I would start with some random sounds with no specific intention. Then I would ask him just react to it, and respond to whatever he heard. See if you can make something fit, nothing that you have done before, just listen to your intuition. At first it was chaos, but sometimes out of this chaos comes order. You start feeling the inspiration coming from somewhere else. Andy has a great talent for that. What’ s done is done, and we have to locate what’ s next. I wanted to encourage him to explore this way of listening and thinking.
[ CG ] Andy mentioned you would also turn off the lights. What was the benefit?
RENATO: It’ s very important because you want to take away any visual distraction. If you have your eyes open, you are always drawn back to the moment.
ANDY: I look back on it now and that may have been a big turning point for me. Being aware of what’ s going on around you musically speaking, and how to react to it.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI [ CG ] Did that experience live up to your expectations?
ANDY: I was in Miami from 1983 to 1985, and consider those to be my biggest years of overall growth. In some ways I was low man on the totem pole when it came to the Jazz Fusion guys. My roommate Teddy Kumpel was a very Schofield-influenced New York Fusion player. I kind of thought,“ OK I thought I was good!” It was kind of sink or swim, you either got inspired or you were going to get discouraged, so we all just hung together.
TEDDY KUMPEL I’ ve had the pleasure of getting to know Teddy( and his playing) via Joe Satriani’ s G4 Experience guitar camps. He’ s got a list of credits a mile long, including vocals on a Nine Inch Nails record! Teddy currently plays with Joe Jackson.
bunch more notes!
SCHOOL’ S OUT FOREVER // Danger Danger
After a brief stint as Neil Schon’ s potential replacement in Bad English, Andy joined Danger Danger. They had two number one videos on MTV, toured the globe with Alice
[ CG ] At 4:27 of the following clip, Andy nails one of Joe Satriani’ s whammy bar licks with a pinch harmonic. If you’ re looking for a brilliant example of Andy’ s ability to react in a musical moment, this is it.
Photo by Nelson Onofre
JOE SATRIANI: Andy Timmons always plays with conviction, soul and fire. He’ s mastered just about every technique on the electric guitar, and he can employ any of them flawlessly, at the right time, and always with good taste.
ANDY: I kept hearing about the University of Miami. Pat Metheny was teaching there, and the Dixie Dregs formed there. All those electric, more modern things were happening there, and that’ s where I needed to be.
[ CG ] You and Andy roomed together at the University of Miami. That must have been a great experience.
TEDDY: We all had studio tans because we were practicing the entire time. Andy and I would quiz each other on theory, play Jazz tunes, study Standards and Blues, and trade licks. We’ d play a Robben Ford solo and figure out why I was fingering it like this and he was playing it like that. We were also doing Top 40 gigs outside of school, six nights a week, six sets a night, getting the stamina thing going, learning all the Pop songs on the radio. Andy was in a band called The Edge and everybody wanted to go see them because Andy was in it. He was like a superstar already, playing a whole
Cooper, Warrant, and most notably for Andy, Kiss. Although Grunge sounded the death knell
for the likes of Danger Danger, it gave Andy the perfect opportunity to embark upon a solo career.
Andy owning“ Carpe Diem” at the Thoroughbred Music Guitar Expo circa 1993
A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS [ CG ] You’ ve been a part of both Joe Satriani’ s
Sep � Oct 2016 CollectibleGuitar. com
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