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Bill LoNero Interview |
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Exclusive Interview : Bill LoNero
What are you working on now?
First, I would like to say thank you for making me a featured artist. I'm honored. Currently we are going back into the studio to remix our new album "The Defiant Machine". We released it August 2nd, 2016 and although it sounded good, we felt it didn't sound as good as it could and the music and the fans deserve the best we can deliver. So on March 8th we will be heading to Prairie Sun Studios for 5 days to make this album sound amazing. We were also commissioned to record an album of instrumental versions of vocal songs. It will be a double album with songs like "Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd, "Purple Rain" by Prince, "Hold the Line" and "Africa" by Toto and many more. It's been a lot of fun so far to reinterpret these amazing songs. We were also commissioned to write and record a 21:12 song in tribute to Rush's "21:12" album. This is a very advantageous song that will be split into 5 parts. We have full creativity with this and it should be something quite cool when we are done. Also, our song "Burning of Ideals" was just selected by Guitar Player magazine to be included in their first compilation album which will include music from Steve Hunter, Jude Gold, Ana Popovic, Gretchen Menn and more. The album will be distributed by Universal Music.
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Click here to see Bill's Artist Page.
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What is your musical background and influences?
Well my musical background is that I've been playing guitar since I was 7. When I first heard Elvis Presley I knew I wanted to be a musician but it was when I heard Angus Young and AC/DC that I knew I wanted to be a guitar player. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai are big influences. As are Jeff Beck, Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen. But influences run the gamut. I love all kinds of music. Everything from Metallica to Barry Manilow to Frank Sinatra to Waylon Jennings. I grew up listening to Exodus, Death Angel, Megadeth etc, so my musical background is music from all styles really.
What is the role of education in music?
I think the role of education in music shouldn't be just about music itself (i.e. harmony, structure etc) but about how music can influence your life. Music kept me away from drugs and drinking. I think that's something that isn't touched on a lot. There is a stereotype that musicians are partiers and drug users etc and of course like any profession you have that, however to attain a certain level of proficiency on your instrument you have to take it serious and there isn't room for, nor time to deal with that other crap. All I've ever needed was my guitar. It got me through the toughest times in my life.
What do think of the current "State of Music"?
I think it's exciting yet at the same time saddening. It's exciting because record labels no longer dictate who can make it. We have artists from all over the world being discovered on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc and these are musicians that would never have been discovered before if it were just up to the major labels. However it's also a double-edged sword. Without labels to weed out the music that is mediocre, you now have iTunes, Spotify etc, inundated with anyone that can afford a digital recording system and they can now get their music on all the streaming platforms. The labels provided a sort of barrier between the mediocre and the listener. That's no longer happening. So what is happening is that a lot of really good artists have to fight even harder to be heard over the noise.
Why do you use Dr J pedals?
The pedals are fantastic. What I really like about them is they don't color the sound when they are off like most pedals. And when they are on they do an amazing job. Very impressed. I've been using an Axe Fx for a few years now and wanted to go back to tube and pedals to get away from that digital sound. Dr J pedals helped me make that decision to do that once I used them.
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