With his beat up ‘80s model Alvarez, Monte Montgomery has the ability to wail on an acoustic like any of today’s best electric guitar shredders.
Hailing from Austin, TX, Montgomery has earned his place as one of the city’s best guitarists, winning seven consecutive Austin Music Awards.
And while Monte’s acoustic playing is surely impressive, this talent is matched with an innate ability for songwriting, which is showcased on his latest LP, Tethered.
Recently, Montgomery took a step into an entirely new musical territory, writing the music for ABC’s Last Man Standing, a job that lead character Tim Allen hand selected him for.
Find out more in our interview with Monte Montgomery below, and keep up with him at montemontgomery.net.
You take a non-traditional approach to acoustic guitar. What took you in that direction?
I started on acoustic, but then when I was younger, I got into electric too. I was in a band where I would open up the show with my acoustic. Then I’d pick up my electric, plug in and play the normal set.
And honestly, over time, I just got tired of carrying around so much gear, and I started playing more and more acoustic. It was just a preference, really. I found that I could do all the softer stuff on the acoustic, plus, I could pull off electric-type stuff as well. It’s just something that kind of happened, you know?
Watch Montgomery perform "The River" live at the Peavey booth during the 2014 NAMM Show:
It’s great to see someone be so versatile on an acoustic guitar – one song can be softer and sweet, while the next can be a little distorted and pushed more.
Yeah, exactly. Someone who recently saw me at a club said that when they first walked in, they couldn’t see the stage but they heard me playing. I was doing all this rocked-out stuff, and when they turned the corner, they were surprised to see that I was doing all of that on an acoustic. That’s what I like to do. You wouldn’t know I’m playing acoustic necessarily, unless you’re looking.
Some of that stuff might be harder to play on acoustic, right? I find electric’s easier, at least action-wise for lots of soloing.
Well, it certainly is. When I play electric, I fly all over the fingerboard. I feel like I have weights attached to my hands when I play acoustic.
Do you feel any pressure to showcase your technical ability on your records?
Not really. I just try to make everything a little different. I don’t really play a song the same way twice, you know? Some guys are real structured – they sit down and write out their guitar solos note for note, and know exactly what they’re going to do. But I’m more of a feel guy. I don’t think about it – I just play.
I’ve been asked to break down my playing before – I was doing an interview with a magazine a while back. I sat down in front of this guy with a guitar and he asked me technical questions about one of my songs. I’m like, “Dude, I don’t know!” That’s just the way it is for me. I’m not a technician; I’m more of a soul guy.
Can you tell me about your songwriting process?
I’ve written every different way. Normally, I’ll pickup the guitar and just start doodling around and something will just click, and then I’ll start to sing a melody over it – that’s really the start of a song. It’s a feel and vibe thing.
Other times, I’ll have a title or a hook idea and try to put it that together that way. But most of the time, I just sit down with a guitar and it inspires me.
What’s your go-to guitar?
A beat up old Alvarez acoustic. It’s a 1987 CY62-C. I bought that guitar in 1988 brand new.
I call that guitar Excalibur because I had this crazy Excalibur-type moment with it – I had been searching around for that particular model and I couldn’t find one with a neck that I liked. But when I plucked this guitar off the wall, I knew immediately that I had found what I’d been looking for. It’s been my main guitar for all these years, and I still play it.
Do you use it in the studio, too?
Oh yeah.
What do you plug into?
I use a Buddha Twinmaster and my AER. AER actually just came out with a signature model amp for me called the MM200. It’s really clean, like super hi-fi clean. Then the Buddha is more of an electric amp, like a low wattage tube amp. It has a darker sound and it’s warmer on the high end.
I sort of stumbled onto that amp combination at a rehearsal studio a while ago. One of my amps blew and they brought in a Buddha Twinmaster. We were all like, “Oh my God, that sound is amazing.” So my regular rig is the Twinmaster and an AER MM200.
You compose music for Last Man Standing too, right? How did that come about?
Well, I played on Austin City Limits back in ’99. Tim Allen was in a hotel room in California, flipping through the channels and happened to see the performance, so he got a hold of me. From there, we just became friends.
When he came up with the TV show, he called me up and asked if I’d be interested in doing the music. I’d never really had done anything like that before, but I took a shot at it for the pilot. They loved it, so I got it! It’s really fun.
So he was flipping through channels and he saw you on TV. That blows my mind. You never know what can happen!
Yeah, it’s true. He’s always wanted to work with me in some way – he’s put a couple of pieces of my songs in his movies over the years – but this was the first time he could really make me a part of a project.
Have there been any surprises working in TV that you didn’t anticipate?
Well, for the most part, they like what I do so they give me free range. But every once in a while, they’ll request something that can be pretty challenging, too. Like, they’ll ask me to re-create some big song with horns or something like that. It’s fun though, because I don’t really get to do stuff like that often.
Are you working on a new album?
I’m writing. I’m not currently recording anything yet but yeah, I’m always writing and out there performing.
Will you be touring this year? What’s coming up next for you?
I’m looking to step out to do more touring this year, but really, I’ve taken a break from any lengthy runs, especially now that the TV show has came around. It keeps me busy for half the year. But I’m going to get out and play more this year, for sure.
Teaming up for a second time with executive producer Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage) and producer Matt Goldman (Underoath), the Devil Wears Prada have created an album that transcends anything they’ve done before.
8:18, the band's fifth studio release, is an atmospheric album of extreme highs and lows. With its eerie interludes, dissonant guitars and stuttering synth effects, you’d be hard pressed to predict where the next track is going to take you.
Remaining true to their roots, the Devil Wears Prada offer plenty of opportunities to head bang throughout 8:18, only now you might find subtle hints of industrialized keys scattered throughout the carefully orchestrated madness.
It’s evident the Devil Wears Prada weren't afraid to step outside of their comfort zone on certain tracks and explore new territory.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with the band’s guitarist, Chris Rubey — and Dutkiewicz — about what went into creating 8:18, the importance of pre-production and incorporating depth within an album.
GUITAR WORLD: How has the response to 8:18 been now that everyone has had a chance to digest it?
