Ten Year Vamp: Don't Act Like You Know Me

Don’t Act Like You Know Me is not only a powerfully entertaining pop-rock album by Albany, NY based band Ten Year Vamp, it is an evolutionary, and revolutionary, leap that could very well change the way bands record and market their music. Filled with catchy riffs and heavy grooves, the album easily proves that it can stand next to any top-40 album on the charts today. But, these six upstate-rockers are more than just talented musicians, they are industry visionaries who may have inadvertently sent ripples through the music business world that could be felt for years, and decades, to come.

Driven by the infectious vocals of lead singer Debbie Gabrione, the album draws influences from rock, pop and even techno and house music, helping the band push beyond the typical “power-pop” label usually given to groups with a similar vibe. The album is also incredibly well produced, and not in a bad way. Background vocals are mixed with a careful ear to the clarity of the melody, the instruments sound as they should, with natural sounding effects, and the low-end is present enough to get listeners tapping their feet, without getting in the way of the other instruments. The engineers should be applauded alongside the band members in producing an excellently written, and sounding, album.

Gabrione, who grew up listening to 50s era pop and who admitted that the heaviest music she heard before college was Rod Stewart and Neil Diamond, uses her pop background to her advantage. Her vocal lines are consistently musical, with a sense of forward motion and catchiness that can only come from someone who’s spent years listening to the great pop singers of decades gone by. When mixed with her newfound love of modern rock music, Gabrione’s vocals reach out and grab the listener by the lapels, pulling them into the lyrics of each track.

Aside from writing and recording a chart-worthy pop-rock album, the band, in an effort to pay for their new record, may have changed the course of music business history in the process. Instead of signing with a record label, or paying for the album themselves with earned or borrowed money, the band became a musical mutual fund of sorts. They solicited investments from fans, and the general public, in return for “shares” in the albums success.

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Interview with Brad Conroy

Matt Warnock: How did you first become exposed to the classical guitar, and when did you realize that you wanted to pursue it as your career?

Brad Conroy: It wasn’t until my first year of college that I was introduced to the classical guitar. Up until then I was playing the piano and electric guitar. Like most teenagers, and people for that matter, I had no idea what classical guitar was. I had heard that it was a really hard style to play in, and that’s what first attracted me to the classical guitar.

After the first few lessons I became really inspired by the process and the discipline that was required, and eventually became familiar with the repertoire and fell in love with it as well. The moment I picked up a guitar I instantly knew this was the life I wanted to lead, and it was probably right after my first classical guitar lesson that I realized this was the discipline I wanted to follow.

Matt: Can you talk about some of the experiences, good and bad, that you had as an undergrad and graduate student in classical guitar? Does the modern day classical guitarist need school to be successful as a performer and teacher?

Brad: I really loved the atmosphere of music school, even though it was competitive and I had to sacrifice a lot of the things that college students normally do in order to spend enough time practicing and studying. College was also that time when I began to feel really good about applying myself fully to better understanding my instrument. Also, I made friends with other guitar students, some of whom are now my colleagues, and I’ve always felt that I learned just as much from them as I did from my private teachers.

Some of the worst experiences in undergrad were those very first performances. I remember learning a few Scarlatti sonatas, and other advanced repertoire, and being so excited to perform them. Then when it was time to take the stage my hands just didn’t want to cooperate. They would get cold and sweaty and I just wasn’t able to control my technique in the same way I could when there was no one around.

I remember being so down after a few of my early performances, to play and feel as if it was a complete train wreck is a devastating feeling. What was the point of all my efforts and long hours spent in the practice room just to crumble on stage? After time though, these experiences really helped me to grow and understand that the control comes from not only being over prepared, but the ability to quiet the mind and sustain focus from within.

I’m not sure you need school to become an incredible performer, but in the classical guitar world it truly helps. The music school curriculum gives students the time and tools they’ll need to make a career with the guitar. The classical guitar has a relatively small audience, and very few guitarists have made it solely as performers, so teaching is a great way to generate income. These days, in order to land a respectable teaching position that pays a livable wage, a college degree will most likely be required.

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Guilt Machinie: On This Perfect Day

On This Perfect Day is a captivating, progressive rock album released by Arjen Lucassen’s newest side-group, Guilt Machine. The record was written as a concept album of sorts, which Lucassen wrote to explore “the destructive psychology of guilt, regret and the darkest form of secret — the secrets we hide from ourselves.” Though the concept album, perfected by bands like Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden, seems to have gone out of fashion in recent years, it’s albums like On This Perfect Day that remind us all why concept driven rock was such a success in the first place.

