When did you start playing? Are you self taught or did you get lessons?
I started playing guitar when I was 13. I saw Metallica play "creeping death" on TV during Woodstock 99. I started learning chords and whatnot on an acoustic guitar, but continued in my pursuit of learning the main riff of "creeping death".
I took some lessons when I was just starting, I remember them being pretty informal though. I would bring in tapes of songs I liked and my instructor would teach me how to play them. That didn't last too long though. I'd say I'm mostly self taught.
Which guitarists were you biggest influence and what techniques did they push you to develope?
Metallica being my favorite band back when I was 13 until now, I'd say Kirk Hammett/James Hetfield. I loved all the heavy palm muting and the leads. I learned alot just through learning Metallica songs. I think there was a point where I could play almost every metallica song.
How many guitars do you own? models, pickups, etc, and which one is your favorite?
I own 2 guitars. My newest guitar is a Washburn Idol series WI66PROE. My other guitar is some kind of ibanez. I bought it used so I'm really not sure. I bought it because of the sticker on the bottom that reads "Bad Dog". I'd say that's my favorite just because it's so special to me. Both guitars have EMGs.
Now let's talk about your latest work, "Secrets of the world", Trapped Under Ice's first LP. Fans and critics both agree that this album is everything they hoped for. Every riff is heavy as fuck, the production is perfect, how happy are you with the final result?
I'm very happy with how everything came out. So much time and effort went into that record, whether we were home, touring, in the studio. We really threw ourselves into it. It was all I thought about while we were writing. But I think everything paid off. I'm really happy with it.
Which guitars did you record with and what tone were you looking for?
I recorded all guitars with the Bad Dog (Ibanez...see attached). I did the rythm track with the Bad Dog first, then we tried some other guitars. Bad Dog took the cake though. I wanted the guitars to just be heavy and thick...one record I always look to is "And Justice For All" by metallica. Very low mid range, high gain...sounds like air is being sucked out of your ears or something.
Tuning and strings?
Standard D and SIT 10-52's
What amps and cabinets were used in studio?
We used a 5150 on both guitar tracks. A VHT cab was used for one guitar track, and I'm not really sure what we used for the other. I think it was a Marshall.
You choosed to work with Dean Baltulonis once again, who did Stay cold, and also worked with bands like Sick of it all, Hope Con, and American Nightmare. Tell us about your relation with him and how much did he helped on the new record.
Dean is the man. We have a very informal and friendly relationship with him which makes recording a lot easier. He has a great ear and a lot of great ideas. We're still a younger band with not a lot of studio experience, so we have a lot of questions for sure. He answers all of them.
What's the songwriting process for TUI and how do you define who plays what with Brad?
We write a lot of riffs. Sometimes riffs become songs, sometimes they just stay riffs. Everyone contributes on some level, but Justice and I write most of it. I wrote more of Secrets as far as guitars go, he always writes the lyrics. I demo out lots of the songs on my computer first too. We have a lot of riffs, portions of songs, even complete songs that never got used for anything. As far as what brad plays live, I'll basically take the lead track and he'll hold down the rythm tracks (with some exceptions).
There's some sick ass solo in there, my favorite being the one in "eye hand" and, like the one in "too true", it looks based on the harmonic minor scale? The ending of it with the weird overdubbs ands effects is awesome, how did you do that?
Thanks! The tail-end of that solo in Eye Hand really just happened in the studio. We thought that part could use another layer of guitar over it, so we tried messing around with some different effects and pedals etc. We actually never do that, but we found this one pedal that like...plays what you play in reverse or something. I basically just hit some creepy notes and it made it sound all crazy like that.
As far as the scale goes, that sounds right. I'm not really good with the whole theory side of things, just tried to play something that emphasized the mood of that part. Both parts are pretty dramatic so that minor feel felt right.
Theres so many good riffs in there, which ones are your favorites?
Thanks. If I had to choose some I'd say....The last riff in See God (also earlier with one guitar), the last riff in Believe, the first riff of Eye Hand, the palm muted part in World I Hate.
About your live rig, what rackmounts or pedal do you use?
No rackmounts, just a Boss chromatic tuner and noise suppressor.
Can you still find the time to practice these days and is there any techniques youd like to expand on?
I play guitar all the time. Not usually honing in on any new techniques though, usually just riffing. I would like to get better at leads though. I want to shred.
The best guitarist in hardcore right now?
Who knows. Some of my favorites would be Griff from Bitter End, and Jordan Posner from No Warning/Terror.
The next piece of gear youd like to get your hands on?
I wouldn't mind trying some kind of tube screamer or some additional distortion live. Also would like to try some other Washburns. I'm not much of a gearhead though. Once I find something that I like, I try to stick with that.
