Rusty Cooley Creative Guitar -By Matt Cafissi
Rusty, why only compilations and not a real solo album?
The reason I do the compilation cd's is just to help
get my name out there until my first cd is done , It should be ready early
2001 .
Your playing is very fast and aggressive with
furious riffs and metal influences...
That about sums it up heavy ,aggressive, lots of chops
.
What do you think of the lastest trend of Guitar/Techno
music like Satriani, Beck, Buckethead etc?
Well I love the Buckethead stuff I think he's really
insane. I haven't heard the knew Beck or Satriani.
Tell me about your guitars, effects and amps...
I'm currently using and endorsing Jackson guitars and
Seymour Duncan pickups. I have a fender M-80 preamp , Rocktron multi efx,and
power amps, Marshall 4x12 cabinets and various floorpedals oh yea I have one
of those line 6 pods those are really cool .
Do you have any suggestions for young guitarists?
Yes stick to your guns man don't let trends influence
your music , be true to yourself and practice,practice, practice. Oh yea
don't forget to buy my cd!!!!!!
Micheal Harris Distorted Ego -By Matt Cafissi
Michael, tell me about your last album.
My newest CD, “Sketches From the Thought
Chamber”, is a major musical step for me, as it features some fresh new
elements of my playing and composition skills, and truly expresses where my mind
is at presently : fusing progressive, jazz, and metal influences. As usual, the
compositions themselves are more important than the notes within them, and what
surfaced here is a “sci-fi soundtrack-ish” sound to many of the tunes, some
extremely twisted melodies, two acoustic numbers, several songs with serious
grooves, and the most beautiful piece I have ever written, “A Soul’s Torment”.
I have heard many differences from
your first solo CD, "Defense", and your other solo albums. The lastest CD is far more cool, with great delay, vibrato and more melodic. True songs!
Well, thank you. Those are always the 2
biggest compliments anyone can pay me : that I improve from album to album and
that the songs and melodies are paramount. The guitar is just a tool of
expression to me to get the songs out! Technique is important, but secondary to
the music itself.
Do you like Hip Hop, Rap, R & B
and other music styles, as seen on MTV?
I have watched very little TV at all in
months and certainly not MTV. I don’t like to stereotype musical styles. There
are 2 kinds of music : good and bad. R&B has always had some exciting
elements rhythmically. I’m not even sure what constitutes “Hip Hop” from
rap or other styles, and rap has to be considered an entertainment form, but I
have not heard any that I would even consider music, as there is no melody.
Is the Archrival project dead? If so...why? I think this was a great band.
Arch Rival is on hiatus at the moment.
Right now I am too musically busy to devote any time to AR, but everyone is
gathering ideas and we will record again hopefully. But thank you for
acknowledging the band, as I feel we recorded some very relevant music.
When are you coming to Italy for a
clinic or concert?
I’m not much of a 'clinician', but
would love to come to your country to play a concert or three !!!
Stephen Ross Back again -By Matt Cafissi
Stephen, why such a long delay for the completion of your new album?
When I released my first album, I was young and still
living at home. I had to time to practice and write music 10 hours a day or
more. When it came time to move out and get some independence, SURPRISE!
Things seemed to progress a little more slowly. On top of that, I want this
next release to be something I am really proud of. I didn't want to release
something just for the sake of releasing it. I wrote large quantities of
material after my debut release, but didn't feel it represented where I wanted
to go musically.
What are the differences from your Shrapnel
debut CD and your new one?
Probably the most obvious difference between the new
stuff I am writing and the Shrapnel release, is the fact that I am going to be
singing on it. Also, I feel I matured a great deal as a guitar player and can
communicate much better musically then I could back then.
Do you like the latest work by Satriani? Do you
like the Techno, Jungle, R&B, Hip Hop, Rap and other types of this
musical trend as seen on MTV?
I think Satriani is a wonderful musician. My favorite
release of his is "Surfin with the Alien", but anything he puts out
is very high quality. To answer part B of this
question, I am not too concerned about judging the music on what style
it is, but rather on how well I think it is done. Variety is great and I
really like it when there is a large palette of music to choose from. Some of
my favorite contemporary artists are Tool, Limp Bizkit, Rage, Disturbed,
Soundgarden and Alice and Chains.
In
your opinion, is the future of music the Internet?
