Interview with distilled1

Born and raised in the Motor City, distilled1, member of the inimitable band Empire Day, spent his teen years between that rauckus city and the hot desert sun of Mesa, AZ. in the American Southwest. He grew up
playing piano taking his cue from his mother and grandmother and a variety of Aunts on his mother's side. He says "There was always one (a piano) in someone's living room." He started taking lessons at age 5 and
didn't stop until he was 12 years old. He was already writing and playing his own music by then and he finally switched to guitar at age 14. His guitar genes come from his father who played folk guitar from the time distilled1 was a baby. He leapt into the world of the electric playing every school boy's rock and roll dream - the music of Led Zepplin and Black Sabbath. From the ages of 16 to 25 he says he played in many, manybands.

Empire Day was formed when distilled1 moved to Illinois and started jamming with Marv, another band member and his ex's cousin. Marv introduced him to Eric and Kim. This first incarnation of Empire Day wrote a few songs but eventually fell apart. Later, Eric, Marv and distilled1 gotback together, worked on a full CD of songs and started playing live.

You would be hard pressed to find anyone more dedicated to supportingthe independent musician than distilled1. He, along with ebarbarella of PopDolls, have created and sustained over the years the amazing gothNights Radio. He's also had a Friday night stream of indie music for at least a year now on which he has featured many DM artists. Recently, he has taken the realm of that program into Second Life establishing the amazing virtual DM Swank Lounge complete with a pole for dancing and the much maligned ficus. Within the SL world, distilled1 has made it possible for artists to appear "live" and perform on the Swank Lounge stage.
I recently forayed into the SL world and I was amazed at what he has created. It was also not lost on me that the set up he has made has no boundaries in what it can offer DM artists and listeners or how innovative the connection between Second Life and DMusic can be.

1. Let's talk about Empire Day. Tell us some of the best moments you've had as a band and then what were some of the worst?

Well there have been many, I would say one of the best was the first gig in Chicago, not out in our regular Suburban bars/clubs. Although the night was bad, and the crowd small and we had to lug all the equipment up a skinny flight of stairs that was a blast. Oh, and playing Morseland in Chicago on a triple bill with Project44 and Terminal Bliss that was a great night - had Scary Lady Sara from American Gothic Productions there to see Terminal Bliss, but we stole the show from them.

Other good times, the night OUR first CD came in and we went to pick them up at the cave and just the hanging out practicing/ recording and being goofs. Yeah those are some great times.

Worst? How about worst gig? A place (no longer there) called the Fuzzy Navel in Addison, IL. ...ugh, this was a dive dive bar in an old house, but they had live bands (mostly metal and cover) nightly. Well, we got booked, went over the contract, it was the typical fodder but had please bring own sound and lighting. We had the sound and decided to go get some par 64s and a controller to at least have a little color to the stage. Well, we were opening so we set up, plugged the lights in and blew the fuses in the place...have you ever seen a 'lil Greek man that looks like Mario run around throwing a fit that we were not supposed to plug anything in? LOL ...it was bad and our music didn't go over too well.

And, of course, there is the usual bad stuff arguments in the studio about levels and such but they are easily over come.


2. What advice do you have for people who are looking for other's to play with?

Be prepared to marry them. And you will go through off and ons, As you age, your priorities are not always the band and this happens at diffrent times. Empire Day has existed with The 3 - myself, Marv and Eric in some fashion since... wow ...like the early 90's man! And we have had bassists and drummers and second guitarists come and go. And even when we are on hiatus for a year or more we always seem to get back to it and get something done. You have to separate the band from Friendship, from dating (our off and on Bassist is Marv's wife) and you have to respect each other. It's hard but it can be most rewarding.

3. What do you consider when writing a song?

I write from the heart when I do lyrics. Most have never been put to a song yet some are from 1981! When I write music, I just take a basic riff and do what feels right at the time. There is much I wish I had recorded that I have sat and improvised. I guess I consider the overall outcome of my parts with other parts - vocals drums keys sounds .. and as solo its "Can I sing to this?" ... laughing...

4. Is it difficult juggling your family life with your music life? If you're kids wanted to follow in your musical foot steps?

It is, very. My Son wants to play every instrument but doesn't have the patience for any of it. But he sings and sings and rejoined Chorus this year in School, tossing the band instrument. That is the biggest thing that holds me, as well as Empire Day back, family - we all are married with children. Hell! Marv has 3 and they are young. Eric has a son thats starting to get up in age and mine - he's getting to the pubescent stage, ugggh! Something I do recommend, if you are truly wanting to do music full time as a career, do that and forget about falling in love and making babies. You really need to push and play out on the road non- stop and still then you may tire of it. I have watched many and know many musicians that are now so tired of the road and want the house and wife and kids.