CHRIS RUBEY: We just started the Take Action Tour and we’ve played two shows, Ventura then Pomona, and we’re in Tucson now. We just did an Asian tour. I don’t know if they even have 8:18 yet; it’s different in different places. The response has definitely been best here in the U.S. Last night we played the Glass House at Pomona, and it was super-awesome. For the first time, I felt like people knew the new songs and it seems people are pretty stoked on it.
Were there certain things you took from your last album, Dead Throne, that you wanted to avoid or incorporate onto 8:18?
RUBEY: There wasn’t anything wrong with Dead Throne. I really liked the songs and the way it came out, but I feel the songs needed more of their own identity; for each song to paint a different picture. On 8:18 everyone was more involved with vocals as far as "I don’t like this" or "You should do this here." I would say 8:18 is even more "us" as a band and our taste than Dead Throne.
Another big thing with 8:18 is this is our first record with our current keyboardist, John Gering, who’s pretty much in the band by now. It was cool working with him on the album, because he’s kind of like an electronic genius.
Adam, what responsibilities did you take on as producer of the album?
ADAM DUTKIEWICZ: They already had a producer, but they liked how we worked together last time so they brought me on as executive producer. I wanted to make sure I kept the producer of the record in charge and in constant contact with any decision making, and I was kind of overseeing the songwriting. When they came up with song ideas, they would send them to me and I would critique them, and maybe even restructure. Basically help bring them to their fullest potential.
Did you come into this album with a different approach than the first time you worked with them on Dead Throne?
ADAM D: Not necessarily. I don’t really approach different production jobs very differently. It’s pretty basic; you want to just look into the band and bring out their strengths and bury their weaknesses. You got to talk to them, ask them what kind of direction they want to go in and make the record the best it can be.
Was there a sense of responsibility to stick to the band's traditional sound without sounding stale?
RUBEY: Yeah. I think about who my favorite bands were. For example, I feel like Underoath kind of got a lot of hate that they didn’t sound the same anymore. Some of my favorite bands changed how they sounded when I was growing up, when I wish they hadn’t. I want to still sound the same so fans don’t feel screwed over by the band, because bands do do that. I would say just staying in the same ballpark but improving every time.
ADAM D: You don’t want to make a band lose its personality. It’s a band that’s kind of going down a certain road and they feel like that’s the right direction for them, who are you to stop them, because it’s the band's vision. I think every band has the elements of who they are and what that they do. If they want to change it up, that’s cool, if not and they want to keep chugging along with their traditional sound, that’s cool too.
Did they veer off from their traditional sound for 8:18?
ADAM D: Yeah, I liked how they’re bringing more dynamics to what they’re doing now. It’s not just straight-up "mosh mosh mosh" all the time. I like how they’re bringing moments to the record, big sonic landscapes, things that get away from being heavy all the time. It kind of makes a record more of a record when there are ups and downs.
Chris, you worked with Adam on Dead Throne. What brought you guys together then, and was it an obvious decision to bring him back for 8:18?
RUBEY: We had looked at his discography; we already knew that he had recorded a lot of really influential metal and metalcore albums. If you look at your favorite records, he’s probably worked on many of them. Plus we got a Killswitch tour, which facilitated it. He would watch us on side stage and it kind of worked itself out.
I think the vocalists really liked having him at the helm for all that, just because recording vocals was such a delicate process, I suppose, with having to coax good takes out of them, so they just were pretty adamant that Adam be involved again for 8:18.
What did he do to coax the best takes out of the vocalists?
RUBEY: He knows when to push you in a serious way, like, “Come on, you can do better, do it again.” He also knows when you’re reaching you're breaking point and don’t want to be badgered or anything like that. His sense of humor can be very abrasive if you’re in a bad mood. He just has an over-the-top personality, he knows when to be funny and when to be serious. He throws out good suggestions; it’s all about feeling comfortable.
How do you go about offering criticism without hurting their confidence. Is that something you think about?
ADAM D: That’s something you have to establish before you get into working with a band. You want them to make sure they don’t take it personally if you have something to say. When I’m working with a band, I definitely let them know it’s just my opinion and when I’m making a record I never say it’s my way or the highway. I think it’s ridiculous for a producer to think that their ideas are, for lack of another term, better, because ultimately it’s the band’s decision.
The bands are the ones making music and they need to make sure they stand up for the songs they write and the sound that they’re going for, because end of the day they’re the ones that are going to be ultimately happy with the product. They’re the ones playing it every night of the week on tour. It’s an important thing to let the band do their thing. You want to help them out but not step on their toes.
How is it receiving criticism? Can it be hard to let go of certain parts you’ve written?
RUBEY: It depends on who the criticism is coming from. If it’s producers or other band mates, I’ve had to learn to just let go of what I think, because at the point they’re hearing the songs or giving their criticisms, I’ve listened to the song so many times that I’m too close to them to realize what’s good and what’s not.
I kind of stopped speaking up for certain parts if other people wanted them out. If somebody has criticism to say of a part, I just kind of step back and let them do their thing because they probably know what they’re talking about, otherwise we wouldn’t bring in producers.
On the other hand, yes it is hard [to let go] because sometimes entire sections of songs will get cut out, that I spent a long time working on that I really liked. The hardest part for me is, I’ll write a song and someone doesn’t see the song the same way that I do. I might see this as the chorus, but they’re listening to it as the verse. It’s just weird how people hear things differently, but as hard as it may be I just kind of let other people win when it comes to editing parts out.
Were there any parts that almost didn’t make it, that you did stand up for?
RUBEY: Yeah, specifically in the opening track “Gloom,” there’s a part right in the middle of the song where the guitars cut out and it’s like this calm fill in a weird time signature and there’s this heavy part right after that, that was a hot subject of much debate. There was a bunch of different versions that we had and the way that it is on the record is the one I was pulling for the whole time.
Was most of the record preplanned or did any writing take place in the studio?
ADAM D: Musically, most of it was preplanned, they sent me demos beforehand and they were ready to go. You can’t put enough emphasis on the importance of having a good pre-production so everybody can get on the same page, the producer can hear the songs and everybody in the actual band can get an understanding of what all the parts sound like together; because when you’re always playing together you’re not really paying attention to the big picture because the truth is, you’re working on your part.
