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Joe Stump (Reign of Terror, HolyHell, Solo Artist)
by: GEORGE FUSTOS - 2009-9-19 22:57:2 email: george(at)metalexpressradio(dot)com
JOE STUMP, Shredder extraordinaire, recently released The Essential Shred Guitar Collection and is working in a new band called HOLYHELL. Joe joined Metal Express Radio to answer a few questions...
MER:
Berklee College of Music is well known for its teaching curriculum and
is one of the best when it comes to learning how to play a musical
instrument. As a graduate, you know first-hand what it’s like to enroll
and make it through their guitar program. Not only did you become one
of the best guitarists out there today, Berklee has asked you teach at
its facilities. Could you elaborate and go into detail as to what can
be expected at Berklee as a typical student enrolled in their guitar
program? Is there a certain amount of musical sense or know how one
must possess before entering the program?
JOE STUMP: I
didn’t actually graduate from Berklee, but I was a student there many
years ago, back when the program was completely Jazz-oriented. Of
course now things are quite different as the guitar department is
extremely diverse, offering lessons/classes/labs in just about any
guitar style you could think of. For new students it can be a bit
overwhelming and intimidating as the program at Berklee is quite
demanding. If you’re not willing to live/eat/sleep/breathe guitar, then
save your money and stay home in your bedroom. While many guitar
students continuously apply, the amount of students actually getting in
is decreasing as they’re only accepting higher level players. Obviously
the further along you are on your instrument, the more you’ll get out
of attending someplace like Berklee.
MER: Why do you use the specific pedals that you have in your arsenal and why did you select those over something else perhaps?
JOE: My
setup, whether it’s my guitars/amps/effects are very inspired by my
heroes/influences and favorite guitar tones. Those players are the
early Gary Moore solo stuff when it was all Strats and Marshalls for
him, as well as all the Blackmore Rainbow and Purple shit, Uli Jon Roth
on the early Scorpions records, Hendrix, and of course Yngwie
(especially his groundbreaking early recordings -- just jaw dropping
playing and killer tone). So for me it was easy: Strats, old Marshalls
(although I do use an Engl Blackmore model at times), and my effects
are fairly standard. I’ve always liked the Boss/Roland stuff and have
been a boss user for over 2 decades now (flanger, chorus, delay, octave
box, phase shifter), plus a Dunlop Cry baby wah-wah and a Dunlop
rotovibe, for the Hendrix/Trower/Frank Marino types of things I do. I
also use a few overdrive boxes: the Yngwie YJM 308 DOD pedal and the
older grey DOD overdrive it was modeled after, as well as a BSM
Fireball and RPA major (both of those Blackmore-inspired overdrives
that sound killer -- I absolutely love them). The gear section of the www.joestump.com site has quite a bit of my stuff with pictures and text ... cool to check out.
MER:
How have your practice sessions changed over the years, beginning with
your days as a young guitarist just starting out, your student years,
your band years including your solo work, and lastly any free time you
might have had when not involved in any type of project/album?
JOE: Cool
question. I’ve always loved to play and enjoy practicing. On the road
everybody’s got their laptop out looking for a wireless connection and
I’m over in the corner of the dressing room playing away. In my younger
days, I played continuously 6-8 hours a day at least and that continued
on when I was gearing up for my early solo recordings. I still practice
all the time -- at least 3 to 5 hours a day when I’ve got a day off.
And at Berklee, I’m there 3 full days a week (when I’m not touring)
with a guitar in my hands playing and teaching high tech shred/speed
metal anywhere from 6-10 hours/day. I feel very blessed that I spend
everyday doing what I love and I’m always trying to improve as a player
and overall musician.
MER: Can you read sheet music as quickly as you can play?
JOE:
I can read. I really only read when helping my Berklee guitar students
trying to develop their reading skills and I also play various
classical things on my own: Bach violin sonatas, partitas, inventions,
Paganini caprices, etc. I have used sections of classical pieces in my
recordings and sometimes I’ll just work on a classical bit because it’s
a different kind of discipline than Hard Rock/Metal/Shred stuff and
always quite humbling. But I’m not a monster sight reader by any means
as what I do doesn’t require it, but it’s a nice skill to have.
