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Q
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Please give me a little history on who you are and what you do? When did you start playing guitar and when did you start taking your hobby to the next level? |
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A
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I started playing guitar in 1980 and took it to the next level in 1986 and have never looked back |
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Q
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Are you self taught or did you take lessons and how often do you practice? |
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A
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I am self taught on guitar and bass.. I practice at least 15 hours a week with or without a band. |
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Q
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Guitar heroes? |
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Yngwie Malmsteen - Ace Frehley - Al DiMeola - Joe Satriani |
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Q
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You were in a band called Killer Elite and gained some commercial success in the late 80s with a Top 40 hit in France. Tell me a little about your time in this band. |
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I was just out of high school and started playing in a thrash metal band called Killer Elite from 1986-1990..The song HOLY HELL reached top 10 in Brest, France back in 1987..The band played all around the East Coast and was based in Ocean City, Maryland USA.. We sounded like Venom, Motorhead, Voi Vod, Tank, Artillery and Kreator.. |
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How did you develop your sound/style? |
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I developed my sound and guitar style through years of playing and performing all styles of music and being dedicated to learning the guitar and becoming a better musician |
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Q
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Any endorsements? |
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Sfarzo Guitar Strings - Monster guitar picks - Mental Metal guitar knobs |
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Q
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What have been the advantages of having your own record label? |
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A
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Doing things my way and having no deadline to finish my compositions, ect.. I am a perfectionist when it comes to writing my songs and plus do not want a middleman to split my personal income with.. |
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Q
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Is there a pattern to your creative process when you compose? How do you structure a song? |
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A
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I start with a guitar riff , build up chords around it, add a tempo to it and then start creating my song.. |
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Q
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Any particular track that proved challenging to finish and why? |
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A
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The song Yamaya took a little more time than usual...I was looking for some harmony guitar runs within the chord structure of the song itself |
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Q
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Are you currently working on anything new? |
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Yes I am writing new songs for my next release.. |
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Q
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I believe you are good friends with Jan from Vixen and have appeared in the thank you credits on some of their albums. How did that come about? |
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I have been a big Vixen fan since day one and made contact with Jan several years ago and we started a nice friendship.. I bought one of her Carvin guitars from her 4 years ago and saw them on their last tour with the new line up.. I have a whole collection of Vixen merchandise, pictures, ect.. Jan is also my fav female guitarist too and she rocks... |
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Q
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When you are playing live, how much do you improvise? |
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A
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Sometimes I will improvise to keep things more interesting for myself and to entertain the crowd I am playing for.. |
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Q
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As a freelance guitarist, would you tailor your playing or think they ‘hired me for me’? |
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I would do a little bit of both to keep things in perspective and professional |
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Q
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If you could create a fantasy super group - what would be the line-up and why? |
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A
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Frost - Drums / Billy Sheehan - Bass / Matt Barlow - vocals / Matts Olaussan - Keyboards / Yngwie Malmsteen and JD Bradshaw on guitars... |
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Q
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And lastly, have you played on computer games for fun such as Guitar Hero and if so, what do you think of them? |
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A
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Its pretty cool but a bit confining for me. lol. I want one of my songs on Guitar Hero!! |
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To check out more about JD, visit
http://www.myspace.com/acaciaentertainment |
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