It’s a great thing to have, planning out the songs, record them before you get into the studio so you can have a plan of attack and how you want these things to be recorded.
On the track “Home for Grave” I understand you cut out quite a few parts. What influences a decision like that?
ADAM D: I definitely have a pretty heavy "cut the fat" approach when it comes to a song that feels like it may have too many similar moments. I think the listener needs to be entertained or brought on kind of a journey. When you have a song where it sounds like a bunch of parts are very similar and straight together, I think that can give the illusion that you’re just chilling or kind of caught in this one moment where the listener can’t really be taken somewhere new or cool.
That song in particular I think they just had too many parts that kind of meandered and were very similar to each other so they never really felt resolved or brought you to a specific moment where you’re like, that’s a cool structure of a song.
Did you find yourself trimming the fat off many songs on 8:18?
ADAM D: There were several songs on the record. I think when you’re writing a record it’s easy to get lost and write similar sounding things over and over again, because when you’re caught in that moment of that sound when making a record, it can be easy to kind of get lost. You just spit out so many parts you might lose grasp on making parts of songs that are for the greater good, instead of, "Oh, I like this part it needs to be in this song no matter what," instead of thinking it could be a more effective song without a random part that was brought in.
To change direction a little bit, Chris you have a remix to “Sailors Prayer” out there, can you tell me about that?
RUBEY: When you put a CD out in Japan, apparently they won’t accept it unless you have bonus tracks, so we needed bonus tracks. Our keyboard player did one and I did one, I had never even made an electronic song before. We had just gotten a bunch of new software, we had Native Instruments Complete, and it had a bunch of audio goodies so I wanted to give it a shot. I wanted to make what I considered to be one of the poppier songs that we have on the record into more of a darker version. John did a poppy happy remix and I just wanted to change the structure of the song, make it weird.
That was my first stab at an electronic song, the funny thing is the version that made it to the record is not even the final version. I sent one in and then realized it was the wrong file, but the one that got printed isn’t the final one. There’s an even better version out there and no one will ever hear it.
Who handled most of the electronic parts on the record, was it all John?
RUBEY: The original idea was to do it without anybody. We were just going to do it ourselves because Jeremy [DePoyster], our other guitar player, is pretty keyboard savvy. In the past a lot of what you’d hear on the record was a producer anyway, so we didn’t really think about it, until we realized we would rather have a real person playing the keys on stage rather than just an iPod or whatever.
So that’s when we started the hunt for a live keyboard player. John is actually our drum techs little brother so that’s how we met him. I just saw him sitting on there on his computer doing remix stuff, so I knew that he did that kind of thing. Then he toured with us for a couple tours and we decided to have John write the record with us too. It just kind of came about organically. He’s really good at what he does, he’s into the whole dance music thing. I just wanted to find someone who was really good with computers and there he was just sitting there, making songs, it was fate.
John wrote most of “Care More.” He brought it to us and said, “Here’s my song for the record.” We thought it was awesome and just added vocals.
Looking at songs like “Gloom” and “Martyrs” in comparison to tracks like “War” and “8:18,” was it a challenge to produce and write songs with such radically different approaches?
RUBEY: What’s weird is normally the heavier ones I write on the computer by myself and the jammy ones like “War” and “8:18,” those are generally what we come up with in a room together. But “Gloom” and “Martyrs” are the two heavy tracks that we wrote in a room together, so it’s coincidental that you’d mention those. It’s more of just like, every song starts with a riff and they just kind of go in that direction.
What is more difficult is making the songs flow on the album, because I don’t think it sounds great to just smash a super contrasty song next to another one, unless that’s what you’re going for. We’re aware that we want to write some ambient softer songs and we want to write some super heavy ones, we just decide what we’re going for before we start writing each one.
ADAM D: No not at all, you always approach a song as an individual thing; it’s not just the whole record. Taking one song at a time, this can make certain songs pop and be different than others. I think that’s what can really make a record special, when you have ups and downs and things changing here and there, when everything doesn’t sound the exact same.
What gear did you use on the album?
RUBEY: I play my Ibanez. I just have an RG, which I use for the drop-B songs. Then I have two customs. One is like a Les Paul looking model, which is the ARZ, and the other guys play the MG’s. As far as amps go, it got re-amped so many times I couldn’t even tell you what we used on the record. We pretty much tracked everything with Adam’s EVH 5150 and then got sent back the files from the dude mixing it, he said something about mixing it with an SLO 100 and a JCM 800 layered on top of each other, so that’d be my best guess.
Adam, what is different about producing records for other bands in relation to when you produce a Killswitch record?
ADAM D: To be honest with you, it’s the exact same. One thing I’ve tried to do with the songs I write for Killswitch, I try to never really marry myself to any of the things I write or create, to really make it almost like a democracy. You have everybody in the band make creative influences and ideas, just because I think it’s great when people put their heads together. It’s so easy for a songwriter to lose their grasp on what makes a song feel better or effective when you get caught writing tons and tons of parts every day. Having outside opinions is very very important.
That being said, I am a songwriter for Killswitch, but when I produce, I think like I’m not a songwriter. It’s an important thing to do when you’re making stuff for your own band; you always have to be open for creative input, but not like when you’re producing.
Is it a challenge to decide on the best take when tracking vocals? Was there much of a process to decide the cutoff of what makes it onto the record and what doesn’t?
RUBEY: Normally I don’t have a say in that. That’s Adam. I think that’s because Mike [Hranica] trusts Adam’s opinion. I think that a lot of times Mike will like it, want to keep it and then it never gets a second thought. He knows what he’s going for and if he gets it and it sounds good then we leave it. There have been a couple arguments in the studio. Someone might say, “I don’t like this scream it sounds weird,” and he’ll say, “Well, that’s the way I want it to sound,” and where can you really go from there? So normally it’s up to Mike and Adam for the vocals.
