Who the hell are you!?

[Val]

Heheh, well hey guys and girls. I just thought since I'm relatively new to this wonderful little community I would kick off a general topic so I can get to know a bit about you all. I hope we get a lot of information off people so feel free to post your own stuff!

This is topic is by no way meant to encourage flaming or disrespect for other users - except at me, I dont care what you think lol.

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Name: Jay aka Val (dont yet understand why..lol)

Age: 18

Living In: Near Birmingham in sunny old England!

Proffession: Well I'm a guitar teacher, and am also doing a diploma in Music Technology.

Any musical talent?: Playing guitar since the ripe age of 7, bass properly for about 2 years. Keys/piano for a year, and singing since when I could remember! Also took some drum lessons on the advice of guitar genius Massey Fiocco from One Minute Silence.

Instrument/Equipment: I use primarily an Ibanez SA160QM, very beautiful guitar. I've always been a fan of Ibanez and have owned several. Saving up currently to get something with an Edge Pro II tremolo, but being a poor student thats not easy. Other guitars include 2 Fender Strats which are about to be sold to get a decent Telecaster, an Aria 7 string and a Wolf cherry red double neck.

I have previously owned a couple of Les Pauls but they dont suit me to be honest so I scrapped em to buy to the Strats. FX I use a Boss GT6 (damn the new GT8!) a Digitech Weapon and am desperate to get a Morely Bad Horsie! Ampwise I use a full stack Ibanez TB100. The thing looked like a beast and was loud as hell so I thought I'd invest before giving it a propper try. There are certainly betters amp out there tone and gadget-wise, but since I use a GT6 I have everything I need. Besides its louder than any amps I've come across and one of the best looking, even though it weighs a ton!

Highlight of musical life: Well I featured in the finals of Young Musician of the Year but was beat out by some trombonist. I was however, the only contemporary artist to make it through the finals. Myeh, I'm much better now to be honest, I wasnt really into the whole 'show off' thing at the time. Nowerdays I'd of melted those judges faces! However, I'm hoping to do a blues gig with legendary rocker Rob Plant soon though, fingers crossed, that would be my new highlight!

Influences: Well I have had many guitar teachers, learnt many styles, and so therefore have many influences! I suppose in a lot of ways I'm one of the first guitarists of this generation who are influenced by more recent guitar gods.

My long list of idols are: Thin Lizzy, ZZTop, Eric Clapton, Stevie RV, AC/DC, Dooby Brothers, Limp Bizkit (gotta love Wes!), Nine Inch Nails, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Chris Cornell, Joe Satriani, Dave Weiner, Rammstein, Slipknot, Skinny Puppy, System Of A Down, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Velvet Revolver.

However there are some ones that I think are worth talking about specifically.

One Minute Silence www.oneminutesilence.com
Basically guitarist Massey Fiocco is one of the most underrated guitarists I have ever heard. He's only a young chap, but his melodies are so fantastic they are unlike anything I have ever heard. Apart from being one of the best live bands you will ever see, his use of effects and his songwriting approach will inspire any guitarist to try and imitate him. Though the band has disbanded now, if you have a love for heavy music, or anything thats incredibly well written check out their last 2 albums, 'Buy now.. Saved Later', and 'One Lie Fits All'.

Opeth www.opeth.com
To be honest, I have only been listeneing to Opeth a month or two but my god, their music is fantastic! Like One Minute Silence, their songs are extremely well written and unique. The great thing is their songs last like 8 minutes and are full of so much passion and such great riff work. They create some real bad ass heavy songs like Deliverance, and some real sweet mellow songs like Windowpane off the album Damnation. Go fetch! They'll change your guitar playing forever.


Steve Vai www.vai.com
Well I figure most of us know this guy so I wont go on for long. To be honest I listened to way more Satch then Vai until I saw the G3, after that everything changed! Apart from his fantastic ability (21 notes a second was it?) I loved his whole personality and the way he puts on a show. He lets other musicians in his band shine also. His personal beliefs and morals set a shining example to all musicians. If anything, Steve has always shown me the importance of being who you wanna be and thats one of the most important things I think anyone can realise.

Tenacious D www.tenaciousd.com
Ok, some may laugh, but thats the whole damn point! Tenacious D arent just 2 fat naked guys rocking out on accoustic guitars. Maybe its just the production on the album, but those guys DO rock a lot harder on accoustic guitars than most bands can with a triple stack set-up. The riff writing is actually damn superb, as well the fantastic vocal parts (some of the best I've heard) and a fantastically fun live show, what more could you ask for?


Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave www.audioslave.com
Tom Morello is my god damned hero. Whether it be his crazy use of FX, amazing tones or just how much he uses his influence to create a better world. His riff writing is superb and has created a sound that is totally unique, his Audioslave has showed a glimpse of potential. Cant wait for the next album!

New Disease www.newdiseasemusic.com
Few people have heard of this upcoming band. Soon to release their first album the band is made up of music veterans including Mark Gemini Thwaite from Tricky and Grand Theft Audio, and Eddie Stratton from One Minute Silence. MGT is a real nice guy, and created what could possible be the future of mainstream rock. Fantastic stuff, well worth checking out.

