Guitar Nine Columns: Interviews

I`d like to do something with Eddie Van Halen. His ideas seem to transcend what we know about music theory and chord progressions and scales. He just has his own way of seeing things.

(An advantage of being independent is) you can be true to yourself and not compromise musically, artistically, or morally. I really see no downside to being independent.

I`m getting an audience that want to hear my original compositions as opposed to seeing me play covers which has been flattering! All with no manager, no agent, no label, no representation, no producer - nothing!

I first picked up the guitar when I was around 7, then became hooked from the age of about 12 onwards. I used to wake up in the middle of the night to play as I was just so excited by it!

I`m always looking to better myself as guitarist, not so much the speed or technique but more the touch and sound that I try to achieve.

I owe my entire career to the internet and social media sites. If Mark Zuckerberg knows how much Facebook developed my career I probably need to pay royalties to him!

I really want to hear these songs live. I have many plans for this album, and I would love to play festivals and do guitar clinics. It would be a lot of fun.

My latest CD "And So It Goes..." is self released through CD Baby. It was always my intention to release it myself as the thought of trying to pitch it to people was just too depressing!

I run a small production company and we are learning the ropes as we go. Someone once said you`re either learning or dying. I prefer to learn.

My music a mix between the aggression of metal and the madness and extravagance of prog-instrumental-rock, I don`t close myself in within just a single genre.

It`s much more difficult to attract the audience without vocals. For that reason, it`s very important to build some nice and attractive themes and melodies in instrumental music.

Music is the only thing that transcends this realm. It`s the one form of communication that does transcend everything else in the material world. That`s probably why everybody loves music so much.

I was a typical Sixties kid. We always had Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley records, because my sister was into that. Then, along came the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, and that changed everything.

When I started playing guitar I was very fortunate to have all the great guitar players in the prime of their career to look to for inspiration.

My favorite bands were AC/DC, Motorhead, The Stray Cats, The Sex Pistols and so on, so mainly hard rock, heavy metal, punk rock, and rockabilly/psychobilly stuff.

Knowing I would fund the project myself, I felt that I would demonstrate more credibility to labels and other industry heavy-weights by investing in myself prior to asking them to invest.

The music I write and record under my own name is just the kind of music I`d like to listen to and therefore has no commercial consideration whatsoever, which means it`s a bonus if other people like it!

The main reason I started to play the guitar was Randy Rhoads. He had the biggest influence on me and my playing. When I first listened to him I couldn`t believe what I`d heard.

I love creating things, so putting my project together myself, while it was a lot of work, was very rewarding and also a good learning experience.

But there is a risk with being an independent musician, and that is that you get so lost in your own freedom that you end up with a career that isn`t going anywhere.

I hear themes in my mind and somehow it goes on paper. Some songs on "Untold Stories" took years to get written and recorded.

This time I tried a crowdfunding approach and was able to finance a significant part of the production costs through pre-orders placed through the respective campaign.

I'm trying do more to get the music exposure and the radio airplay is doing that for me, since I get listeners from every country in the world.

I`ve just released my seventh instrumental album, which is now available on all web platforms, as are my six previous releases.