EPOCH6

When did you start playing? What was your first instrument?
2004, 11 years old, Robson Strat / 10W Amp combo, $100, Christmas present.

What were the first songs you learned?
Black Sabbath - Electric Funeral
Black Sabbath - Iron Man
White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

Did you take lessons and for how long? What was your teacher like?
Weekly lessons from age 11 to 17. Teacher was fantastic and became a lifelong family friend. Tailored his lessons to my musical preferences, taught me anything I wanted to know and a ton that all guitarists should know. Trained his students to play and learn by ear. When he moved away some years ago he passed down his entire vinyl record collection (hundreds of albums) to my buddy and I, who initially met through his lessons.

When did you start or join your first band? What did you play? How long did it last?
When I was 13 in 2006 I met another kid at school taking lessons from my teacher. We listened to the same kind of music and got along really well, we started our first band that week and are still playing together today, several bands later. The current incarnation of our band has been together for 6 years, plus or minus a few bass players and drummers. We started off playing thrash metal and have sort of moved more towards bluesy doom / sludge over the last year.

When was your first performance? What gear did you have?
Playing some Green Day cover at a grade 6 talent show, 11 years old.
Robson Strat and 10W amp.

How have your gear preferences changed over time? What is your favorite gear now?
My first chosen guitar was a BC Rich Mockingbird, lower end model. Spent my early years playing pointy metal guitars and solid state combo amps: BC Rich Warlock, LTD Alexi200, Dean Razorback (Slime Bee), 1985 Fender Katana (awesome rare guitar), Randy Rhoads Jackson V, all through a Line 6 Spider III 150 2x12.

Sold all of the above gear to put myself through university in 2011.

Spent the following three years making electronic music with a laptop, still playing in the band on the side, using the other guitarist's spare gear. In late 2014, post-graduation / employment, I went and saw John Fogerty's CCR Tour and relapsed back into the guitar game, started re-building my rig.

Current Gear:

2013 American Standard Telecaster - Ash Body / Maple Neck
Custom Project Telecaster w/ B-Bender / Brass Barrel Bridge / Two '60s Teisco neck pickups / American Tele pickup in the bridge

MESA Single Rectifier Solo 50 head
MESA Mark III 15W / 75W (1985)
Laney IRT212

Desired Gear:

Rosewood neck w/ ebony fretboard for project Telecaster
MESA Lone Star Special 1x12" 30W
More Telecasters

How have your influences and playing style changed over time?
In my earliest years I was taught primarily blues guitar, my lead style still reflects that a lot today. For most of my teens all I played was metal, was really into shred guitar for a while. Early influences were Zakk Wylde, Tony Iommi, Alexi Laiho, Ritchie Blackmore etc. Nowadays I've mostly reverted back to blues rock styles, although the band is still metal we're much bluesier these days. Current influences are along the lines of Joe Walsh, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Bert Weedon, Robbie Robertson etc.

What were your best / worst performances like?
Best performance was about half a year ago at a small dive bar, everything fell together, nobody slipped up, all of our gear worked, decent sized audience. Worst performance was a Halloween party. We were all drunk, wearing latex masks (which massively distorts all sound), and hadn't practiced before the show. We blew a circuit breaker, ****ed up half our songs, and were sweaty messes under the masks. Crowd were all hammered and didn't seem to care at all so we laughed it off, but holy **** was it bad.

Have you ever had any studio experience? Where at?
Only recently, currently in the process of recording our first professional EP at the Vancouver Art Institute. We've done amateur home studio EPs in the past but they're nothing special. These new tracks are turning out really well and the producer is a great dude, very talented.

Do you still play?
Yes, more than ever before, putting a lot of genuine effort into writing and performing these days. Really looking forward to the rest of the year.

__________________