Lets start at the beginning, how old were you when you picked up the guitar and what were your main influences to do so?
I was eleven years old when I started playing, I got my first guitar from my mom, and I took lessons when I played for about a year. It happened when I watched television and saw people playing guitar, I immediately fell in love with the sound and wanted to do the same thing.

How long did it take before you started to feel happy with your playing?
Well I guess I am never completely happy with my playing, there is always a lot of stuff to learn, I really like to experiment with sounds and styles all the time.

What were you main obstacles in playing and how did you overcome them?
Every practise you have obstacles, it is a matter of practising right to overcome difficult parts. You really have to concentrate on using the right techniques, and working on your accuracy, it all has to do with your ears, it only is good when you like the sound of something, I always use my ears more then my eyes, my ears tell me if I play something good or not. I notice that nowadays a lot of people just look at what they are playing but don't really "feel" the music, and that is just too bad imo.

What do you feel are your current areas where you could improve on the instrument?
A lot ;) I still practise to improve my playing, and you are never completely done learning if you ask me, I am working on a lot of Jazz/Fusion music lately to improve my ears, that really helps my playing a lot.

Guitar Talk has just been released on Lion Music. Can you give the readers an insight into the making of the album, its history and any plans to promote the release?
Ok, here we go :) When I still played in the band Lemur Voice I had a couple of idea's written which did not really fit in Lemur Voice. So I decided to write melodies over the riffs as if it were singing lines and so the first songs appeared. When I joined the national guitar contests in 1998 I needed to send a demotape of my playing so I recorded the demo "guitartalk" which at that time only had 4 songs and was only available on a cassette tape. The guitar contests went really well and I got into the finals where I became fourth in general styles and best of the "rock" category. Because that went well a guitarshop where I buy my stuff asked me if I could do workshops in their store, so I had to write more songs. I had about 7 songs at that time, the first CDR's I pressed myself from "guitartalk" had 7 songs on it, this was at the end of 1998. A year later I recorded two more songs and decided to also "sell" guitartalk on a cdr as a sort of demo of my playing to people who wanted it, I sold them at my clinics (I got an endorsement with Ibanez for The Netherlands so I played also clinics for them). It had 9 songs on it. When Sun Caged (my current band) got the deal with Lion Music I asked Lasse from Lion Music if he would be interested to release Guitartalk on his label on which he agreed. I decided to re master all the songs and recorded three extra songs to make it a full length CD with 12 songs. The current version also has new artwork designed by a good friend of mine and sounds a lot better then the old pressings I sold myself. The promotion for the album will happen in a lot of different ways, of course the record will be sold in the shops since Lion Music released it, reviews will be written, interviews will be done (like this one, thanks for that by the way :)) and ofcourse I happen to be a lot on the internet so that is a really great medium to promote my music.

How would you describe Guitar Talk to someone that had not heard it?
Ok, since this is hard to answer myself I asked another person the question and her reaction is: The CD is very varied, it has slower moments with a lot of dynamics and feeling, it has faster shredding songs, but it also shows different music styles, it has music styles from Metal to Rock to Jazz to Fusion to Atmospheric parts. And ofcourse the CD is all instrumental and very guitar orientated. I myself would say: Just BUY it :)

My review of the album stated that Guitar Talk showcases what a good set of ears can achieve with modest equipment. You do not have the mega buck production budget that Vai/Satriani have the luxury of, so how did you manage to get the results out of the gear you used?
Like what you said, using my ears. I always trust on my ears, if it sounds good for me then I am happy :)

What do you have in your studio set up?
I recorded most of "Guitartalk" on a 4 track Tascam cassette recorder, besides I used a drummachine from Boss (DR-5) from which I also got synth, piano and bass sounds. So I basically had two tracks for the drummachine (stereo) and two tracks (mono each) for the guitars which I played almost "live" without any overdubs. This is for the first 9 songs on the album. The other 3 songs are recorded using my computer, I used Cubase SX for recording and I used the effect plugins in the program to add special effects. I really dig the possibilities with PC recording.

