Joop Wolters: the eg interview

News:
16-03-2008:
While essential guitar is off line, I've republished my interviews for essentialguitarist.com

Joop Wolters interviewed by Laurie Monk April 2006

EG: You came to the guitar relatively late, 15 years old according to your web site biography. At which point did you think you would make a living from playing guitar?

Joop Wolters: Yes that's true I started when I was 15. I was always drawn to the sound of the guitar. I guess I always was kind of serious when it came to making music too. But more importantly to make something creative, the whole money aspect just came later when they started to ask me for commercial stuff...

When it came to my own music or original music made with a band, it was always more for the art. I think it helped me sustaining the fight. I would get discouraged if I would be into it for the money!!!… Laughs… for as long as I can remember I always had a regular 40 hour day job besides my music making!...

EG: Woah...I didn't know that, EG is a bit the same, just dedicated guitar individuals who have a day job. I know a lot of other players are in a similar position working and playing. What do you do in your day job?

Joop Wolters: I work in a warehouse...hmmm...I guess now for the last 7 years.. Before that I worked on a plant as a process-operator for 4 years!!...In between I had many kinds of different jobs, some longer some temporary... For me the most important thing was that I could make some music... Laughs...the job didn't matter that much!!!

EG: That's cool I think that will give a lot of people encouragement, particularly those in a similar position. I know super fusion guitarist Derryl Gabel, amongst others, has a day job too.

Talking about other guitar players, a lot of them seem to have played more that on instrument other than guitar. Did you learn any other instruments when you were growing up?

Joop Wolters: Yes, I play the bass, I play always basses on my solo-stuff, I like experimenting with all kinds of instruments. Years ago I bought an instrument in Venezuala called a Quatro. It's really cool, I am trying to use that one on my next disc. Line-6 now makes these great acoustical guitars with a wide variety of acoustic sounds. I used that to on new stuff I have recorded. I really love this guitar. I play some keyboard too but not much to call myself a keyboard-player. If I'm working on arrangements, I sometimes want to use keyboards gives you again a new angle.!!!

EG: Yes, the keyboard can give you a much broader sound pallet to colour your music. I do like the use of keyboards as an interplay to guitar music.

In terms of your guitar technique, your not one of these players who attends Musician Institute to develop their skills. So how did you approach the process of building your guitar technique?

Joop Wolters: Just by trial and error. My main way of learning was, and still is, just making tunes and jams that force me to play over it. In the early days also bought cassettes, albums CD's to listen too…when I write stuff I normally only music I hear is the stuff on the radio.. to keep the mind as fresh as possible and not to much related to what i want to do.

For myself I noticed that by listening to music you get a different way of seeing a piece. Often I just listened and just tried to play along. If I really liked the piece I took time to learn it by heart. When you like something bad enough it stays in the mind.

EG: Laughs...

Joop Wolters: Also I got some music some books, but they seem to collect more dust than that they are actually read!!... Laughs... and later on there was video-stuff too.

EG: Like me your a big Rush fan, I got into them around 1977, Farewell To Kings and have liked there music ever since. I have seen them live countless times, I even appear in one their live videos at one point. What did you like about Rush?

Joop Wolters: Everything!!! Their formula has worked for 30+ years now and the music they make is a story in itself!! They made the concept of having a band and sticking to your guns to an art form...

EG: That's very true. I really love the Alex Lifeson on the instrumental track “Leave that Thing Alone�, but what do you think guitar players can learn from Alex Lifeson's playing?

Joop Wolters: Alex Lifeson knows what a song needs!! I love his freshness and energy!!

EG: That's cool, as long as you didn't say I liked his hair cuts!

Joop Wolters: hahahahhahaaa

EG: Talking about live players, you mentioned that while you were playing with the band Arabesque you opened for Jennifer Batten and Micheal Lee Firkins. What was that experience like?

Joop Wolters: Just too great, it was my personal favourite time with that band. We we're an all instrumental trio for eight years!! We we're young and spirited and we had great opportunities like this opening for these kind of acts! The shows were real enjoyment both for the bands as well as the crowd. I'll never forget that.

EG: You obviously enjoyed the experience a lot. Were you able to pick up anything for Micheal Lee Firkins playing?

Joop Wolters: I loved to listen to Michael's first album!! Also for the fact that he was influenced by players like Jeff Beck, Steve Morse and Albert Lee!! With Arabesque we covered the song Runaway Train. So...yes I picked something up from him.

