If you thought that Canadian rock started and ended with Rush, Saga or Triumph, think again. Canadian guitar virtuoso, Dave Martone is a force to be reckoned with. With his band, Vancouver-based Martone, Dave has recorded several excellent albums with influences which range from straight ahead rock and progressive metal to more experimental tones, something that has brought him a considerable amount of attention from fans worldwide.
Dave has performed in countless cities in the US, given clinics and taught in Berklee and the National Guitar Workshop. He has written instructional columns for the likes of Guitarpalooza Records, the Guitar 9 website, Italy's Guitar2001 and performed with no less than Steve Morse, Paul Gilbert and Marty Friedman.
His first release, 1995's Shut Up N' Listen although lacking the experimentation and diversity of later releases amply demonstrated his superior songwriting skills. And, of course, an amazing technique. 1999 saw the release of Zone, a much more thoughtful and wide-ranging collection of tunes incorporating jazz, metal, industrial and rock, not to mention a heavy dose of shred to please his ever growing audience of rabid guitar fans.
Martone has also recorded with Synesthesia whose self-titled album combined the guitar artistry of Martone, Navid Nikbakht (the two met in 1992 while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston) and producer/percussionist, Christoph Bracher to create an unique recording featuring elements of Latin, Asian, jazz and rock.
Now Martone are back with a third album: A Demon's Dream, a feast of memorable tunes and stylistic flourishes cemented together with a superb production (produced, engineered and mixed by Dave, himself a former music engineer). One of the year's best instrumental guitar albums, A Demon's Dream contains everything from metal and country to blues, ethnic and techno. One thing you definitely WON'T be is bored!
I caught up with Dave and asked him about the new album and whether he intended A Demon's Dream to appeal to a wider range of people than Zone. 'Actually I was hoping to make it more cohesive and not so eclectic as Zone,' responds Dave. 'I think it's generally a heavier album. This time I went for a very sonically progressive sound as opposed to plain progressive. There are many influences in my music and they're all equally important to me. I guess they all emerge at the most opportune or inopportune time. I've always had a passion for music of the Far East, for example. That moves me like nothing else. I'm not aware of many things about their culture but I sure know how to love the Indian food! Butter chicken and Aloo Mutar kicks some taste-bud ass!'
One of the most interesting things about A Demon's Dream is the fact that the music has been layered with so many unusual textures, stitching them together to produce a fascinating tapestry, which is unpredictable from one tune to the next. There's a lot of rhythmic complexity and a strangely complementary combination of subtlety and raw aggression, evoking an emotional soundscape few guitarists ever manage.
Says Dave: 'I'm not currently enjoying the land of instrumental guitar -- with a few exceptions. Most of it sounds very dated. I remember when I used to work in a music store years ago and I had on my favourite album of that time: Greg Howe's Introspection. I heard a comment from a few young musicians that it sounds like what their grandpa listens to. I responded, "Your grandpa is a very smart dude".
'I guess this subconsciously stayed with me through the years. I want to stay hip but also true to myself. I'm constantly influenced by what my brother (Paul Martone - keyboard player on A Demon's Dream) plays and creates at home. He comes from a very electronic type sound, some of which has rubbed off on me. I want my album to reach larger demographics than just shredders! I've calmed down a little on that and went for, to quote you, "a more emotional soundscape". I love very heavy music and very soft music at the same time. Thus the creation of songs like "Demon Fetal Harvest ".
'I also love rhythm work and have been exploring this on a hit and miss basis
through flamenco music. I don't study it, just try and emulate sounds I hear. The flamenco rhythm is very confusing and simplistic at the same time. I think that's where my rhythmic sound is trying to come from. I love the element of surprise in music and try and use that as an effect. Some songs have to be similar throughout, but why not throw in a curve ball every now and again? Keep it interesting? There's nothing worse than listening to a piece of music and being able to predict where it's going before that part or chord change even happens. There's no excitement in it for me.
'Take my band, Synesthesia which recorded in London England in 2000. That CD needed to happen so I could create this one. I think I was touching on the sound with the track "Voluptuous Vulcan", written for my girlfriend, Nenah Barkley. For the most part the CD was pretty calm and had myself and Navid exploring each others' styles, the combination of which resulted in that album. I have to say, I'm a fan of darker sounding music. I don't know why -- it just really resonates with me.'
