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this page : the great kat / rob balducci / brook thompson / troy stetina

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THE GREAT KAT CyberSpeed For CyberKat - By Guido Mercati

The Great KatHow did "little Kat" get started playing guitar and violin ?

First of all , The Great Kat is a juilliard graduate violin virtuoso turned shred guitar genius , the reincarnation of Beethoven and changing the face of classical music by bringing it on the masses using metal !!! Wake up !!! After listeining to Classical music such as Beethoven , Mozart , Bach and Haydn , since birth , i began playing the piano at the age of 7 and decided to become a violin virtuoso at the age of 9 . I won a scolarship to The Juilliard School Of Music in New York City at the age of 15 on the violin and after 6 years at Juilliard , i graduaded with honors . I won the Artists International Competition and performed my solo violin debut at Carnegie Recital Hall , toured the U.S.S , Mexico and England , was the Concertmaster of the Juilliard Shool Pre-College Orchestra and won numerous other competitions and awards in violin . After graduading from Juiilard and realizing that Classical Music is DEAD , i decided to take Classical into the 21st Century with modern popular music . After hearing all forms of popular music , i came across a Judas Priest video and realized that I have to Metallizze Classical Music , by mixing it with Metal !!! The Great Kat is the only Violin/Guitar Virtuoso in history since Niccolo' Paganini !!!

How do you go about composing your music ?

Composition process for CyberSpeeding Classical Music : !-Choose exciting , powerfull classical work , 2-Analyze the entire score , 3-Play it on the violin and guitar , 4-Edit , arrange and reorcheastrete the entire score to combine the actual authentic instrumentation and authentic music with a Metal band , 5-Perform the actual violin parts on both the violin and electric guitar note for note !!!

What are your most recently projects and othe news ?

The new Cd Cyberspeed from The high priestess of Guitar Shred is "Bloody Vivaldi" !!! The Great Kat has now inflicted more pain and abuse upon this inferior , beggar world with the sick , new music video "Torture Chamber" !!!

What guitars and other equipment do tou favor to get your sound ?

Guitars : Guild , Gibson Flying V , Jackson Flying V and Marshall 100 Watt Stack . Violins : Alvarez Electric Guitars , 18th Century Irish Acoustic Violin and 17th Century Italian Acoustic Violin .

Can we hope in your shred instrumental release in the next future for Shrapnel Records ?

The Great Kat will be releasing a new Shred/Classical Cyberspeed Cd soon on my own record label TPR Music !!! This will feature a Cyberspeed Version of the powerfull Wagner's "Reinzi" Overture !!! This will be the first Cd ever to combine a Metal band with an actual Symphony Orchestra (Horns , Winds , Tympani , Strings etc...) !!!

The Great KatI can see a come back of neo-classical shred with the new cds by great masters of the past : Yngwie , MacAlpine , Gilbert , Vinnie Moore ... What do you think about these players ?

WHO ?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!

Can we hope in a orchestral work more long that your latest cds ? And without vocals ?

All Great Kat Cds will be short , fast , brillant an dbe the new classical/shred music of the next Millennium !!! Wake up !!! Everything in the 21st Century will be short and to the point !!! The vocals that are used on the Kat Cds are meant to wake you dead , lethargic losers out of your sleep !!!

What do you think about other music style like jazz-fusion and progressive ?

The only music in the world that matters is Classical Cyberspeed Music !!! This is the music that Beethoven would be composing if he were alive in this Internet-Fast-Moving world !!!

Give me some pratical advices to a young guitar players around the world ...

PRACTICE YOUR BUTT ........... OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.greatkat.com


ROB BALDUCCI Perfect Balance - By Matt Cafissi

Rob Balducci's BalanceRob , what are your most recently completed projects and why many problems for print Mantra's Cd ...

My most recent projects are my next record Mantra and a compilation cd called Eyebleed which is a cd only available through MP3 Site . The cd includes two songs from Mantra , 3 Live songs and two demo songs called "Of The Earth" and "Dementia" . The problem i am having with Mantra is ... I want to find a good deal that satisfies me and is better than my last deal . A lot of artists today are releasing Cd's themselves , which is fine . But i do not want to do that yet ... I will wait and see if i can get a label who believes in the music as much as i do . I am speaking with Steve Vai about maybe putting it out on his Favored Nations label , so we will see .

I have listening some tracks from Mantra's Cd on your web Site . This is more modern without iper-fast-shred-fury ... i like it , beautiful !!!

dyujI like the new songs a lot ! I am very proud of my progression from the Balance record . My songs writing is getting even better now . The songs u have heard are just the tip of the iceberg heheheheheee ... there is a lot more playing on this record then my previous Cd . But i still keep my attention on melody . I like to treat the Guitar as a Voice . My songs have a chorus and verse ... like vocal songs ... they are not just vehicles for me to solo , i think this comes across in my music . it is filled with a lot of emotion .

You are a friend of Satch & Vai , tell me about this experiences and rapports !!!