EG: Yes Michael's a special player in my book. I liked "Rain in the Tunnel" a lot from that release. As well as the rock players, you have indicated that you like Fusion and Jazz rock from players like Larry Carlton, Steve Morse and Scott Henderson. Can you tell us what you incorporated into your style from listening to these excellent musicians?

Joop Wolters: The main thing that attracted me in all of those guys is that they play with true spirit and heart and make great composition, and that's what I like in musicians.

EG: That's an interesting response. I thought you may have been drawn more to their techniques rather than the compositional qualities.

Joop Wolters: Oh no their compositions are really great and the technique Is just part of what they do, I just love listening to that stuff!!

EG: Are there any other fusion players you would recommend?

Joop Wolters: There are some new guy's that I like: Prashant Aswani, Alessandro Bennevenuti.

EG: Cool, Prashant Aswani has been touring with big name US acts more recently and I have a lot of time for Alessandro Bennevenuti's fluid playing.

Speaking of great players, the Dutch guitar scene is pretty hot at the moment with new players like Richie Hallebeek, Robbert Hanneberg and Marcel Coenen. Do you get to play with these guys and are there any other players that you think we should know about?

Joop Wolters: Yes, I played last Saturday at the Headway festival and Marcel Coenen played there too!! ..The other two guys I know of but never met them yet. Also Anand Manghoe has a cool vibe going on!!

EG: Yes, Marcel's playing is really hot and Anand's another Lion Music artist. I think he's good to, he's the guy who is playing Guitar for "Sphere of Souls" who have a new CD "From the Ashes..." due in April 2006.

As you mentioned earlier, you recorded yourself a lot prior to releasing your first solo album. What benefits do you think you got from the recording process?

Joop Wolters: Yes, in 1995, I began recording before I started my first official album "Behind The Veil", with the band Arabesque. We had already made a lot of demo's beforehand. In fact I bought my first four track recorder in 1988. For me It's the best learning school I can think of and you're always busy creating music. I love the fact that you have to play at the moment...Keeps it more natural to me

EG: How did you get the record deal with Lion Music for your debut release "Workshop" in 2002?

Joop Wolters: Being signed to Lion Music with Arabesque, I just sent Lasse, the label president, a copy of the original album...and three weeks after I got a deal for it!!..That's it..

EG: As simple as that, Lion Music have good for you! I know you have also worked on a number of tribute albums, Shrapnel Tribute, Uli John Roth , Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Shawn Lane and Gary Moore. How did those come about and do you approach those recording differently to your instrumental releases?

Joop Wolters: I was invited for all of them via my record company Lion Music!! As with all jobs that I got throughout my career, with music ranging from pop, to heavy metal, to jazz etc. I just try to approach the music in the way I can. I play the way it is offered to you and I try to give the music what it needs, as best as I can.

EG: So you take each as it comes then. With the Shawn Lane tribute release. Did Shawn have any influence on your guitar playing?

Joop Wolters: Yes I did always like that...Before the tribute I didn't know much of Shawn Lane his music. I think after that release I looked for his stuff and got some albums of him to listen too...he was really special.

EG: This question is purely a selfish. Are there any other players you admire or albums that you would recommend people to listen to?

Joop Wolters: Allan Holdsworth, Metal Fatigue

EG: Great another Holdsworth convert! Metal Fatigue is an 1985 release. I like pretty much most of Allan's catalogue. Have you listened to any of his more recent releases like Flat Tire, The sixteen men of Tain or None Too Soon?

Joop Wolters:I heard None to Soon...how great can a tone get!!

EG: Laughs...Yes, that tone is thick enough to walk on!

Moving back to the Lalu album. I understand that Vivien Lalu asked you to appear on his first solo-album, Oniric Metal . Can you give us some more details about this project?

Joop Wolters: Yes, I already worked for several years with Vivien. He met me about 5 years ago via the website of Arabesque. We had worked for some time on the Shadrane project before he decided to put out a solo-album to give the public something to listen too.

EG: Laughs...

Joop Wolters: Laughs...It was done because the Shadrane show moved kinda slow because of the big roster of musicians and availability. Plus all kinds of other stuff that will slow down big time projects like that.

