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Patrick
DeCoste
Genre: Rock / Acoustic / Classic Guitar Instrumental
 Born and raised
in Boston, MA, Patrick DeCoste (pronounced "dee-coast")
was drawn to music and decided to pick up the guitar at age
14. His early influences were acts like Aerosmith, Guns N Roses
and U2. Patrick was self taught through his college years and
soon found inspiration in the works of Randy Rhoads, Nuno Bettencourt
and Eddie Van Halen. It was after hearing Joe Satriani's "Always
with me, always with you" and Eric Johnson's 'Cliffs Of
Dover' that he was inspired to take his guitar abilities to
the next level.
Patrick then spent time at Boston Conservatory;'s
1993 Summer institude studying classical guitar under Joe Zuccalla.
For the next 3 years Patrick earned full-tuition scholarships
to attend Berklee Music College, where he honed his music theory,
composition and performance skills.
Patrick is a live mainstay on the local Boston music
scene and achieved great success on the mp3.com instrumental
charts. Patrick is a member and coloumnist for guitarpalooza.com.
Patrick's style is very earthy with an original
quality. The influences of Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson are
prevelant in his playing, but these are intertwined with a very
original sound and touch. His use of effects is highly original
and restraint is one of the key words when summing up the Decoste
sound.
- Love In Misery
- Premonition
- The New Millenium
- Breaking The Silence
- The National Anthem
- Greasy Fingers
Opener of Patrick's six song demo is Love
In Misery. Home to lush chords and a simple guitar melody,
making use of wah and phasing effects to add ambience. Premonition
showcases Patrick's acoustic skills, again very restraint making
great use of chords and simple melodied within the chords. The
production on the acoustic guitars is very natural with great
depth and resonance. The New Millenium
has a great classic rock feel although a quite spacey guitar
tone keeps the vibe more modern. Again the use of effects keeps
the swinging groove in check. Coming across a mix of Joe Satriani
with a touch of Jimmy Page. This track would be a great backdrop
for a vocalist to work over. Breaking
The Silence has a futuristic vibe that again hints at
Joe Satriani. This is the closest the demo gets to what you
might expect from a guitar instrumental album. Patrick again
makes use of the wah pedal to enhance the melody, although this
is not a rich wah, it sounds like it has quite a narrow peak
and an almost spikey quality. Patrick then lets loose with some
arpeggios and sliding motifs that sound a little like John Petrucci.
All this is done with a fraction of the gain you would expect
from the shredder pack. This quality gives Patrick more originality.
The National Anthem is an extremely
classy piece of Jazz meets Eric Johnson-sian work. Volume swells
lay out the Star Spangled Banner main melody and its great to
finally hear someone not trying to be Hendrix covering the American
national anthem. Greasy Fingers
closes the demo with another fresh melody again aided by effects,
I was expecting some sort of Steve Vai style work out here,
and this is a million miles away. Possessing a funk/r n b vibe
complete with keys and horns, kinda like something you might
expect from The Average White Band.
This is not the kind of material that is normally sent to virtuosityone
for review in the Underground Acts page. But what is apparent
in this work is that Patrick is armed with a superb set of hands,
good control and an ear for melody that never plays second fiddle
to guitar excess. I can see this guy making a great impact on
the studio scene. Very enjoyable. |
