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adhi_geo
Jumat, 26 Agustus 2011
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Avenged Sevenfold: Since The Rev's Passing, We've Had To Grow Up
Avenged Sevenfold most recent studio album, Nightmare – the group’s fifth to date - is the first from the band without drummer James “The Rev” Sullivan, who sadly passed away in December of 2009. The album features former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy on the drum stool. The group has been busily touring the album with Arin Ilejay playing drums on all the group’s live dates. During a stopover in Australia, Joe Matera spoke to Synyster Gates about the new drummer, touring and Avenged Sevenfold’s influence on the next generation of up and coming metal bands.
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UG: I want to start the interview by asking you how has the dynamic changed within Avenged Sevenfold having added new recruit Arin Ilejay on drums?
Synyster Gates: Well it is hard to say. I mean there are a few different things definitely, compared to the dynamic we had with Jimmy and the dynamic we had with Mike Portnoy, so it is different. Also Arin is very young and it is more about us taking him under our wings at this point where as with Jimmy, things were absolute insane and the guy was mad man, very funny and we were all friends, so it was a much crazier time for Avenged Sevenfold.
I also think since The Rev’s passing, we’ve had to grow up quite a bit and I think Mike helped us to get through our period of grieving. I mean playing with Arin now is definitely a lot lighter kind of atmosphere than the moments we had with Mike Portnoy at that time. And not because of Mike, but because it was a lot closer towards the passing of the Rev. But now, I think we’re into the healing process and it is a breathe of fresh air to have this really young talented kid out with us, that is so humbled by this experience and very deserving of all the things that are going to come to him.
So have you begun the writing process for next album yet?
We don’t have any plans right now, as we are just really focused on touring. A lot of new cool places have opened up and we are really excited to come and see all our fans, both old fans and new fans, and go out and just play for all these kids, that haven’t seen us or have seen us in awhile. And that is what is exciting to us right now. When we try and blend the two together, the songwriting and the touring like we did before, it doesn’t really work. We tend to become very focused on what we are doing. And we tend to be a little bit one track minded. We’re very much perfectionists so when we’re putting on a huge show and want to play to the best of ability, we rehearse intensely. And I have a guitar pretty much in my hand for at least five hours before doing a show. I’m just noodling and mucking around and working on some of the songs here and there.
Avenged Sevenfold are still touring behind the group’s most recent studio album Nightmare?
Yeah and we definitely still have tons of touring coming up for the rest of the year. We are very fortunate to still have a lot of the world opened up to us and that we are further developing. We are continuing to develop a broader fan base across the globe. And it is just cool to be able to come to places like Australia for example, and draw a few thousand kids, it is definitely a dream come true for us.
Do you enjoy all the touring involved?
Touring is my favorite part of doing all this music stuff. Especially being able to go over to different countries and experiencing different cultures and playing for kids. It is a lot more gratifying being onstage and seeing the kids and all the shit that you worked hard for, right there in the moment. Than as opposed to being in a fuckin’ studio, thinking about how it will affect kids when it is done. It is much cooler experiencing the effect first hand.
For the current tour, what are you using guitar wise?
It is pretty much my Schecter Synyster Gates Signature model for the entire show. It is the custom thing that Schecter did for me. It has got these hot pickups by Seymour Duncan, and it is very conducive to a broader approach to metal and rock. It is a very versatile guitar. We’ve been playing Schecter pretty much ever since we started working with Mudrock [producer] on Waking The Fallen. I just really like those guitars and I have played them way before we were even endorsed by them. They are a really great company too and when we started doing the endorsement deal with them, they were really quick to make signature guitars as I was really into that at, as I always loved that Dimebag had his own brand of guitar that looked pretty much like no other guitar. And so I wanted my own thing too. But though certain companies are down to making you something, they’re not necessarily going to make you a really good quality instrument. Yet these guys definitely spared no expense on what I wanted. On top of that they make other great guitars which make for a great company all round. And they really support you during the album making process.
And what about, when it comes to amps?
Amp wise it is pretty much Marshall at this point.
Is it a specific model in particular?
I don’t know man. All I know is that it is a multi-channel thing…I think it is the only one that has all the Midi stuff, and comes with a couple of different cleans, and a couple of different dirtys. It is a very multi-purpose wide range amp.
Would it be the JVM model?
Yep, that’s it, you’ve got it.
How do the guitar parts break down between you and Zacky?
I guess it depends on who wrote it. If I wrote something, then I will probably be the one playing it. But usually Zacky plays the lead lines, all the melodies regardless, be it my idea or his idea. I usually kind of orchestrate the harmonies and stuff like that. But I am usually playing the harmony parts most times. So that’s how that works with the band frame work. So whoever comes up with something, we will always work around that and that it from there.
Do you think your guitar technique and approach has remained consistent over the course of your career with Avenged Sevenfold?