The track, 'Country Maniac' is a bit different from the other material on A Demon's Dream. A rollicking and danceable number, the antithesis of the heavier tunes. 'I had this song for about 4 years and never quite new what to do with it,' replies Dave. 'It's recorded with the Parker guitar. I have the acoustic sound on one channel and the electric on the other. I think I must have heard something that inspired me to write this back then, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.
'I think a good album has many similar qualities of structure throughout the tracks but a GREAT album has many different qualities and sounds within. Why would you want to hear the same song ten times on the same album? Keep it interesting and different. I'm quite disturbed at the number of people that are blatantly ripping off other artists in the guitar instrumental world (and also in the pop world). I know we all need influences but at least be creative at hiding them in your music!
'By the way, 'Country Maniac' will be available in transcription along with other excerpts from the album in the December edition of Italy's Axe magazine.'
One of the album's most unusual tunes is 'Demon Fetal Harvest', a track that sees Martone combining Indian melodies with metal and modern drum and bass sounds.
'This song is pretty strange and one of my favourites!' he exclaims. 'It is just so so typical of what I do. DFH was inspired by an X Files episode, a TV series that was filmed in Vancouver where I reside. It's based on the supernatural; strange shit like that. There was one scene ware Mulder and Fox stumbled upon this strange lair underground. It looked like there were hundreds of pods or feotuses from some demonic time. Visually pretty cool, yet disturbing at the same time. After the episode I went back to the practice room and the song just started to come out. It starts with a drum and bass groove with harmonics with tons of delay, then breaks into this Vilo Lobos inspired arpeggio section, then into the chorus. The heavy section features a trained Indian vocalist along with the crunching guitars.
'I remember when we were tracking this one -- my drummer, Daniel had a different part worked out for this section. He had all this double bass shit that sounded OK but myself and engineer, Ernie had to pull the plug on the idea as it didn't fit the tune. We had him play the straight "money beat" and it grooved. The whole mid section of the song is what it would sound like if Satan himself could play guitar. I wanted it to be a trade off with the Indian voice and the devil over a very haunting groove! This wasn't to be a technical trade-off, just a combination of tone and weirdness. The tablas (an eastern drum instrument played on the album by Cassius Khan) added the perfect touch for the song's oriental flavour. It's like the hottest, evilest curry dish you'd ever eat! (I must be getting hungry with all this reference to food.)'
And the techno sounds of 'Attack of the Celery Crunchers'?...
'I remember the first time Daniel heard it (after I produced the song). Previously I'd had drums throughout that section, and he was playing this cool, crazy beat. He was like… "What the hell happened to my drums!?!?!?!?" I replied, "You've been replaced by a drum machine!!" AAAAAAH!! I think my bro and myself were working on the part and we decided to throw in a loop for that section. Then Paul added some crazy key stuff. It didn't make sense but in the end we decided to keep it. I like some techno sounds and thought it was time for me to get in touch with my techno side. I don't think I will ever do a techno album. I'll leave that for the pros! I had Nenah Barkley sing on the choir sections on this song. She did a great job. I took her vocal performances and just screwed with them for the ending. I flipped them upside down and had different ones come in at different times to create the ending effect.'
A Demon's Dream features a cover of the classic 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat', an inventive, not to mention radical interpretation of the tune -- though not, as Dave explains, written exclusively for the new album. 'I was asked to be on a Jeff Beck tribute album some years ago, and in fact completed my track over 2 years ago. Said album still hasn't come out and I don't think it ever will, so I decided to put it on A Demon's Dream. I really like the tones I achieved with this tune. I had the Beck version and also the Charlie Mingus version (the song's original composer).
'I decided to take elements of both. For example, the first solo is played on a nylon string. I used the Mingus chord changes for this section. Most of it was melodic minor. The next section cuts into more of the static Beck type vamp changes. This is when I busted out the whammy pedal and went mildly nuts. I think the climax of the solo came out great -- though I could never play it again due to the fact that it was improvised. That's when the best music happens anyway. On previous albums I'd work out stuff, and it sounded that way. Most of this album was improvised. I have a hell of a time trying to remember what I played when performing these tunes live or in clinic settings. The tablas in this track also highlight the eastern influence.'