5. Where would you like to see the independent music scene go in the future? Is indie radio the way to go?

I really would like to see a more level playing field. One of the big issues with p2p and even many other OMD sites is that people still search and do the spoon fed pop/rock/hip-hop that the majors are choking us with. Napster was a great place to get indie music heard outside your locale, as well as OMDs well with all the RIAA stuff uploaded and searched and downloaded - its pointless now. But the radio the web, Radio and Creative Commons, I believe is the way to go. As most of you know I do indie podcast/streams and as well have recently received help from Stepen Davies. I think that when they overcharge to webcast the RIAA controlled music, we indies will have a better shot at getting heard. I think everyone should Creative Commons their works or at the minimum provide webcasters and podcaster with permission to play and promote their art. We can take over the air waves! We can stop the mass produced caka!

I also think that the live music scene in most citys now is becoming a pay to play mentality for original music. Here in Chicago, even the shows promoted and sponsord by Red Bull or the local radio stations require you to sell X amounts of tix and or pay and even if you sell x amount your not even making beer or gas money most the time.

6. How did the idea of GothNights come about?

Well I love Goth goth stuff music gurls lol ... I'm a goth in a way... well e.barbarella and I started throwing a playlist together and I was at the time doing my live radio broadcast, so on Halloween one year we went live with it. I then discovered podcast could be easier and started doing shows that way. It was really to share some of the darker music on DMusic that may get over looked by the masses. And as a podcast and live show, its out there on the net and goth is a bit underground... well the people have found it this years Halloween Show has been downloaded to an I pod or something 7,458 times as of today! And I receive e-mails daily asking for the next show. People do want to hear indie music. They just don't always know where to look.

7. You've created quite the empire (forgive the pun) in Second Life. What do you see as the biggest contribution to independent music that Second Life could offer artists?

There are many, but the biggest I feel is the ability to play live from any location. As well for musicians that maybe can't play out due to restraints etc. you can play in your bedroom with a laptop in your underwear! Maybe you're a great musician but live in a small town and can't find a place to play to showcase.
Another great thing is the in world interaction, you can get done with a set, talk and chat to fans sell CDs (Real world stuff) build a fan base, get them to your web sites, and the like. There is a whole movement in SL and its wonderful.

8. How would you like to see Second Life and Dmusic connect?

Well I started making a connection. There are many great things I believe we can do even for those that have no interest in SL or can not run the platform on their computer - they can be involved I have a CD store/mp3 store on my land with links to a few DMusic artist pages and/or CDs and I can do every artist if I have the time. And if you can record vocals and guitar or keys or beats at the same time they could play live. I could even have an avatar for those that could not get into SL. I would love to see more of the Dmusic users and Artists that are using SL to actually use the land I have for DMusic and themselves to promote indie. There are other spots besides my land. I have a deal to sell our Real life products in a mall for a commission but the details have yet to be worked out. So get in if you can and if you can't - get the free promo I am offering DMusic

9. Let me ask you about DMusic, what attracted you to the site and what makes you stay?

Well, to be honest I started on Dmusic when mp3.com fell. George Zimerman had posted a link to DMusic in the forums there. I came and signed up. I figured "well its another place on the web to have a presence". I used to go to all the sites we are on...a lot that is. I haven't updated any others. I live here at DMusic now. Attraction? The great people and comeraderie, the great music and the interaction. I stay as I have made many Friends here, and I love the music I can experience.

10. If you could give some advice to people just joining DM, what would you tell them in terms of getting heard and becoming a part of the community there?

Don't be pushy, but interact! If you post your songs and post a forum and shout once your not going to get any interaction or plays. Really explore others music and cross genres. Don't think "I only like beats, thats all there is" go listen, comment and ,heck, leave criticisms in a decent way, or just don't say anything.
You start with a built in friends list chat them up (*in there shoutbox they will answer on your page and go back to theres) have fun on the silly stuff in the forums. If you have great knowledge on something - share it. Read the news and comment on stuff. And smile and take most of us here with a grain of salt - remember behind the text is another human.


Thats it? ... humph I want more!

Great big hugs to DMusic.com, and a special Thank you to e.barberella for showing me around that first confusing week or so here! Its that extra effort some put in to help newbies here that makes it great!
~Rich
The Distilled1 Out.

Check out disitilled1 and Empire Day here

The Spotlight Interview: Dan Sindel

When Dan Sindel was in 4th grade someone stuck a trumpet in his hands and he has been making what he describes as a "joyful noise" ever since. This lifelong Los Angeles, California resident has made music the greatest part of his life. When he was in junior high school Dan learned to play the trombone and French horn while playing in the school orchestra. He used that opportunity to better understand how to read music and how to integrate with other musicians on many levels. Dan credits the Los Angeles public school system for his strong foundation in music and says "it's a shame that for political reasons many schools in L.A. have cut the music programs...when playing a musical instrument, especially at a very young age enriches, shapes and builds so much character as well as the positive impact on the community playing music provides." Dan continued to play trumpet, French horn, and trombone until the age of 14...then, he says, he heard Led Zeppelin for the first time and it was all over. He wanted to be like Jimmy Page and play the guitar! He signed up for lessons from Phillipe Willems, a protege of the legendary Chord Chemist Ted Greene, and after a few years with Willems, he was fortunate enough to study with Greene himself. An honor, Dan says, that he will never forget. Dan fully admits that he cannot escape his roots. Born with a full dose of musical DNA from his classically trained mother (a pianist), Dan believes his "roots" are entrenched in the concert band, marching band and orchestra experiences of his youth. It is difficult for him to pinpoint any one major influence. Instead he says he is inspired by a wide range of artists and styles, label and indie. He also says there are a good many artists right here at DMusic who inspire and challenge him to grow and achieve. I believe it could be said that Dan has inspired many artists here at DMusic himself.

