Detritus
Mini-Issue #396.5 - February 2, 2007
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*** CAST OF CHARACTERS ***
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Patrick Brower, Editor
patrickbrower@...

Sean P. Gahgan, Editor
lof@...
http://www.lakeoffire.net/

Tim Wadzinski, Owner
tsw512@...

Steve Shumake, Co-owner
vongoober@...
http://www.vongoober.com/

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*** LET IT BE KNOWN ***
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-Happy Friday, and Happy Super Bowl Weekend! Celebrate by reading
Neal's cool interview with Alex Masi. - Tim

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*** SPECIAL REPORT ***
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by Neal Woodall (MysticX9@...)

-Interview w/ Alex Masi
January 16, 2007

Alex Masi is one of those rare musicians who is able to forge into
uncharted territory while keeping the listener along for the ride,
frequently playing with an intensity and creativity bordering on the
supernatural. During the past 20 years Alex has skillfully produced
and performed a stunning variety of music, from heavy metal and hard
rock to classical and jazz-fusion. Following up on the release of his
latest solo album LATE NIGHTS AT DESERT'S RIMROCK, I spoke with Alex
about the album, his approach to making music and some of the exciting
projects he has planned for the future...

DETRITUS: LATE NIGHTS AT DESERT'S RIMROCK is a fantastic album; I
haven't really been impressed with much instrumental guitar stuff this
year but this has been my favorite, unreal!

ALEX MASI: Oh thank you. See the thing is, oh man, when I got together
with John, you know John the drummer, right?

D: John Macaluso, yes.

AM: Yeah, we had no idea we were going to record actually; we just got
back from playing some dates in Europe and we were just hanging out
here at my place, no idea really about what to do or anything. We went
to an Indian restaurant that I love around here, we went there, had
some dinner and came back and we just started jamming, I was playing
bass mainly, John was playing drums and we played from like, I don't
know, 10 o'clock at night until 6 in the morning or something and
recorded, just for the fuck of it you know. Then, a couple of days
later we listened back to the stuff and we said "Wow, there's some
ideas!" -- there was like four, five, six hours of stuff and I just
edited down everything that could be built into a record.

D: Right, so you just used those rough ideas and arranged it from
there?

AM: It was improvised mainly, just a bunch of improvisations, nothing
pre-planned.

D: It almost sounds like a continuation of stuff you were doing like
"Xperimental" and "Alleys Of Albion."

AM: Yeah, the cool thing about playing with John is, with that guy, I
don't know if it's because I've known him for so long -- it's like 20
years I've been playing with him.

D: Has it been that long?

AM: Oh, I've known John forever. When I moved to America, one of the
first people I met was John, and John was living with some guys who
were friends of some of the guys I was playing with; I went to a party
at this big house where he was living with all these people, all these
people drinking and doing all kinds of weird shit, and the only guy
locked in a room playing drums night and day was John! (laughs) So I
said "Hey, I've got to stick with this guy!"

D: A dedicated musician!

AM: Yeah man, unbelievable!

D: After you get your ideas down and you have the music pretty much
arranged, do you do anything special to prepare mentally before you
hit the record button?

AM: You mean for this record?

D: Well, I guess in general?

AM: It depends on the project; for this record it was just a matter of
getting some kind of mood going on, could be anything, having just
watched a movie, or just having some great stuff to eat, couple of
drinks or whatever, you get in a state of mind and then it's just a
matter of finding a sound you can work with and then from there you
just let the fingers take over. If it's a well-structured kind of
thing then you've got to put a little more thought into the whole
process of composition and all that stuff, but usually when I play
guitar I like to not think too much.

D: I imagine the best stuff comes out like that...

AM: Yeah, if you start over-analyzing you end up making it sound like
it's a puzzle, know what I mean?

D: Yeah. Are you usually able to reproduce what you hear in your head?

AM: Ah, something like that or I end up playing something that I
thought was what I heard! (laughs)

D: A variation!

AM: Yeah, it's weird because I was just talking to this girl who came
to visit me last night and she goes "Do you practice a lot?" and I had
to tell her no, for the past couple of years I just stopped practicing
altogether. I used to do it all the time and there's something weird
that happens after a few years when you've been playing guitar -- or
any instrument I suppose -- you don't need to do it physically anymore
you just have it in your head and all you have to do is think about it
and it just happens.

D: Yeah, I was going to ask you how you maintain such a high level of
technique?