You have an endorsment with Ibanez guitars. What does this endorsement give you and what model instrument do you use?
The endorsement I have means that I play clinics for Ibanez guitars and the dutch importer (Serlui BV), in exchange for that I get guitars from them which are mine after a number of clinics done. I use the models Jem 7 BSB which is my favorite, a beautiful JEM with a terrific sound and playability. I also have two 7 string models, one is a Universe 777 PBK (the Steve Vai signature with the eye) and I have a custom made RG 7-680 Limited edition, it has a 27 inch scale neck and especially the sound of it is awesome !

What do you like about this guitar and what do you look for in an instrument in general?
An instrument just should work for you, for everyone this differs, some people prefer a Gibson Les paul, some Fender, some Paul Reed Smith, it is all a matter of what fits you. For me Ibanez fits me very well, for my playing style and the sound they produce.

A Marshall JMP-1 preamp was used for all the guitar tones. This unit is a common place in many musicians racks, what do you like about it?
The tone :) I happen to love the Marshall tone all my life, in the past I used a JCM 800 marshall head (100 watt) until I bought the mesa boogie amp. I really like the distortion of Marshall, it is the only distortion which stays really clean and is very fat at the same time. Though I really would like a Rectifier also ... maybe someday when I win the lottery :)

In addition to your solo career you are also in the band Sun Caged. Can you describe the bands style of music to us?
Sun Caged I formed in the year that my previous band Lemur Voice disbanded. Sun Caged started out as a project, only Rob Van Der Loo (bass and chapman stick), Dennis Leeflang (drums) and me, just writing some songs and recording a demo with guest musicians (Scar Winter, 2001). When Lemur Voice disbanded we decided to make Sun Caged a full time band. Sun Caged's music is also very diverse, the main style is progressive metal, people compare it to bands like Queensryche, Fates Warning, Ayreon, Dream Theater and Cynic, but also Meshuggah and Haji's Kitchen are influences. It has a lot of different vibes, we all play different in the band and have different influences as musicians and that makes the music we create.

Who else is in the band?
The current line up for Sun Caged is:

Andre Vuurboom (ex-Jera, ex-Imperium) - Vocals
Dennis Leeflang (ex-Within Temptation) - Drums
Rob Van Der Loo (ex-Agony, ex-Rock Fiction) - Bassguitar and Chapman Stick
Joost Van Den Broek (also Ayreon/Star One) - Keyboards
and ofcourse myself - Guitars ;)

I believe the Sun Caged album will be released later this year on Lion Music, do you have a title yet and can you give us some more information on the album?
The album will be title less so it will be just called "Sun Caged". The album has 9 songs, the titles are:

1) Sedation
2) Sun Caged
3) Home
4) Soil
5) Hollow
6) Closing In
7) The Eighth Day
8) Secrets Of Flight
9) Unchanging.

In Japan the album will be released by Avalon/Marquee and it will have a bonus song also, the instrumental song "Four Guilders" will be on there as well.

Where do you see your music heading next?
I hope in a lot of different places :) I hope our music will be heard by a lot of people. The style will be developed all the time, you never know what to expect, that is the beauty of creating progressive music, it can go anywhere :)

What is your best advice for those starting out on the guitar?
1) Use your ears
2) Find a good teacher to learn you the right techniques
3) Don't only focus on soloing, playing rhythm is even more important
4) Remember that a good sound comes from your fingers and not from equipment only
5) Find people to play with, the best way to learn playing the instrument is to play with other people, especially non guitarists like a drummer and bassplayer, it will really help you to feel the music you make
6) Make music, don't only play exercises !

Any tips on how to deal with the music industry?
Just be honest, listen to your fans, keep contact with your fans because that is the way to keep yourself in the picture.

Anything else you would like to tell the readers of virtuosityone.com?
Well, for people who want to know more about me just visit my website, it is : http://www.marcelcoenen.com . It has a lot of information, also lessons (with tabulature and a video sample of each lick shown), MP3 songs, a lot of video's (over 50 in the media section of the site) which shows me playing in my house, during clinics or gigs and even some funny video's, and ofcourse it has a guestbook, which I would like everyone to sign who reads this interview :) And of course I want to thank you for the great review and the interview !