ADAM D: I think it’s pretty easy. You can kind of say something isn’t perfectly on time or the deliverance isn’t in the cleanest fashion, but I think a good take is just basically when somebody puts their heart and soul into something and it sounds like there is personality and character behind it. When you can tell they’ve been going for it, and that’s what makes it a good take.
The Devil Wears Prada are wrapping up their 2014 Take Action Tour and will be on Warped Tour this summer. Visit tdwpband.com for more information. Killswitch Engage will be heading out on a headline tour this spring. Head here for more info.
Charlie Daniels, best known for his No. 1 country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," is set to release a new album, Off The Grid - Doin’ It Dylan.
As his tribute to Bob Dylan, the new record gives 77-year-old Daniels the opportunity to pay respect to one of his heroes.
The album is set to release on April 1, 2014.
When asked to recall memories of the pioneering songwriter, Daniels shares, "In the early days, Dylan sang his songs accompanied by himself on guitar and harmonica."
"In the late sixties when he decided to add some other instruments to his records and concerts, the purists – who had declared him poet laureate, prophet and spokesman for his generation – came apart at the seams, castigating him for defiling the purity of his genius with other musical influences."
He continues, "When Dylan came to town to record Nashville Skyline, I was blessed to be a guitar player in the studio band on that album and the next two, Self Portrait and New Morning."
"This experience did a lot for my confidence, my career and legitimizing me as a serious musician."
Off The Grid—Doin’ It Dylan cover art:
The album contains Daniels’ take on ten of Dylan’s finest songs:
Tangled Up In Blue
Times They Are a Changin’
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Gotta Serve Somebody
I Shall Be Released
Country Pie
Mr. Tambourine Man
Hard Rains A Gonna Fall
Just Like A Woman
Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
Detroit-based pop-punk band Fireworks are the subject of photographer Ryan Russell's latest "Nervous Energies" video session.
The song, "Run, Brother, Run," is taken from the band's newest album Oh, Common Life, which was released March 25th.
Composed of vocalist David Mackinder, lead guitarist Brett Jones, guitarist Chris Mojan, bassist Kyle O'Neil and keyboardist Adam Mercer, Fireworks is a band filled with electric personalities and endless influences.
Fireworks began in 2005 in the Metro Detroit area of Michigan and were singed in 2008 by the well-known independent label, Triple Crown Records. The band has shared the stage with acts such as New Found Glory, Saves The Day, The Starting Line, All Time Low and more.
Watch the performance below:
Fireworks is currently touring North America with The Wonder Years, Real Friends, Citizen and Modern Baseball. View tour dates below:
3/28/14 - Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
3/29/14 - Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City, OK
3/30/14 - The Door - Dallas, TX
3/31/14 - White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
4/1/14 - Warehouse Live - Houston, TX
4/2/14 - House of Blues - New Orleans, LA
4/4/14 - The Orpheum - Tampa, FL
4/5/14 - Roc Bar - Jacksonville, FL
4/6/14 - Culture Room - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
4/7/14 - The Beacham - Orlando, FL
4/9/14 - The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
4/10/14 - Greene Street Club- Greensboro, NC
4/11/14 - The National- Richmond, VA
4/12/14 - Electric Factory - Philadelphia, PA
4/13/14 - Sound Stage - Baltimore, MD
4/15/14 - The Palladium - Worcester, MA
4/16/14 - Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, ON
4/17/14 - Best Buy Theater - New York, NY
Pat Quilter has answered the call for 15-inch power in a portable package.
The highly anticipated Steelaire amplifier redefines what can be expected from a large-format guitar amp.
Sporting a custom Eminence Neodymium speaker and a full 200-watt amplifier with 400 watts of headroom, the Quilter Labs Steelaire delivers an incredible sonic signature in a minimal footprint.
Designed with the steel player in mind, the amp comes packed with a host of features designed to extract the most tone from the instrument and deliver the most power in the lightest possible configuration.
Already on the road and in the studio with Deke Dickerson (Reverend Horton Heat), Tim Sergent (Dierks Bentley), David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), Fish Herring (Christina Aguilera), Rami Jaffee(Foo Fighters, Wallflowers) and many others, it has more than proven its incredible capabilities.
The custom speaker, the result of a collaboration between Quilter and Eminence, has gained ground on what a big, clean speaker is capable of. Starting with Eminence's rugged cast-frame 15-inch platform for maximum durability, they added a 3-inch aluminum voice coil and hyperbolic cone to assure outstanding frequency response, power handling and freedom from breakup. As a finishing touch, a 4-inch aluminum dome adds a hint of sweet metallic tang, resulting in a creamy full-bodied tone with a citrus-y finish.
The slimline cabinet is the result of a series of tone tests conducted with top professional players. With incredible ease of transport and minimal stage footprint, it is delivering on the promise of space age technology in a whopping powerful amp.
The amp includes a reinforced ballistic nylon cover and features a range of accessories available separately.
SPECS:
• Portable: 35 Pounds(16kg), 21 x 23 x 9 in (53.4 x 58.4 x 22.9 cm) • Powerful: 200 watts (400 watts of internal headroom for maximum voltage swing) • Dual inputs: Supports multiple instruments or buffered pedal loop • Input mode selector: Selects Ch1, Mute, Ch2, or Ch1+2 • 4 Band EQ: Bass(100 Hz), Low Mid(500 Hz), High Mid(2kHz), Treble(5kHz) • Limiter: Fully adjustable from clean to dirty • Tremolo: Adjustable depth and rate • Reverb: Adjustable depth, dwell, and tone • Master: Adjusts output power from 0 to 200 watts • Dual speaker outputs: 1/4", 2 to 16 ohms • Remote control connection: Accepts RJ45 cable (Cat 5,6,7,etc.) • Effects loop: Send, Return, and 9 volt DC out, 200 mA max • Direct Out: 600 ohm, isolated balanced 300 mV peak • Available accessories: Floor mount or leg mount 6 way remote controller, tilt back legs and free ballistic nylon cover
“This is the clean dream machine you have been waiting for,” says CEO Chris Parks. “The incredible custom speaker delivers a creamy full bodied tone with a powerful sizzling finish. I can’t stop playing it. Clean or dirty, pedals or straight, you are going to be stunned. There is simply no other sound like this available today. This is the future of the large format clean dream machine.”