AM: You know what the best thing is I think? Of course you've got to
go all through the motions, building certain patterns and structures
with your fingers and your hands, wrists and arms, all that kind of
stuff, but once you see how all that mechanical stuff works, the best
thing first of all is to listen, listen to a lot of different music
and then mentally -- for example, going for a walk -- I live in pretty
cool place, there are hills around, nature and all that crap, and if I
get stuck, if there's something that is not moving me or I can't get
any ideas, I just go for a walk, come back and you've got all these
ideas popping out. Really, practicing is so...sometimes it can have
the opposite effect that you are looking for.

D: Kind of stifling?

AM: Yeah, because you know a lot of people spend hours and hours and
hours going through the metronome and all...

D: ...and by that time they are so bored they're not inspired anymore!
(laughs)

AM: Yeah, and really you lose perspective on what it's all about; what
it is all about is music. Music is not necessarily being able to fit
as many notes as possible in three seconds, you know?

D: Right. The whole album is so good I hate to delineate songs but
were there any you were most pleased with, anything in particular that
surprised you?

AM: Well, like I said, we were surprised when we first listened back
to the stuff, and probably something is going to happen in the future
where I'm going to go back and edit again some of the stuff that was
left off and do another album, I don't know...

D: Oh, that would be great!

AM: Yeah, from the same session. You know, it's one of those things
man, like recently when I go out and play, especially with John in
Europe or whatever, a lot of times, especially if it's like a clinic
tour, a clinic and a gig at night kind of thing, we started doing this
thing where we have just a couple of phrases or ideas and we just go
on stage and start playing, and great stuff happens, unexpected... But
that happens only if you have some kind of mental connection with the
person you are playing with.

D: I was really floored by "Antistructure" in particular, just
amazing!

AM: Oh cool!

D: The bass line is so "Jaco-esque" I guess you could say. Really
great bass playing all the way though.

AM: Oh wow, excellent!

D: "You Asked" is very atmospheric.

AM: Yeah, I don't know, maybe you can tell there is a lot of Asian
influence?

D: Yes.

AM: The past six or seven years I've been deeply, deeply, deeply
involved in Indian and Pakistani, Arab, Persian, all kinds of stuff
musically. I played with a bunch of those guys -- I don't know if
you're going to know any of the names I'm going to tell you -- there
was a guy who died in '97 named Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

D: Yeah, I'm familiar.

AM: Yeah, him and his nephew I jammed with, played with, did some gigs
with, I've been studying with a bunch of these people, and it just
rubs off, you can't help it, it's so powerful. It's like being in a
trance.

D: Yeah, I was going to ask if you thought it was the rhythmic aspect
of it?

AM: Oh, absolutely! I've studied Tabla, I have a teacher who teaches
me Tabla, how to play Indian Tabla, and that really, really, really
helps my new ideas in rhythm instead of everything being so "square"
-- not square in a negative way but square like everything is linear,
you know Western/European music is da da da da da; in those regions of
the world it is so subdivided and structured in a strange way that
even when you play guitar after that, suddenly you find your right
hand doing things that you never expected you would do...

D: John seems to have picked up on that, his drumming is amazing.

AM: Yeah, I force feed him curry all the time! (laughs) He's a cool
guy, man.

D: Well some of the song titles are hilarious!

AM: Oh the song titles, yeah. The first song, that's actually the name
of a syndrome, a psychological syndrome. ["Vagina Denata," technically
Vagina Dentata. - Neal]

D: Yeah, I studied Psychology so I'm familiar with that! (laughs)

AM: I was just listening to some guy talk about all this stuff and I
go like "Wow, that sounds like a cool title!" A bunch of those titles
come from that kind of a thing, like Asian/Eastern/Indian philosophies
and stuff...

D: "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't" -- that sounds like a Zappa title.

AM: Actually, the funny thing is, it's a rough translation because
it's really impossible to translate, from a book called the Tao Te
Ching, it's a Chinese text by a guy named Lao Tzu. It's about knowing,
identifying yourself as opposed to everything outside of you, it's a
weird thing...

D: I noticed you're really into philosophy.

AM: Yeah, it's great, especially Eastern stuff lately.

D: I studied Philosophy in college too so I can appreciate that!

AM: Cool!

D: Shawn Lane used to say he didn't associate the titles of the songs
with the music.