On who's CD would you most like to appear?
This is a tough question, I really don’t know, I could probably drum up a list as long as all of my influences.
I think it would be amazing to play on a Peter Gabriel or Herbie Hancock record or trade 4’s with Carlos Santana or Jeff Beck… WE could go for days on this one but we can all dream can’t we?

When you record, how often do you have to bounce things down and how do you decide which parts get grouped where? In other words, how do you make your guitars sound like an entire symphony?
This aspect of my recording sessions always causes a small headache!
Even with a good, solid road map of how I want to allot the amount of tracks given to a certain phrase or lines written for particular instruments I always seem to never have enough tracks.

Currently I am using a Digi002/Pro Tools LE system and when I first started out about 2.5 years ago with
the version 6 software my session template only gave me 32 usable tracks, and by the time I used a master fader, a click track and perhaps imported a good recording of the track I am trying to recreate as a guide I was left with even less to work with. Even though I have upgraded the software to v7.1 with the optional Music Production Toolkit which now up’s Pro Tools to 48 stereo tracks, I am handicapped and always in need of more tracks…

If I ever strike it rich then I will invest in a true blue Pro Tools HD system and not have to worry so much
about bouncing and using sub mixes. Sure I could jump ship and use Logic, DP or Nuendo or some other DAW but the way I see it is Pro Tools is the “industry standard” and that is where I should spend my time educating myself.

Call it blind ambition or “Ignorance On Fire” but when I first got my rig I did not have a clue what I was doing and one of the first monstrosities I recorded was John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”..! Now that was a challenge and required many decisions along the way that I had never dreamed would have confronted me.

Case study: As the conductor score called for, I had to break down my session templates by Woodwinds, Brass and Strings as well as creating separate session templates for each individual section of the piece!

So with 4 sections to the song, 3 groups of instruments and each template using all 32 tracks I ended up with roughly 375 individual tracks and within each separate session template I bounced the necessary tracks belonging to the individual instrument. i.e. trumpet 1, 2, 3 (which in most cases I had tripled each line) so in essence I then had to create a master session which acted as a “composite” of all my sub mixes and rebuild the song like a puzzle, section by section!!! (Confused yet..? LOL)

In some of my experiments by taking a realistic look at seating charts for orchestras of different time periods (Baroque, Classical, Romantic etc…) I did find that the number of violins, cellos and violas etc… did vary and I have tried implementing lets say 6 or 12 tracks to represent the first violin section but what I do find is that if you at a minimum triple the passage you do tend to achieve a nice, well balanced full sound without losing to much articulation of your performance which can easily get lost by stacking to many layers.

What led you to the exploration of your arrangements with the types of classical music you record? Was
it a love of classical music, the challenge of putting it all into a more rock oriented context or both?
I would have to say a “little of both” plus a few other circumstances. (i.e. My lack of knowledge programming drums or working with MIDI Virtual Instruments.)

It is interesting that when left to my own device I am first and foremost a guitarist and learning to engineer has become a necessity in of itself, not that I don’t enjoy it, I do and I am seriously considering taking pro tools lessons and becoming a certified operator as well as I am happy to report that I am back in touch
with my original guitar instructor after 30 long years and studying music again with a whole new viewpoint and zeal. Music is infinite and one should never stop learning and become complacent.

The very first pieces I recorded here at home were taken from a book of 4 part guitar ensemble arrangements that I still had from a classical guitar class I took a long time ago, it made sense as it was relatively easy as far as sight reading the lines and layering the parts went and I suppose one thing lead to another. After realizing that I could tackle those pieces it was time for a bigger challenge as I have access
to boxes and boxes of fabulous sheet music as my Mom in her day had a very impressive repertoire as a pianist as well as I have a pretty good collection of my own and I just started looking for compositions that looked like they were something I could attempt to play and record and by visually breaking up the 4 part harmony (Bass, Tenor, Alto and Soprano) and reducing them into single line phrases things started to
come together and sound like music. Although when working with music written for piano things can get much more intricate as the chords get much “bigger” and having to analyze the parts can take you in many different directions.

I have always been more of a lead guitar player and spent much more time developing the skill of single note playing as opposed to chordal structure and rhythm playing so what I am doing is not that far of a stretch but I will admit after transposing and transcribing all the different scores that I have over the past few years my sight reading and musicianship have been kicked up a notch or two which is always satisfying to see the “fruits of ones labor” and that should really translate into anything that anybody does, hard work does pay off!

Would you ever consider doing Gershwin? If so, why?
Let’s face it, George Gershwin’s style of composition is a marvel to behold and truthfully I have looked at a few of his scores. For instance, after taking a look at “Rhapsody in Blue” it only took about 2 seconds to deduce that this was way over my head as a player and there was no point in desecrating sacred ground.

