Detritus
Mini-Issue #401.5 - March 9, 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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-Yes it's the rarely-seen Detritus twofer today. Enjoy. - Tim

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

-Interview w/ Michael Harris
February 7, 2007

Seems these days there is no shortage of technically adept guitarists,
young hotshots only too willing to show you how many notes they can
cram into a phrase or how cleanly they can execute arpeggios up and
down the neck; of course there is nothing wrong with technique but it
should be used as a means to an end, not the end itself. Michael
Harris is one of those increasingly rare musicians who is more than
capable of unleashing advanced fretboard dynamics but is also acutely
aware of the need to first create excellent music before seeking to
impress with virtuosity. Michael recently released what is arguably
his most realized work to date, an ambitious neoclassical offering
appropriately titled ORCHESTRATE. Currently navigating multiple
projects, Michael kindly took time out of his busy schedule to answer
some questions about ORCHESTRATE, providing some insight into his
unique approach to making music. Meet a true maestro...

DETRITUS: ORCHESTRATE is filled with dramatic, classically oriented
themes; when were you first introduced to classical music and why do
you feel it blends so well with heavy metal and progressive rock?

MICHAEL HARRIS: I was first introduced to classical music by my
mother, who taught piano and flute at home as I was growing up. She's
always been a classical fan and listener, so we still to this day have
long conversations about classical music. Wagner is among her
favorites.

I feel there is something both intense and serious about classical,
prog, and metal, so I guess it's that intensity level that fuses the
three genres so well, along with a technical element that allows
serious musicians to stretch their parameters.

D: I've always thought of you as an excellent composer in addition to
being a great guitarist, as you have an effective way of combining
seemingly disparate styles like jazz, classical, flamenco and
progressive metal into really well-written pieces. How do you approach
composition so that your music retains the listener's interest?

MH: Well first of all, much thanks for your kind words. I always try
to base a piece around several melodic themes stated in different
ways. I guess my forte in composing is patience. I'm not easily
content, so I tweak stuff until it's up to my standards. I figure if
it's good enough for me, then hopefully other people will like it as
well and find something unique about it. I sometimes compose on
keyboards and guitar synth, as well as with no instrument at all. The
guitar is a hindrance at times to my creative process. It's more about
the music itself, not anything visual, like fingering patterns.

D: Some of my favorites from your discography include DISTORTED VIEWS
and SKETCHES FROM THE THOUGHT CHAMBER; how do you feel ORCHESTRATE
differs from these albums?

MH: ORCHESTRATE is definitely my most cohesive instrumental record.
I've tended to be a little too diverse on my other records (although
no one ever put diversity limitations on a record!), so ORCHESTRATE
right from the start was envisioned to be one genre (although at the
end of "The Mad Composer's Rage," shame on me, I strayed a bit and
composed a "battle" between jazz fusion and classical, which of course
classical won handily. :-)).

As well as the differences, on ORCHESTRATE, you'll hear some
similarities and references to my other records. A big part of the
idea of ORCHESTRATE was to go back to my roots. I've written some
neoclassical pieces on my other records ("Mozart's Ghost" on DISTORTED
VIEWS and "Ideosymphony" on SKETCHES FROM THE THOUGHT CHAMBER, etc.)
and I also recorded my version of excerpts from both Mozart's 25th
Symphony way back on DEFENSE MECHANIZMS and Vivaldi's Four Seasons
(Winter) on DISTORTED VIEWS, so I wanted to do more of that in a
cohesive way on ORCHESTRATE, while composing 100% original music.

D: How long does it take you to write a piece like "Octavian II?"

MH: It's really tough to say how much time I have invested in a piece,
because I'll stop with one song and come back to it later so that I
have a fresh perspective on it again. "Octavian II" was fueled by the
intro to the song. It was a riff I'd had for a long time, which
sounded like my intro to "Octavian: Heir To The Conqueror" on DEFENSE
MECHANIZMS, so I decided to spring from that idea and write a "sequel"
to it. I took that intro, several of my existing triplet riffs, and
finished the arrangement with several more ideas.

