BRIAN MCDONALDBy Nicky Baldrian
BRIAN MCDONALD
By
Nicky Baldrian
Just released on
MTM Music, is the long awaited second solo album from Brian
McDonald, fans of his first album "Desperate Buisness",
will be foaming at the mouth, as each song is pure hard rock and
AOR. As with "Desperate Business", "Wind It
Up" includes the talents of respected guitar virtuoso Reb
Beach (Winger/Dokken/Fiona etc..) with additional contributions
from Italian guitar player Alex Masi.
"Wind It Up" is one of the most exciting albums to be
released by the MTM camp this year. I caught with Brian McDonald
and it turns out that the man is very passionate about his music,
so read on and make sure you purchase "Wind It Up", an
essential addition to your collection.
Nicky:- Tell me about your history and career?
Brian:- My musical history began very early with parents who
listened to Classical music every night when I was very young. I
remember picking parts out on the piano while listening back to
the music they would record from the radio on an old Telefunken
reel-to-reel when our family lived in Wiesbaden, Germany. I got
the chance, starting when I was five years old, to learn piano
from a fantastic pianist, Johann Franz. From that time on I
composed and played primarily Classical music until my later
school years where I met some musicians that would later become
the Brian McDonald Group. But before that happened, I was the
front man with Dillinger, a Midwestern rock band for about 3
years or so. When that group disbanded in the mid 1980's,
guitarist Will Hodges, drummer Dave Adams, bassist Andrew Wilkins
and I got together, recorded four songs on an old four-track
cassette recorder and submitted the first tape we made to a
couple of managers that had an office on the same block as our
warehouse practice space. They signed me to a management deal and
from there it was a short time before I met Tom Vickers, who was
then at A&M's publishing company. And about a year after
signing that contract the deal with CBS was signed for the Brian
McDonald Group.
A few years after the release of "Desperate Business",
I was writing with Fiona who was preparing to go into the studio
to record her next album. It was then that producer Beau Hill
(Winger, Warrant, Europe, Alice Cooper etc..) came to us and
asked us to write some lyrics and possibly a song or two for the
Europe record he was working on. We wrote the words to "Til
My Heart Beats Down Your Door" for their "Prisoners In
Paradise" album and also wrote a few more thinking of that
band in mind. But they already had all those great songs on
there. I am not sure if the band got to hear the songs we wrote
with them in mind or not. Anyway, after that I went to Paris to
write and co-produce an album and write for Marie France, who was
a great vampy French vocalist and performer. When I returned home
from there I had the desire to return to something I really had
wanted to do for such a long time, and that was to get back to
writing and playing piano and orchestral music. So, I dove
into studies with some great composers - among them were Judith
Lang Zaimont, Alex Lubet, and Dominic Argento. So it was great to
get back to that.
Nicky:-
Tell us about your current band, music, style?
Brian:- The current release "Wind It Up" is primarily a
studio album recorded at my studio in Minneapolis and features my
friend Reb Beach (Winger/Dokken). When I had decided that I would
record this album, I immediately called Reb and he was psyched to
do the record with me. So Reb played on many of the tracks. In
addition to that, I was fortunate to have Alex Masi play on a few
tracks as well. For the drums, it was primarily me playing with
heavy influences by Abe Laboriel Jr. Using the drum kit he
recorded in another studio - one that was excellent sounding to
match the production sound I was after, I took the tracks I had
played and brought in his sounds and styles in places and also
played many of the songs in ways that I wanted for each of the
songs' feel. I also played the bass tracks throughout as well as
the keyboards.
I would describe the music as a mixture of all of my rock
influences across several decades, these influences include Led
Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Kansas, Foreigner, The Babys, Def
Leppard, and Chicago. When I write, I keep songs in my head and
edit them for awhile, then when I feel they are finished, I'll
record them in the studio, bringing in the players I hear for
each particular song. The style also is influenced by symphonic
music as well, as you might hear in "The Night Heaven Falls
Down" and the outro to "Head Back Home". So you
will hear, especially in the chord progressions and harmonies,
classical chord structures and melodic lines and sequences. A
good example of this is the tune "Amnesty" and
"The Night Heaven Falls Down" on the new release.
Nicky:- Tell us
about the making of your latest CD and how you hooked up with
MTM?
Brian:- "Wind It Up" was recorded in Minneapolis at my
studio - all the vocals, bass, and keyboards were done there. As
far as the guitars, as I mentioned earlier, Reb Beach and Alex
Masi played on the tracks for rhythm guitars and leads as well.
