Alex Ehrsam:Guglielmo Malusardi: the shred baron interviews french fusion phenomenon

Guglielmo Malusardi: In our previous interviewm when you had released "Djaz Dtox", I asked you about your music goals for the future. Your answer was, "I guess I want to play better and smarter, find a label, play with great musicians, this kind of thing."

Well, let's start with the second goal...You did find a label! Tell us about Shredguy Records. In a time of there being virtually no business in selling records, they gave you a great chance to release your second album.

Alex Ehrsam: I got lucky I guess. I first did my second album, the mixing, the mastering, and so forth, then I sent it out to quite a bunch of serious labels. I got picked up by Mike (McDowell) at Shred Guy; apparently Mike was interested in adding a "fusion" flavor to his rather "metal" guitar-oriented label, and my sound seduced him. It's a serious label; my music is represented on a lot of websites and e-stores, so it's really cool for me. The label keeps releasing new albums, it's getting more and more exposure, so that's really sweet.


Guglielmo Malusardi: You gave the CD the same title as an classic Pink Floyd released. But there are dots after each letter, so I don't think you just wanted pay tribute to a legendary band.

Alex Ehrsam: No, not really, I love Pink Floyd, but no connection here. I just thought it would summarize the whole album, real groove is what really comes out of It. I just thought the writing dot-by-dot thing looked nice. I'm more into it as a spelling effect than any real meaning. For example, on my first album, the songetitles I chose are more about rhythm and sound than just simple meaning. Though I love David Gilmour, no problem, who wouldn't!


Guglielmo Malusardi: Talking about the process of composing, when did you start to write and how long did it take before you completed the entire track list?

Alex Ehrsam: I started writing around February or March of 2009. I goofed and redid a lot of stuff up through the beginning of 2010, in order to have all those tunes solid and harmonious to the ear, to avoid the "one year gap between songs" effect you might otherwise hear. I listened to it a bit in my car, going quickly from track to track, and it sounds quite coherent I think, in sound and music. more