There are many passages that for me would be virtually impossible to execute so best to leave it be…

LOL, I am not to proud to go on record that I know my limits as a musician albeit I love a good challenge and always seem to grow a bit when commencing and reaching for goals that seem unobtainable.

Trust me; there are many songs that do not fit very well in an “all-guitar” setting… My hard drives are full of “16 bar tests” if you will, to see if a certain composition is worth the time or effort and many times it becomes quite apparent that it will not work out at all and I am one for not wanting to disrespect the great works of the musical masters too much. I do work very hard on these compositions to stay true to the way the composer intended without taking to many liberties (of course with modern instrumentation).

How do you feel about progressive rock artists who choose to "mutate" their classical influences...like
Emerson, Wakeman, Howe and Hackett?
I love what they did; as a matter of fact English 70’s Progressive is some of my most favorite music and these are the bands I grew up listening to and trying to emulate. Half of the time this is what I am calling up on my CD player!
By bringing their classical training into a rock setting changed the landscape of rock music forever. It
seems like we might never really quite experience the creativeness and grandeur that was allowed in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s on a large scale pertaining to what major labels are signing and exploiting, today’s music seems so contrived, formulatic and I dare say “disposable” with a very small shelf life. Of course there will always be groups who are considered underground that keep it alive whilst knowing fully well it is not the popular thing to do and I respect that because they are doing what moves them and isn’t music all about that in the first place?

The only thing that I do not prefer too much these days is the deal where a majority of rock styled guitarists take a classical song, ramp it up and stand around playing arpeggio sweeps over the composition in the most inappropriate places or factor in a solo break to “take care of biz”, I personally appreciate the time and technicality that goes into commanding the instrument but the feeling of the song is usually lost and just showcases somebody showing off with technique. That is entertaining for about 12 seconds IMHO.

Although there are some fine examples of this done correctly, the whole youtube explosion of Jerry C's "Canon Rock" is pretty awesome and has encouraged many people to play guitar.

How do you balance your musical pursuits with the necessities of "real life", such as having to work for a
living?
My story is no different than anyone else’s in that regard. I do the best I can at keeping steady work come in as I am a freelance web/graphic designer and then try to maximize my spare time by recording and editing, reading books on music production, networking on the web or make a few phone calls in the name
of building a career in music.

Have you had classical lessons?
Yes I have, not in the strictest of sense but I did take 3 years of Harmony in High School then went on to study Classical Guitar at the local community college and studied under John Schneider, one of the most fabulous classical guitarist that I have ever heard. By spending most of my junior years in the concert bands and orchestras, without a doubt that built a solid foundation in music.

I actually did muster up the courage a few months ago to contact the world renowned classical guitarist Christopher Parkening (who is a protégé of the late great Andre Segovia) to see if he was accepting new students but his assistant stated he was not accepting and preferred to conduct seasonal master classes instead.

How many guitars do you own? What guitar would you love to own that you currently do not?
I have a small but nice collection of Gibson’s, Fender’s and various acoustic and electric instruments including a Balalaika from “communist” Russia and an Oud form Turkey. My newest addition to the family is a ¾ scale sized hybrid which has a ‘62 Fender Duosonic body with a ’65 MusicMaster II neck, it is very small, almost violin like and it is really fun to play.

But if I had it my way, I would love to be a collector of Gibson Semi-Hollow and Archtop Jazz guitars. I just love the L-5’s, 137’s, 335’s and the ES-175’s etc…

Do you do any finger exercises to warm up before you play?
Sometimes but not always (It seems that I do a lot of chatting on the web these days, does that count?), some day’s I just fire up the rig and start recording with very little warm up and other days I just sit around for hours and try and teach myself something new or go into a dream state and play for hours just because..! Yes, there was a time when I did nothing but run scales and do finger exercises all day long but not as of late.

Has having your recent success which increased your profile added any pressure to your song creation or does it inspire you even more to create original ideas?
As of this writing, I must admit that things are warming up a bit around here and I am elated that as an Independent Musician I have earned recognition with GHS Strings/Rocktron, Visual Sound and Peterson Tuners. Endorsement deals always seemed quite elusive and reserved for only those high profile artists who are selling millions of disc's and on the biggest tours but I do think the dynamic has changed in favor of the Indie’s and this is proof that there is still light at the end of the tunnel (and no, not a train coming at you… LOL) for those who first of all as an artist “believe in themselves” and have enough tenacity to approach people who do in fact work in the music industry.
It’s not easy, it is the last thing for me to get out of my comfort zone but life is short and you will never even
get a “NO” if you are too afraid to even try.

My perspective is that the most of the major manufactures that I had approached at NAMM were in fact not
really open to working with unsigned talent but through the power of intention I knocked on just about every
door and did get the attention of a chosen few who did have an open mind to what I had to say, just like
pounding the pavement in search of a job, if you want it bad enough sooner or later someone will be there waiting for you.