For Viviens CD, I got the midi sequence, drums and keys for those songs. I recorded all the guitar parts in five afternoons at my home. Then Ryan van Poederooyen (drums, DTB) recorded the drums in a studio in Canada . I think at that same time the bass Russel Bergquist was recorded. They are a great rythem-duo...and then lastly the keys and final arrangements from Vivien Lalu and the vocal parts off Martin LeMar.(Tomorrow's Eve)

EG: Yes Vivian is a good player and that's a pretty good rock album too. But moving on to your own solo work, "Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents". This is a big album, comprising seventeen tracks. You describe this album as your life story, does this mean you were involved in an accident, or is there some deeper meaning to the title?

Joop Wolters: Actually as a kid when I was 6 years old I had a fairly heavy car-accident loosing one kidney!! Broken arm and leg..and severe head injury..

EG: Argh that sounds horrendous, that's amazing your still here!

Joop Wolters: yeah, I really had an guardian angel...they told me later that I looked like a puppet flying through the air when the car hit me...

So, you can see, there actually is some more meaning to this album. The songs represent certain times and stages in my life that needed to be given a place in my head and sometimes words can't do the trick!! Making this album was a great relief for me from a lot of stress and burden that I have carried on my back for a long time. Also I was able to compose an album to my own personal vision....So yes this album also is in that respect very important to me.

EG: That beats most explanations I have heard for recording an album, ever! Thanks for sharing that with us!

To aid you on your musical voyage, you had Vivien Lalu again. But I noticed that you also had Alex Argento play on "Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents". I recently interviewed Lorenzio Venza who had recorded with Alex on "4.15 Bradford executive" and had nothing but praise for Alex. In the case of your CD, I particularly liked Alex Argento's keyboard solo on the track "Disturbance". How did you get Alex to record on this album and will you be playing on his new solo album?

Joop Wolters: Well I knew Alex via the Shadrane project and so that was the reason that I asked him if he would like to do that solo on Disturbance and the piano playing on the the song Resolute. He seemed to like the stuff so he accepted!!

EG: Laughs..that was all good news for me!

Joop Wolters: As far as I know he is now in the end of mixing his new album and he's invited Brett Garsed and his buddy Marco Sfogli to play guitars on his upcoming album "EGO"

EG: That's sounds like EGO will be a cracking release!

What benefits did you get from playing with these great keyboard players and do you use keyboard to compose songs?

Joop Wolters: They can perform stuff that needs the amount of technique that is required in a certain composition that I made and yes, I sometimes use the keyboard to compose music but I'm not a real keyboard player. I just use it to add some extra sound-scapes.

EG: Back to "Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents". In my opinion your tour de force on that album is the track "Beggin' For A Trip To The Stars". It's a mammoth track that weighs in at eight minutes plus in length. From a guitar point of view it displays many of the styles that you have incorporated into you own playing. Like Holdsworthian chordal work,Al De Meola picking, Spanish guitar and Joop Wolters custom shredding solo work. Would you say that this track is a good representation of what your sound is about?

Joop Wolters: Hmmm...to me this song actually is just a space journey.. I never looked at it in such a way...Yeah there is a lot going on in that song. So if you want you can use this song as an add for me... But to me personally it had more of an arranging and musical function!!

EG: Yes I forgot to mention that much of your musical arrangement had a cinematic quality! I also liked the Steve Morse solo-isms of "Canned Heart"... Have you been influenced by Steve Morse's playing?

Joop Wolters: Yes I love his work very much, as solo-artist and as a member of the Dixie Dregs.

EG: Like Dave Martone's CD ,I was particularly impressed with the recording quality on "Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents". What Hardware and software did you use for recording?

Joop Wolters: Just a normal home PC and NUENDO 1.51..for guitar sound a Pod-XT

EG: How long was the actual recording process?

Joop Wolters: I think after I finished the demo of "Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents" with all instruments and programmed drums that was the one year. I sent it to Lasse to see if I could get a record deal. I met him just before a clinic at a music festival. We had a talk and that's where we agreed that I send him the album to listen to.

I wasn't sure If he wanted to release a second instrumental album of me at the time. However, he really seem to like it and signed me up and gave me a record deal!!

After that I decided there was a good reason to record real live drums...

EG: Interesting, I was talking to Magnus Olsson about this just the other day. He was saying how important it was to get a good drum sound for recording and that live drums were the way to go.

Joop Wolters: This process took me a half a year extra before we could schedule all the three drummers, Nathan v/d Wouw, Patrick Eijdems and Daniel Flores. They all have busy musical lives. So they couldn't work when they wanted ... but that's normal to me... they knew about the release-date so they fixed their schedules to that one...Laughs

EG: That sounds like a lot of extra time, but It was worth it. It really improved the album quality in my opinion. With regard to your studio and live playing what are the current guitars and effects rig you are using right now?