I have been friendas with Joe and Steve for many years . i consider them to be the best players . They have given me mouch inspiration and i enjoy listening to there music a lot ! As far as rapport's or stories nothing to interesting ... just basic kind of stuff . How i first go to speak to them was by sending them some copies of my early demos Balance . they both gave me there criticisms and opinions on what i could do to make my playing better and stuff like that . i am very appreciative of there friendship and i would love to someday play on the same bill as one of them ...

Rob BalducciYour best albums of guitar or other in this period ...

I do not like much of the music that is out at this time . I do like the new Dream theater Cd , i like the new Sting Cd , Ultra Zone's Steve Vai , Jeff Beck's last records "Who Else" was incredible cd ... I no a lot of people hated the last Metallica record ... but i like it alot ... you cannot expect artists to say the same ... you have to progress and try new things and new area's ... so that is what they are doing ... and i respect it alot . I also like the new Prince Cd ... Rave until the year 2000 ... great Cd and a very under rated guitarists . He is an incredible player and songwriter ...

The future of guitar it's ... Internet ?

The future of guitar is really up to everybody out there . The new technology is just moving so fast ... I predict a new form of the instrument to appear in the next couple of years . since the history of guitar it really has not changed that much . So something will be introduced that is going to blow are heads away and it will not be accepted by the masses , not at first . As far as the Internet is concerned alot more artist's will be releasing there own music and not depensing on the record companies ... It's already starting as we speak ...

www.robbalducci.com    www.mp3.com/robbalducci


BROOK THOMPSON 7th Heaven - By Matt Cafissi

Brook ThompsonBrook , how did you get interested in music ?

I remember first being interested in music when i was about 8 years old . Music was constantly played in the house . My parents weren't musicians but loved music , especially my father . I used to listen to old Beatles records and at school my friends and i put on concerts for the smaller kids where we would mine to Beatles songs . When i was 15 i started playing guitar for real . My mother bought me a cheap acoustic guitar and that was it , i was hooked ! My parents split up around this time so i think it was a release for me . I remember i broke my left arm a few months after i started guitar , but it didn't stop me playing . I showed my younger sister how to play the chords with her ledt hand and i strummed them with my good right hand , which must have looked strange ! Soon i started listening to Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page . Man , did i want to be Jimmy Page ! The next guy i really got into was Alex Lifeson from Rush . I listened to Steve Howe from Yes over and over ! So i've very much been on the progressive rock trail and this led onto guys like Allan Holdsworth and Steve Morse who are just amazing . And of course Vai , Satriani and John Petrucci from Dream Theater is cool !

Tell me about your last Warped Cd .

On my Web site there's a whole lot of information about me and the Cd Warped . It's been a very positive move setting up the website . It's led to exposure all over the world , like through GuitarChef . I've also had contact from webzines in the U.S.A. and radio from Eastern Russia ! The guys that played on the Cd are in my live band like David Christensen on Bass , Darren Burtoft on Drums and Tim Vooles on Vocals .

What guitars and other equipment do you use ?

I play Ibanez Guitars . I've got 2 stock standard RG 450DXs and a Universe 7 String . I've been playing Ibanez for 5 years . I find that for the sort of music i play they feel the best , they play fast and the quality is really good . I use D'Addario Strings 9-46 . I run my Digitech 2112 into a Stereo Power Amp i had custom made by a guy in my home town , Mick Samson . I used a different setup on the Cd to what i have now . I've always wanted to get unusual sounds , stuff that doesn't really sound like guitar and with this i can call up synth like patches , harmoniesers , whammys , almost anything ! I'll be experimenting more with sound texture on the next Cd .

Tell me of the experience with Ibanez Guitars , the collaboration .

I've done some clinics for Ibanez here in Australia . The collaboration came about when i sent them my Cd . at the time , they were running clinics in my home state , so it was perfect timing , I think the fact that i play a lot of 7 string guitar helped me get the gig . Ibanez is pushing the 7 string these days . In the clinics i'd run through some tunes on the 6 string and then demostrate and discuss the 7 string . It was great opportunity for me to play and promote tracks from my Cd .

Brook ThompsonThe future of music ... is on the Internet in your opinion ?

Now , where's my crystal ball ??!! As far as guitar music goes , i think it will always be around and popular in some way . It survived disco in the 70's , it's still big now in the Techno age , look at Metallica . So , i think it will always be with us in some form , whether it be Punk , Metal , grunge or whatever the next popular style will be ! So , i think music on the Internet is liberating and wholly democratic , but how do you stand out in the crowd ? I'm not sure !!??

What are three songs of other artists that you wish you had written ?

I only get to choose three ? Well , there are so may ... It can depend on what sort of mood i'm in . But , right now i'd say "Rescu Me Or Bury Me" by Steve Vai , i think this song has my favorite Vai solo . "Three Sheets To The wind" by Allan Holdsworth . This is my all time favorite Holdsworth solo , closely followed by "Devil Take The Hindmost" !!! "Scarred" by Dream Theater . Probably my favorite DT song . I like this starts off really cool and mellow and then builds to a climax vocally and instrumentally !