As far as adding any undue pressure, I would have to say that everything that has occurred acts as a positive indicator and has only given me encouragement to press on, truth be told, I like most set the standards for myself quite high and tend to be my worst critic therefore almost nothing is good enough which can be a double edged sword. Being quite young in the game of owning and using a computer
based recording system I for the most part tend to be rather shy and intimidated about sharing my mp3’s
on the net, when I first joined DM and uploaded what I personally considered “broken” and poorly produced
music was accepted (much to my amazement) with open arms and despite my personal feelings it made me want to become better at what I do and in essence these endorsements have given me the green light to think differently and “raise my game” to the next level.

Ironically enough ever since I was in high school I was in lots of different bands and every one of them had the same objective of “ruling the world” and up until three years ago I had not even played my guitars for almost 6 years as the instrument was a conduit to many bad feelings (I am sure many can relate in one fashion or another).

That did change one day when I noticed some people I knew playing their guitars during break time at work and it all came crashing down and struck me like lightning where “these guys are just having the best time, no false pretense or ambition, just playing for the love of playing” and quite frankly ever since I have rekindled the joy of making music just for the sake of doing it and it really does thrill me to see so many others enjoying what I am doing for the mere fact of “I am enjoying” what I am doing!

What inspires you most?
Inspiration appears in many ways, whether I see someone working very hard at improving their musicianship or watching someone play that is extremely talented with a deep musical vocabulary. As well, I become very inspired when I see people immersing themselves in their work, regardless of what their occupation is and wanting to do a good job and produce the best results that they can!

I am also inspired by those who seek to enrichen others lives in a way where they look for nothing in return, that is giving! Somewhat like a smile, a smile is infectious and you can’t help but smile as well, A musician’s performance can be giving, music should be the same way..!

How long did it take you to record the Hallelujah Chorus?
It was a real long time to be honest. Between learning the parts and multi-tracking all the instruments it probably took at least 40-50 hours. That particular track has at least 156 unique guitar tracks and the entire 15 minutes of "Excerpts From Handel's Messiah" was well over 200 hours of recording and embodies well over 500 unique guitar tracks.

It should also be noted that "Excerpts” took almost 120 hours to mix!
A true exercise in Obsessive Compulsive Behavior!!! I give my engineers Phil Moore and John Prpich a “purple heart” for hanging in there and creating a masterpiece out of a mountain of raw guitar tracks..!

Most engineers don’t get the glory when they are the ones making artists sound good and I have nothing but praise for Phil and John regarding all the effort they put into this project..!

"Excerpts” is meant to be heard in it’s entirety as a 3 song mix but I had the giving spirit over the 2006 Christmas Holidays and decided to release it out on the net as a single and it just blew me away, I released it just about 1 week before Christmas and it was downloaded something like 10,000 times in that short period, I almost fell out of my chair when I looked at my web stats.

This was what I consider to be my first “real” project and I learned so much from the experience (the good,
the bad and the ugly).
Have you ever recorded any straight rock covers? If so, what was the first one?
Realistically the answer is no, not as far as what I have been doing over the past 3 years. Growing up I was in tons of cover bands and a few tapes still exist of us just maiming the songs at someone’s backyard party (LOL) but I have not taken on the task of covering anything recent from the rock era.

This goes back to an earlier question but fits in nicely here, part of my choosing to record classical pieces is that they are considered “fair play” as they live in the public domain (75 years or older) so I figured I could experiment as much as I wanted to and be on safe ground.

You've recently gotten some great sponsors. Are you paid for those? If so, how? Cash, product, recognition?
Pertaining to the endorsements themselves it must be said in all fairness and respect that all agreements are amicable to all parties involved and yes indeed having some new equipment is “very inspiring” especially when recording as there are so many new possibilities to explore in guitar textures with all the latest technology available.

What other on-line sites or resources do you use to promote yourself? Which ones seem to work the
best?
I hold various accounts around the web at other mp3/musician web sites (i.e. mp3unsigned, soundclick, mp3.com.au etc…) but bottom line is “DMusic is the most effective for networking and getting feedback from other artists”. In no way, shape or form do I knock the other sites as they are all valid and to some that is where they get the best results.

I will let you in on a secret (well okay, it’s not the big of a deal... LOL),but where I have experienced the greatest results in getting my music heard is through the power of podcasting and blogging..!

Through the employment of these medium’s I have had hundreds of thousands of downloads over the past
year or so and I strongly encourage any Indie artist to get a handle on the technology and make it work for
you!

Do you transpose original songs to the guitar or do you do this by ear?
Most of the transposition is done by sight reading, once in a while a certain phrase or cluster of chords
takes a fair amount of analyzation and I do put the pencil to the paper and write out the sequence of notes just for sake of time. Your ears will guide you once in awhile but to stay honest to the score it is best to keep your eyes on the music.

Do you use a pick or just your fingers?
I mostly use picks, my favorite are Dunlop Jazz III’s, (those small pointy guys) and I have tons of different
sizes and gauges laying around and it just depends on what guitar I might be playing and what sounds I am after.

