MarkTremonti.net interview with Mark Tremonti at the Croc Rock in Allentown, PA

2008-07-25

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Alex: I’m Alex at marktremonti.net and I’m sitting here with the man, the legend himself, Mark Tremonti.  How are you?

Mark: Good.  How you doing?

A: Very good.  This is probably the coolest thing I ever did.

M:  Oh, come on.

A:  So I’m doing pretty well.  So we’re here in the Croc Rock in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  You spent the summer over in Europe doing festivals, and you did a few shows in the U.S., I guess you just had a couple weeks off, and now you’re back.  So what’s it like playing in the Northeast?

M:  The Northeast has kind of always been the hot bit for rock’n’roll, so it’s great.

A:  How does it compare to elsewhere?

M:  Everywhere is different, you know.  Like the U.K., and Germany, and all the European places we play are absolutely fanatical.  The closest thing to it in the States would be the Northeast, and Texas, if you combine those markets.  But yeah, everywhere is different.

A:  So what’s the most interesting place you’ve ever played a show?

M:  Probably when we played in Switzerland, we played a festival where we rolled off the bus, and we were in the middle of two mountain ranges.  The stage was just set up right in the valley between two...

A:  Oh, was that Greenfield?

M:  I don’t know what that was called...

Michael Tremonti:  That was Greenfield, yeah.

A:  I’ve seen videos, it’s gorgeous.

M:  Yeah, incredible.

A:  So, I guess you’re touring the U.S. now, and then you’re going to Australia with Disturbed, and then going back to Europe for the fall.  Do you have any broad, long-term plans for beyond that?  Like next year, with touring or recording?

M:  Just putting everything together, you know.  Logging all my ideas on my computer, and getting together with Myles to start working on the next record.  I’ve been working on an instructional DVD that should come out next month.  Just, staying as busy as I can.  Who knows what’s going to happen next year?  We’ve just got to be prepared.  I’ve heard talk about going to Japan next summer.  I just want to make sure that we’re ready to record a record if we’re running all over the place.

A:  Do you have a timetable for your next record?

M:  We’ll go in the studio at some point next year.  It all depends on the schedule, that’s why I want to make sure that the writing of it is real solid and ready to go whenever we have a spare moment to get in the studio.

A:  So where do you do most of your writing?  On the road, or...

M:  Anywhere.  Like here, I’ll be writing today, on the bus at night, when my son goes to sleep at home.  It gets harder and harder, the older my son gets, to stay on top of things.  That’s why when I come on tour it’s all business, as soon as I get here.

A:  So where does most of the collaboration with Myles happen?  On the road as well, or before the recording?

M:  Sometimes, a lot of times it happens... it’s been happening in the breakfast nook in my house with acoustic guitars, put songs together.  On the road, soundchecks, we’ll just jam ideas and see what happens.  When it comes to crunch time it’s just me and Myles sit down with acoustic guitars, and we’ll have a rehearsal pad set up where the whole band will get together.

A:  So how do you go about writing your solos?

M:  That’s always the last thing.  The song will be written, and then I’ll improvise my way through it every time we play it, and certain ideas will stick.  After I get my guitar tracks done, that’s when I’ll really feel the pressure to have to turn them out.

A:  Here’s one that I know a lot of people are wondering.  In "Brand New Start", in the solo of that song, sort of towards the beginning, you make kind of a weird sound.  It’s like "eeuuu."  You know?  How do you do that?

M:  That’s just a distorted, me riding the wah.  I think I was playing a note before it and paused to do another note, and in that pause the feedback kind of rang out.  Just one of those chance happenings.

A:  Kind of hard to reproduce then?

M:  Yeah.

A:  On a different topic, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?

M:  Superpower?  Oh geez, only one!

A:  Yeah, it’s tough.

M:  The power of healing.

A:  That’s nice.  You could do a lot of good, I guess.  Alright, so you and Myles were recently featured on the new Sevendust album, Hope and Sorrow.  How did that come to be?