AM: Yeah, me neither! I mean, the titles happened when it was time to
put the names on the cover of the album, I had no idea what to call
them.

D: So you don't have the name first and then write a song about it?

AM: No, I never think "I'm going to write a song about whatever" no,
no way.

D: I understand you have a new MCM album coming out?

AM: Yeah, that's a live one actually.

D: Is this going to be pretty much improvisational?

AM: It's pretty much 90% improvisational.

D: You won't have anything off RITUAL FACTORY on there?

AM: No, nothing, it's all brand new stuff, it's just the same thing
that happened with my last record, a couple of ideas, a couple of
lines here and there and then just letting go, just jamming.

D: Will it differ at all stylistically from LATE NIGHTS AT DESERT'S
RIMROCK?

AM: Well, there's Randy Coven playing bass so that's one big
variation, he has a lot more, ahh... He's a real bass player, I'm just
faking it.

D: I don't think so!

AM: (laughs) Thank you, but yeah, it's different because it's also
done live in front of people, you've got the reaction of people, like
psychological feedback when you see people react to things, so yeah,
it's different.

D: Do you prefer the spontaneity of the live environment to the
studio?

AM: Well, I love the recording process, I love being here in my little
hole here in my place, staying up late at night and just... I love
working with sounds and all that kind of stuff. What I don't like is
being in the studio under circumstances where you have a producer and
engineer and people waiting and blah blah blah, you know, you feel
like you have to deliver right there on the spot.

D: That kind of kills the mood.

AM: Yeah, that's what I don't like, and I do a lot of that stuff; as a
matter of fact I just got a call 10 minutes ago to do something and
I'm like: "Oh God!" I'm trying to pump the money that I'm asking for
up so much they will turn it down because I really don't like it.
That's not a very creativity-conducing thing, but being in my place
here by myself and working on stuff, on sounds and mixing, editing and
all that stuff, I love that, it's like painting, it's a cool thing.
Then you go live and you play, it's a whole different thing, you don't
have the control of going back to look at what you just did, retouch a
little bit...

D: You just have to let it go.

AM: Yeah.

D: Are you doing any producing for anyone else in your studio?

AM: I did for some weird, totally, absolutely strange and bizarre
thing that will probably never see the light of day because they are
so out there and bizarre. As far as producing, I'm not a big believer
in producing other people, I believe in producing myself but I'm not
into telling people what to do. I think, if you've got something to
say, and you need someone else to help you say it, then half of the
message is gone.

D: Do you have any students, are you doing any teaching?

AM: Yeah I do as a matter of fact. I try to limit that as much as
possible because I don't have too much patience in teaching, so I try
to keep it to a minimum, I get like a few guys who come over and
mainly what we do is we just sit there and jam and every once in
awhile I'll say "Why don't you try this?" and they ask me "What was
that?" or "Show me that again," but it's not like I sit there and play
this scale or play that scale and blah blah you know.

D: That's a good natural way to teach.

AM: Yeah because I try not to get beginners, not because it's a bad
thing to be a beginner, it's just that I don't have the patience to
sit there and say "Pick up, pick down." (laughs)

D: Starting from scratch. (laughs) How about instructional videos, are
you interested in putting any kind of materials out?

AM: I've done one, many many years ago.

D: Oh, you did?

AM: Yeah, it came out in Japan only.

D: Oh, OK. I was wondering because I would have had it if I had known!
(laughs)

AM: Yeah it came out in Japan and the company I did it with went
bankrupt about a month later, after I did it. Somehow everything got
screwed up; but anyway it's a good thing because I was doing very,
very, very old things like the whole '80s...

D: Flash stuff?

AM: Yeah, in a way I'm really grateful it never made it out here.

D: So no plans for anything like that in the future?

AM: Ah, maybe. There are some people in Europe that want me to do
something but if I do something it's going to be very spontaneous,
nothing like sitting there with graphics saying "Play this over that
and that over this." I don't know if you ever saw the Jaco Pastorius
instructional video?

D: Yeah, I've got that.

AM: I'd love to do something like that.

D: That's just real informal and very enjoyable to watch.

AM: Yeah, another player is sitting there just talking and asking,
kinda stuff like that.

D: Do you have any live shows scheduled?

AM: We are actually finalizing some stuff right now for Europe only;
America is still a pretty weird place for us.

D: Yeah, unfortunately the music scene sucks.

AM: I mean, I could do some jamming here and there, but it's never
like a proper situation.