What was the first piece of music you ever wrote?
In essence the first piece of music I ever wrote was in High School whilst studying classical harmony.

Abiding by all the rules and regulations (or at least trying my best…) of the sonata form I penned my first composition which was not half bad considering I had no way of really knowing what the song would sound like as I was not adept at the piano, as the teacher pointed out there were a few problematic areas such as the use of “parallelism” which is strictly frowned upon in classical music but we use it every single day in rock and there is still nothing wrong in my book with sliding a power chord from E to D to C albeit the gentlemen of the classical/baroque era with their long trained robes and parlor wigs would have thrown an absolute fit..!

Do you play live or have you ever played live? If so, give me some idea where and what that was like for
you.
As far as the guitar being my instrument of choice, I started out playing in backyard party bands. When I
was in high school we were playing stuff like RUSH, Zep, Deep Purple, Hendrix, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick, Bad Co. etc… ahh those were the days. We were so terrible we could clear the backyard in 2 songs time flat… LOL

Seriously though, I would not trade those days for anything! LA has changed so much it is traumatic; when I was in high school the music scene was overwhelming!
Every school had quite a number of really good bands and every Friday and Saturday night you would get a list of easily 20 different backyard parties to go to each with a party band set up in the house or backyard and the level of competition was intense! I saw Randy Rhoades/Quite Riot and tons of bands start out in the early days before everyone got signed in the mid 80’s.

After high school I spent many years in what was considered LA’s best unsigned Metal band. As well as being headliners, we supported many top touring acts like Wendy O. Williams, King Diamond, Armored Saint, Grim Reaper, Racer X etc… when they rolled into town. We also had the opportunity to open for MotorHead but the “pay to play” system had just been implemented and it was just too much of a strain to
always try and sell tickets to your friends over and over again. The “pay to play” system was absolutely the
worst thing to ever happen to the LA club scene, good for the promoter but so sad for the bands who happen to not have much of a following or just came into town from out of state, having to pony up $600 or some ridiculous sum (whether you sold the tickets or ate them) just for the privilege of playing for 35-40 minutes in a rundown club. I am quite passionate about this due to I watched this happen overnight, as a
musician who used to get paid for performing to a salesman hawking tickets to my friends. Such is the
music business!

The last time I really performed “live” was on July 4th, 2000 which was quite fun.I was given the opportunity to play solo guitar in front of about 42,000 at an Independence Day Fireworks Festival; there I was, just me with my Gibson Flying “V” and Marshall half stack playing “The Star Spangled
Banner” and other patriotic themes… It was a blast and really made me miss the thrill of performing live in
front of large audiences.

Currently, I am doing quite a lot of recording with my little pro tools rig and enjoy it tremendously. I am still
very new to home recording and the subject fascinates me and I am so grateful that my early recording
efforts have been so well received and have been downloaded well into the 350,000’s via my site, blog, podcast’s and page at DMusic..!

How did you find DMusic and what made you want to join?
About 2 years ago when I had my first few “rough mix” demos, for whatever reason, I still don’t know (LOL) I
did a Google on the search term “submit mp3” and got brave enough to create a few accounts on various websites and see if did not get my “head chopped off” with what I deemed poor quality recordings as my engineering skills were severely novice and I was incredibly intimidated about the whole affair.

After interacting for a week or two on other musician networking sites and much to surprise did not get punished for my recording skills (or lack of) I mustered up the courage to try a few more sites and searched again and found a link to DMusic. Little did I know what I was in for..! Truly, within 2 minutes of creating my account there was this little cartoon emote waving at me and someone saying “Welcome to
DMusic”, needless to say I was quite perplexed, all the other sites I signed up for were for the most part static and the communication tools to interact with other artists were quite substandard and to see an Instant Messenger built into DMusic really made me think twice about how these other sites were simply missing the boat(and still are!). For the record, I will never forget… the person saying “Welcome to DMusic” was none other than OneWhoDreams, of course it took me 2 weeks to get the courage and figure out how to reply in the shoutbox and like countless others, sat there and replied back directly on to my page in my own shoutbox… LOL

All I can say is that after spending time on many other sites DMusic is my “home away from home”, I have made so many great friends here, collaborated with a good handful of stellar musicians from all over the
globe and have even had the opportunity to meet a few in person. It is the warmest and most supportive musician community that I am aware of and my growth as a musician/recording enthusiast owes quite a lot to this site as I have received so much great advice and encouragement from so many wonderful artists that reside here!

What's next for Dan Sindel?
I am working steadfast in recording my debut CD which should be near completion and available by the end of 2007. I’m in conversation with a few of my sponsors and perhaps a few brilliant things may occur out of that dynamic as well as looking at starting my own small label and publishing company. In between the day to day rigor I am also dedicated to continue my musical education and “keep my chops up” as it were and explore new musical terrain in the digital realm.

Thank you for this interview and always looking forward..!

