Few words can describe the fuel and raw talent behind he band Alter Bridge. This band is one of the highest acclaimed bands around. Since 2004 they’ve been delivering some of the best music, forged by some of the most talented musicians alive today. Comprised of guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Phillips and the stellar vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge has risen to the top of everyone’s MUST HAVE AND KNOW list!
Whenever RockRevolt has an opportunity to interview a guitarist of the caliber of Tremonti, we pull out our favorite guest writer and guitar virtuouso, Mike Martin. When in the presence of a master of his craft, we have to put in someone in who knows what he’s talking about! Read on about the band’s Louder Than Life experience and Tremonti’s inner workings!
You are playing at the Louder Than Life festival. Anybody on the bill you are looking forward to seeing?
Gosh, you know what? Life is so hectic, you would have to give me a rundown on everybody on there. I’m not really up to date. I know we look forward to playing.
I think the night you are playing Mastodon is there. I think Volbeat is on that night as well. Also Judas Priest.
There you go! Sounds like an awesome night! We’ve played with many of them and they are all great bands. I know Mastodon is Myles’ current favorite band. I love them as well. Judas Priest goes without saying. Volbeat is a great band. Sounds like a great bill! It’s almost like a European Festival!
Check out these amazing Alter Bridge photos from Louder Than Life taken by the legendary Chad Lee
Have you had the opportunity to play in Louisville Kentucky in the past?
I have! I actually have a Louisville Slugger to remind me of it!
Let’s talk about your solo band. How did you feel the work on your first solo record affected how you moved forward with the last Alter Bridge record?
I think overall it made me more confident on the vocal side of things. I’ve been a songwriter since I picked up the guitar. Lead guitar playing was always second fiddle. Songwriting was always my favorite thing to do. Going in singing on that album made me come back to Alter Bridge with more confidence. That spilled over into my second solo record. The more you do it the better you get at it, the more confident you get. The less you worry about it, the more you enjoy it, the better you get.
I’m assuming that Myles spends a lot of times with vocal melodies?
That’s actually my pride and joy: writing vocal melody. That’s what I feel like I am best at. Since I was a kid I’ve always done that. I just have never been able to sing them very well. So doing the solo thing is just a fun thing to do. I’ve been singing forever. When Myles and I get together, we usually put together of our favorite parts. He will have a whole part with his vocal melody and his guitar riff, and I will have my whole part with my vocal melody and my guitar riff, and we put them together. We pretty much cover all bases on our own, but we don’t like coming to the table with completed songs, because that would make the other feel like they didn’t participate.
Nice. After the new solo record, do you have plan to tour with the solo band?
Yeah. Hopefully. Right now we’re just kind of focusing on the recording, but hopefully we will get to do Shiprocked this next year. We had a blast on that last year. We are planning on doing a CD listening, pre-listening, pre-release party, and we will try to back those up to one another, and then play a tour after that.
In terms of recording projects, any plans for a new Creed album?
No. We haven’t had any contact with Scott since the last show we did. We’ve all been busy doing our own things. I think we are all just following our creative hearts at the moment. I’m really excited to work on the solo stuff in the Alter Bridge stuff. It really keeps us busy. I think we are just closer with the unit that we have now and we don’t really have too much communication with Scott, and we haven’t for couple years now.
Alter Bridge – ADDICTED TO PAIN (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
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I would be remiss if I did not ask any guitar questions? Do you have a particular favorite studio amp versus a favorite aunt that you take out on tour with you?
Amps are my favorite things in the world! I’m constantly online digging for new amps and finding cool boutique stuff. My favorites at home are a Dumble, which I’m proud to have. I love playing it. It brings out a lot of character and style. If I were playing on the Mesa/Boogie, I would play completely differently. At home I like to play the boutique stuff. My newest favorite amp is called a Van Weelden. It’s blowing my mind! It has the best cleans I’ve ever heard. It’s just crazy, classy, driven, trainy overdriven tones. One of the biggest surprises for me lately, for in studio, that is 10 times better than I thought it was going to be, is the Jim Kelly FACS. I got the head with the reverb and it’s just an amazing amp. Ever since I got it I’ve been looking for others. I want to get a combo. I use a nice 70 circuit Bludotone, (that I love) at home. I also have a train wreck that I love. Those are my favorite amps that I have at home and studio. Live, I can’t get away from the Mesa/Boogie Rectifier. That’s the powerhouse to my live show, when it comes to the big rhythms. Just recently I’ve added the new PRS Archon, which is another big shocker. I heard a lot of the PRS amps that were more voiced for bluesy rock, and not so much down tune heavy chunk rock/metal play. When I plug that thing in and it just has all the balls that you would ever want. It has a nice rich lead tone as well. That’s in my A rig. In my other rig I have a Mesa/Boogie and a Bogner Uberschall. Both rigs have a Fender Twin 65 Reissues for the cleans. I like a really nice, shimmery clean, no breakup tone, because I use my fingers a lot. I like it to be nice and bright and clear.
Do you spend any time with any amp emulation software, Kemper Profilers, or anything like that?
No. I’ve run into a lot of friends who swear by them. I’ve got the X Effects that everyone says is the best. I really love it for writing tool. It’s got some great tones on it to mix with, but as a standalone, I don’t think I could go with something digital.
It seems like when you start changing the volume, gain structure is dramatically affected. When you’re playing at lower volumes you are tempted to push up your preamp tubes a little bit more. Depending on the volume them working at, I end up tuning the ample little bit differently. I don’t notice that so much with the few and emulators that I’ve had a chance to mess with.
They swear that you could do the same thing by trying to get your tones from your natural amp and record it as that setting with the Kemper, and the Kemper should emulate that. I’m still waiting to hear it for myself.
No doubt. You are known for doing a lot of drop tunings on your six string guitars. Have you had any temptation to jump over to any seven strings?
I actually have two seven strings. Jason Suecoff, the producer out here in Florida, gave me one of his Ibanez 7-strings. Shortly thereafter, Paulie Smith gave me a single cut 7-string, that’s just a beautiful guitar. I sit down with it, and I find myself an hour into it going, “I just feel like I can get more out of the six string, just tuning it down, or a baritone guitar.” It hurts my brain a little bit, to be honest. A lifetime of playing guitar and you throw in an extra string; it’s like putting a fifth wheel on your car. It’s just strange for me.
There’s something about a drop tuning as well that you just play the tuning differently than you would standard tuning.
I like the sloppy/saggy low tuned strings that go out of tune when you hit them. I like that kind of thing that you wouldn’t get out of the seven string, because you have the string tension that is not going down. It just sounds more dangerous I guess.
Any artists, bands, or guitar players you been checking out lately? What’s on your iPod ?
It’s funny. For guitar, I’ve been learning a lot of country stuff, because I told myself I want to use more than my pick when I’m using my right hand. I do a lot of finger picking and style on rhythms, but I don’t do a lot of it on leads. So, I’m really trying to change that. I’ve been a learning a lot of country risks as of late. As far as guitar players, I think Bonamassa is really the guy that is inspired me to practice. We did a show in London with him, the Download Fest. Every guitar player at that show, the side stage, their jaws were hitting the floor. It was some of the best shit I’ve ever seen live. He’s in another league.
Derek Trucks is the best guitar player on earth now. His style is so different from mine, it’s hard for me to take his stuff up as quickly. It’s easier for me to dive into Bonamassa and try to pick up some licks out of that. I think when you get a guitar player that has learned from the age of four and five years old, and keeps to it, those are the guys are going to be unstoppable. Those are the Derek Trucks and the Bonamassas of the world.
