Teaser Interview – Six Minute Century
Greg: Let’s talk a bit about the new disc. You were kind enough to send me an advance copy of the current mix. And I’d have to say, it’s very strong. How would you compare and contrast the debut with this forthcoming release?
Don: I think that we’ve grown into… maybe it’s the music I might listen to, it’s grown a little heavier than when I wrote most of the material for the first CD. But I would think that the new CD is heavier than the first disc. We’re not going to change Chuck’s vocal style; it’s still the same voice. But I would say the music is probably… quite a bit heavier than the first disc.
Greg: Is that just a natural evolution of the songwriting or is it a case of outside influences seeping in?
Don: Until Mike came into the band, I wrote all the material. So it was more less, whatever I came up with and brought to the band. So what I listen to… the place that I’m at, (influences) what I’m writing at the time.
I try not to take anything totally. (laughter) When SIX MINUTE CENTURY first started, I might not have been aware that there were so many of the Prog bands out there. But now listening to more, and hearing different things, we have more odd meter time signatures and just some heavier riffs on the new disc.
Greg: When people think about influences, they tend to think about what you were listening to when you were growing up. What do you listen to these days, that you suspect bleeds into your music? Or do you make a conscious effort to filter that out?
Don: For example, when I was younger one of my favorite guitar players was Steve Vai. Then some people would comment that I was sounding in that style. So I quit listening to it altogether. Because while I may love someone’s playing style I don’t want to sound like anyone. So I quit listening to Steve for a while.
Being that I teach guitar lessons six days a week, a lot of my students will bring in songs that are a lot heavier than what I use to listen to. My students have introduced to Nevermore…
Greg: One of my favorites.
Don: Yeah… I kind of thought that. Nevermore is one of them.
A lot of the kids I might teach, they like the newer Metal sound. I’ve gotten to where I listen to SLIPKNOT some, and TRIVIUM and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE. So, the heavier music comes in even though I’m not necessarily fond of the vocal style. I do like the heavy music.
Greg: So they bring you this music and ask you to transcribe it and then have you teach them how to play it?
Don: Right. I try to teach them the music theory behind the song, but a lot of times they don’t care about that.
Greg: I myself am a child of the 80s. I was in a band. Everyone I knew was a band. I knew a dozen kids who could just shred. They were all into Vai and Satch and Malmsteen. How would you compare the approach of kids today towards guitar to when you learned to play?
Don: Guitar playing is kind of making a comeback. When I taught eight to ten years ago, the songs that everyone would bring in were from GREEN DAY or PEARL JAM, or something that had not much of any guitar playing in it. But now, with heavier music coming back in, the kids are really starting to play at a lot younger age. I got some guys who are thirteen or fourteen who can come in and just shred. But they don’t know what it is that they’re playing. That’s where I try to teach them the scales and what it is. But these days with YouTube you can pull any song if you want to learn how to play. They can watch lessons of Yngwie, John Petrucci or Michael Romeo, and at a pretty young age they’re really playing fast!
Greg: We talked earlier about how difficult it is to stick out from the herd given the shear volume of bands out there in the scene today. I’m curious if there’s something out there that you can put your finger on that’s the next hurdle you need to get over?