I started playing guitar when I was 13. I saw Metallica play "creeping death" on TV during Woodstock 99. I started learning chords and whatnot on an acoustic guitar, but continued in my pursuit of learning the main riff of "creeping death".
I took some lessons when I was just starting, I remember them being pretty informal though. I would bring in tapes of songs I liked and my instructor would teach me how to play them. That didn't last too long though. I'd say I'm mostly self taught.
Which guitarists were you biggest influence and what techniques did they push you to develope?
Metallica being my favorite band back when I was 13 until now, I'd say Kirk Hammett/James Hetfield. I loved all the heavy palm muting and the leads. I learned alot just through learning Metallica songs. I think there was a point where I could play almost every metallica song.
How many guitars do you own? models, pickups, etc, and which one is your favorite?
I own 2 guitars. My newest guitar is a Washburn Idol series WI66PROE. My other guitar is some kind of ibanez. I bought it used so I'm really not sure. I bought it because of the sticker on the bottom that reads "Bad Dog". I'd say that's my favorite just because it's so special to me. Both guitars have EMGs.
Now let's talk about your latest work, "Secrets of the world", Trapped Under Ice's first LP. Fans and critics both agree that this album is everything they hoped for. Every riff is heavy as fuck, the production is perfect, how happy are you with the final result?
I'm very happy with how everything came out. So much time and effort went into that record, whether we were home, touring, in the studio. We really threw ourselves into it. It was all I thought about while we were writing. But I think everything paid off. I'm really happy with it.
Which guitars did you record with and what tone were you looking for?
I recorded all guitars with the Bad Dog (Ibanez...see attached). I did the rythm track with the Bad Dog first, then we tried some other guitars. Bad Dog took the cake though. I wanted the guitars to just be heavy and thick...one record I always look to is "And Justice For All" by metallica. Very low mid range, high gain...sounds like air is being sucked out of your ears or something.
Tuning and strings?
Standard D and SIT 10-52's
What amps and cabinets were used in studio?
We used a 5150 on both guitar tracks. A VHT cab was used for one guitar track, and I'm not really sure what we used for the other. I think it was a Marshall.
You choosed to work with Dean Baltulonis once again, who did Stay cold, and also worked with bands like Sick of it all, Hope Con, and American Nightmare. Tell us about your relation with him and how much did he helped on the new record.
Dean is the man. We have a very informal and friendly relationship with him which makes recording a lot easier. He has a great ear and a lot of great ideas. We're still a younger band with not a lot of studio experience, so we have a lot of questions for sure. He answers all of them.
What's the songwriting process for TUI and how do you define who plays what with Brad?
We write a lot of riffs. Sometimes riffs become songs, sometimes they just stay riffs. Everyone contributes on some level, but Justice and I write most of it. I wrote more of Secrets as far as guitars go, he always writes the lyrics. I demo out lots of the songs on my computer first too. We have a lot of riffs, portions of songs, even complete songs that never got used for anything. As far as what brad plays live, I'll basically take the lead track and he'll hold down the rythm tracks (with some exceptions).
There's some sick ass solo in there, my favorite being the one in "eye hand" and, like the one in "too true", it looks based on the harmonic minor scale? The ending of it with the weird overdubbs ands effects is awesome, how did you do that?
Thanks! The tail-end of that solo in Eye Hand really just happened in the studio. We thought that part could use another layer of guitar over it, so we tried messing around with some different effects and pedals etc. We actually never do that, but we found this one pedal that like...plays what you play in reverse or something. I basically just hit some creepy notes and it made it sound all crazy like that.
As far as the scale goes, that sounds right. I'm not really good with the whole theory side of things, just tried to play something that emphasized the mood of that part. Both parts are pretty dramatic so that minor feel felt right.
Theres so many good riffs in there, which ones are your favorites?
Thanks. If I had to choose some I'd say....The last riff in See God (also earlier with one guitar), the last riff in Believe, the first riff of Eye Hand, the palm muted part in World I Hate.
About your live rig, what rackmounts or pedal do you use?
No rackmounts, just a Boss chromatic tuner and noise suppressor.
Can you still find the time to practice these days and is there any techniques youd like to expand on?
I play guitar all the time. Not usually honing in on any new techniques though, usually just riffing. I would like to get better at leads though. I want to shred.
The best guitarist in hardcore right now?
Who knows. Some of my favorites would be Griff from Bitter End, and Jordan Posner from No Warning/Terror.
The next piece of gear youd like to get your hands on?
I wouldn't mind trying some kind of tube screamer or some additional distortion live. Also would like to try some other Washburns. I'm not much of a gearhead though. Once I find something that I like, I try to stick with that.
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/underdaice
No comments:
Post a Comment