I don’t know, I just try and always approach my solos and guitar playing from a harmony songwriters’ standpoint, where I will always try and make it melodic number one and fun, number two. It has to always be fun and never too fuckin’ serious. I never do technique for the sake of technique. I much prefer a kid to laugh at my solo than to fuckin’ have his jaw drop. I much prefer to inspire different emotions than just, ‘oh shit that guy shreds’ I definitely always try and keep up with the times too and what the kids are doing, the little whippersnappers. I like to see what shit they know that I don’t know. It is cool because you can go onto the internet now and pretty much all the mystery is revealed to you which is a cool thing. It is definitely going to be inspirational for kids to take it to the next level.
Your father Brian Haner Sr, who is also a well known guitarist in his right, contributed guitar on a couple tracks on Nightmare. How much of an influence was your father on your own playing growing up?
He influenced me a lot. I grew up in a household that had a lot of classic rock and jazz and fusion around. But I always had an insatiable itch for metal techniques and stuff like that, so I later went off in a heavy music kind of direction and got into bands such as Pantera, Dream Theatrer and Guns & Roses. My influences go from The Beatles and Led Zeppelin for the rock stuff to The Yellowjackets as far as the fusion influences go.
Any plans for a solo album or maybe being a guest soloist on some other person’s album, along the lines that M Shadows did with Slash for his solo record?
I don’t have any plans right now, like I sad, we kind of get pretty busy and self absorbed when it comes to the task at hand. I wish I was like… where I could just go out and fuckin’ do a million different things all at once. But if I am not doing Avenged stuff, I tend to be a fuckin’ couch potato and drink too much beer at multiple times during the day. But who knows? Maybe I will grow out of that stage and start drinking a lot of fuckin’ coffee instead and go and fuckin’ do a collaboration and write some awesome stuff.
A lot of new bands are taking a leaf out of Avenged Sevenfold’s book and copying some of the elements, how do you feel about that?
Well we certainly weren’t the first band to do it. There have been many before us and there will be many after us, so I certainly don’t think we pioneered anything. If anything I give ourselves credit for maybe bringing some of those elements back and kind of doing our own thing with it. But it is definitely cool to hear bands focusing on songwriting and musicianship these days, those are my two favorite things and in that order. We are a band that focuses on writing good music, melodies, dynamics and songs that go places. Songs that don’t fuckin’ just throw in something when it comes time to write the bridge. Musicians are becoming more focused on all aspects of the music now, and then they go out and play their asses off. It is really cool shit to listen to.
What do you think of bands such as Black Veil Brides who are taking the whole ‘80s glam thing and putting a modern twist to it all?
It is definitely a cool thing. The first time I saw those guys, I hadn’t heard anything about them previously, and we were just doing festivals, and I was like, ‘oh wow this is pretty crazy, I have got to definitely check them out’ purely based on their look. I was pretty much expecting it to be a scream-y hardcore or a popp-ier sounding band trying to be like Motley Crue. But they’re extremely talented dudes and I love the image and I think they are really a great band.
Last question, the turning point both musically and commercially for Avenged Sevenfold came with 2005’s City Of Evil. How do you look back on that album today?
We pretty much had decided on that record that we were going to pretty forget about any guidelines or rules or regulations, and that we would create any form or type of music that we wanted, and so pretty much we threw out the rule book and went in and wrote an album that we were and are very, very proud of. It is a very musically adventurous album and it saw us delving into different types of music, music that we hadn’t previously done. And it was a cool time to explore all this type of music.
Selasa, 23 Agustus 2011
Historia Calamitatum
of the persecution he had from his master William of Champeaux--of his adventures at Melun, at Corbeil and at Paris--of his withdrawal from the city of the Parisians to Melun, and his return to Mont Ste. Geneviève--of his journey to his old home
I came at length to Paris, where above all in those days the art of dialectics was most flourishing, and there did I meet William of Champeaux, my teacher, a man most distinguished in his science both by his renown and by his true merit. With him I remained for some time, at first indeed well liked of him; but later I brought him great grief, because I undertook to refute certain of his opinions, not infrequently attacking him in disputation, and now and then in these debates I was adjudged victor. Now this, to those among my fellow students who were ranked foremost, seemed all the more insufferable because of my youth and the brief duration of my studies.
Out of this sprang the beginning of my misfortunes, which have followed me even to the present day; the more widely my fame was spread abroad, the more bitter was the envy that was kindled against me. It was given out that I, presuming on my gifts far beyond the warranty of my youth, was aspiring despite my tender, years to the leadership of a school; nay, more, that I was making read the very place in which I would undertake this task, the place being none other than the castle of Melun, at that time a royal seat. My teacher himself had some foreknowledge of this, and tried to remove my school as far as possible from his own. Working in secret, he sought in every way he could before I left his following to bring to nought the school I had planned and the place I had chosen for it. Since, however, in that very place he had many rivals, and some of them men of influence among the great ones of the land, relying on their aid I won to the fulfillment of my wish; the support of many was secured for me by reason of his own unconcealed envy. From this small inception of my school, my fame in the art of dialectics began to spread abroad, so that little by little the renown, not alone of those who had been my fellow students, but of our very teacher himself, grew dim and was like to die out altogether. Thus it came about that, still more confident in myself, I moved my school as soon as I well might to the castle of Corbeil, which is hard by the city of Paris, for there I knew there would be given more frequent chance for my assaults in our battle of disputation. No long time thereafter I was smitten with a grievous illness, brought upon me by my immoderate zeal for study. This illness forced me to turn homeward to my native province, and thus for some years I was as if cut off from France. And yet, for that very reason, I was sought out all the more eagerly by those whose hearts were troubled by the lore of dialectics. But after a few years had passed, and I was whole again from my sickness, I learned that my teacher, that same William Archdeacon of Paris, had changed his former garb and joined an order of the regular clergy. This he had done, or so men said, in order that he might be deemed more deeply religious, and so might be elevated to a loftier rank in the prelacy, a thing which, in truth, very soon came to pass, for he was made bishop of Châlons. Nevertheless, the garb he had donned by reason of his conversion did nought to keep him away either from the city of Paris or from his wonted study of philosophy; and in the very monastery wherein he had shut himself up for the sake of religion he straightway set to teaching again after the same fashion as before.