The suggested retail price is $1,399 U.S.
The Steelaire is available for immediate shipment. Visit quilterlabs.com for more information or to find a dealer.
Swedish progressive metal stalwarts Opeth will soon release their still-untitled 11th studio album, the follow-up to 2011's Heritage, which saw the band veer toward an organic Seventies hard rock vibe.
While the new album continues along the same path, it offers some interesting variations.
I recently caught up with Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt, who discussed the album in detail, its production and gear setup — and his newly acquired Gibson Flying V.
Check out part 1 of the conversation on Metal Assault here, and read the second part below.
GUITAR WORLD: You’ve gone for an old-school production style on this album, a style that was prominent on a lot of Seventies and Eighties albums. What's the story behind that?
In our genre, or in the metal scene, I think most bands tend to go for a really modern, contemporary metal sound, which is cool, I guess, but it’s not something we like so much. It fits our music better to do it a bit more old-school and to have more of an organic, warmer sound. That’s what we’re opting for on this album, and we did that on the last one too.
Aside from the production, what kind of gear did you use to achieve that sound?
Guitar-wise, we had a bunch of Marshalls. We’re endorsed by Marshall. The amp we ended up using the most was the Yngwie Malmsteen signature model, mainly for the rhythms. We also had a Marhsall Bluesbreaker combo that sounded fantastic. Then we also had the Joe Satriani signature head and 1960 cabs. We had two of those, but I think we ended up using only one of them.
Guitar-wise, everything came from PRS. I also played on a newly acquired Gibson Flying V, a ’79 — and a couple of Strats. I have a ’68 Custom Shop acrylic Strat that sounded great and a ’62 Strat I picked up and put the body and the pickups together myself. I left it to a guitar shop that has one of those plec machines, which gave it a really, really nice setup.
Frederik also used his old Gibson Junior P90. Oh, and the acoustic parts were played on the PRS Angelus. Frederik and I have one each of those and we use that for all acoustics. So we have a bunch of stuff and some pedals. But we kept pretty simple with a nice, easy setup, and Frederik was really active in setting up the sound. He’s pickier and pays more attention to detail than I do. So he was really bossing me around for the sound of the guitars.
You mentioned a Gibson Flying V. Is that something you’ve even used in the past — ever?
No. I have a ’67 reissue that’s just been collecting dust and I hadn’t been playing that one much, but then I bought this white one because I’m a big Accept and Scorpions fan. I found it on eBay. The guy sold it from Hawaii, I got it and played it, and it was amazing. Frederik absolutely loved it too. We ended up playing a little bit of the new music with it.
Are you going to use that live as well?
No, we’re endorsed by PRS so when we play live we only play PRS guitars. But you never know. If there was a song that absolutely needed a V or whatever it might be, of course I would play it. PRS isn't going to cut our throats if we play another brand, but we are really, really happy with PRS. They’ve basically given us all we need when it comes to guitars. To this day we’ve never had a problem with any of their guitars. I think we’ll just stick to playing PRS live and support them.
The acoustic guitar is something that doesn't get mentioned enough, especially in terms of your sound.
I used to work at a guitar shop in Stockholm, and we only sold acoustic guitars. That’s where I developed my love for the acoustic guitar. I started working there before we recorded the first album, so I wrote a lot of music on acoustic guitars and wrote a lot of acoustic parts. That’s kind of escalated with time, and now, I don’t want to draw comparisons with Led Zeppelin or anyone like that, but I think we are as much an acoustic band as we are an electric band these days.
When it comes to playing live, how do you deal with delivering the acoustic parts amid the amplified instruments? Is it more difficult than it looks?
It’s pretty hard, actually. We started doing it just in recent tours. In the past, if we had an acoustic section, we just played it with clean electric guitars. But during the last couple of tours, we’ve actually been playing acoustic guitars on stage. Sometimes it’s like a switch in the middle of a song, which can’t be possible for us unless we have stands and stuff like that, which looks too pretentious to be honest, so we don’t do that.
But if there’s time to switch guitars, we will do that. We also have a section of the show where we play a few acoustic songs in a row, so obviously we switch to acoustic guitars to do those songs. But generally, if we can’t switch guitars in the middle of the song, we just play with clean electric guitars.
When will the new album be released? And you don't have a titled for it, right?
No, we don’t have a title, but we’ll probably have that within the next week or so. And the release, from what I've heard, if we deliver everything on time, it’s going to be out in June. That’s what I know.
June? I thought it’d be a fall release.
No, they wanted to get it out in time for some of the summer festivals we’re doing in Europe. But it all comes down to us, and we ultimately have to deliver everything. But the album is done, sequenced and mastered. We just have to come up with the title and the artwork, and we’ll be set to go.
After the festivals, you’ll be getting on a full touring cycle, correct?
Yeah. It still feels a bit early for me to think about touring, but that’s the reality, I guess. We’ve talked about starting in Europe in the fall, September/October or something like that, and then just doing the whole thing again like we always have, come back and play North America and play wherever we can, wherever there’s demand and play as much as we can.
Andrew Bansal is a writer who has been running his own website, Metal Assault, since early 2010, and has been prolific in covering the hard rock and heavy metal scene by posting interviews, news, reviews and pictures on his website — with the help of a small group of people. He briefly moved away from the Los Angeles scene and explored metal in India, but he is now back in LA continuing from where he left off.
The March 31st deadline for health care enrollment is looming. Are you and your team set up?
Perhaps the real question is whether or not you have taken all of the necessary steps.
It’s actually quite surprising at how many people aren’t aware at the penalties that can be incurred for not having or supplying health insurance, and if you’re one of these people, it’s imperative that you talk to the right people to make sure that you don’t get fined.
For musicians, it’s a matter of asking the right questions, and getting the right advice to avoid the unnecessary expense. Enter HeadCount.org
Headcount's mission is to promote participation and democracy through music as well as educate people through the powerful medium that is music.
