Michael Knight | |||
PA ~ How
long have you been playing guitar?
MK: A long time! I started fiddling with guitar when I was about 8 yrs. old, cause my brother played guitar and there was always a guitar around the house. I got my first guitar when I was 10. So, I’ve been playing over 20 yrs.
PA ~ Who
were/are your musical influences?
MK: All my rhythm playing is part Tony Iommi. My lead playing was influenced by a lot of early metal and hard rock players, Nugent, Blackmore, Schenker... even some blues rock players like, Frank Marino & Johnny Winter.
PA ~ You
blend many elements into your instrumental works. Musically, how
would you describe your sound/genre?
MK: It’s mostly Metal but its more like "sonic metal artwork". I’ll use whatever is available to create a composition that will stir up visual imagery.
PA ~ When
recording in studio, are you a "hands on" artist or do you
have an engineer and/or studio you normally work with?
MK: I usually record with guitarist Steve Booke, at his project studio - Porcelain God Studio here in NY. Believe it or not, I don’t even own a 4-track recorder. I put the music together in my head and usually don’t even know what the whole song is going to sound like until it’s complete. Some parts come out just the way I had envisioned them, like the mid-section of Neo-Demonica with the animal noises and stuff. Other parts don’t come out as I had planned but I work with them anyway. PA ~ Where did you get the inspiration for your CD release, "Mechanica Diablo"? MK: It’s a concept
instrumental album, which is probably rare in the world of guitar
rock. It’s like Dante’s Inferno in a music medium - a trip
through hell, each song or composition representing a different
corridor or level. MK: It seems that people either love it or just completely ignore it. Some people just don’t seem to get it - get what I was trying to do. I played around with the composition structures so its not what people are used to hearing. Most of the pieces are not, verse-chorus-verse-chorus style. Most of the time I went for projecting an atmosphere first, and the shredding & flashy guitar playing came secondary.
PA ~ Do
you have a favorite composition on the CD?
MK: The one I most enjoyed recording was “Pandemonium in The Mausoleum”. I had guest guitar solo spots from Jack Starr, Rob Balducci, Carl Roa (Magic Elf), and Steve Booke in that song. I also had keyboardist Don Lowerre come in - we did some trade off leads at the end of the piece that are just killer. It was a lot of fun recording so it is definitely one of my faves. Also, the title track, “Mechanica Diablo” and “Neo-Demonica”.
PA ~ Will
you be touring to promote "Mechanica Diablo"?
No. Perhaps after my next CD.
PA ~ Any
other projects or followups in the works presently?
MK: I have a CD release called "Island of Lost Souls", with my Metal Band, SKULGRINDER. We have a great traditional metal style vocalist, Brian Andersen, and I’m definitely excited about this CD. Skulgrinder is a full band project with Kato Perragine on drums & Curt Robinson on bass.
PA ~ What's
the music portal; Guitar 2001, all about?
MK: >From 1996 - 2001 I published and ran a underground guitar magazine, “Guitar-2001 magazine”. We did interviews with dozens of guitarists including:John Petrucci, Zakk Wylde, Steve Morse, George Lynch, Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Michael Schenker...,and a lot more underground and indie label guitarists (back issues and a compilation CD still available). When I was done with the magazine, I realized I had all these great links and contacts. I had also built up traffic from other site links and sort of had a brand name. So I decided to leave the site up as a resource center for indie contacts. In a way, it’s my way of giving something back to all the people that followed and supported the magazine when it was active.
PA ~ During
your musical journey so far, any interesting (funny, bizarre,
highlight, nightmare etc...) stories come to mind you'd like to
share with us?
MK: Oh, yeah. I have
plenty. One time we get to this gig and I have all this promo
material to bring in (CDs, radio request cards, T-Shirts, Mailing
list sheets, etc.). We get into the club and I check like 3 times to
make sure we have everything. We set up this table with all this
stuff and I couldn’t believe it, everything was going so smooth.
The club manager comes over to us and says we’re going on in 20
minutes. All the band members say, “Great...” but, not me. I did
forget something. My guitar was sitting in our practice studio some
40 miles away from the gig! I didn’t want to tell the other band
members so I make up some excuse; I tell them I’m going down the
block to the deli for some smokes. Well, my bass player knew
something wasn’t right so he follows me out of the club and
catches me getting into my car. He starts grilling me saying,
“Where the hell are you going..., What’s going on, blah, blah,
blah.” Finally I confide in him and tell him I have to go back to
the studio to get my guitar. I tell him, “Stall for time.” So, I
think he’s going to be all pissed off and start yelling and making
a commotion but, it seems as if a light bulb just goes on in his
head (you know that look?). He says to me, “While your there, can
you get my bass?”
PA ~ What
advice would you give to up and coming guitar players?
MK: Learn everything you can, take lessons, read books, watch other guitarists. Then, don’t think about what you’ve learned - just make the guitar do what you want it to do. Whatever that takes for you personally to get the sound you want out of it, do it. There is no right or wrong way to do it - the only thing that matters is the end product, the sound that is coming out of your speakers. Also, listen to what you play with your ears - not your imagination. |
The Skulgrinder Oath There are 7 rules in the Skulgrinder Oath: 1) We will never have any rap, rap style lyrics, or hip-hop style music on any of our music or CD releases. 2) In years to come we will never say, "we weren't a metal band" ! We are and will always be a metal band. 3) We will never drastically change our style of music. If, for some strange, unforeseen reason we do, we will change the name of the band - and not masquerade around like nothing is different. 4) We will never write a Top 40, hit song to please the Britney Spears/Chistina Aguillera crowd or radio program directors trying to sell ad-space to wal-mart and home depot. 5) We will never share a stage with a rap artist - that includes all those Rap-rock bands! 6) We will never do an "acoustic versions" CD or live show. We are plugged in for life - deal with it ! 7) We will never have record company dictate our music and/or lyrical content -or- what songs we will put on our CD !
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