The Undiscovered: Julien Damotte

When guitar greats like Ron Thal say, "What a great combination of melodic composition, and playing with technique and passion," and Marcel Coenen adds, "Some nice melodies there, you really shine - you are a good player that's for sure," well, you know you must be doing something right. Julien Damotte submitted his 12 song CD-R entitled Deep Inside, which features progressive instrumental works over drum machine grooves. Obviously a showcase for Damotte's guitar abilities (he needs to hook up with a drummer with this kind of heavy material), he applies prodigious amounts of technique towards his riffs, rhythms and leads - check out the heaviosity of tracks such as "514" and "Earthquake" (add Mike Portnoy to the mix, and you've got something!) Damotte should have many good CDs coming out of France for quite a long time to come.

Julien was born in Clermont-Ferrand, France and started playing guitar at the age of 12, taking lessons at his local music school. At the age of 13 he started playing in two different bands: Exprim and Devilspoon. When the bands eventually broke up, Julien spent his spare time teaching guitar and improving his skills (with the help of videos by Ritchie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Chris Savourey, Vinnie Moore and Michael Lee Firkins). He has been playing in a band called Ze Froggiez since December 2001. They play standards from the '70s (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Tina Turner, Creedence), along with more recent stuff like Lenny Kravitz and Melissa Etheridge. During all these years of playing, Julien has recorded nine demo tapes.

Damotte is currently working on the follow up CD to Deep Inside, taking time out from his day job as an English teacher in France.

Julien Damotte
France

Web site: www.juliendamotte.fr.st