D: What is the most difficult aspect of writing challenging music like
that found on ORCHESTRATE?

MH: Probably the time invested and trying to come up with something
truly magic and unique, knowing that everything musically possible in
the world has pretty much already been written twice!

D: ORCHESTRATE has a great sound; what kind of gear did you use to get
your guitar tone and what was the recording setup like?

MH: The rhythm guitars were played through both a Line 6 POD direct
and a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier head mic'd through a Mesa 4x12 cab,
and the lead guitars were almost all POD direct. They were all
recorded at my home studio, PsychoSound.

D: On your last two solo releases you've played all the instruments
except drums; what happened to Adam Nitti?

MH: Adam is an incredible bassist and musician. I still talk to him
occasionally. Hopefully we'll have a chance to work together again.

D: Will you be playing any live dates to support ORCHESTRATE? If so,
what other musicians will you be working with?

MH: My live band, The Michael Harris Tranz-Fusion (MHT) has played
several selections from ORCHESTRATE. I have two versions of the band,
one in my home state of Ohio with Jeff Davis on keyboards, Jay Luis or
Mike Brodnick on bass, and my bro, Brian Harris on drums; and another
version in Texas (where I currently reside) with James Martin on bass
and John Gurke or Bradley Noud on drums.

D: You are involved in quite a few projects and collaborations! Bring
us up to date on Arch Rival, Surgeon, Thought Chamber, The Michael
Harris Tranz-Fusion, String Trilogy and Vitalij Kuprij, plus any
others you are currently working on.

MH: Arch Rival was my first successful band, which I would describe as
melodic hard rock. We landed deals in Europe and Japan in the '90s
with the help of Leviathan Records. AR was my first introduction to
composing serious rock music and I was still somewhat in the
experimental stage. I really thought we hit the mark well though with
songs like "Time Won't Wait," "Siren's Song," "Meadowlands Of The
Mind," "Fast Lane To A Slow Pain," "Fly Away With Me," and "Soul Of
Your Machine." Steve, Greg, and Gary are all great guys and musicians,
and hopefully we'll have a chance to do yet another record.

Surgeon was a metal band I put together shortly after I transplanted
to Dallas in 1994. The debut disc ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE INSANE was
released worldwide in 1996 on Imminent Music Force. It was very well
received and we still get positive feedback from the metal community.
Besides myself, the band featured vocalist Len Jarrell, Matt Thompson
(now drummer for King Diamond) and James Martin (now bassist for
Solitude Aeturnus). I am still very proud of that record. It's heavy
and psychotic, and I will never cease to be amazed by Matt's drumming.
Drummer Bradley Noud has also played a lot of live dates with the
band. "Concussion" and "Injection Overruled" are among my faves on the
CD.

Thought Chamber is my newest band, freshly signed to InsideOut Music
with the debut CD, ANGULAR PERCEPTIONS coming out on April 3, 2007.
The music is somewhere between prog metal and prog rock with lots of
twists and turns, a couple of instrumentals, and truly virtuostic
playing by drummer Rob Stankiewicz, bassist Derek Blakley, and stellar
vocals by Ted Leonard from Enchant. Our friend, Bobby Williamson from
Outworld also added some great keyboard solos.

String Trilogy, eh? I see you've done your homework. :-) String
Trilogy is a live show that I originally put together with guitarists
John Inman and Matt Eaton. I feel it's beneficial if similar musicians
/ bands can work together collectively in live performance. So we all
check our egos at the door and just play our sets. We use kind of a
rotating lineup, which has also included, among others, David Harbour,
Jimmy Adcock and Bill Pohl. Mind you, this is not a shredfest. It's
really more of a "prog-fest," but for instrumental guitarists.
Musicians are really starting to catch on to it.

