work better than others, and why some keys Roses stuff. Then my sister who was closest are more sing-able for an audience than others. to me was all about Stone Temple Pilots,
to eight hours a day of practice.
That stuff is pretty important! Radiohead, and Pearl Jam. [GTR] When you were coming up you spent My sister always used to put on the Bodyguard Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Queen, The Clash, The
a lot of time studying shredders like Joe soundtrack by Whitney Houston. I once Police, The Cure, U2, and Radiohead because
Satriani and John Petrucci, as well as listening complained to her that I hated the guitar work I grew up with lots of different styles being
to bands like The Beatles and The Police. In on it, or lack of. She said to me “I just love the played in the house!
the framework of what you’re doing now, whole thing. I don’t care about drums, bass, what are some of the key things you learned or guitar. I just love Whitney Houston’s voice [GTR] There is an awesome post on the
from studying such a wide variety of music and I love these songs. This notion kinda blew Hillsong web site from entitled Life and Lessons
and artists? my mind! It changed my views on what made from the Studio > GTRMag.info/HillsongPost <
[Michael] My father was quite strict and music good. It made me start asking questions where you shared the following insights…
believed that any music with lyrics was bad for like, why do people love certain songs, and why us kids – lucky I had four older siblings who do people hate some styles of music?
From age fifteen to eighteen, it was straight back
to the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Byrds,
1.
were all obsessed with music. They all had their
ways of sneaking music into the house.
Try to always work with passionate,
positive people.
I started hanging out with some of the guys from
church when I was around thirteen or fourteen,
My oldest sister had every single Madonna and I got crazy about Nuno Bettencourt and
and Michael Jackson album. My oldest brother Extreme, Dream Theatre, Steve Vai and Joe
had all the AC/DC, Stray Cats and Van Halen Satriani. That stuff taught me about technique.
albums. My middle sister had all the Guns N’ This was invaluable to me and I was doing six
2. Value your first reactions to a song.
3. Try to only work on music that you actually
believe in.
4.
Respect
the
chemistry
and
culture
amongst the people you are working with.
5.
The more you listen to a song you are
working on, the less likely you are to hear
it like the average listener would.
6.
Make sure your surroundings are designed
to help you create.
7. Either love (new) music or don’t create it!
8. Plan break times wisely – a quick break
for dinner might just save the song.
Sometimes, you just need time away from
it to gain perspective.
9.
The lead vocal is the first thing to draw the
average person in, so always keep it the
focus.
10. People
are
drawn
to
honesty
and
conviction. Fashion and excitement will
always help the song but not make the
song.
Noting that post was from 2014, are there any
additions you’d like to make to that list?
[Michael] I think I wrote those over a few
days... I find them quite confronting. I still think
it’s a pretty good list!
30
Sep Oct 2017
GearTechRec.com