It has been operating for 10 years, and started out as a platform to help register voters for the 2004 presidential election. Since then, they have executed many initiatives such as #SoundOff, a Twitter platform that allows anyone to tweet directly at Congress and create an open dialogue with lawmakers, nationally-broadcasted PSAs, and much more.
“It’s all about keeping people informed, and harnessing the power of musicians,” co-chair Andy Bernstein states, who understands the reach and the influence that musicians possess. It is this power that has helped the organization register over 300,000 voters, and achieve much more.
Every cog of the industry is represented in its board of directors, from artists, to managers, to promoters, to booking agents, to venues, to radio stations, multinational corporations and beyond. These resources at hand have helped propel the initiatives of this organization for well over a decade, and Health Care is its next major undertaking.
HeadCount.org has set up a hotline where anyone can call to get more information about the necessary steps needed to ensure coverage without penalty. It’s best to try to avoid any surprises if you can with this, as the penalty could be substantial depending on your annual income.
HOTLINE INFORMATION
PHONE: (919) 264-0418
EMAIL: HealthCare@HeadCount.org
HOURS OF OPERATION: 24 hours!
This resource is a valuable one because you may not know what regulations are in place that might affect your unique situation as an artist, manager, promoter, etc. Getting the answers that you need is as easy as calling this free hotline, where callers will be directed to other organizations called “Navigators” who are trained by the government to assist in making sure that your health care requirements are met.
The government has implemented this useful program for your sake, and it’s HeadCount’s mission to inform people and put them in touch with these resources.
Of course, for anyone who still suffers from healthcare.gov-phobia, sorting out your health care needs over the phone will help you avoid this step.
If this isn’t enough to motivate you to face your healthcare situation head-on, consider the alternative. Independent musician Christina Horn of Hudson K can attest to the value of having the security of health insurance:
"I’ve never had a 'real' job that offered any kind of health insurance” Horn admits. "From the day I was kicked off my parents’ insurance I had to learn to navigate the confusion of our health care system. I didn’t really take it seriously because I was young and healthy. I thought I was invincible. I was happy to pay $200-$300 a month for a plan that I knew little about, with the hope that if something serious happened, I would be covered. I got very lucky. In 2009, I was diagnosed with an invasive stage 3 melanoma. I was still in my twenties. My plan covered the office visits and surgeries…"
After her diagnosis, her insurance premium skyrocketed, and the deductible for the health savings account that she signed up for rose to a level that she could not afford. After visiting the healthcare.gov website and answering a few questions, she realized that she qualified for a subsidy that substantially increased her ability to live and not be swallowed up by costs for a plan that she may or may not ever use. 20 minutes ended up saving her hundreds of dollars.
The answers are available to you, and it’s up to you to utilize the services in place to find the plan that’s right for you. The HeadCount hotline is free and operates 24/7, so make sure that you do yourself a favor by getting your questions answered and getting the coverage that makes sense.
Each week we’re bringing you a new, easy acoustic guitar strum pattern to learn.
It’s a perfect activity for a lazy Sunday, or for any time you have a minute to try something new.
In this week’s episode, I focus on creating a country/western or rockabilly vibe.
Alternating bass notes on beats 1 and 3 really drives this feel.
Muting with the right hand provides even more texture once the basic foundation of the pattern has been established.
This simple shift in bass notes can really spice up an otherwise basic progression.
Try experimenting with different open chords, shifting the bass note from root to 5th.
Here's the strum stroke pattern:
Check out more Sunday Strum patterns and tune in next Sunday for another episode!
Justin Horenstein is a guitar instructor and musician in the Washington, DC metro area who graduated (cum laude) from the Berklee College of Music in 2006. He plays in Black Clouds, a 3-piece atmospheric/experimental band. Their debut album was recorded by J Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines). Justin’s 18 years of musical experience also includes touring the U.S., a record deal under Sony, starting his own teaching business, recording several albums, and playing club shows with national acts including Circa Survive, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Biffy Clyro, United Nations, Caspian, and more.
Known for his production work on Nirvana's Nevermind, and as a member of the chart-topping group Garbage, Butch Vig's latest project, Emperors of Wyoming, will get their first US release thanks to Liaison Music.
The 10 songs from the band's original European release all appear, but the Emperors added three new songs for the American release and re-mixed other tracks.
Engineer-mixer Alex Smolinski and singer-guitarist Kim Henry are now part of the working group.
Emperors Of Wyoming boasts a seamless melding of American roots music, country-and-western, bluegrass and folk, bridging new and old.
Cutting edge technology is used to record mainly venerable acoustic instruments. The mix of rootsy styles is spiced with subtle hints of spaghetti western, surf-music, hard rock and pop-rock into a distinctive and original sound.
Check out the band's video for "Avalanche Girl" below:
So how did the band come to be? Well, the story starts in Madison, Wisconsin in the late '70s:
The four Emperors - Butch Vig, Phil Davis, Frank and Peter Anderson - are playing in two different bands. They all know each other, but for one reason or another never join forces in the same outfit. By 1980, as fate would have it, they all go their separate ways.
A few years later, Vig and Davis form Fire Town and promptly sign with Atlantic Records, for whom they create two critically acclaimed albums, In the Heart of the Heart CountryThe Good Life. Vig went on to become one of the most successful and sought after alternative rock producers of the '90s, helming breakthrough albums like Nirvana's Nevermind and Sonic Youth's Dirty, AND THEN having enormous success with his own band Garbage. Meanwhile, the Andersons moved to California and form Bay area must-see, Call Me Bwana. That would probably be the end of the story, except...
Fast forward to January 2009...
Davis, a singer and songwriter, is talking to old band mate guitarist Frank Anderson, now living in Wisconsin. "Hey," Davis says, "let's make a folk-rock record." Frank goes, "Great idea, let's go!" Brother Pete says, "I'm in on bass." And Vig, living in L.A., just coming off a two-year stint producing Green Day goes, "Cool. Need some drums and stuff?"
Back together again...for the first time. Problem is, now the band members live in four different cities in two different states. No matter. Times have changed. All four have home studios. They begin to write and record, emailing ideas, songs, riffs, demos and mixes. Thus the Emperors of Wyoming is born and their masterful, eponymous debut, The Emperors of Wyoming, arrives.