MER:
You, along with so many other fine musicians attribute some of their
style or play to certain influences, mostly other musicians. In most
cases these influences turn out to be Hendrix, Malmsteen, Vai,
Blackmore, Bach, and Paganini. What do you think it is about these
individuals specifically that everyone seems to turn to in terms of
their influences?
JOE: Well
on my end you can include everyone you mentioned except for Vai as I
think he’s an amazing player and world class musician but not someone
I’ve ever listened to. But all the musicians mentioned above are all
and were all amazing, groundbreaking artists in their respective
styles/time periods. Bach influenced many of the other masterful
classical composers that came after him and Paganini brought an amazing
level of virtuosity never seen on any instrument prior to his arrival,
he had a massive impact on people like Litz and many other post
romantic composers/musicians. Hendrix and Blackmore wrote the book when
it comes to Hard Rock guitar and Yngwie more or less single handily
invented shred.
MER:
If you didn’t have the career that you have had so far, what else do
you think you would have done or chosen as a profession? What
profession do you admire the most? What profession do you admire the
least?
I
really don’t know as I would be a completely different person if I
didn’t play guitar, it’s been such a huge part of me for as long as I
can remember it’s hard to think about what it was like when I wasn’t
obsessed with it. It would be cool to be one of those high tech
thieves/heist men like George Clooney in Oceans Eleven, although some jail time does eventually come with that line of work, so like anything there’s a downside.
MER:
Of all the music out there to choose from, what are your top five bands
or musicians? Which bands or musicians that you admire do you feel are
underrated?
JOE: My
favorite musicians are my heroes Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple,
Rainbow, Blackmore’s Night), Yngwie Malmsteen (all of his work past and
present he plays his ass off on his last record Perpetual Flame),
Gary Moore (early solo Metal records as well as his more recent Hard
Rock/Blues stuff), Uli Jon Roth (early Scorps and solo stuff), and
Michael Schenker (MSG, UFO, etc.).
As
far as bands /musicians that are underrated… not really sure about that
but as far as other artists/bands I enjoy would be Frank Marino, he’s a
motherfucker of a player and as close as you’d come to seeing Jimi in
this day and age, not that Frank’s a Hendrix clone by any means but
Jimi’s spirit comes out when he does his thing. I love Walter
Giardino..s playing from Rata Blanca, he, like me, is a massive
Blackmore disciple and writes great melodic Hard Rock/Metal stuff. I
like Axel Rudi Pell’s records. He writes some great Power Metal stuff
with strong hooks and riffs. I also like King Diamond and Mercyful
Fate. All the guitar players in those 2 are great; Andy La Roque, Hank
Sherman, Mike Wead, and Michael Denner. I also like Arch Enemy, At
Vance, Impellitteri, Double Dealer, Concerto Moon, Accept; I really
like Wolf Hoffman’s playing. So all kinds of stuff, the list goes on.
MER:
How do you go about selecting the strings you like to use? Do you
prefer a guitar having 1, 2, or 3 pickups; active or passive
electronics; single coil, double coil, or piezo’s? Can you elaborate on
these as it pertains to your playing and perhaps include some pros and
cons where applicable?
JOE: I
always noticed that both Yngwie and Blackmore used a hybrid set with a
light top and heavy bottom, so I tried similar gauges and loved them. I
was with Ernie Ball for many years and now I’ve been with Dean Markley
for a couple years now and I’m using the Yngwie signature strings 8,
11, 14, 22, 32, 48 and they sound great, stretch quickly and stay in
tune quite well so I’m happy. Pickup-wise I’m a Strat guy. All my main
solo guitars are ESP custom shop Strat’s with DiMarzio pickups ( I’ve
been an ESP and Dimarzio endorsee for many years now), YJM in the neck,
virtual vintage solo in the middle, and I’ll use various pickups in the
bridge; all Dimarzio HS-3, Fast track bridge, virtual vintage solo. For
what I do from the fast single note playing to the more expressive,
emotionally drenched stuff, Strat style pickups have quite a bit more
character and tone, for me anyway.
MER:
Of all the bands that ever existed but aren’t together anymore for
whatever reason, who or which band would you love to see perform live
if you had the chance to see them just once and why?