I think the Internet will play an extremelly
important role in the future of music, Napster is a perfect example. The whole
idea of file sharing is obviously turning the industry upside down. I think
that eventually the Internet will help the bands, especially the ones just
starting out, since it puts everyone on a more equal playing field.
Stephen ... we'll await your new CD... Come on already!
I am working hard on the new CD and should have it
completed by early next year.
Shaun Baxter Jazz/Metal pioneer -By Guido Mercati
Which kind of music do you like
more right now? Be-Bop, modern
jazz or rock-fusion?
I tend to listen to bebop. Most rock-fusion sounds too cold and clinical to
my ears. I also find most of it comes across as twee and pretentious. I
could also say the same for a lot of modern jazz; a lot of players sound
like they are giving you a geometry lesson on their instrument.
I'd rather listen to somebody with real soul like Django Reinhardt or
Charlie Parker.
I started off with rock guitar, but got good pretty quickly and so was
looking for new challenges. Bebop has got to be one of the most challenging
forms of music. It involves improvising over chord progressions that are
often changing keys several times in one bar - it's a fascinating thing to
study. That's one of the great things about that style of jazz: you never
master it, you just get better.
Who are your favorite guitar players from the past and for the next millennium?
I try not to listen to guitarists if I can help it because I think it's
important to sound different. Although, when I started playing guitar, there
were certain guitar players who I loved - Michael Schenker, Van Halen, Allan
Holdsworth - I went through a big phase of copying all three. I know that it
sounds a bit of a cliché, but, these days, I like to listen to piano players
and sax players.
If I'm in the car, I tend to listen to sax players like Dave Liebman.
Occasionally, I will listen to a new release by someone like Yngwie or
George Lynch, but I usually just make cassette tapes of all the solos so
that I don't have to listen to the horrible music. I've always been a rock
guitar fan, but never a big fan of rock music in general.
Could you describe your gear in detail?
My main guitar is a cream 'Relic' Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster (57
re-issue). It has a swamp-ash body, a maple neck and fingerboard and uses
'57 -custom' pick-ups.
On my 'JazzMetal" album I used an ocean spray Yngwie Malmsteen signature
model Fender Stratocaster with HS-3 Dimarzio stacked humbucker pick-ups,
alder body and a scalloped maple fingerboard.
I've also got an original 1962 fiesta red Fender Stratocaster with an alder
body, maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard.
My Strats usually only have 21 frets when I buy them, so I usually have an
extra fret added to each of them.
As far as amplification is concerned, you name it I've owned it: Rivera,
Boogie, Fender, ADA.
For my Jazz Metal album, I used the Malmsteen Strat, through a Marshall
Guv'nor foot pedal, into a Marshall jMP-1 pre-amp. For effects, I used a
Rockotron Intellifex and a BBE sonic Maximiser, which is a time alignment
device. This then all went through a Peavey Classic 120 Stereo valve power
amp into two Marshall 4 x 12s"
For the last few years, I've been using a couple of Marshall '59 reissue 100
watt valve heads into two 4 x 12 Marshall cabinets, both with vintage 30
speaker. I've also reverted to a more stripped down effects set-up. I've got
a Boss OD-2 distortion pedal linked up to three Boss DD3 delays. I also us
an old Cry Baby wah-wah pedal, an Ernie Ball Volume pedal and an Aria stage
tuner.
When I play live, I also use a wireless system.
Recently, I just started using a Cornford custom 50watt valve head and two
2x12s, which is a British hand-built am that all my guitar friends have been
raving about - Joe Satriani has just bought one.
I'll probably use this with an Intellifex etc as a lot of my new tunes
require a harmoniser when I play live (I usually play as a three piece)
For strings, I use Hybrid Slinkies by Picato (009 - 046). For picks, I
usually alternate between using Dunlop 1.5ml plectrums (the purple ones) and
steel ones; which I prefer for rock sometimes because they have all the
attack of a thin pick but also produce all the thickness of tone you get
from a thick pick.
Your favorite 10 guitar albums of all time:
These aren't in any particular order.
Interesting that there aren't any
straight-ahead jazz guitarists - it shows that I'm a rocker at heart!
