Interview with the Shredders of Shreds of Insanity!!

If you were lucky enough to see the “Shreds of Insanity” guitar exposition last month at Carvin Hollywood, you know that it featured some of the most talented young shredders! Presented by Century Media Records, Dunlop Manufacturing, and Cleartone Strings, straight from the world famous Sunset Strip at the Carvin Hollywood Pro Audio room, featured four metal shredders. Jake Dreyer of WHITE WIZZARD, Parker Jameson of STARKILL, Dave Silver of SAVAGE MESSIAH and Rick Di Marco of DEATH DIVISION.  The showcase included a Q & A with the guitarists as well as solos, lick battles and an incredible all guitar rendition of Scorpions hit, “Rock You Like A Hurricane”.  You can check out this incredible video that features the highlights of the show:

 

Full Show Video:

 

In addition, Music Junkie Press was honored to interview several of the members and are pleased to bring you the interview here:

* * * * * * * * * * *

Music Junkie Press: How old were you when you first started playing guitar?

Parker Jameson: I started playing the summer before going into high school, so fourteen.

Dave Silver: I started playing guitar at around 12 years old, and I received my first guitar on my 13^th birthday.

Jake Dreyer: I first began guitar lessons at the age of eight years old. I never practiced and therefore it was a complete waste of my parents’ money and the teacher’s time. I took two years off and picked it up again when I was about ten years old.

Music Junkie Press: What was the first song you learned how to play in its entirety?

Parker Jameson: Probably something by either The Kind, Off Broadway, or Cheap Trick.  Illinois rock bands.

Dave Silver: The first song I learned was probably something like Heartbreaker by Led Zeppelin or possibly a Jimi Hendrix song. I progressed fairly quickly and became completely obsessed with the instrument and would just play for hours every day.

Jake Dreyer: The first song I remember playing all the way through was “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream; it was for a guitar recital that my guitar teacher was putting on at my school. Still the scariest moment of having to play guitar in front of people I can think of.

Music Junkie Press: What was your first guitar?

Parker Jameson: A red ESP LTD F-10

Dave Silver: The first guitar I had was a black Tanglewood Stratocaster copy that my dad bought for me, and then I had an Epiphone Les Paul. The Tanglewood ended up being dissected so I could try and learn the inner workings of the instrument, but at first I loved that guitar, I took it everywhere.

Jake Dreyer: I was always into music growing up and I wanted to jump around my room reenacting 80s hair metal videos so I remember asking my parents for Christmas for a Blue and Orange guitar that was like an explorer shape. Somehow my dad was able to find a mini version of an explorer and painted it orange and blue. As far as a real guitar goes I started learning on a Squire Strat that had 20 frets. I have no idea what happened to that guitar.

Music Junkie Press: Do you have a nickname or name for your favorite guitar now?

Parker Jameson: I just refer to my guitars by their color.  Black, white, pink, etc.

Dave Silver: No, I’ve never really been into naming my guitars. I’ve got nothing against people that choose to name their instruments, it’s just never really occurred to me to do so.

Jake Dreyer: No, not really I just refer to it as the hideously beautiful purple thing with seven strings that makes noise.

Music Junkie Press: What three artists were most influential to you when you first started playing?

Parker Jameson: When I first started playing, the artists that inspired me to play and practice were Joe Satriani, Rush, and Dragonforce.

Dave Silver: My influences have changed a lot over the years, but I’ve always been into rock. The very first guitarists I worshipped were probably Michael Schenker, Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

Jake Dreyer: AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” was the song that made me want to start playing guitar but as time went on I started looking at different players. Throughout high school Yngwie, Jason Becker and Paul Gilbert were the three that were huge influences that I still admire to this day.

Music Junkie Press: What advice can you give to young guitarists who dream of being as good as you are? (Instructional video, advice on practice, finger exercises, etc)

Parker Jameson: Practice what you want to hear yourself playing.  If you like players that are heavy legato players, start there instead of boring yourself with alternate picking or sweeps.  Your technique will improve across the board if you are practicing techniques relevant to your interests.

Dave Silver: I think young guitarists in this day and age have a strong advantage on guitar players who started learning at the same time that I did. Basically, when I first got a guitar there was no internet, no YouTube or anything, so the only way you could learn was to buy guitar magazines and tab books and then listen to the recordings to try and match them. The one similarity though between now and then would be that it takes time to learn, and you’re going to have to be extremely dedicated. There’s a whole world of tutorial videos on line which can be useful, but the key will always be practice!