JOE: Dio
era Rainbow, hands down. It would be a great treat to see Ritchie and
Ronnie together again, sadly Cozy’s gone so it would have to be someone
else on drums but I’d kill to see that reunion.
MER:
A Fender Strat is known for having three, single coil pickups. Two of
these are vertical and perpendicular to the strings while the third one
closest to the bridge is slanted and on an angle? Why is this and what
does it accomplish by being positioned in this fashion?
JOE: I’m
not sure how to answer that on a technical level, but obviously the
positioning of the pickups on a Strat has everything to do with the
pickup pole pieces lining up with the strings and that’s what gives a
Strat its sound and character.
MER:
How much different is it for you to be in a band such as HolyHell where
lyrics play an integral role as opposed to your solo career that has
been more Instrumental in nature? Is there a different approach you
take as far writing, playing, or recording music when lyrics are
involved?
JOE: Well,
in addition to the HolyHell stuff, I’ve also released 4 vocal records
with my own band, Joe Stump’s Reign of Terror, so I do have quite a bit
of experience composing band/vocal material. With my thing whether it’s
solo or the Reign of Terror stuff, I compose all the music. But
HolyHell has several people involved in writing for the band. On the
debut record some of the tracks are mine while a good portion of the
stuff is written by Francisco Palomo. He’s the keyboard player for
HolyHell and he’s a tremendous all around musician and a monster
player, just stupidly fucking good. His stuff is more melodic and epic
while mine’s heavier and more evil sounding so it’s a great balance
material-wise. Maria Breon (HolyHell vocalist) writes all the lyrics
and Joey DeMaio (Manowar bassist, Power Metal pioneer/kingpin) produced
the Holyhell record and he’s heavily involved in developing the tunes,
from contributing writing ideas, arrangement ideas, sounds, everything.
MER:
How did you come up with HolyHell and what made you become part of it
considering your solo career was doing so well and you still had a
teaching gig at Berklee?
JOE: I
was working on former Virgin Steele guitar player Jack Starr’s record
for Magic Circle Music. Joey DeMaio was producing that record. After
working on that project he mentioned to me he had this other band
HolyHell he was developing and would I be interested in playing guitar
and getting involved, so the choice was easy. For me it’s a great
situation. I still have my solo career and continue to release records
and tour with that. My teaching gig at Berklee remains unaffected as I
get time off from work to tour and go right back to work when I come
off the road; and I’m in this killer more mainstream Power Metal band
with great players that play arena tours and huge open air festivals on
the bill opening for Manowar in front on thousands of metal fans. So
for me everything couldn’t be better.
MER: HolyHell was formed back in 2005 but to this day has yet to release its debut album. What is the holdup?
JOE: The
EP came out in 2007 and sold quite well and the HolyHell debut record
was just released in parts of Europe last month and will be out
worldwide in the upcoming months, so you must be misinformed. It’s a
killer debut and is already getting rave reviews in the press and doing
some nice biz sales-wise.
MER:
Who are some of your favorite bassists, guitarists, drummers and
keyboard players you have ever worked with whether it is in the studio
or while on tour?
JOE: I
enjoy all the players I work with... the HolyHell guys are all killer
players; Francisco (keys), ex-Manowar drummer Rhino, and Jay Rigney who
plays in both HolyHell and my solo thing is a monster bass player.
Former Malmsteen keyboardist Mats Olausson played on several of my
recordings and he’s another great musician.
MER:
Regarding Metal instrumentalists today, is there anyone (individual or
band) out there in your opinion that is innovative enough and has the
talent to make it big but just hasn’t been noticed or recognized yet
for their work?
JOE: I
really don’t know. I’m busy doing my own thing so when it comes time to
listen to music it’s usually one of the previous artists/bands I
mentioned in addition to classical music.
MER:
Do you like to play electric or acoustic guitar better? Which one is
more difficult to learn and play? Same 2 questions but this time
substitute 6-string vs 7-string guitar. Have you ever tried playing an
8-string?
JOE: I primarily
play electric obviously but I do play acoustic and nylon string stuff
on my records at times. The 2 are completely different animals. It’s
not like one’s more difficult than the other. As far as 7 or 8 string
guitars go, I’m old school and have no interest in those, 6 strings and
21 or 22 frets is plenty for me.
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