...and now it's 2014.
The band records news songs and does fresh mixes on cuts from the original release and Emperors Of Wyoming makes its U.S. debut as an expanded 13-song edition. Sometimes things just happen for a reason, even if it takes 30 years.
Dark and driven, The Wytches consist of vocalist/guitarist Kristian Bell, bassist Dan Rumsey, and drummer Gianni Honey.
Their unique sound full of echo and heavy riffs is a narcotic haze with influences ranging from Leonard Cohen to Black Sabbath.
Below, watch the band in rare form; a stripped acoustic performance held in an Austin, TX backyard.
The group has gained a strong following in the UK from their debut single and self produced video "Digsaw," and have earned a certain notoriety ever since, thanks to their intense live show.
The Wytches have toured incessantly since their forming, which saw them supporting a rich variety of acts including Death Grips, The Black Angels, Band Of Skulls, Chelsea Wolfe, Bosnian Rainbows, Japandroids, Temples, Metz, Future Of The Left, The Cribs, Yuck and Drenge.
Look for a debut album out this summer, as well as forthcoming tour dates in North America.
Watch vocalist/guitarist Kristian Bell's haunting performance below:
In this feature from the April 2014 issue of Guitar World, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley go for broke as they weigh in on Kiss guitarists past and present.
ACE FREHLEY
GENE SIMMONS As a musician, you have to hand it to him. He knew his stuff. And when he cared—the first three records, I would say—he was great. You can sing those solos. It was like opera. And the integrity of his style was instantly recognizable. As soon as he played, you knew it was him. That’s probably the highest compliment you can give to a guitar player.
PAUL STANLEY In the beginning, we just gelled as guitarists. And even today, I talk about Ace a lot. I’ll tell people, “He really had the goods.” He can argue all he wants that he still does, or say whatever he wants to say the reasons are that he didn’t ascend to more. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But I saw somebody throw away a gift.
SIMMONS Before the drugs and the booze and everything, he was basically Ace, a lovable, loving guy. We all cared for him. I loved him. I love the straight Ace. But I fucking hate any drug addict. Because they’re possessed.
VINNIE VINCENT
STANLEY Vinnie had an incredible touch and an incredible knowledge of the guitar. But left to his own devices he’d hang himself. For somebody who could play so brilliantly and so tastefully, it became more about how much he could play rather than what he played. And, ultimately, I couldn’t understand what he chose to play. And that’s not taking into account all the other stuff about him, which I think has been well documented.
SIMMONS He was a much more accomplished musician [than Frehley]. Understood some jazz. Could play faster. He was a big fan of all that sort of hurricane machine-gun stuff. But he was not as pure in his personality. We wrote “I Love It Loud” together, although he hated me for telling him what to play in the solo. But the guy could write songs.
The guy could sing. He could play rings around most anybody. But with all due respect to Vinnie, it was a fucking nightmare. And it continues to be. That guy sued us 14 times and lost 14 times. But I wouldn’t wish his life on anybody. He’s had a lot of grief. A lot of trouble. And I feel sad that he didn’t understand the gift and the opportunity he was given.
MARK ST. JOHN
STANLEY My classic story with Mark is that during the making of Animalize I sent him home one night to come up with a solo to one of the songs. And the next day he came back and played me something that was at least a start. Then I said, “Play it again.” And he said, “I can’t.” The guy could never play the same thing twice, because he was just puking notes. There was no structure to any of it. So I told him, “Go home and listen to Eric Clapton. Listen to Paul Kossoff. Listen to Jimmy Page.” And he looked at me and said, “I can play faster than them.” So that about sums it up. Check, please!
SIMMONS Mark’s guitar playing was like an angry bee flying around your head. The most irritating sound. And he would show you that his fingers could stretch 11 frets. He could play very fast, but he was all technique. He did not have a style or soul.
STANLEY Obviously health issues derailed his being in the band [soon after recording Animalize, St. John developed Reiter’s Syndrome, an arthritic condition that left him unable to play], but I don’t know how long he could have been in the band. He was the poster child for, as far as I was concerned, not understanding what great guitar playing was about.
BRUCE KULICK
STANLEY For some people, Kiss started in the Eighties, and for them Bruce is the guy. He was a great team player and somebody who always wanted to do his best. He was also essential to Kiss becoming a Platinum-selling band again. His importance should not be minimized.
SIMMONS Bruce was the perfect guy for us at that time. And the irony is that he became the guitar player in Kiss after [his brother] Bob Kulick auditioned for the band. But Bob was more of a Neal Schon–type player, while Bruce was more flexible in his style. He could adopt and adapt.
He could play fast, but he could also play with melody. And he was a nice guy. Not a great singer, but his strong points were his fingers, not performing. It would be like pulling teeth to get Bruce to open up onstage—to raise his arm up or do a Jesus Christ pose, that “I’m so important thing.” That wasn’t his style. His strength was the guitar.
TOMMY THAYER
SIMMONS I met Tommy when I produced two records for Black ’N Blue [Thayer’s Eighties-era glam band]. He was always organized and a solid, professional guy. What I didn’t know back then is that he was also in a Kiss tribute band, Cold Gin. So he knew Ace’s solos forward and backward. Tommy started off with us by helping to put together the Kisstory books. Then he helped with Kiss conventions. After that he was our road manager. When Ace left again, he became the guy. And he’s the best of all possible worlds.
STANLEY Tommy’s a terrific musician—a great lead player and a very even rhythm player. The fact that he already had the Kiss stuff down, the fact that he worked with Ace on the reunion tour, that’s all moot. That just says that he technically knows the material. Tommy is much more than that. I love his playing. I love his work ethic. I wouldn’t want to play with anybody else.
Having given the instrumental prog-metal envelope a serious push with their first two records—2009’s Animals As Leaders and 2011’s Weightless—Tosin Abasi and longtime guitar partner Javier Reyes are taking their virtuoso approach to the next level on their latest effort, The Joy of Motion.
“Prog as an ideology should be, in essence, a progression,” Abasi says.
