像许多音乐家一样Mark Tremontihas been busy working on new music since the pandemic started, and last month saw the改变桥and信条吉他手透露了他自2018年以来的独奏项目Tremonti的新专辑A Dying Machine。With及时进军now out in the world and the guitarist once again free and able to tour again, we caught up with him to chat from a hotel room in Nashville where he awaited his next live date.
“Its great,” he tells us of being on tour again after so much down time. “We’ve been sidelined for way too long. We’ve been eager as hell to get out on the road. The only downside is that we’re all kind of trapped in a bubble. We can’t really do anything other than soundcheck and the show. Were pretty much stuck on our bus or in a hotel room. Touring life is somewhat isolated at the moment. Everybody has to be smart.
“Before we started this tour, everybody had to sign this paper that said we would follow these rules and it was like seven pages of things we can’t do, as far as having guests or friends come to shows and hang out unless you have a blood-related relative who is vaccinated and/or have a negative test within 48 hours. So it’s very strict. But once the first song starts, man, it feels like the old days. Once the music is flowing, it seems like everything is back to normal.”
Touring under such strictly enforced restrictions is a testament to just how much Tremonti and his band enjoy playing shows and want to get out and do what they love to do. Taking the risk of touring is also a testament to how essential touring can be for a band to promote a new record.及时进军was recorded in somewhat of an isolated manner, which served as a blessing in disguise, with only the band, the producer, and an engineer together, focused entirely on making the record over a two-month period.
“I need to have my stuff airtight before I go into the studio,” he explains. “From the lyrics to the melodies to the programming of drums. Everything was done when we went into the studio. We just had to take the 17 or 18 demos and chop four of them off.”
该唱片是一个坚实的产品，值得骄傲的是，但他最引以为傲的歌曲是专辑的标题曲目，及时进军。
“On this album, the title track was inspired by becoming a father in 2020, which was a pretty awful year,” he reflects. “The song itself came about as a father’s point of view telling a child not to let how dark this world has become affect the way you grow and treat people.”
Evolutionary leaps
马克一直将他的吉他演奏视为一生的努力和不断的进化过程。他一直在研究技术，很少见到他离吉他太远。自从COVID锁定开始以来，Mark一直专门为开发右手而努力，这项工作的证据最好显示在他最喜欢的独奏中，这是歌曲中的特色。Let That Be Us.
“I’ve been playing with patterns of fives for years,” he notes. “But I learned to play it all with alternate picking – so there’s no economy picking in it. That solo was the first time really got to use that to full effect and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I put the pick away and started trying to work on using all my fingers and trying to write songs with new alternative tunings.
“One thing I like to do is take patterns where I would normally use sweep picking and transpose that into an alternative picking sort of run. I’m always learning stuff and improvising. A lot of people, when they watch guitar players, they focus on the flashy left hand, but the engine of that player is that right hand. That’s something that separates good players from great players is that attack of that right hand.”
Lost loves
专辑的主题是在艰难时期保持强大，这在某种程度上呼吁Tremonti。实际上，这是一场不幸的事情 - 他心爱的人的盗窃莱斯·保罗- 这使他购买了他的第一个PR, a collaboration that would last until this very day.
他确认：“我最喜欢的吉他已经消失了。”“这就是我第一次开始玩PR的方式。我们得到了该装备的保险索赔。这是我第一次拿这么多钱，所以我去了当地的吉他店，指着上排，买了我有过的第一个PR。”
Of course, this would turn into an endorsement that has lasted for decades, and his signature models have become some of PRS’s most popular and well-regarded guitars.
“我想在2000年左右，”他回忆起有关Tremonti的第一次讨论，成为官方的PRS认可。“他们给我寄了一把吉他，我喜欢它，但是它没有我正在做的岩石的基调。这更像是蓝调摇滚的事情。拾音器选择器不是我习惯的地方。他们给我寄了另一种布局的吉他，我也喜欢那个吉他，但这不是我会带上舞台的东西。After the third or fourth guitar, we sent back and forth they said, ‘Okay, why don’t we just make you one exactly how you want it, and we’ll make it your signature guitar!’ Thank god I was picky back then or I wouldn’t have ever got that signature guitar. I’m glad I get to play my favorite guitar in the world, professionally.”
Old friends
除了最新的Tremonti唱片外，Mark目前还在另一个Alter Bridge唱片上努力工作，而后来也谈到了Creed Chunion。但是，当我们将这个想法放在他身上时，他很快就倒了冷水 - 至少目前。
“Well, there are always promoters that will bring that stuff up,” he chuckles. “But right now, I have a new record coming out. I’ve got to write another Alter Bridge record and get out and tour for that next fall. It’s really difficult to squeeze out three months or whatever it takes to do the Creed stuff. I have a six-month-old baby daughter and I’d like to spend as much time with her as I can. This tour is the first time I’ve been away from her and its already been brutal.”
Creed是一支乐队，有一些强大的人物，我们想知道是否有任何个人问题可能会阻碍。
他承认：“我们肯定有起伏。”“我们不太经常说话。我认为，当它首先放在桌子上时，所有业务负责人都可以说是否有意义，这将是一个决定，然后我们将看到事情将如何从那里开始。”
Tremonti的及时进军现在已经开始纳帕姆。