M:  John [Connolly, rhythm guitarist] had just called and asked.  We’re real close with the Sevendust guys.  Our kids actually go to school together, so we’re one big family.  He just called and, of course, we went and did it.  The solo that I recorded on there, they actually moved a little bit in the mix.

A:  A little different than you thought?

M:  Yeah, it was still cool.  They just pushed it like a half-beat forward or backwards or something.  But it was fun to do.

A:  So you’ve worked with a lot of bands, you had your solo with Fozzy, and Bury Your Dead, you produced that Sumbersed album.  If you could work with one of your idols, dead or alive, who would it be?

M:  Stevie Ray.  I don’t know how I’d work with him, I’d just be in awe of his playing.  But yeah, it’d be great.  I’d love to write a song with Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney.

A:  Cool, cool.  If you were to build an Alter Bridge club house, in one of your guys’ back yards, you know, somewhere where you’d all hang out, what would you put in it?  Couches, TVs?

M:  Acoustic guitar, no TVs, stereo, some beers, just whatever it takes to jam.

A:  Next month you’ve got your DVD coming out - Mark Tremonti: the Sound and the Story - how did you decide to do a DVD?

M:  I think I was approached a long time ago by Hal Leonard or someone about doing something like that.  At the time, I just didn’t feel like... I was learning so much that I felt like a year from now I’d be mad.  I even say that in the DVD.  Finally, I decided to do it because I’d just push it to the end of my life and never get it done.  My brother Dan always sees me trying to strategize with investments on real estate and all this and that.  And he’s like, "you never use what you’ve done with your career to try and go out and do something".  I’ve always been a huge fan of instructional DVDs, and Dan really pushed me to get it done, because he set up a whole production company, and kind of masterminded the whole thing.

A:  He does all the artwork and stuff for your CDs.

M:  Yeah.

A:  Well, he does a good job, that’s for sure.  So, you’re constantly working to improve your guitar-playing abilities.  What kind of stuff are you doing right now?

M:  Lately I’ve just been logging ideas and writing.  And just improvising a lot.  Instead of trying to tackle a lot of complex things, I’m just trying to get my feel better, and make sure every note I land on is real solid.  I think that’s the most important part of playing for any guitar player.  When you’re younger you want to learn how to play real fast, and you don’t have any control.  It’s the landings that you have to get good at.

A:  You said you wanted to improve your improvisation, sort of fill the gap between power chords and balls-out shredding.  How did you go about improving your improv?

M:  I’ll just put on songs and play along.  When I’m with my son, I get him to go into my studio and he’ll play drums.  I get to play guitar and watch him at the same time.

A:  You once said you had gotten into flamenco a while ago, and that some day you might be seen at an Olive Garden somewhere.  Is that anywhere on the horizon?

M:  No, I still have a really cool flamenco guitar, a Ramirez guitar, that sits collecting dust right now.  While I have this band and everything else, I don’t want to put anything in the way of trying to be the best at what we’re actually putting out on our records.  I don’t see us doing a flamenco tune any time soon.

A:  This is a question from one of our members.  What are your thoughts on games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and would you ever consider contributing a song to one of those games?

M:  Yeah, Van Halen is coming out with a Guitar Hero and they asked for...

Michael:  "Come to Life", I think.

M:  Yeah, I think "Ties That Bind" just became available for download off the internet for the game, if you got XBOX 360.  I think the best part about that game is creating awareness for bands and guitar players.  Hopefully it will spawn a whole new breed of guitar players.  I know it’s not he same thing, like in Rock Band it seems like when you’re playing drums in Rock Band you can apply that to a real drum set.  You can’t as much with guitar hero, but hopefully it will make people want to try it.

A:  So what’s your favorite breakfast food?

M:  Breakfast food?  Man, it’s a coin toss between French toast and pancakes.

A:  What was your most embarrassing moment on stage with Alter Bridge?