I came at length to Paris, where above all in those days the art of dialectics was most flourishing, and there did I meet William of Champeaux, my teacher, a man most distinguished in his science both by his renown and by his true merit. With him I remained for some time, at first indeed well liked of him; but later I brought him great grief, because I undertook to refute certain of his opinions, not infrequently attacking him in disputation, and now and then in these debates I was adjudged victor. Now this, to those among my fellow students who were ranked foremost, seemed all the more insufferable because of my youth and the brief duration of my studies.
Out of this sprang the beginning of my misfortunes, which have followed me even to the present day; the more widely my fame was spread abroad, the more bitter was the envy that was kindled against me. It was given out that I, presuming on my gifts far beyond the warranty of my youth, was aspiring despite my tender, years to the leadership of a school; nay, more, that I was making read the very place in which I would undertake this task, the place being none other than the castle of Melun, at that time a royal seat. My teacher himself had some foreknowledge of this, and tried to remove my school as far as possible from his own. Working in secret, he sought in every way he could before I left his following to bring to nought the school I had planned and the place I had chosen for it. Since, however, in that very place he had many rivals, and some of them men of influence among the great ones of the land, relying on their aid I won to the fulfillment of my wish; the support of many was secured for me by reason of his own unconcealed envy. From this small inception of my school, my fame in the art of dialectics began to spread abroad, so that little by little the renown, not alone of those who had been my fellow students, but of our very teacher himself, grew dim and was like to die out altogether. Thus it came about that, still more confident in myself, I moved my school as soon as I well might to the castle of Corbeil, which is hard by the city of Paris, for there I knew there would be given more frequent chance for my assaults in our battle of disputation. No long time thereafter I was smitten with a grievous illness, brought upon me by my immoderate zeal for study. This illness forced me to turn homeward to my native province, and thus for some years I was as if cut off from France. And yet, for that very reason, I was sought out all the more eagerly by those whose hearts were troubled by the lore of dialectics. But after a few years had passed, and I was whole again from my sickness, I learned that my teacher, that same William Archdeacon of Paris, had changed his former garb and joined an order of the regular clergy. This he had done, or so men said, in order that he might be deemed more deeply religious, and so might be elevated to a loftier rank in the prelacy, a thing which, in truth, very soon came to pass, for he was made bishop of Châlons. Nevertheless, the garb he had donned by reason of his conversion did nought to keep him away either from the city of Paris or from his wonted study of philosophy; and in the very monastery wherein he had shut himself up for the sake of religion he straightway set to teaching again after the same fashion as before.
Profile of Olivier Messiaen
Born:
December 10, 1908
Birthplace:
Avignon, France; his father was an English literature scholar named Pierre Messiaen and his mother was Cécile Sauvage, a poet.
Died:
April 27, 1992 at Clichy, near Paris
Also Known As:
French composer, educator and organist of the 20th century. His full name was Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen. He founded La Jeune France (Young France), a group which aspired to promote French music.
Type of Compositions:
Messiaen is known for his birdsongs and much of his music was also based on the Catholic faith. He also wrote organ pieces, chamber music, orchestral, piano and vocal works.
Influence:
Amazingly, Olivier Messiaen learned how to play the piano by himself and by seven years old was already composing music. He would later on study at the Paris Conservatoire with Paul Dukas and Marcel Dupré among his teachers. His early works were influenced by DeBussy. He became organist at La Trinite in Paris and taught at various music schools including the Paris Conservatoire with Pierre Boulez as one of his students.
Musical Work:
Among his known works are: "Offrandes oubliées,' "Nativité du Seigneur," "Quatuor pour la fin du temps," "Trois Petites Liturgies de la présence divine,' "Visions de l'amen," "La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ," "Turangalîla-Symphonie,' "Chronochromie," "Le Réveil des oiseaux," "Oiseaux exotiques" "Harawi" "Saint Francois d' Assise," and "Catalogue d'oiseaux."
Interesting Facts:
During World War 2, he became a prisoner of war and it was during that time when he wrote "Quatuor pour la fin du temps" (Quartet for the End of Time). His first wife was a violinist named Claire Delbos; his second wife was Yvonne Loriod, a pianist