'Strangers in the Night' - UFO (Michael Schenker)
'MSG' - MSG (Michael Schenker)
'Elegant Gypsey' - Al DiMeola
'Live in Leningrad' - Yngwie Malmsteen
'Van Halen I' - Van Halen
'Fair Warning' - Van Halen
'Live in the Air Age' - Bebop deluxe (Bill Nelson)
'Feels good to me' - Bruford (Allan Holdsworth)
'One of a kind' - Bruford (Allan Holdsworth)
'UK' - UK (Allan Holdsworth)
If I had eleven choices, I'd also like to add 'Trilogy' by Yngwie.
This summer you will play with Allan Holdsworth. In the near future, a
collaboration CD?!!? Don't keep secrets from us, Shaun!
Unfortunatley, that has all changed.
Allan can't make the gig now, which is at The Guildhall in Bath on the 6th
August 2000, so I'm going to do it with Frank Gambale instead.
It's a pity, because I was looking forward to playing with Allan, but they
certainly picked the best replacement with Frank. I'm looking forward to it.
Frank's going to be playing with my trio which consists of Me, Paul
Elliott
on drums and Terry Gregory on bass. Terry also plays bass for Martin Taylor.
When you are soloing over a chord progression, you think in terms of...
Generally, I divide all the chords in music into one of the following six
different catagories, maj7, 7, min7, min7b5, 7alt and dim7. I have various
scale options for each chord type. It's hard to put in a nutshell, because
I've been studying and teaching jazz for over ten years and, in that time,
I've collected thousands of licks and techniques that will help me to
negotiate various chords and certain chord combinations.
When people ask me to recommend some good books on the subject I find it
very difficult, because there is no one book out there with all the answers.
Consequently, I've decided to write some books on the subject of playing
through changes (from a guitarist's point of view) that will be available on
my web site pretty soon.
Do you compose the harmony and structure of the song before the
melody; or vice-versa?
I use alot of different methods when I write my tunes.
A tune like, 'I'm Not Sure Yet', started off as a chord progression that
suggested a melody, whereas, 'G-Spot Blues' just came out one day when I was
improvising along to a drum groove.
Sometimes a write a tune to order: with 'Birdman', for instance, I wanted to
write an up-tempo jazz blues in Bb, whereas tunes like , 'Strike Up the
Band', 'Make t Reel' and 'Open Invitation' started with some riff that my
drummer, Paul Elliott, came up with.
What are your thoughts on Greg Howe? Like you, he's a jazz-metal bishop...
JazzMetal is a word and style of music that I invented in the early '90s as
a means of describing my music, which is something that combines the lead
lines and chord progressions of bebop with the aggression of heavy rock. If
you like, somewhere between Charlie Parker and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Players like Greg Howe, Ritchie Kotzen, Bret Garsed and TJ Helmerich are
fusion players who all admit that they are trying to follow in the footsteps
of Allan Holdsworth, which is the very thing that I've been trying to avoid.
I think that Allan Holdsworth is a genius, but it's pointless to try to do
what he does because he's been doing it much better than anyone-else for
nearly 30 years.
For me, I have always liked the sophistication of bebop, but have always
felt that is isn't hard hitting enough. I've also liked the aggression of
heavy metal, but have always felt like it lacks sophistication. I play my
style of music so that I can have the best of both worlds. 'Fusion' is too
lightweight for me. My style of music is heavier and much more aggressive.
I don't want you to think that I don't admire a guitarist like Greg Howe
because I do. If somebody asks me about 'state of the art' rock technique, I
tell them that they should listen to Greg Howe or Scott Mishoe, but I'm just
not interested in sounding like another guitarist. If there are any
similarities it is purely coincidental. Greg Howe was recording his first
fusion album the same year that I was recording my 'JazzMetal' album (1993).
We have some similar rock influences, such as Van Halen and Yngwie, but
that's where the similarity ends.
Upcoming projects?
It's been a long time since I did my
first album, but I've been incredibly
busy. A lot of your readers might know my playing from 'Guitar Techniques'
magazine. I've been writing for them for the last 5-6 years. I've had
enormous work commitments and various personal reasons that have kept me
recording for a long time.
However, I have just bought my own studio and started gigging again. I
intend to put out at least one new album every year from now on. I've
already got over half the material for a new one that will be released
towards the end of this year (aptly titled, 'Back In Business')
Will you ever play in Italy?
I'd love to come - I have a lot of fans in Italy.
I've been asked by quite a few big artists to go on tour, but I'm not really
interested in going on tour for months and months on end. My band and I
would like to do things on a much more civilised basis, where we, perhaps,
just come over to Europe one or two weekends a month - that would be nice!