Vitalij Kuprij first asked me to play on his record, FORWARD AND
BEYOND and I was honored to do it. I had admired his work, especially
with Ring Of Fire and on Greg Howe's ASCEND. From there I also played
on REVENGE and GLACIAL INFERNO, which are being released as a double
CD on Lion Music this month, and feature my musical bros Randy Coven
and John Macaluso, respectively, on bass and drums.

Darkology is a metal band I put together several years ago with my
amazing brother Brian Harris on drums and Mike Neal, a great metal
bassist that was in one of my very first bands years ago. The music is
100% metal, but with melody and progressive influences. We are
presently auditioning vocalists, so after the vocals are recorded, we
will mix and be shopping the disc. I really feel strongly about this
band and record.

D: Your instructional course at MusicDojo.com looks excellent; will
you be doing any more guitar courses like that in the future?

MH: Thanx. I would absolutely be up for doing another course when time
allows!

D: What is some advice you would give a young musician wanting to
improve their compositional skills?

MH: Really listen to and absorb many different styles. Pay attention
to song forms. Find out what it is exactly that you like about music.
Then on the flip, don't listen to anything for awhile and clear your
mind. Throw away your first 50 songs, and just accept them as an
"experiment," because you'll be haunted by them forever! Prepare
yourself to document your ideas. I keep little micro cassette
recorders all over the place, from my vehicle to my house. Everyone
has a creative side, but you never know when inspiration is going to
hit, so you have to be ready because next thing you know the phone
rings and your memory crashes.

D: Do you still keep in touch with David Chastain?

MH: Absolutely. We chat from time to time. I have fond memories of the
Chastain Harris tour!

D: I know you and I share a love for Michael Schenker's music -- what
are some of your favorite songs and solos by him?

MH: Wow, you opened a can of something. Listening to Michael Schenker
play lead guitar has given me more "gooseflesh" than all the other
guitarists in the history of music combined. He's just got it. The
first time I heard Michael was on the UFO FORCE IT record, and those
solos still stand up today as some of the most amazingly perfect solos
ever. And he is still incredibly underrated. His tone and vibrato
alone have influenced millions, directly or indirectly. He was the
first player to my knowledge to use a wah as a filter, which tons of
guitarists have copped, including myself.

These songs come to mind as faves: "Rock Bottom," "Let It Roll," "I'm
A Loser," "Cry For The Nations," "Bijou Pleasurette," "On And On,"
"Love To Love," "Into The Arena," "Desert Song." All those would
include some of my fave MS solos, along with the solos on "This
Kid's," "High Flyer," "On With The Action," "Just Another Suicide,"
"Rock You To The Ground," "Pushed To the Limit," uh, I'm running out
of room here. :-)

D: What will your next solo project sound like, stylistically?

MH: More than likely it will be the jazz fusion recording that I have
been envisioning for quite some time, which is perhaps 50% finished.
You could include funk, groove, prog, and metal in the description of
it, but it leans much more toward a heavy jazz fusion than any of my
previous recordings and I intend on it being very dedicated to that
style with some clean jazz as well.

I have been "clearing my mind" for the last year -- not composing, but
improving my home studio and watching a lot of bad TV. I'm ready to
get back in the studio now and get some work done.

D: Anything you would like to add?

MH: 2 + 2 to get 5. But seriously, I thank all the fans for the
support of my music and of any kind of music that pushes the envelope!

D: Thanks Michael, I really appreciate your time and hope to see you
live sometime! Cheers.

MH: Much thanx Neal!

Relevant links:

Arch Rival
http://www.myspace.com/archrivalband

Michael Harris
http://www.michaelharrisguitar.com/
http://www.myspace.com/michaelharrisguitar

The Michael Harris Tranz-Fusion
http://www.myspace.com/themichaelharristranzfusion

Vitalij Kuprij
http://www.vitalijkuprij.com/

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

Music Dojo
http://www.musicdojo.com/

Surgeon
http://www.myspace.com/surgeonmetal

Thought Chamber
http://www.myspace.com/thoughtchamber

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*** OUT ***
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