M:  Probably, you’d probably think when I fell in Chicago in front of everybody.  But that wasn’t embarrassing because you just play it off.  I think the most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt on stage is when we were in Austria playing a festival.  A lot of the current bands that had dueling lead guitar players, you know, you got Triviums and Avenged Sevefolds, and Opeth, and a lot of great bands were playing.  And right as I’m walking up on stage, my tech told me that all my amps blew out, and I only had one of them left, and it was the worst amp of the bunch.  I had to play with the worst tone in the world.  Everybody else in the band felt they had a bad show, and it was just one of those moments on stage where it was just like, "get me off of here!"  I hate feeling like that.

A:  Did you ever get over it or are you still having nightmares?

M:  Yeah, we went back to Austria and killed it, and did our best to win them back over.  The funny thing is after that show, we went back to Austria to headline our own show, and I think it sold out.  They liked that bad show!

A:  Have you ever gotten a really bad itch during a song, where you had to stop playing to scratch it?

M:  Never, no.  I’d maybe just do it with the microphone if I had to.

A:  Well, it’s probably coming, so consider yourself lucky.  If you could have one fast food restaurant on your bus, traveling with you everywhere, what would it be?

M:  Do you consider... oh man, what are those taco joints...

A:  Taco Bell?

M:  Not Taco Bell, something a little healthier.  Gotta have some kind of healthy Taco.  Chipotle.  Nice and healthy.  Or Moe’s.

A:  This is another question from one of our members.  If you could learn another instrument, or skill, ‘cause you’re pretty much as good as it gets on guitar...

M:  Oh come on, I got a long way to go.

A:  Well if you could learn another instrument or skill, what would it be?

M:  I’d love to have more time to spend on the drums, instrument-wise.  I’ve got a V-Drum set at home, and every now and then I’ll attempt to play it.  For some reason, my wrist always kills me when I play drums, and I have no idea why.  If I’m hitting the hi-hat for too long I just have to stop.  So that’s someone telling me not to play drums.

A:  Better leave that to Scott, huh?

M:  Yeah!

A:  Another question from the same guy: how much would it take for you to use a Strat on your next album?

M:  It wouldn’t take a penny.  I love Strats, I love Teles.  Actually Paul Reed Smith made me pretty much a PRS Strat.  So that’ll be on the next record.  It’s a three single-coil, Alder body, jumbo-fret, maple neck.

A:  That’s different from what we see on stage.

M:  That’s what I told him, I said I love Paul Reed Smiths, I don’t have any need for any other guitar, unless I was playing a bluesy tune.  When I’m learning a Stevie Ray song I’m not going to play my PRS, because you just don’t get the vibe.  So they made me a three single-coil, and they also made one for Carlos [Santana], and Carlos loves it.

A:  Your rig is always changing.  You’re always adding new things, changing amps and stuff, how do you discover new equipment and work it into what you’re using?

M:  Every chance I get to go to a boutique shop, or online.  Right now, there’s a site called Ray’s Guitars, and I deal with a guy named Lance.  I had gear stored in my house from years and years, and I had no use for most of it.  So I just gave it all to him, said sell it...

A:  I saw all that stuff on eBay.

M:  Yeah, I said, "sell all this stuff, and give me a balance for whatever I need."  He gets all kind of boutique stuff, so right now he’s sending me a Two-Rock amp.  I played one up in New York, and they’re incredible.  It’s an expensive amp, but since I can get it for free...

A:  Yeah, why not?  Alright we got one more question.  How have the different producers you’ve worked with affected your playing?  You worked with [Michael] "Elvis" Baskette on your last album, and it came out really well.

M:  Lead playing or rhythm playing, or just...

A:  Just overall?

M:  It seems like, other than John Kurzweg on all the Creed stuff, neither of the guys were really great guitar players, they were just great producers.  Ben and Elvis were just... so I would just cut a solo and it’s not like they’re gonna be like, "ohhh you added that flat five in there," you know, so they’re just like, "oh great, yeah!"  Actually when I cut the solos on the first record, I went to another room, without the producer, with just the other engineer, so he could continue doing that stuff.  Because there’s not really a lot of input a producer can have in a guitar solo if you don’t do it yourself.

A:  Alright, well that wraps things up.

M:  Cool!

A:  Alright well, thanks a lot, I’m sure people will enjoy it.

M:  Yeah man, thank you.