Of all the tunes on the album, 'Code Red' is perhaps the only one that might have come from the Shut Up N' Listen period. I wondered in what ways Martone perceived that his music had evolved since that debut.
'A few people have told me that they like that album the best,' he replies. 'Which is great, but that was along time ago. Back then, I was learning how to write and figure modes and sounds out. I think it is a good early effort but I needed to evolve musically
, and in different directions.
'Shut Up N' Listen was very one-dimensional. I still love it but I was too much of a control freak back then. I would tell everybody what to play -- no compromises! Thought I knew everything when in retrospect I knew nothing! Who the hell am I to tell the drummer what to feel in a section? I don't even play drums (besides going "boom chick, boom chick"). Since then I've learned to let the musicians create their parts within the framework and the result is much better.
'I was just finishing up Berklee around the time Shut Up N' Listen came out. In the years that followed I had time to digest what I'd learned and put it into action. Zone was better in that I let go but it was pretty progressive sounding. I love that music but now I'm into something else. I still have the odd time stuff but with a different twist. I'm finally bringing back the nylon string guitar into my music. That's what I started playing in the very beginning and who knows, it's what I might end with.'
And the story behind the album title and concept? 'I don't want to sound weird or anything, but during the making of this album I would have the strangest dreams of demons and supernatural events. Satanic trees eating people and spinning huge telephone poles in the air; basements full of evil people, fire and brimstone! I can't explain what I saw in my dreams but it sure was fucked! These images would be with me as I was writing and they came out in the music. I'm not into Satanism; nothing like that. I just thought it'd be interesting to visualise what a demon might dream. Do they even dream? Most of the music explores this concept, thus the album ending with the title track, a final aural statement of what we've just heard.
'Is it dream or reality? Strange stuff. The actual title was penned by my girlfriend. We were brainstorming album titles one night and she asked me all these questions about the songs, the motivations we had, and so on. When she said "A Demons Dream" we both knew that was it. My mom thinks it's pretty weird though!'
A Demon's Dream marks a move away from self-released music to being signed to independent label, Lion Records -- something that instinctively felt right for Dave. 'It felt like the next step for me,' he says. 'I need to reach a larger audience and was ready to do that with this album. I'm very proud of it and I know the guys at Lion are behind me whole-heartedly. They're very respectful and easy to work with. This is the first real company I've worked with (aside from the various tribute albums). I don't know what the future holds but if Lion works out well for me I'll continue with them -- after all, they gave me the first chance. Thanks guys! I'm hoping that their contacts and distribution will bring my music to further parts of the globe that I could do myself. I was working with Dan at Guitar 9 and will continue to also. He's another great individual.'
Now for that perennial Matt's Music question: Who amongst guitar players does Dave admire nowadays?
'Unfortunately there aren't that many players out there with a unique voice. I hear many Vai/Satch/Yngwie rip-offs, so much so that it's sickening. Don't get me wrong. I was one of these people in the past and needed to go through that to get to the point I am at now. Yngwie was one of my biggest influences growing up but he is the best at that so why try and re-do what was done perfectly? Move over to a new fresh piece of land; build your own damn style!
'I tend not to buy or listen to much or any guitar music anymore. If I do, it'll be Los Indois Tabarhars, Strunz and Farah, Vincente Amigo and Carlos Montoya. When I think of original players, only a select few come to mind. The likes of Ron ("Bumblefoot") Thal, Greg Howe, Fredrik Thordendal and Allan Holdsworth. I think it's time for the guitar to come up with something new. We might have reached the speed of light with some shredders but we have to look in different directions. I'm trying this with different guitar tones now, something I feel hasn't been fully explored yet. I plan to keep flicking knobs and switches for some time to come!'
Email: martone@shaw.ca
Matt's Playlist:
Alessandro Benvenuti -- Sonic Design
Martone -- A Demon's Dream
Planet X -- Moonbabies
Symphony X -- Odyssey
Andy West with Rama -- Rama I
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