As far as the connection to MTM, that goes back to before the
company was born. In the mid-1990's Magnus Söderkvist, who was
then with another record company contacted me to talk about doing
another album. I had been writing piano and orchestral music
primarily at that time, but had also been writing rock tunes
along the way as well, just for my own pleasure. Magnus asked me
to send him some tunes, so I sent over maybe 30 or so songs I
believe, and when he got them, he was excited to do a record at
that point. For various reasons and timing on both of our parts,
we didn't jump into doing the album right away. But not too long
after that, he co-founded MTM with Mario and Thomas, and after
some discussion we struck upon the record deal between us. Right
from the start and up until now this relationship has been a
great musical partnership. They have given me the time and
artistic license to create an album that I like everything about.
Nicky::- How did
Reb Beach and Alex Masi get involved with the project?
Brian:- I met Reb when he was a young virtuoso studio guitarist
in New York - he was playing in major sessions for producers like
Arif Mardin and Beau Hill. Beau produced my first release on CBS
- "Desperate Business" - which we recorded at the old
Atlantic Studios on Broadway in New York. After hearing my songs
and we had both been working with them in the pre-production
environment, Beau asked if I would consider having Reb come in
and play on the album. I was skeptical, but agreed to try him
out. The result was that in a few days, without any direction
from Beau or myself, this young kid came in and played the most
unbelievable rhythms and leads on every track. We would come in
at the end of the day and just sit there in awe - he brought the
songs up to the next level.
So, in my mind, it
was the only way to go when I set out to record the new album
that I call up Reb and get him involved. He was preparing at the
time to go out with Dokken, and recorded guitars for me instead
of starting his own solo record or taking vacation like he should
have been. So I consider myself very fortunate to
have a great friend in Reb Beach. And Alex Masi, I have been a
big fan of his since his first solo album hit in the early
1990's. One night while recording "Some Hearts" (which
is available only as a bonus track on the Japanese release), I
remember saying aloud "this track would be awesome with Alex
Masi playing on it." So I set about to find him on the web.
I sent him a note and he was into it so I sent some songs out to
him and he played the solos in his studio in California, and sent
the tracks back through the mail. I brought his tracks into the
sessions and of course, they sounded great. I would like him to
play on more tunes in the future as have recently written some
classical influenced rock pieces.
Nicky:- Tell us
about your first CD.
Brian:- "Desperate Business" was recorded at Atlantic
Studios in New York in 1987 for CBS records. It was produced by
Beau Hill (Ratt, Warrant, Winger, Alice Cooper, etc) and
engineered by the best engineer in the business - Stephen Benben.
The album was recorded over the period of about two months and
featured Reb Beach on guitars. The album did great in the
Southwest and Midwest U.S. and in European countries as well. I
have been getting hundreds of email notes from people wondering
when that will be re-released on CD, so I think I have
underestimated the impact and success of that album in Europe and
the U.S. I love listening to it because you can hear Reb on there
before Winger developing that style that made him so unique and
appreciated later as one of rock's finest guitarists.
Nicky:- What
artists influence you and your music?
Brian:- For rock music the influences include Led Zeppelin, Paul
McCartney, Kansas, Foreigner, The Babys, Def Leppard, and
Chicago. Classical music influences are in there as well and
these include Maurice Ravel, Stravinsky, Gerschwin, Mozart, and
Beethoven. I love rock and Classical music equally and can't and
would never want to separate their influences on my writing
style. And I consider it flattery when someone hears these
influences in my songs or piano/orchestral pieces.
Nicky:- What advice
do you have for aspiring musicians?
Brian:- If, every day you wake up in the morning and you are
thinking about writing or playing music, and it's the last thing
you think about before you go to bed as well, AND you can't get
it off your mind throughout the hours every day, it is likely
that you should be committing time and effort to your music. If
this is the case, then you owe it to yourself to do something for
yourself and for your music. From that point on you have to look
inside yourself and determine what your own objectives are. After
you have found out what they are specifically through some soul
searching, find the shortest path to the closest attainable goal
and go for it. If it's playing live gigs or writing/recording
songs or whatever else, keep moving toward your passion and don't
stop. But this advise is likely not needed for people that have
the passion - they will do it anyway they can because they simply
cannot imagine living without doing these things.
Nicky:- What's
next?
Brian:- I have been writing music since finishing "Wind It
Up" and will continue writing both rock music and other
kinds of music. I am excited to write some tunes for my friend
Reb Beach - he is recording a solo record at this time and has
asked me to write some tunes. Also, the response to "Wind It
Up has been nothing short of phenomenal, so I respond to every
email or letter I am getting so I can keep in touch with the
listeners who like the music. I also have some other projects on
deck as well. So, whatever happens, I know I'll be writing music,
and will keep writing for the next rock release. I'll post news
on the www.brianmcdonald.com web site as I take on new projects, work
with other artists or begin recording another album.