Dave Martone is one of the
hottest guitar propertys currently on the instrumental scene.
Hailing from Canada Dave is taking the guitar well beyond
the 21st century as displayed by the incredibly varied and
textural sounds heard on his latest release 'When The Aliens
Come'. Virtuosity One caught up with Dave to discuss his music,
his take on the instrumental guitar genre and where it might
be heading in the future.
Dave,
many thanks for participating in this interview. Congratulations
on the release of ‘When The Aliens Come’, its
an extremely enjoyable slice of instrumental guitar. When
did the basis song writing and recording/production take place?
Well, it was over the last 4 years actually. I wanted
to have it done sooner, but I did a live DVD in the process.
http://www.guitar9.com/martonedvd.html Somehow there is still
a unity with the sound of the album since it was done over
an extended period of time. I mixed it all at the same time
though and that was last year.
What was your aim with the material to get across
to the listener?
I was trying to invision what music might sound like
in the future. That was the goal. Not all songs are trying
to push this envelope on the album, but that was the overall
theme. Almost if we could fast forward to 400 years from now
and have a peak listen to what was going on.
I do like traditional music, don’t get me wrong, but
I am getting quite sick of the regular formulated music today.
It is mostly all the same but that is why I guess it is called
“popular” That was not my goal to make popular
music. I wanted to experiment!
The sound of ‘When The Aliens Come’ is
very modern in all senses from the crystal clear production
to some truly space age guitar work. I get the impression
you are more interested in seeing where you can take the guitar
as opposed to paying homage to the past. Is this a fair assumption?
Totally correct. There are so many great players
out there, and a lot of it is starting to sound the same.
How fast can we go? Is that the point of music? Possibly,
but there is more to it than that. People need to get a unique
voice instead of just imitating all the time. That drives
me nuts! So much time is spent on technique, and I spent my
fair share of it, but I think the next evolvement is in sound.
I love engineering also, and thanks for the compliment on
the production. I find you can be very artistic with sound.
I am trying to basically paint a picture with sounds and a
cross pollination of styles to create new, fresh sounding
music.
What’s
also apparent is that this isn’t just an album to showcase
guitar flash, the songs really do come across as a band unit.
What’s your take on how a guitar instrumental album
should sound or offer?
The great thing is that everyone has their own interpretation
on how it should be done. There are so many great albums out
there, and who am I to say… but I will say this, if
you don’t have a song or a cool idea and you just have
fast licks, then you really have nothing.
What did Daniel Adair (drums) and David Spidel (bass)
add to the project?
Besides tons of laughs and many bottles of empty
beer, there amazing talent! Daniel of course took care of
most of the drum duties with the exception of Fumble Fingers
in which Gene Hoglan was a guest. Daniel wrote Manameemaw
and had the main riff idea for Double FF’s
Dave came up with some ideas in Flatulation Farm and is always
great for syncopated ideas. We work very well together and
respect eachothers art. We still try and make the “song”
come first instead of just mindless chops everwhere, although
that does happen every now and again!
How long have you known these musicians?
Probably around 9 years. I met Daniel through a guy
that had a rehearsal spot that I used to jam at. Then I met
Dave through Daniel just after that.
Both are very busy men also. Dave plays in about 14 other
groups and Daniel plays with Nickelback.
Do you listen to much instrumental music, and if
so what do you feel the general state of the genre is?
Honestly, I don’t listen to much music at all.
I will listen when I am at the gym with my ipod, but I am
sick of everything in there. Mostly I will listen to peoples
demo’s looking for input. Since everything I do is pretty
much musically involved on a day to day basis from gigs, teaching,
clincs, production, writing, mixing etc… my favourite
thing to listen to after all that is done is……
silence. Instrumental music will always be around from the
beginning of beating a stick on a stump in rhythm, to who
knows where!
You
seem to have a never ending schedule of clinics worldwide.
What do you try to present through your clinics and for which
gear manufacturers do you work with?
Yes, the schedule gets full, but I love that. I really
have a great time giving clinics. Many things are talked about
in a very light and comical way. I basically try to hit the
point home of being diverse when playing music. Not trying
to just play the same style the whole time, learning all types
of different styles, and with different styles comes different
guitar tone’s. Then I talk about the 5 sounds of God,
which is basically the 5 main sounds that I use. It is always
fun! The main ones are Parker Guitars, Vox amps, Digitech
Processing.
What do you look for in your guitar tone and does
that tone relate to the music you compose?
I am really starting to explore here more than the
above 5 sounds of God. I have a great picture from the NAMM
show that I will give you here (see left). Talk about tone
and pedal choices!
When I am writing a song, it usually starts in my guitar
room. I am not focusing on the tone so much but the idea.
However there have been times where it was the tone that made
the song happen, such as the song “When the Aliens Come”
as an example. Some times, I will just plug anything into
anything to see what happens. That is usually quite fun. I
have not burned anything down yet, but will keep trying too!!!!!!
Can we expect to hear Dave Martone in a band situation
(i.e. with a vocalist) any time soon?
Who knows. I am always up for a new challenge and
I would love to learn more about vocal music to help my production
skills working with more than instrumental music. Plus it
is nice to just chill and play, and let the singer get all
the well deserved attention!!!
What made you want to take up the guitar and did
you ever feel you would get to this level of proficiency on
the instrument?
My father made my play. I did not want to play when
I was 6. Somehow the virus just got in me and I cant shake
it. And that is a good thing! I still feel I am but a blip
on the screen when it comes to my talent on the instrument.
So many things to expore and so little time. I know there
is some hidden secret yet that I have not stumbled across,
but I will find it!
Are
there any other new guitarists out there that you recommend
people check out?
Well, I will mention some of my mates that you might
already know about but… and in no particular order…
James Hogan
Terry Syrek
Chris Buono
Harry Jacobson
Prashant Aswani
Neil Nagahoka
Brian Poulsen
And one of my students Keston Barker. Just a young 15 year
old but watch out for him!
Anything else you would like to add for the readers
of www.virtuosityone.com?
Thanks for your support, and interest in what we
do as a group. I will be doing a bunch of seminars this summer
for the National Guitar Workshop. www.guitarworkshop.com If
you want to take one of my classes just sign up! Also I have
many lessons on www.workshoplive.com if you are interested
in studying with me. You can enter these codes for special
pricing!
Promocode: Partner
Sales Affiliate Code: 1233
http://subscriber.workshoplive.com/subscribe/register/registration.cfm?promo=Partner&source=1233
Thanks again and Stay Weird!!
Many thanks Dave.
Dave Martone Links
