundation for playing octaves.

Creative (and Insane) Ways to Play the Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:19:00 +0000

Maybe they were just bored with playing guitar the normal way… Maybe they were experimenting with to find never before heard sounds…and maybe, they were just high. In any case the following prodigies took a walk on the wylde side and departed altogether from plain vanilla strummin'…

First up, Jimmy Page playing his Les Paul with a violin bow, coaxing some haunting and creepy noises out of it:

Ok, I know this next one probably doesn’t count as playing the guitar, but it’s cool anyway. Behold! The iconic footage of Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar aflame and then smashing the hell out of it:

Next up, the astonishing Stanley Jordan playing Stairway to Heaven. He first uses one guitar and using tapping, plays rhythm and lead simultaneously upon it. As if this weren’t enough, he then plays two guitars simultaneously!

And finally, the incomparable shredmaster Michael Angelo Batio, considered by many to be the fastest player alive. In an obscene and masturbatory display of excess, Batio uses his lightning fast chops on a quadruple necked guitar of his own design. As goofy as this stuff may appear, I’ve watched a couple of Batio’s Speed Kills videos and he has a good number of tips that can be used even if you don’t want to play at warp nine!

I am speechless.

The Awesome Les Paul Silverburst Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:45:00 +0000

Tool fans are no doubt used to seeing Adam Jones rockin’ his awesome Les Paul Silverburst guitar:

(Picture courtesy Deep Ghosh)

With one of the most beautiful guitar finish ever, the Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Custom (Limited Edition ) was popular a few decades back until the original finish was discontinued by Gibson because of tonal problems it caused. Luckily, the guitar is coming back in style after being popularized by Jones.

So what do you do if you’re jonesin to get your hands on this baby?

If you don’t feel like shelling out $3,000 +for a new one (or much more for one from the 70’s and early 80’s), you could content yourself with Epiphone’s custom Silverburst, which retails at around $600. I like how the Epiphone’s silver pattern goes to the edges of the guitar on all sides rather than the standard teardrop finish. However, when I checked it out in person at a local Guitar Center, the finish struck me as a little dingy looking, the silver seeming almost yellowish at the edges…

So for now, comfort yourself with this kickass wallpaper:

1280x768

1024x768

Using Simple Guitar Tapping to Strengthen the Pinky

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:25:00 +0000

So you go to the gym daily and love to flex your bulging bicep in front of random strangers. I’m no different, and I’ve caught many an envious glace directed toward my buns of steel. But how much thought do you give to exercise that forgotten part of your anatomy – the pinky!?

It is tough and can be tedious to build strength in this, the smallest finger. Some guitarists even try to get by using the ring finger instead. Tsk Tsk…

But if you can master this unruly digit, yours is the world— and everything in it!

There are a number of exercises that will help in strength building. These include a quick succession of regular hammer-ons and pull-offs and various stretches.

However, for a turbo charged pinky-blaster, nothing beats tapping.

For example:

B---9p2h5--

What does this mean? Well, the B indicates that we are using the B string (2^nd from the bottom). The “p” stands for pull-off and the “h” for hammer on.

The “2” means you put your forefinger on the string at the 2^nd fret. You then stretch your pinky all the way to hover over the 5^th fret. Then when you’re ready to begin, take your other forefinger and move it near the 9^th fret of the same string.

Now, press down at the 9^th fret
Press down at the 5^th fret
Lift off at the 9^th fret
Lift off at the 5^th Fret

Do this over and over quickly and a fluttering warbly sound will result. (You’ll need some heavy distortion for this) If you do this exercise for more than 15 seconds as fast as you can you will notice your pinky crying out for relief.! No pain, no gain…and because you don’t have to concentrate on your right hand, your left can get the workout it deserves.

Now for practice, try this part from the tapping section of Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption”
(Note: Tune down ½ a step)
Check out this post on guitar tuning if you don’t have a tuner at hand

See this Van Halen concert video at 1:26 for guidance and make sure you check out more tips from this guitar blog:

A Great (And Free!) Software Guitar Tuner

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:45:00 +0000

Confucius once regarded his disciples and said to them: “A guitar without a tuner is like a man without a soul”.

Then he knocked back a 40 and trashed the stage.

But seriously, what good is an out of tune guitar? And what if you’re too lazy to drag your ass away from the computer screen and go out and buy a tuner? AP Tuner— a great software tuner— may be your best bet. Personally, I’m a big fan of software that is straightforward and does one thing extremely well, and this baby is one of those. Its tuner is highly accurate and has a very simple, pleasing interface.

The software comes with a variety of presets:

Setup is easy. After installation, you can plug your guitar cable directly into your computer or use a microphone for other instruments. Then just pluck your string and the needle will bounce to the positive or negative side to show you how much you are off. Tighten/loosen your string and repeat until perfection.

Check out the cool harmonics analysis-graph from my out of tune string!

In addition, the tuner has a 5 star rating from both CNET editors and users --and did I mention that it’s free?

Download AP Tuner from CNET.

If you’d like to contribute to the good souls that programmed this bad boy, make sure you check out the AP Tuner Payment Page:

Kirk Hammett Messes Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:02:00 +0000

I’m not one of the many Kirk haters out there who think his guitar playing is one-dimensional. Its true that Hetfield and Lars are the visionaries behind Metallica, but its also true that Kirk’s speedy solos have made many a youth pick up an axe and start on their own personal shred journey…

Now as inspiring as it is to see a guitar god at the height of his powers, there’s something even more inspiring at seeing the said god stumble. It makes success seem more attainable…

Check out Kirk’s trouble in the studio:

But in his defense, the awesome Unforgiven Solo

This clip is from the documentary “A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica”, a must see which chronicles the hype surrounding the release of the black album. In my opinion, this is an even better documentary than “Some Kind of Monster”.