Santana www.santana.com
Passion, passion, passion. Its just what this guy is all about. He can take a simple lick and turn it into a masterpiece, thats the hardest thing a guitarist can ever achieve. His music never grows old, it has such raw emotion. Everyone knows Santana, their is nothing like it. Again another guitarist with great moral values, which make him worth admiration alone.

Richie Sambora http://www.islandrecords.com/bonjovi/
Well yeah he is the fantastic blues guitarist for Bon Jovi but his solo albums are phenominal. Different from the more mainstream rock Bon Jovi, his own albums are primarily blues and my god they are great. The sounds are so vast and lush, a real modern blues feel. Ritchie also does all the vocals, and after listening to it, I can safely say he has a better voice than Jon Bon Jovi. check out 'Stranger In This Town'.

Frank Klepacki www.frankklepacki.com
I'll end on a weird one. He's the guy who did the music for the Command and Conquer games (cept the new one) and the music is just awesome. He is quite possibly the only musician to ever create music for a video game that could be sold successfully commercially. His site has a whole bunch of song samples well worth listening to. The guy is just so talented, he is a musician in its truest form.



Anyways, I know I've rambled but hey, music is my life. I hope I've told you all a bit about me, and I hope I've pointed you onto some great new music. If anyone wants to do the same I'll happily check it out. So now tell me about you! (That includes Dave if he ever gets around to it!)

[MetalliJedi]

* Name: María Elena. Call me Elena, Thank You.

* Forum Name: MetalliJedi.

* Reason of Forum Name: Metalli: I Like Metal and Metallica; Jedi: I´ve been loving Star Wars since the tender age of 3.

* Living: The wonderfull country named Mexico.

* Profession: I have a B.A. in Communication Sciences, currently on job hunt.
dream job? Working with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino or Tim Burton, Thank You.

* Musical Talent: Well I can say I´m working on learning guitar, a slow process with slow progress but someday I´ll get it. I´m an expert on door knocking.

*Instrument: 2 acoustic guitars and 1 Peavey Raptor Plus (red, one of my favorite colors) and a small Peavey Rebel amp. Sorry it´s extra basic , but no bucks in my pocket no chance to buy more equipment.

*I have performed in 2 end of term shows in a music academy I used to go a long, long time ago.

*Influences: My electric guitar teacher Elton and the electric guitar teacher of the music academy I talked about previously (he played and I drooled).

* Favorites: It´s a long list... I´ll name a few: Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Hendrix, Queen, SRV, Clapton, Vai, Stach, Dream Theater and someone called Dave Winner , Weiner or something like that .

* What I want to do with my life? A Director. Yes I want to say "ACTION" and "CUT" for the rest of my life until I die.

My favorite directors: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, Alfonso Cuarón, Alfred Hith****, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Rob Reiner, Cameron Crowe, Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino.

[revsharp777]

Originally Posted by Val

Opeth www.opeth.com
To be honest, I have only been listeneing to Opeth a month or two but my god, their music is fantastic! Like One Minute Silence, their songs are extremely well written and unique. The great thing is their songs last like 8 minutes and are full of so much passion and such great riff work. They create some real bad ass heavy songs like Deliverance, and some real sweet mellow songs like Windowpane off the album Damnation. Go fetch! They'll change your guitar playing forever.

Nice choice! Every album is AMAZING! Check out the CD, "Still Life". One of my personal Top 3 ever!

[Val]

Still Life rocks, I love The Moor! The accoustic breakdown in the middle of all that heavy hard rock metal is just phenominal! Though they arent my favourite, they could well be the best band in the world.

Elena there is no need to apologise for your lack of equipment, many of the best musicians in the world started out with far less! Quintin Tarentino is my all time favourite director (love Kill Bill 2!) But I also love far out directors like Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) and Takashi Miike (Ichi The Killer.)

Love Dream Theatre too, wow, it just rocks!

[MetalliJedi]

Jay, I know, but sometimes I feel a bit odd when everybody starts talking about the ton equipment they have. It´s like watching a guy with a bazooka and you have only a stone and a rubber band.

I´ll check out Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike.

Yeah they rock !

[webguy]

Sounds like the story of David And Goliath! WoW, hope I spelled that right!

[webguy]

My votes for the one with the stone and the rubberband. I remember back when all I played was an accoustic, much easier than all this stuff we have now and much more real. Didn't need wheels, ramps, crews, and semi's to get around. Just thru the case in the overhead storage and flew off to the gig!

[little wing]

hi, im little wing. i'm tiny and fly around with the bugs at night.

[webguy]

Hi! I'm a bat, anymore questions?

[Val]

Yeah, do you type with your nose or with your lickle claws?

[webguy]

My nose! Need the claws for hanging upside down.

[little wing]

Originally Posted by webguy

Hi! I'm a bat, anymore questions?

yikes! i better run.

[webguy]

Don't panic I'm toothless and I've been declawed!

[Val]

Then how do you hang upside down?

I think we're drifting from the purpose of this topic here..

[DavejWeiner]

ok to get this topic back on track, I'll go..

Name: Dave Weiner
Age: 28
Live: PA
Profession: Musician
Musical talent: a tiny bit.
Gear: go here... www.daveweiner.com/gear.html
Highlights of my career: releasing my cd.
Influences: Tom Scholtz, Enya, David Gilmore, Adam Jones.
Hobbies: sportbikes (I have a Honda CBR600RR)

Who's next?