Containing only six tracks, the shortest being a little over six minutes and the longest being almost twelve, the album possesses a musical flow to it that forces the listener to take a step back, to see the musical forest through the proverbial trees. Not to say that the songs all sound the same, but each track has more in common with the movements of a symphony than they do individual songs on a pop-rock record. There are musical and lyrical themes that thread their way through each song, linking them together to form a larger work, with the high-level of musicianship provided by the band acting as a guide that leads the listener through each harmonic twist and melodic turn.

One of the most interesting aspects of the album is the vocal “messages” that are found strewn throughout the album. A month after announcing that he had begun the project, Lucassen sent out a message on his website soliciting fans to send him short, audio messages in that persons mother tongue, along with a written translation. After receiving over two-hundred submissions, Lucassen narrowed it down to nineteen audio samples that he would use on the record.

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Prog Around the World: Review

Prog Around the World is the latest compilation disc put together by Magna Carta Records, featuring some of the biggest names in the progressive rock genre, and as the album’s title suggests, the artists chosen represent prog-rock groups from all over the world. Containing a mix of instrumental and vocal tracks, the album brings together songs by some of today’s top instrumentalists, such as Ethan Brosh and Martone, as well as prog-rock bands Liquid Trio Experiment and Age of Nemesies, just to name a few. Showcasing the diversity that has come to define the prog rock genre, Prog Around the World offers something for every fan of the genre, and acts as the perfect introduction for those listeners who are unfamiliar with the genre, or these artists in particular.

One of the reasons prog-rock has maintained a footing in the modern music scene for over three decades, and the reason it’s often hard to pin down to one or two sounds, is the vast array of bands and stylistic qualities that define the progressive sound. Groups such as Derdian, who contribute the rock anthemish, quasi neo-classical “I Don’t Wanna Die,” fall within the prog-rock label, as does shred-guitar virtuoso Martone, who’s “Moron Face” is definitely one of the albums highlights. While both Martone and Derdian sound completely different, it is the progressive, creative nature of their music that unites them on this compilation. Again, drawing from such a diverse pool of musicians for the album, Magna Carta is providing a smorgasbord of styles for people to enjoy throughout.

From a guitar standpoint, several players make solid contributions to the album. Metal master Ethan Brosh is at his best on “Ancient Land,” which is taken from his new instrumental album Out of Oblivion. Brosh’s playing is technically amazing. Displaying chops that would make any shredder jealous, his ability to bookend these feats of virtuosity with strong melodic-based lines that set up the faster ideas, stand him apart from the myriad of metal players on the scene today.

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Interview with Trae Vedder of Death on Two Wheels

Matt: With Pop music being at the forefront of the music scene these days do you find that it’s hard for a rock band like Death on Two Wheels to compete with that genre of music, or do you find you’re getting more opportunities since you’re going against the Pop music grain with your writing?

Trae: I wouldn’t say we’ve seen any backlash at all, but I don’t think being a rock band has necessarily helped in any specific way. There are some songs on the album that have a bit of a Pop vibe to them, but I don’t really think we worry about it. We just write the way we write and then try and reach the fans with our music.

We’ll play for five people in a bar or five hundred in a theater, as long as we’re getting out there and making music, and people are digging it, it’s cool with us. As far as rock music goes, I think because we have that Southern rock vibe we get some support from the Indy rock community.

It doesn’t matter if a band sounds like rock, or techno, or blues, or whatever, as long as the band has energy on stage and can put on a great show then the fans will keep coming. How the band performs, I think, is even more important than the type of music they choose to play.

Matt: Do you find that getting out and doing a lot of gigs also helps you develop as a band, as well as developing your fan base?

Trae: It’s very, very important for us to get out on stage and play. I don’t think that a band like ours could survive without doing a lot of shows. It’s not possible to get things happening in a rehearsal space. There are some lessons that can only be learned on stage. We love to play, and try to play everyday, and I’d much rather get out on a stage than jam in a practice room.

We’re going to keep getting out there in our van and doing gigs wherever we can find places to play. As long as we can keep gas in the tank, we’ll play for whoever wants to listen. That’s how a band like ours survives, getting out there and growing the fan base one by one.

Matt: You released your first album on your own record label. Did you find it tough to do on your own, or do you find that the rewards mean that much more since you put together the whole project on your own?

Trae: It’s cool, personally and as a band, to know that our ups are our ups and our downs are our downs. If something goes wrong it’s up to us to fix it ourselves. But, from a songwriters standpoint, it’s very nice to have that power as an artist, to form everything ourselves. If the ship sinks it falls on our shores, but that’s a good thing.

Nobody is ever going to care about the artist as much as the artist does, so it’s up to us to go out there and get the word out about the record. Until something else comes up we’ll just keep putting in the work ourselves and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We really enjoy that aspect of the business. We book most of our own gigs, that sort of thing, so we’re really hands on with the workings of the band at this point in our careers.

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