Hear Dan's music here: http://dsindel.dmusic.com/music/

The Spotlight Interviews: Saxsinger

So, just who is Saxsinger? Originally from Detroit, MI and currently residing in San Antonio, Texas he is 39 year old Stanly Halaby II. He is married and is currently the full time care giver to his wife who has a disability. He has been a musician for almost all of his life. Starting at age three playing his family’s organ, he moved on to learn the clarinet in the 5th grade, the bassoon in 6th grade, and the saxophone in the 7th grade. He mainly played the bassoon until he entered college where he finally settled on the tenor sax as his primary instrument. He studied music in college for seven years and then served in the US Air Force for seven years as a linguist and computer tech. He worked as a computer tech for several years after that before becoming disabled in 2003. Since then he has devoted his time to taking care of his wife, making his wonderful music and communicating with others via the internet. Essentially, he has been a musician for the last 27 years of his life!

Stan lists some of his musical jazz influences as Michael Becker, Bob Berg, David Sanborn, Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, and Najee. In other genres, he loves well written music with quality. He’s studied great song writers such as Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Billy Joel, Bill Withers, Carole King, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, and even John Mayer.

Welcome Stan! Here are some of the questions we here at DM would like to ask you:

Do you have a personal philosophy about music? If so, what is it?

Oooo this is a loaded question! I don't know how many people know this, but an article was brought into the university I attended by the jazz director about a change in how 'popular recorded music' was to be implemented by the major labels.. and by the big music industry in general. There was a term invented to describe it - “disposable music“. Like a Dixie cup, a razor, a drinking straw... if the music was too 'memorable' and quality-written, it wasn't to be used anymore; not enough fast income to be derived from it from a business-standpoint. Remember the 60s with the Beatles and British Invasion groups with so much memorable music? Or the 70s with great bands like the Eagles or Elton John, the 80s with Jackson Browne or Stevie Wonder (big in the 70s too)? As soon as the 90s hit, big music industry put 'disposable music' into play… 'flash in the pan-on to the next one!' mentality... and it's even worse today! Do you even remember a song by the Backstreet Boys or NSYNC? You're not supposed to! It's disposable! They're used for the life of the song(s), and then thrown away! Maximum income from minimal effort! AND--no one wants to cover these songs--they're CRAP! SO MUCH CRAP is on 'popular Top 40' radio! You won't see another 'Eagles' or 'Doobie Brothers' or big group like that. We gotta listen to the 'classic rock stations' that have popped up in recent times to hear them over and over, but that doesn't help the new musician.. Also, in order for some artists to sell today, Mr. Clive Davis of Arista Records is convincing vocalists to do COVER TUNES!! And what do they cover? Songs from the 60s and 70s and 80s!!! i.e., Rod Stewart, Clay Aiken, Barry Manilow... it's amazing. The only time I've heard new quality music is if it comes up from independent means. Like the bands Creed (too bad they broke up, but that happens), Collective Soul, and Evanescence. (I hope I spelled that right)

Top 40 Music nowadays are really slickly produced, recorded, and marketed in the best way money can buy, but for the most part it's crap in a gilded box! You can spray perfume on it, put glitter on it, even bejewel it…it's still CRAP!! The only salvation we have to fight this is for independent music to bring back the quality over quantity mentality.

Do you play out live anywhere? If so, where?

I gigged for 20 years and stopped this year . I had to. 1. my wife's health has deteriorated to where I need to stay with her all the time and 2. I can't do anything that can be construed as 'work' for fear that I can be jeopardizing my disability payments .. thus I play and record for self-fulfillment--for free.

Why is being an independent musician important to you?

I can do what I want, when I want.. No one telling me how, when, where, or what to write or play! Maybe some of my music might entertain as many people as possible one day...I'm not out for fame or fortune, just to share my gift with the world as far as it'll go... I just take things as they come.

Tell me a little bit about your experience since joining the DM community.

That's easy.. I love DMusic! A friend of mine suggested it and I investigated, looking at the music shared by various artists here and the comments made-- I was hooked. I immediately subscribed and started sharing my music! I also love to collaborate and that is very much encouraged here. I've always collaborated with musicians online with musicians I hang out with on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) but DMusic is better because of the ability to present your music on the web worldwide. I even convinced a few of my online IRC buddies to join DMusic and try to convince as many as I can to come! What I enjoy here at DMusic is the variety of artists in different genres and the ability to communicate with each other that I haven't seen on other 'music sharing' sites. I love the sense of community here. You can send 'shouts' to anyone here or leave them a quick 'dnote' and they'll usually get back with you quick if not immediately. The only thing I wish DMusic had that I understand they DID have in the beginning but was phased out from lack of use was IRC chat…but I compensate by chatting with people from DMusic using my instant messengers! DMusic has been the greatest place I've found on the net for my music! DJEV took a liking to it and played it on her radio show, Tameasdust put it in the morning rotation on the DMusic station, and DMusic has had me as a main featured artist as well as the jazz genre featured artist for some time now! I love it here and the people here are so great! DMusic is my musical home!

You felt welcomed then?

I've never been treated better, seriously.

What was your initial reaction?

