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An Interview with Dave Martone IC: I met Joe Satriani last year, and he had nothing but nice things to say about you. How did you first come into contact with Joe?
Martone: That is great. Joe is such a cool real person. I cannot say enough great things about him! I am trying to remember how we met. I believe it was that the Armory Recording Studio in Vancouver. He was tracking his latest album and my friend used to manage the studio.
We hung out for lunch with the crew and just shot the crap. Then I was invited back to sing on “Crowd Chant” with a few other folks for the album. That was lots of fun. Joe was in the iso booth and directing us to follow his leads. Mike Fraser the engineer tracked us tons of times to make us sound huge. I wanted to hang longer but had a gig and had to leave earlier. There were some cameras and Joe told me later in August when we met again at the National Guitar Workshop where he was my/our guest that there was some footage of me in the live DVD that just came out.
IC: Satriani also mentioned that he’d like to make an appearance on your next album. Now that “When the Aliens Come” is almost out, how is progress on your next release coming?
Martone: Well, it is going quite well. I am doing another project with another guitar player at the moment and have written 5 songs for that collaboration. I have another 3 that are written also. They are all pre-produced at the moment. Drums were supposed to start January 2nd but there was a setback. Hopefully the beginning of Febuary ‘07 the drum tracking will start. I will ask Joe to hopefully guest on a track on the new album. There is one I have in mind already called, “The Goodie Squeegee Song”. (Joe and Dave at the NGW in Connecticut)
IC: What’s an average day at home like for you? How is your time divided between writing, recording yourself and others, the business side of things, and giving lessons?
Martone: Well, I’ll put it this way: There really is never a day off. Something is always going on. Take today for instance. I was up at 8am, practiced till 10am, left to teach at a school from 10:30-6:00, was home by 6:30, practiced again till 11pm as preparation for the NAMM show, then had to prep the studio for a session tomorrow for a voice over for an awards ceremony, and now I’m doing an interview. This is pretty standard, except today is Sunday, and any other day I always start by going to the gym.
The writing usually happens when I have a million things going on. Since I am so busy the ideas just come. If I have nothing to do I get bored very quickly and just get stagnant. That is why I have to make sure I am always doing something. Recording myself comes when I have lots of songs pre-produced in the studio. Once I have an idea, I will take it to Brainworks and demo it up. Then I give the demo to Daniel and he starts to work with it. When he is ready, he sets up and bangs the tunes out over here!
IC: Other than your own, what kind of albums have you worked on at Brainworks Productions? Are there any other guitarists’ albums in the works there?
Martone: No other guitar albums yet. I am just opening it to the public. It’s not like I have time for it, but I would like to move into working here more than teaching at the moment. Ultimately I would like to tour a bit more than I am at the moment. I have been producing another artist named Nenah Barkley who is an awesome singer songwriter. Also another artist named David Anthony who has some great tunes also. These are all singer songwriter types of productions. I had to get my vocal engineering chops up and took some lessons from a great engineer named Paul Silvera who works at the Armory Studio. Awesome info. Thanks Paul! IC: I’ve heard you mention before that you don’t listen to very many other guitarists. Why is that? Do you feel listening to too many other guitar players might negatively affect the level of uniqueness in your own playing?
Martone: I really cannot listen to guitar music after I have played it all day for hours. I need silence pretty much. There are very few days I am away from playing. If there is a day, I will be listening to artists I am producing in my car. I might also just make a disk that has just drums that I recorded and listen to how I can make it better.
I think we are what we eat, and you can never eat enough, but I am full at the moment and need to work out the tunes in me until I am empty. Then I will eat again! HA!
IC: I noticed in the sleeve for the Zone album that you and your brother Paul were credited as “P & D Marton”. Was that a typo or is Marton your original last name?
Martone: Originally the name was Martone. My dad changed it to Martin when he was young coming from Hungary because he wanted to. I have no idea. I found out after that album and put it back to the way it was.
IC: “What might music be like in the future” seems to be a reoccurring theme in your music. What other concepts inspire your material?
Martone: That is something I think about. There is something else I think about. This might sound strange but….
We have 5 senses, correct? Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. We can see music. We can hear music. We can touch music. But we can’t smell music (except for a stinky rehearsal room), and we can’t taste music. I would like to figure out how to smell and taste music. I know that sounds just weird, but that is something else that I keep contemplating.
IC: I know you’ve mentioned the possibility of a “Synesthesia 2” before… is that still in the pipeline?
Martone: Yes, I was supposed to go in May, ‘06 but I just got too busy. I love Navid and what he does. There are songs written but I just don’t have the time for it right now. I feel bad about that, and really want to do it. Unfortunately there is only one of me! If there was more I could do it!
IC: What side projects are you involved in right now? I’ve recently seen some video of you playing with “Kadabra”… might we see an album from that group?
Martone: Kadabra is a love of mine. It’s a Latin flamenco group consisting of Brian Poulsen, David Spidel and Mike Michalkow. We sometimes play as a duo, three or four. It always changes depending on the gig. Here's a rough demo of Kadabra's flamenco version of "Spider Man"! (Right-click and "Save Target As".)
(Dave with Kadabra)
IC: Speed must have been a big thing to you when you were younger (but now you seem to use the element more sparingly)….
Martone: I did work on speed a lot when I was younger. That is all I wanted to do. I guess I just could not be as fast as the rest. I really don’t care anymore. I do what I do that that is it.
IC: Who is the fastest guitarist you’ve heard?
Martone: Shawn Lane is pretty masterful, and it is not just diatonic B.S. He has great lines going on inside of his speed! That is great talent!
IC: Do you think the physical speed limit has been reached on the instrument, or do you suspect we’ll see someone take it to the next level?
Martone: There is always someone taking it to the next level. That is the beauty of the instrument. Everyone keeps pushing everyone else along. I cannot say, but the future will tell!
IC: On average, how many hours a day did you practice during your prime woodshedding periods?
Martone: All day and all night. It was not because I wanted to practice. It was because I loved it and still do so much. There is such a pleasure playing that words cannot describe, especially if you are creating something new. That is how it’s easy to stay motivated; always keep trying to create something new. That way you always want to keep coming back to it!
IC: You contributed a track to one of the Shawn Lane Tribute albums… did you know Shawn personally? Which of his CD’s interests you the most? Do you have a favorite song of his?
Martone: I did, and that track (called “Mike Crow’s Mailbox of Doom!”) actually appears on my new album, “When the Aliens Come”. I did not know Shawn personally. I have seen many videos of him online and he is just superb! I actually don’t own any of his CD’s unfortunately and don’t have a favorite song. I think they were all magical.
IC: Finally - other than yourself (hopefully) - who are some of your favorite guitarists?
Martone: Gary Moore, S.R.V., Strunz and Farah, Edward Van Halen, and Joe Satriani.
Thanks and I hope you enjoy the interview!
Essential Dave Martone links: -- Dave B.
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