Having said that, I'm due to play with Carl Palmer next Summer and I know
that we're definitely coming to Italy. I'm basically replacing Keith
Emerson. I'll be fronting a guitar, bass and drums three-piece line-up,
playing a lot of the ELP stuff.
Who knows how that might develop?
Carl is very connected and well respected. I know that we've already got
gigs booked in all round Europe, including a Friday night at the Montreaux
Jazz festival and a week's residency at Ronnie Scott's in London.
Ron Thal Bumblebee who? -By Matt Cafissi
Ron, first of all, tell me about the umpteenth strange cover of your latest cd, "Uncool"!
Hahahahahaha - hello Matt!Thank you for the interview. The picture is Frank (our bassist) slipping on the ground while losing 7 oranges he bought
at a grocery store in Brooklyn. We had 5 other possible covers for the CD.
You can see them all in the photo gallery at Bumblefoot.com.
Why don't more solo/albums or is the Bumblefoot band ... the true Ron Thal?
I will do more solo albums. I've concentrated on Bumblefoot, and producing,
but I think it's time to release some "guitar music" - I'm working on
a CD with lots of strange fretless guitar in it - should be finished by January
2001.
What do you think about the new trend of Guitar
& Techno Music?
The trend started with Marc Pattison - he was doing that for years, and he
kicks ass. I hope he gets the recognition for it. I think it's a
good
direction (but not the ONLY direction) for guitar music. I'd like it more
if
I was a better dancer.
Do you like the music/videos as seen on MTV ?
When is Bumblefoot going to be on it??
I like some of it - we had some music used on the MTV show Undressed, over
the summer and we just finished a video - maybe MTV will play it? It's not
my goal to be on MTV - in the US, you have to become a slave to a major
record label to get recognized, and if the RIAA (organization made of 5 major
labels) doesn't get a piece of your money, they don't want you having success
without them. All I care about is that you, the GuitarChef readers, the
REAL
people get to hear the music and see the video. That's what makes the
internet so important to independent musicians - it's our communication.
Now you are one of the more important artists of Vigier Guitars ...
Do you think? I just try to do my best for them - they're an amazing
company, with so much integrity in what they do. I'm glad to know them as
friends - not just for their guitars.
The last question: You are very strange and
crazy in your music but in
your private life, who is the real Ron Thal?
There are many sides to any person - I like to laugh and have fun with
friends, but I also like to be serious and take care of business, I like to
spend quality time with my wife, but I also like to live for music touring,
writing, recording. I like to be generous and help people when I can, but
when someone tries to screw me in business I hunt them down and eat them.
If you hear all that in my music - fun and laughter, hard work, love, energy,
kindness, and wrath - then maybe I am Ron Thal the guitarist. But I feel
that guitar is only 1 thing that we do - it doesn't define everything that we
are.Thank you for the interview. Give my warmest regards to the wonderful
guitarists of Italy!
Jennifer Batten Tribal Dance -By Matt Cafissi
Jennifer
, your last album "Momentum" is a masterpiece , very original ,
with great production and great musicians . Now, is the Tribal Rage project dead
or what?
Yeah ! The bass player lives in Texas now
and is playing with band called The Nixons . I play with Glen sometimes , but my
next project will be mostly just me . I hope the program everything but i may
end up using Glen on the Roland V Drum Kit which will give me a Midi Files performance
i can edit !
You are on tour with Jeff Beck ... and the
repoire with Michael Jackson ?
I'm currently in London rehashing with
Jeff Beck . The tours start in Japan in December . Jeff's cd will be out mid
October .
Tell me the truth Jennifer, you are an endorser of
Washburn Guitars and no longer with Ibanez. Why ?
I had too much trouble with the Ibanez
necks warping . 7 bad guitars in 7 bad years !!! With Washburn i have my own
model now with a Synth Pick Up.
And, why is it other great musicians like
Frank Gambale , Scott Henderson , Shawn Lane , Richie Kotzen etc... now play
other brand instruments ?
I don't know their reasons for changing
.
The Ibanez Company does not have a serious repore with the artists ?
Can't answer that .
You are the Number One Female Guitarist . Do
you like any other new female artists like, Jaye Foucher ?
Yeah , she's great .
There are others out there too. Linda Taylor is one to watch out for in the next
few years!