Well, being the 'new guy' I kind of looked around and saw who was doing what and who was doing music I was interested in or was interested in my music. Turned out the first two was Gene Hilbert and Chillinbuzz. I approached them and was met with open arms and started collaborating. The result is on our music pages. After that, other people became interested in collaborating, Bluenevus, Snoogans775, Rodrica (hers is coming up), etc. and I'm very happy to collaborate with them!

Do you think the internet has altered the path of music as an industry? If so, how?

Yes it has.. Anyone can market their music directly to a world-wide audience as they create and intend it to be heard. Never before in history was there a vehicle for this other than being signed to a major company that has the habit of bending artists to their will through contracts that are not necessarily to the best interest of the artist.

Any advice for other musicians out there when it comes to using the internet as a medium for getting your music heard?

Come to DMusic! It's a great place to post your music and direct people to come hear it--isn't it nice to have your own URL? for instance, mine is http://saxsinger.dmusic.com ..with my own artist name in the URL!! I don't know of any other music hosting site that offers as much as DMusic does that does that for you. Now as far as music-business stuff-as I explained earlier, I don't do music for profit--just for personal fulfillment and enrichment so I don't pursue business opportunities for my music. I just enjoy it being heard by as many people as possible without profit.

You play a mean sax! What kind of saxophone do you play?

I play a Selmer Paris Mark VI Tenor Sax with a Brilhart Level-Air stainless steel mouthpiece with a 5* opening and Vandoren Jazz 3-1/2 reeds.. I also use Hempke 3-1/2 reeds but not on the recordings I've done thus far on DMusic. I have good news! I've just purchased an Akai Pro EWI 4000s for Christmas! EWI stands for 'Electronic Wind Instrument' and it's not only a midi wind controller (similar to a keyboard controller but played like a sax or clarinet) but it also has a built-in analog modeling synth with expression tweaks to the patches. With this instrument I can play solo synth lines like I play sax , with all kinds of expression a wind controller can offer! So keep in mind from now on I can play sax or EWI on future collaborations! the website for this instrument is: http://www.akaipro.com/prodEWI4000S.php ...this will explain the instrument in full detail.

What kind of recording software do you use?

Well, I hope this doesn't sound too complicated: 1. I use Cakewalk Sonar to write my music in midi and render midi-virtual synth (vsti or dxi)- .wav; 2. If I use loops, I sometimes render midi-vsti-dxi-.wav + loops in Sony (formerly Sonic Foundry) Acid Pro and use various plug-ins when applicable; 3. sometimes I multi-track in Acid Pro (with applicable plug-ins) but usually I'll render my tracks separately to .wav so I can multi-track and record in Sony (formerly Sonic Foundry) Vegas, using various applicable VST and DirectX plug-ins; 4. Finally, I master my finished tracks in Steinberg Wavelab using my mastering plug-ins The plug-ins I use for my virtual synths and processing for recording and mastering vary song to song. If anyone has specific questions with what I use, you can send me a dnote and I'll go through what I did with the song with you .
Now, you ask, why don't I use something like Steinberg Nuendo or Cubase SX because they're 'all-in-one' instead of my process? Simple… First, it's what I've done since I owned my first copy of Cakewalk 5 and Sonic Foundry products and , second, Steinberg products with the exception of Wavelab and their plug-ins make me cross-eyed (e.g., Nuendo and Cubase SX)!

Everybody I know has their idea of a “dream musician”, someone who for some reason you just love to listen to and admire. If you could play with one of your "dream" musicians, anyone at all, who would it be and why?

This is a toughie! I have many people I would like to play with! If I had to pick just one of them it would have to be 'Weird' Al Yankovich. I was the nuttiest, craziest guy in college with one way-out sense of humor and I wanted to be 'Weird' Al's sax player! Of course he doesn't use a lot of sax in his music but hopefully that would change with me added hah ha! Seriously, whether you like him or not, he's a very brilliant artist. He's still around making hits too! His latest hit, 'White and Nerdy', made the billboard top ten and he never before had that in his career. I think he's finally getting the credit he deserves as an artist. Why would I want to be in his band? Well, I have always been a big Dr. Demento fan (that's where 'Weird' Al started) and I always put my own 'weird' parody lyrics to tunes everyday...to my wife's chagrin (it kind of bugs her sometimes especially if it's a song SHE likes). I guess out of all the other artists out there I relate to him most.

I really appreciate you’re taking the time to do this interview, Stan. I have one more question for you though. What’s in the future for Saxsinger?

Keep on making music as best I can. 'Full steam ahead!' To have as many people listen to and enjoy my music as possible. Again, I don't seek profit with it, just do it for personal fulfillment and enrichment. Hopefully people enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoy making it! One thing I must say though, is that I enjoy collaborating and making music with others as much as I do making my own. I feel fortunate so many people online want to collaborate with me as much as I want to collaborate with them, especially here at DMusic!

You can check out Saxsinger’s music for yourself here: saxsinger.dmusic.com Have a listen, see why DM members have embraced him and enjoy working with him on many collaborations! Go show him your support! You won’t be disappointed! Next month, I will be interviewing DM member Hate9wicket of Blind Monkey Hobos. Check the Spotlight Forum to give me some questions for him!

-Israfel