Some suggestions for young Italian guitarists ?

 As a guitarist , listen to your favorite players inside out , get to know they play , why they play things in certain ways . Practice hard , have a practise routine . Listen different styles too . Eventually you will start to develop your own style that might sound like bits from all the guitarists you listened to , but over time it will sound more like the real you . There might be times when things aren't working out that you think it's not worth it , but never forget why you play guitar ... because you love it !!!

http://home.primus.com.au/brookt/


TROY STETINA Exottica Vision - By Guido Mercati

Troy StetinaHow about your 24 Capriccci by Niccolo' Paganini for electric guitar you played in the 80s in some lucky auditorium in the U.S. ? Why you never recorded them on Cd ?

Well , first off , throughout that period i was busy writing a bunch of guitar methods and developing the guitar program at the Winsconsin Conservatory Of Music and i was messing around with original music a bit , too . But that's really just a poor excuse ! I think the main thing is just that i've always had really high standards when it comes to doing that kind of music .  I do have some video of some of those performances and i have a cassette demo of a Beethoven piano sonata that i arranged for electric guitar , bass  and drums . Anyway , i may well end up putting a few classical pieces , maybe including some of the Caprices or even Perpetual Motion , on a future Cd . We'll see ...

How about your gears ? Some details about your amps and preamps , 'cause your sound is fucking heavy and ready to shred , man !

Thanks ... yeah !!! Rock is all about tone , for sure . Slam a power chord and if the tone is cool , it's sounds great ! But if the tone is wimpy , it just doesn't work . All the tunz on Exottica were tracked through my Marshall JCM 800 half stack . My main guitar is a Jackson Soloist , which i've taken the knife to and truly destroyed . The pickups are Seymour Duncan . I generally just run it into an older Boss 'roicker distortion' pedal i've got and then right into the amp . That's it !

Your judge concerning your previous Stetina project Set  The World On Fire .

hmmmmm ... there is some good songs on there i think . I'd actually like to remix the stuff ... I think a lot of it would go over much better if the tones were a little different . But i enjoyed the project and i'm glad we did it . Unfortunately one of the best rockin' tunes at the time called "Shoulda Never Let You Go" didn't make it onto the final Cd . So if i listen now , i think there's just too many ballads on there and not enough uptempo hard rocking stuff . In fact , i resisted doing an instrumental Cd for years !

Did you collaborate with any bands in this time ?

I spent the summer of '94 with Don Dokken out in California . This was just when he was completing Dysfunctional . If they didn't get back together with George Lynch for their (shortlived) reunion , i was hoping to do the tour with them . But it didn't pan out . Then we moved back to the Milwaukee Area , i started writing material for what eventually became Exottica , we built a house and then a recording studio in it to produce the Cd in . I'm producing Cds for three modern Heavy Rock bands from this area like Bent , Shadowcaster and Fake Healer . That's a lot of fun !

Your favorite 10 guitars Cd of all time ?

Ten ? Man , i listen to so much different stuff ... well i'd have to say Van Halen's first and second Cd . Ozzy first two Cds with Randy Rhoads . I like Satriani's "Not Of This Earth" and "Surfing ..." . These days , in the course of writing articles for GuitarOne Magazine i listen to lots of modern stuff like Rage Against The Machine , Korn , Sevendust , Pantera , Machine Head , Tool , Kid Rock etc ... There are lots of good and creative musicians out there i think .

Troy StetinaYour Cd sounds fresh and cool but it's nothing than 80s instrumental heavy-rock . give us our secrets in composing and production !?!?!?

Well , if it sounds fresh then it certainly can't be just 80s rock ! Okay , i'll agree that there are certainly some 80s elements in there . But the riffs and progressions and grooves really have more in common with 90s and current bands . In fact , i didn't even come up with the solos until the very end , the day i would track them , usually . So i pretty much try to compose my stuff to hold my own interest !

Your favorite players right now and for the next future ...

Favorite players ... favorite players ... Like J.S. Bach onesaid when someone commented on his extraordinary keyboard ability "... I just put each finger down at the right place at the right time and the keyboard plays itself !" Oh , i've got one for ya ... an amazing local Milwaukee guitarist named Greg Koch . Great player , blues rock based style . I'm looking forward to hearing his new instrumental Cd !!!

Will you ever record the 24 Capricci ? I think that will be a best seller guitar cd , really !!!

I'd like to maybe throw a few classical pieces onto a future cd . Not all of the 24 Caprices translate so well to electric guitar , but several of them do nicely . With Exottica , i specifically steered clear of classical because that is so associated with Malmateen and noe classical players and frankly in the U.S. these days that is pretty much dead now . So i'm trying to stake a claim to a new style ... first .

www.stetina.com

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