Jake Dreyer: My first piece of advice would be to dream of a better player than I am, but if they truly wanted to know, I absolutely recommend Paul Gilbert’s first instructional video “Intense Rock.” Amazing stuff for alternate picking can be found in that video. Another good alternate picking video is Vinnie Moore’s instructional “Speed, Accuracy and Articulation” the name truly says it all. All of Marty Friedman’s instructional videos are fantastic for soloing concepts. Music theory is something that I think any guitarist should know. It will help out in so many ways. Practice your scales and arpeggios with a metronome. Also, last but not least, jam with your friends.  It is always good to put your hard earned hours of practicing to the test in a band situation.

Music Junkie Press: If I could peak into your Ipod, what artist or song would I be most surprised at finding in there?

Parker Jameson: Maybe Reel Big Fish?

Dave Silver: I have an incredible diverse in music so you’d probably find some interesting stuff on there! I listen to everything from death metal to folk music. I’ll go from listening to Cannibal Corpse to Traffic or Genesis followed by Arch Enemy.

Jake Dreyer: I love a ton of music so there would probably be a few surprising things in there. Everything from Classical, Flamenco, Jazz, Classic Rock/Metal and Pop can be found there. I have recently been into a lot of Female vocalists so I am sure some of the Pop stuff would surprise some people. It is good Pop, though, none of the stuff out there now is really of any quality but No Doubt has been showing up a lot on my recently played particularly the album “Tragic Kingdom”.

Music Junkie Press: If you could take a song from any other genre and turn it into your shredding metal sound, what might it be?

Parker Jameson: I really want to do a Starkill version of either an Emperor song or an Offspring song.

Dave Silver: It would be interesting to have a go at metalizing John Barleycorn Must die by Traffic, I think that’d be killer!

Jake Dreyer: Anything by Chopin and Litsz. Those guys during the Romantic era of music were just absolute geniuses of using jaw dropping technique on the piano but at the same time making the most beautiful of music. From a theory point of view those composers sense of harmony is unmatched. The best of the best in my opinion constantly surprised and floored with each new discovery when studying their work.

Music Junkie Press: What is your favorite guitar solo of all time?

Parker Jameson: My favorite guitar solo changes weekly, Revolution Deathsquad is probably always in the top three.

Dave Silver: If I’m going to choose one it would have to be Marty Friedman’s solos in Megadeth’s Hangar 18, pure genius.

Jake Dreyer: Wow! That is a tough question. My answer would have to be the solo(s) in “Now Your Ships are Burned” by the one and only Yngwie “J” Malmsteen. It is definitely not the greatest solo of all time but it is just ridiculously badass for all the right reasons.  Also, for sheer jaw dropping solos that make me shake my head and send me back to my woodshed like a whimpering dog would be any of the solos off of Allan Holdsworth’s album Metal Fatigue particularly “Devil Take the Hindmost”.  For the scariest rendition seek out the Live in Japan from ‘84.

Music Junkie Press: What are you currently working on (or touring)?

Parker Jameson: Working on preproduction for our next album and figuring out our next tour dates.

Dave Silver: We’re currently working on our third album which will be out on Earache in Europe and Century Media in the US next year. We’re also very busy setting up tours and everything for the new year and working on all the set up logistics of our next music video.

Jake Dreyer: I am currently about to take off on a European tour with White Wizzard at the end of this month. We will be hitting a lot of dates in the UK as well as a good amount in mainland Europe. When we get back from across the pond there are a few dates on the East Coast including a festival appearance at Rock Harvest in Maryland and a New York City headline show. Besides White Wizzard I am currently slaving away at trying to write stuff that does not suck for my own solo music. It’s very music/guitar nerdy type stuff. Slowly but surely it is coming along.

Music Junkie Press: Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share with our audience?

Parker Jameson: Keep spreading the Fires of Life!

Dave Silver: Thanks for reading, and go check us out! Hopefully we’ll see you on tour in 2014!!

Jake Dreyer: Thanks for reading my ramblings. Hope to see some of you readers out on the road and for those of you that have thanks for taking the time to check out some of my work!

* * * * * * * * * * *

What an incredible group of talented shredders and I am glad we get to know them a little bit more. Make sure to please check out their social media links and to let them know that you read it here on Music Junkie Press!

~ Marisol