Joop Wolters: ENGL 670 head, LANEY VL100 head, 2 ENGL 2*12Inch cabs, 2 ENGL 1*12inch cabs, Pod-XT live... Ibanez Rg with PIEZO, Ibanez RG 750, Cort KATANA, Tokai Strat-copy '78

EG: Do you think there is any difference for you between recording in a studio and recording with your own home studio and which do you prefer?

Joop Wolters: I prefer a bigger studio where I can crank up the amps without annoying any neighbours!!

EG: Laughs...In terms of technique you appear to concentrate more on phrasing than on delivering hyper fast arpeggios. What would you recommend for players who are stuck in the hyper-fast arpeggio rut?

Joop Wolters: Perhaps it's an idea to not build your music around your technique, but to make music first, using certain techniques and stuff that you learned along the way and try and vary it in that way.

EG: That's a good point. Talking about learning technique. With the advent of YouTube and Google Video, there is a lot of interest in Guitar video, where you can see a players technique. Do you think the way forward for instrumental guitar players is to produce DVD or augment CD's with video, as Marcel Coenen did recently on his instrumental album?

Joop Wolters: Well I've been into the video recording thing for long time now...On my web site you'll find 20 full songs on video for free download! I made the choice not to make a DVD that has to be sold, but just something that you can share.

EG: Yes, I know your videos are on Google Video now.

Joop Wolters: Also because in some cases this is often the only way to present something of yourself and the music that you do. The Internet is just a great medium to cross large distances!! So I think this an argument for many players to do this kind of stuff to promote themselves. Perhaps it's going to be a standard in the future, both audio and video package...

EG: YEs, I think video for guitarists is a great medium, you can see what players are doing which is half of the magic.

As you have mentioned earlier the Shadrane project features a stellar cast of players including Vivien Lalu (keys), Gregg and Matt Bissonette (Dave Lee Roth) and singer Goran Edman of Yngwie and Karmacanic fame. This sounds like and exciting project can you tell us a bit about this?

Joop Wolters: Yes this is a cool album to work on with all these great musicians. I got a phone call yesterday from Vivien (he is a great composer and can do lots of different stuff). He asked if I would like to write three new compositions for this Shadrane release. I feel very honoured. The album is called "Temporal". It is the pre-album for the actual "Neurastasia" release. At this moment they are working on some of the the vocal lines for that one. It will be released in 2006, but for more info you should check http://www.lalusworld.com

EG: Do you have any plans to tour to support the Shadrane release?.

Joop Wolters: Time will tell that one, but I hope so!!

EG: Talking about live playing, I understand that you now have a new live-trio. Is this a carry on from you early days with your previous trio incarnations of Arabesque and Elysion, which I understand ended up being a three piece instrumental fusion band?

Joop Wolters: I love the trio set-up..

EG: Laughs...That must be the Rush influence!

Joop Wolters:Yeah...and Hendrix Too...Laughs...It's easier to get together and I love the depth of that and after spending many times in the studio I felt a real urge to go out and play again with a trio. I wrote specific new material for the trio set-up, as well as playing tunes from my first and second albums. The band features Patrick Eijdems on Drums and Barend Tromp on Bass.

I put this band together only one month ago and on Saturday 01-04-2006 we had had our first gig with the joOp wolters trio on the Headway festival in Amstelveen (NL). It was really a great experience...There is nothing like the live-energy after a long time only doing commercial stuff!!

EG: Sounds like it was a good show for you. Do your prefer live arena or studio work?

Joop Wolters: I prefer the live-situation for the energy and the studio for the creativity!

EG: Hey, good answer! It has been a while since the release of your second solo release "Speed, Traffic and Guitar Accidents", can you tell us about your plans for a follow up release to this.

Joop Wolters: I will record a live-album with the Trio and then I'm also finishing up a new Studio-album called "Out Of Order" which is set to be released in September 2006 and of course the first Shadrane release!

EG: Wow that's a pretty busy schedule, so I better not delay you any longer! Joop, It has been really great talking to you, thanks for taking the time to answer our question and good luck with your third album "Out Of Order" and the other releases.

Joop Wolters: It was my pleasure, thanx very much. Be sure to visit grts, joOp