First Fret Capo Work Around for the Guitar

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 05:10:00 +0000

Ok, you’ve just wined, dined and wooed your way into that hot chica’s heart. And now its time pull out the big guns: a song that will melt the heart of any woman: Tonic’s “If You Could Only See”!

So you whip out your acoustic, put a rose between your teeth and limber up your digits.

Then it suddenly hits you. You need a capo to play this song! And you just sold yours to buy a dimebag! D’oh!

Here’s a quick capoless-fix when the capo is needed on the first fret: Simply Tune up ½ a step:

This should be a very obvious workaround, but often rock-metal centric musicians are so used to downtuning that this might slip their mind.

I haven’t tried to tune higher, but if you have, and your strings haven’t snapped, feel free to comment!

4 Great Songs for Practicing Guitar Octaves and Octave Slides

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 20:40:00 +0000

For those that are just beginning guitar, an octave is just an interval of 8 notes in a scale. Here, The 2nd C is one octave higher than the first.

C D E F G A B C

In the world of guitar tips and guitar tricks, a few standard tuning octave forms pop up all the time. Here are some common forms. (I jut picked the 3rd fret—you can use these forms on any fret): The “X” means that you should lightly touch that string with your forefinger in order to mute it. Only the “3” and “5” should be heard, the X should have a deadened thud that won’t be noticed on amplification.

E|--------------|
B|-----------6--|
G|-5---------X--|
D|-X----5----3--|
A|-3----X-------|
E|------3-------|

Octaves are heard everywhere. Many distorted rock songs have the rhythm guitar player playing power chords and the lead guitarist simultaneously playing octaves. This is one of those guitar tricks that thickens the sound and adds more layers of resonance. The octave form is, after all, made up of the same note and these notes resonate together.

You could (and should!) practice octave slides randomly to a metronome. But much of the time it’s easier and more fun to practice a popular tune. So without further ado, I give you 4 examples of well known octaves arranged in order of difficulty…

Very Easy
Song: The Strokes – “Last Nite”

Tuning: E standard (EADGBE)
Practice: Single Octave
Listen to: 0.01 to 0.25

The intro to this song has one guitar playing a single octave over and over. A cool monotonous droning sound results, which then blends nicely with the second guitar…

E|---------------------------|
B|---------------------------|
G|-5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5----|
D|-X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X----|
A|-3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3----|
E|---------------------------|

Easy
Song: Bush – “Machinehead”

Tuning: E standard (EADGBE)
Practice: Sliding Octave Up
Listen to: 0.01 to 0.20

This old chestnut was the poster-child of the post-grunge explosion. Catchy? Played out? Call it what you will, its octave slide is instantly recognizable.

E|----------------------------|
B|----------------------------|
G|-6--6--8--8--8--9--9--11-11-|
D|-X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X--X--|
A|-4--4--6--6--6--7--7--9--9--|
E|----------------------------|

Medium
Song: Korn – Got the Life

Tuning: (DGCFAD) (Technically ADGCFAD on a 7-string, but the 7th string isn’t used
here)
Practice: Fast Strumming and Sliding of Octaves
Listen to: 0.30 to 1.00

Octaves are a staple of nu metal and these melancholy slides created Korn’s most familiar tune. The below tab shows the single octaves used in the intro of Got the Life. Strum each of these up and down quickly and slide up/down to the next octave in order to get the correct rhythm.

Video of Got the Life - Intro

Hard

Song: A Perfect Circle – The Hollow

Tuning: C# Standard (C# F# B E G# C#)
Practice: Octaves at Irregular Timing
Listen to: 0.02 to 0.20

The progressive rhythm of this intro makes it extremely difficult to nail down. Make sure to slide up and down on the octave change. On the vid, watch Guitarist Billy Howerdel’s (the bald guy at the 0.10 sec mark) right hand and its up-down motion. If you can master the timing on this beast, I bow to you!

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:41:00 +0000

Interview Archive

★ John St. Claire: "What is Important is to Play From the Heart"

A talk with one of San Diego's most experienced
music instructors.

Guitar Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Jimmy) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Guitarbinge.com Guitar Blog - Guitar Tricks,Tips and San Diego Band Interviews

★ John St. Claire: "What is Important is to Play from the Heart"

★ New Metallica Album to Contain 'The Unforgiven III'

★ Squirrelly Arts: A Method to the Madness

★ Battle of 1337: San Diego's Dance-Experimental-Tech-Electric-Progressive Duo

★ The Wendy Bailey Band Rocks Southern California

★ Troy Van Leeuwen and A Perfect Circle Memories

★ The 37 Craziest Guitar Shapes of All Time

★ Two Free Metronomes for Guitar Practice

An Easy Way to Know Where All the Notes are on the Guitar Fretboard

Creative (and Insane) Ways to Play the Guitar

The Awesome Les Paul Silverburst Guitar

Using Simple Guitar Tapping to Strengthen the Pinky

A Great (And Free!) Software Guitar Tuner

Kirk Hammett Messes Up!

First Fret Capo Work Around for the Guitar

4 Great Songs for Practicing Guitar Octaves and Octave Slides

★ Squirrelly Arts: A Method to the Madness

★ Battle of 1337 : San Diego's Dance-Experimental-Tech-Electric-Progressive Duo

★ The Wendy Bailey Band Rocks Southern California