“It should be constantly stepping forward and exploring new territory. We really like the essence of what progressive means, so we want to incorporate cutting-edge sounds and maybe bring elements into progressive metal that are really far removed from metal.
So for The Joy of Motion, we referenced electronic music, jazz and various other genres, because to us, that really contributes to our sound—and that makes it sound progressive to us, because it’s new.”
Abasi and Reyes’ inter-locking eight-string riffs still play a major part in AAL’s sound, of course. Likewise, the pair’s signature playing styles—which involve a radical mixture of sweep picking, two-handed tapping and funk-style slapping—are present and accounted for.
But The Joy of Motion is also more dynamic than their previous albums: it’s the first AAL record to utilize live drums (courtesy of Matt Garstka) on top of pre-programmed electronic beats, and it places a greater emphasis on clean and acoustic guitar tones.
“I think it’s just a natural progression for both me and Tosin as players,” Reyes says. “It’s been a natural evolution to write a lot of clean stuff. At the same time, this might be our heaviest album. There’s a lot of high-gain stuff on there, but the blend of that and the clean songs and the thumping songs makes it more interesting than what we’ve done in the past.”
“I think this album shows a different side of my guitar playing,” Abasi adds, “because here’s actually less soloing. And for the solos that do occur, I’m playing differently than I was. There’s way less shred, if I’m going to be blunt about it, but I think it’s more lyrical. I started to get into modern gospel and neo-soul, listening to jazz-influenced R&B guitarists like Jairus Mozee and Isaiah Sharkey, and I think it’s kind of bled into my phrasing now.”
Having firmly established himself as a guitar hero for the djent generation, Abasi admits he felt some pressure to further ratchet up the fretboard wizardry on the new album. “Dude, yeah,” he says with a laugh.
“And it’s not a good pressure, because I don’t like the pissing contest of, ‘How complex can your time signatures and arrangements be?’ or ‘How fast are you shredding?’ That was never my motivation. I had to battle a lot of internal anxiety—the feeling like I had to prove something with this record.
“But honestly, after some examination, that stuff really ceased to be important at all to me. What I hoped to do with this record was make music that would impact people emotionally, whether they played guitar or not.”
Over the years Taylor has developed innovative techniques to make their polyester gloss finish as thin as possible for maximum tonal benefits.
Currently the gloss finish is sprayed using high-tech methods that incorporate a robotic unit, high-efficiency electrostatic attraction technology, and an ultraviolet curing oven.
Guided by the manufacturing expertise of Bob Taylor and Taylor’s finish experts, the finish thickness was reduced more than 40 percent to an average of 3.5 mils, while still preserving a beautiful glossy luster.
“We did it by calling upon all the resources that we’ve ever had in all our years of guitar building,” says Bob Taylor.
The Taylor Guitars Road Show is back, and with it, enthralling fans to an exciting evening of new guitars, experts from the Taylor Guitars Factory in El Cajon, California, and for 2014, new products in the redesigned 800 Series and the best-selling hybrid, the T5z.
The award-winning Road Show brings guitar enthusiasts together with Taylor experts for both product education and guitar playing.
For the redesign of the 800 Series, the bracing profiles and their placement were customized for each body shape to emphasize their inherent strengths and to complement the playing styles that might suit the shape.
The bracing for the back and sides of Grand Auditorium and Grand Concert models was also modified from a standard horizontal, ladder-style pattern to a slanted scheme to change the internal tension of the back.
Another refinement was the addition of side braces, which add rigidity to the sides and enhance the top and back movement.
With the reconfigured relationship between the top and back bracing, each shape generates a well-balanced tone whose differences are most noticeable in the midrange.
“The midrange is the friendly and flattering part of the guitar,” Andy Powers explains. “This sounds warmer across the board. In this case, you have this nice, cushy swell and long sustain, even with a delicate touch.”
When Taylor’s T5 debuted in 2005, it won awards for “Best Acoustic” and “Best Electric” guitar from industry players.
Now the company is introducing the T5z, the smaller yet bolder version of the T5.
The hollowbody design features an active soundboard to produce a natural acoustic voice and incorporates three pickups: an acoustic body sensor, a concealed neck humbucker, and a visible bridge humbucker.
Crossover design features include dual compatibility with electric and acoustic amps, plus five-way switching and onboard tone controls that let you shift from shimmering acoustic to screaming electric in an instant.
Taylor pickup designer David Hosler had been studying under-saddle piezo transducers and how they capture a guitar’s energy as it is transferred from the strings through the saddle and soundboard.
The industry’s prevailing understanding had been that the top and string vibration cause the saddle to “bounce” up and down.
This has long been the basis for the placement of a piezo-electric transducer under the saddle. But Hosler found that the vertical movement is heavily restricted because the string tension’s downward pressure essentially locks the saddle down.
That’s why a traditional under-saddle pickup with piezo-electric crystals often responds with a sound often characterized as thin, brittle or synthetic. In reality, the saddle’s natural range of movement is back and forth like a pendulum.
That revelation led Hosler to relocate the piezo crystals from under the saddle to behind it, just barely making contact with it.
The new positioning enables the crystals to respond more naturally to the guitar’s energy as it was transferred through the saddle.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Taylor Guitars, co-founder Bob Taylor shares his vision for the company's guitar-making future and explains why master builder Andy Powers is good for both Taylor and the next generation of guitar players.
Taylor has made a tradition of celebrating milestone years by looking forward rather than back, and their 40th anniversary year is no different.
Guided by the design strokes of luthier Andy Powers and the manufacturing expertise of Bob Taylor, Taylor has reconceived its flagship rosewood/spruce 800 Series, infusing it with a sweeping array of tone-enhancing refinements.
Virtually every element of the guitar’s material construction was optimized: bracing, wood thicknesses, glues, finish, strings and acoustic electronics, topped off with a refreshed design aesthetic.
The end result is the perfect type of musical celebration: a more inspiring playing experience.
Hear Bob Taylor and Master Builder Andy Powers discuss the future of Taylor tone, why the company's golden era is still ahead, and the vision behind the redesign of Taylor's flagship 800 Series.