D: What does the set list look like for Europe?

AM: Ah, we're probably going to do some stuff from RITUAL FACTORY, a
couple of lines off the new one that hasn't come out yet, then
something from my solo, Randy's solo and John's solo. John's solo is
probably going to come out in a couple of months.

D: Are you playing on that?

AM: Yeah, I'm playing on several songs on that one.

D: Will you be playing at the NAMM show?

AM: Yes, I'm going to be there Thursday, Friday and Saturday to play,
then Sunday I'm going there just to hang out.

D: Wish I could come out for that! What kind of gear are you currently
using?

AM: Depends, live or studio?

D: How about a little of both?

AM: OK.

D: What are you using live first of all?

AM: Live I try to keep it as simple as possible, basically it's a good
sounding amp, which means to me something that is responsive, that I
don't have to put a lot of stuff in front of. For example, when I go
to weird countries where there is not a lot of choice, I tend to go
for a Peavy Classic or Peavy Bandit sometimes, they are very reliable
amps, and I always bring with me a compressor, a delay unit and a fuzz
box; I don't use distortion boxes anymore, just fuzz, I like that.

D: So you don't care for rack-mounted stuff?

AM: Oh no, no, no, that was over years ago, that makes me feel like I
gotta move every time! (laughs)

D: What about studio?

AM: Studio is a whole different thing, I go through a bunch of stuff.
Actually, the thing I've been really happy about lately -- and in the
beginning I was very skeptical -- is the stuff from Line 6, like the
Pod.

D: Yeah, I like those.

AM: Especially the new one, the XT.

D: I need to get hold of one of those!

AM: Yeah, when I first got it, I finally got used to the first one,
it's called 2.0 or 2.3, the first one that came out, I got used to
that one but it had a little bit of a fake range in the midrange,
there was something weird like a strange honking sound in the
midrange, but when I got the XT and all the upgrades later on... Oh
man, it's amazing the things you can do. I use a little bit of a trick
going in, I compress a lot of sound going in, before I even plug in
the Pod, so that makes it breathe a little bit more, sounds a little
bit more like the speakers are moving, it's pretty unbelievable.
Sometimes I use a company called Madison that sends me amps every once
in awhile and there's this little 2X12 that I use and I just put it in
a closet (laughs), I put in in a closet and turn it up so loud just to
get the air moving. But I like the XT a lot.

D: I've got to try one of those out.

AM: The thing is, it's frustrating in the beginning, because the first
time when you try it you think "Oh wow, I'm going to get an amazing
sound right away!" You gotta really, really work a lot, it has a lot
to do with psychoacoustics as well, an element of your ear expecting,
your brain expecting some things and not getting those things and
finally you reach a compromise and it's weird, you just have to detach
yourself, record yourself and listen back like you were a stranger and
be more...

D: Objective?

AM: Yeah, yeah.

D: One sound I really liked from awhile back was on the song "Finn
(She's So Pink)" off of VERTICAL INVADER, I really liked the tone you
got on there.

AM: Yeah, that was...shit, that was the first Soldano they ever gave
me.

D: Do you have any plans to do more albums in the style of ETERNAL
STRUGGLE?

AM: No. (laughs) Nah, that was a weird thing man, that was a weird
thing. You know, I came here in the late '80s, mid '80s whatever, and
I spent the '90s just trying to understand what the fuck I really
wanted to do, because I wasn't happy. I'm not a big, big believer in
heavy metal guitar virtuosity, know what I mean? So I was like "Wow,
I've got to do something but I don't know what I want to do!" In those
days, if it were up to me, I would have just done crazy, fusion,
experimental stuff and classical music, but a lot of people said "You
gotta get back in the rock stuff, that's your thing" so I said
"Alright, I'll do one, whatever." So I did that thing and there's some
good stuff here and there I guess on that album but if someone told me
to do that again, they'd have to pay me a lot of money!

D: Same thing with Condition Red, I guess?

AM: Well, that's just a project from Lion Music, I mean, I had nothing
to do with it except they sent me the tapes and I played on 'em.

D: So you were just guesting on that.

AM: Yeah, it's not like it's my thing or anything now.

D: Who will be the focus for the next acoustic classical album, do you
have anything in mind?

AM: Yes, it's funny you ask because I've been thinking about it for
the past three or four days, and I'm thinking should I start it now or
wait until we get back from Europe? Vivaldi actually.

