By Nicky BaldrianBy Nicky Baldrian
For me Italian
virtuoso Alex Masi was always one of the more proficient guitar
heroes of the late eighties, his music was always very
entertaning to listen to and it spoke in many different
characteristics. Edward Van Halen, Joe Satriani, George Lynch and
Yngwie Malmsteen may be amongst the most respected rock
guitarists in the world, but it's players like Alex Masi, Shawn
Lane, Al Di Meola, Joey Tafolla, Ronnie Le Tekro, Kee Marcello,
Lanny Cordola, Jeff Waters and Chris DeGramo who show the most
compelling and inventive compositions. Over the years Alex
Masi has embellished his songs with
distinctive melody ideas that has always kept his listeners
interested with his dazzling virtuoso display, he could play the
fastest guitar shredding ever, and still tease the listener with
soulful solo prologues that led to characterise his technically
individual style.
Despite recording basically all the music for the movie
"Black Roses", Masi is still relatively unknown to the
majority of the rock masses. His recent album "In The Name
Of Bach" takes on classical compositions over guitar
playing, and is a most endearing release which Alex has pulled
off admirably without going over the top and spoiling the essence
of the melodies like what Yngwie Malmsteen did on his Bach
tribute.
Nicky:- Tell us
about the new album, what made you choose to honour Johan
Sebastian Bach in this way?
Alex:- I've been studying classical music since I was a little
kid and even before that I was exposed to classical music as a
toddler with my parents playing Mozart, Beethoven and J.S.Bach in
the house. Also the city of Venice (Italy) where I was born has
always been packed with baroque music played in concerts,
churches, private functions etc so that particular
"sound" has been with me pretty much since I was born.
J.S Bach is in mine and in many other people's opinion the
greatest musician that ever lived with his total approach in
theory, technique, feel, philosophical view of art and love of
structure and architecture in music.
I live in Los Angeles but I'm doing this interview from Venice
where I am right now and just the other day I was in St.Mark's
Basilica and the organist started playing the famous Toccata and
Fugue in D minor which I also covered on the album, my immediate
thought was: This is so cool, it came full circle, from the days
when I was a little boy hearing this to now where I recorded it
myself and I hear it again where it all started for me...pretty
touching moment.
Nicky:- How did you
get started in music?
Alex:- I started
playing piano, classical stuff, at 7 or 8 and then the maid we
had in the house exposed me to some Rock'n'Roll of the times,
Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple etc and I fell in love with the
guitar.
Nicky:- Tell us
about your previous records?
Alex:- I've recorded two EP's with my Italian band in the 80's,
it was called Dark Lord and I think we started the whole metal
movement in Italy. I recorded six solo albums once I got to
America, my favourite ones are the
last two though, "In The Name Of Bach included", the
other one is "The Watcher" that came out in '97.
Nicky:- Tell us
about the making of "In The Name Of Bach"?
Alex:- It was all recorded at my house in Studio City California,
I used a 16 track digital recorder that I had just bought. A lot
of research went into the pieces, transcribing, adapting from
keyboard and violin to the guitar, some notes are extremely low,
down to a low A sometimes... I like the fact that the guitar
offers a lot of attack just like the harpichord does, so the feel
of baroque can be more easily approximated.
Nicky:- My friend
Andrew Paul just thought of a good one! Robert Fripp(King
Crimson) organized a guitar orchestra, would you like to do a
"rock" version, and if so who would you have in it and
why?
Alex:- I love Robert Fripp, always loved King Crimson, somebody
who really doesn't care about trends or record industry crap,
Yes, I've always thought it'd be a great idea to put together an
orchestra or at least a chamber ensemble that would include some
of my favourite players playing parts written by me specifically
for them.
I also think guitarists and instrumentalists in general need to
go beyond the concept of being able to express themselves only
through their given instrument, being limited to the specifics of
any instrument means overlooking everything that has to do with
the pure idea of music. Bach did exactly that, towards the end he
wrote music like the Art of Fugue which wasn't intended for any
specific instrument and has been performed on about every
possible instrument to this day. A poet isn't limited by his
choice of pens...
Nicky:- What
artists influence you and your music?
Alex:- Way too many, Glenn Gould, Allan Holdsworth, Bach, Handel,
Corelli, Vivaldi, Biber, Shawn Lane, John McLaughlin, Blackmore,
Steve Howe (the old days), Keith Jarret, Jaco Pastorius etc
Nicky:- What do you
think of the classically influenced Italian bands like Rhapsody,
Empty Tremor etc?
Alex:- No, I'm afraid I never heard those Italian bands you
mentioned, I heard of them but haven't heard their music,
hopefully I will soon
Nicky:- What are
your memories of the eighties when you labeled under the guitar
hero banner?
Alex:- It's pretty much a haze of alcohol, sex and a lot of other
things that were freely offered to every recording musician at
that time, not a lot of great music but a lot of great times
nonetheless, I treasure the good memories...
Now I'm a lot more focused and I'm definetely a much better
musician so you make your own conclusion...
Nicky:- What advice
do you have for aspiring musicians?
Alex:- Quit...No, if you're really serious about it, study your
ass off, not just technique, which is a big mistake all young
players make, but music overall, theory, harmony, composition,
study all the music from the past and from
other countries as well and study the jazz greats. Art Tatum on
piano can still blow away any shredder that has ever lived.
Nicky:- Defy the
term "SHRED"?
Alex:- I've never been comfortable with that term, I grew up
listening to amazing musicians as I mentioned earlier but I never
thought of categorizing them as shredders or any other silly
adjective that in my opinion only limits greatly the actual
importance of musical content. Some people play very fast
sequences of notes, like Holdsworth or Malmsteen or John
McLaughlin while others don't, like Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk,
Eric
Clapton etc and I challenge anybody to limit the importance of
their music based only on the technical factor, it's childish.
Nicky:- How did you
get involved with the Black Roses movie?
Alex:- Back in 1987 a friend who was putting together the
soundtrack for a movie his dad was producing asked me to
contribute a couple of songs for that one and I found myself in
the studio with Carmine Appice, Chuck Wright and the extremely
talented Mark (at the time) Free, there were a couple of good
numbers...
Nicky:- Are you
playing any shows for "In The Name Of Bach"?
Alex:- Not at the moment, as I said I'm very busy recording the
band and the other instrumental album and I would need two or
three extra players to join me on stage to pull off the intricate
four or sometimes five counterpoint voices included in those
pieces but I'm thinking of a simplified version to perform during
the hard rock band concert.
Nicky:- What's
next?
Alex:- As soon as I get back to America I'll finish the band rock
album with vocals etc (we got solos and some vocals to finish),
then I'll pick up the solo album from where it was left, it's
just me and a drummer doing some wild
progressive music. After that I have planned some touring and
another classical album and even a project that might involve my
girlfriend while I stay in the shadow pounding away at the
equipment.