D: Oh yeah, that will be great!

AM: Yeah, I'm from Venice.

D: That will be perfect.

AM: I was actually thinking of recording over there, like in some old
place, some old building. As a matter of fact, some of my friends are
superintendents and managers of the church where Vivaldi used to
teach, and in this place they have all of his instruments; you know he
used to teach to a lot of orphans, orphan girls in Venice, and in this
old church they have Vivaldi's harpsichords and violins, cellos --
they are all preserved there -- all in a room that was specially
designed for him to play music and the acoustics are just
unbelievable.

D: I bet!

AM: It would be amazing for me if I convince my friends to let me
record in that room.

D: That would be sweet, yeah.

AM: Yeah!

D: I noticed you just put up your MySpace page. Are you going to put
any song samples on there?

AM: (laughs) I don't have a lot of time to do that kind of stuff. I
have a girl that sometimes does stuff like that for me, but she's been
having problems with her family and stuff so I don't know, maybe in
the future. To tell the truth, when I go to a Web site, the last thing
I want is too much stuff to pop up, like videos, pictures, blah blah
blah.

D: That is annoying, isn't it?

AM: Yeah, when I go to a Web site I want to read information first and
then I want to be given the choice...

D: Instead of having all that stuff forced on you.

AM: Yeah, rammed down your throat.

D: How about a DVD? Do you have plans to record any live performances?

AM: With MCM, yeah, maybe when we go to Europe. There were some people
actually filming the last time I was in Europe with John; there was
some stuff but it was totally unplanned so I don't know about that,
but definitely we will go do that with Randy.

D: Any new musicians impressing you?

AM: New musicians... All that kind of stuff that I listen to has
nothing to do with rock, as far as new music goes. I'm a big, big, big
fan of Squarpusher and Aphex Twin and the whole electronic scene in
Europe. I like a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with rock
actually, I even liked the last Outkast album to tell you the truth.

D: I wouldn't think you would listen to that! (laughs)

AM: I'm not talking about rap, I don't like rap at all, but to me,
Outkast -- I don't know if you are familiar with those guys?

D: Yeah, I think they are from an area just up the road from me, in
Atlanta.

AM: Oh cool. Yeah, I don't listen to much new rock because I don't
find anything inspiring or new, you know. I mean, I'm sure there's
some good stuff that just doesn't come out...

D: A lot of it has been done and by better people.

AM: Yeah, it sounds like a formula.

D: What would you recommend for a young player who wanted to break
away from the boundaries of pop and rock, Indian music?

AM: For a guitar player?

D: Yeah.

AM: The roads are so many man, there are so many ways to go, and
there's no one thing to apply for everybody. In my case, I started out
with classical music and moved on to jazz and then later on rock; rock
was the last thing actually that I landed with. Rock in the days when
I was growing up was stuff like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Gentle
Giant, Pink Floyd, you know, pretty wild stuff. These days when you
say the word rock to a kid who is 16 or 17, automatically they start
thinking about one thing and one thing only. So I'd say, if you're
really serious about developing as a musician, and not just wanting to
be a rock star, you should listen to as many things as possible and
try to be moved by something. If something moves you, follow it and
pursue it, whatever it is.

D: What's the most enjoyable thing about creating music?

AM: Oh man, just that moment, like when people talk about being in the
moment, that's it -- that's when you feel more alive than ever. When
things are really working -- and of course there are moments when you
feel totally crappy and you want to take the guitar and throw it out
the window -- but when it works, when it's flowing, it's like you feel
like you are a conductor for something, like a wire. It's bizarre.

D: Well, anything you'd like to add before we finish up?

AM: I hope to be able to play live as much as possible, around this
country as soon as possible for a change. (laughs) I hope to see as
many people as possible in this country, like I used to do years ago.

D: Alex, I sure appreciate your time, I'm really looking forward to
hearing the new MCM album and hope to see you live soon!

AM: You too man, thank you!

-Thanks to Alex Masi and Andy Craven for the interview.

Relevant links:

Randy Coven
http://www.randycovensite.com/

Line 6
http://www.line6.com/

Lion Music
http://www.lionmusic.com/

John Macaluso
http://www.johnmacaluso.com/

Madison Amps
http://www.madisonamps.com/

Alex Masi
http://www.alexmasi.net/
http://www.myspace.com/alexmasi

Peavy Amps
http://www.peavy.com/

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*** OUT ***
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