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George Bellas Interviewby Steve Totomis |
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| 1. TELL US A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL BACKGROUND / PROFILE. SOMETHING LIKE A SMALL BIO OF YOURS. I started playing guitar at the age of 7. I studied, practiced and wrote with such an incredible amount of ambition and enthusiasm, I surpassed the norm without even realizing it. I would practice on acoustic steel string with .013 - .056 gauge strings,I would practice for sometimes 20 hours at a time. I ate, urinated and rested with my guitar. There was a period were my fingers were black mush up past my finger nails. I remember Ross Pelton's (Varney's Photographer) reaction at NAMM back in 1988, he was like "Holy cow!!" He couldn't believe my fingers. I really went overboard. 2. WHICH DO YOU CONSIDER AS YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES AS A GUITAR PLAYER AND COMPOSER ? I have gone through several phases of listening to different guitarists along my development path. In my early youth I went through a heavy period of Ronnie Montrose, Robin Trower, Ted Nugent, Michael Shenker, Jimmy Page, Randy Rhoads, Ted Greene and the list goes on and on... J.S.Bach, L.V.Beethoven, and Franz Liszt are probably my main classical favorites. Not only for there compositional skills but for there individual styles. 3. TELL US A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR SOLO INSTRUMENTAL ALBUMS “TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM” AND “MIND OVER MATTER” ? DO YOU FEEL THAT THEY ARE ANY MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ? "Turn Of The Millennium" is a futuristic - modern oriented album, rich in odd meters, dense counterpoint, modern progressions, uncommon scales and modes within elaborate orchestrations and arrangements. The album is very melodic but also has quite a bit of guitar improvisation. I wrote most of this album sitting outside with a piece of staff paper and pencil. It was compositionally, very well thought out. I love composing in a very modern way such as this album. Not very neo classical at all. The only song that is neoclassical is "Ripped To Shreds" which uses the Harmonic, Melodic and Natural Minor modes within a common meter rhythm. These are basic elements more associated with (more traditional) NC music. "Mind Over Matter" is more Neoclassical in nature. Again, most of this album was composed note for note on manuscript paper. Some of which I composed while recording the MoggWay album out at Prairie Sun Recording Studios in Cotati CA, USA. I would jot stuff down here and there throughout the day when I had time away from writing and rehearsing with the band (Phil Mogg, Pete Way, Ansley Dunbar and myself). There aren't any odd meters on this album, it contains elements from the 16th, 17th and 18th century classical periods. The harmonic progressions, the counterpoint, the scales and modes were actually simpler in nature. There is still an extensive amount of counterpoint throughout the album. The last track is a smorgasbord of counterpoint, like I said, it's more within the older, more traditional neoclassical style. 4. I GUESS THAT THE TERM “NEO-CLASSICAL METAL” SUITS MORE TO YOUR GUITAR STYLE AND TECHNIQUE. IS THIS CHARACTERISATION CLOSE TO YOUR OWN BELIEFS ? No and Yes - Like I said in the above answer. I love composing in a very modern style. Sometimes I think that is actually one of my stronger areas than the old Neoclassical style. I love Odd Meters and other futuristic progressive elements. Having said that, I am also a complete sucker for J.S.Bach and all of the strict counterpoint that comes with that style. But my music, and over all vibe, is more futuristic than that of old style Kings and Queens and all those similar topics and qualities found far to often (I think) in these re hashed neoclassical bands. What kings and queens are to other NC bands - Aliens and spaceships are to me. So, if I had to label myself, maybe I would say that I am a "Futuristic-neoclassicalist". 5. YOU HAVE ALSO CO-OPERATED IN THE PAST WITH GREAT ARTISTS IN THEIR SOLO WORKS LIKE VITALIJ AND JOHN WEST. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THESE DAYS ? Working with Vitalij is always a great experience. We have very good chemistry and seem to really fuel off of each other's performances. We also love to do a lot of unisons and counterpoint. Rather than just harmonizing this, and harmonizing that. The end products always turn out really exciting. John West is a great singer and super nice guy. It was a pleasure to work with him. For John's album, Mike Varney introduced us guys(John West, Mike Terrana, Barry Sparks, Matt Guillory and myself) and then we locked ourselves in the studio for a couple of weeks and came out with a cool record. I am really happy with my performances on there, I think the guitar tone was good and the playing was very inspired. My good friend James Murphy has also had a major involvement with all these records i did early on for Mike Varney and Shrapnel Records. 6. RECENTLY ENOUGH YOU ALSO PLAYED THE GUITAR PARTS FOR RING OF FIRE’S DEBUT ALBUM FEATURING SOME OF THE BEST MUSICIANS OF THE US NEO-CLASSICAL MUSIC SCENE. TELL US HOW THIS PARTICIPATION OCCURRED AND WHICH ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS FROM THIS WORK ? Vitalij and Mark Boals had both called me and asked if I wanted to join this cool new band they were forming. They told me Virgil Donati would be playing the drums and Vitalij had all these song ideas ready to go, so how could I resist? It was a really cool time. Mark and Vitalij flew out to my studio in Chicago, and we just lived, slept, arranged and recorded music for weeks. I think the performances on the album came out very well. Again, Vitalij and I just seem to click. We are both very aggressive players and share other similar musical qualities and I think that lends itself to our ability to create these one of a kind performances. 7. RING OF FIRE JUST RELEASED A DOUBLE LIVE-CD AND DVD FROM THEIR JAPANESE TOUR FEATURING TONY MACALPINE ON GUITARS. WHY DIDN’T YOU FOLLOW THEM IN THEIR LIVE APPEARANCES ? IS RING OF FIRE MORE LIKE A PROJECT WHERE MUSICIANS COME AND GO ? FOR EXAMPLE DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO CO-OPERATE WITH THE REST OF THEM IN A FUTURE RELEASE AS WELL ? DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CERTAIN PROPOSALS FROM THEIR SIDE ? BY THE WAY WHO IS THE MAIN MAN BEHIND RING OF FIRE ? MARK BOALS ? Shortly after the 9/11 disaster here in the states, I was awaiting my passport and Visa papers. They got delayed and was unable to get over there in time. I'm very glad Tony MacAlpine was able to step in. He had a lot of songs to learn quick, I though he did a great job. Though I do think Tony plays Tony better and George Bellas plays George Bellas better. 8. CONTINUING THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS , I’D LIKE TO ASK YOU WHY YOU KEEP NOT FORMING A FULL BAND INSTEAD OF RELEASING ONLY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUMS PLUS SOME SPECIAL APPEARANCES IN OTHER PROJECTS ? DON’T YOU MISS THE IDEA OF WORKING INSIDE A NORMAL BAND ? I THINK THAT THIS COULD EVEN GIVE YOU THE OPPORTUNITY OF DOING BIGGER THINGS LIKE TOURING OR REACHING WIDER AUDIENCES. ARE YOU AGAINST IT ? I have introduced my new vocal band - AUDIODROME. Mike Varney introduced me to this singer from New York named Matthew Guarnere. He's great, we are in the process of writing and recording material. There are some sample clips available for listening on my website www.georgebellas.com. The songs are more on the progressive said than they are the Neo Classical side. In fact, you won't find any of that operatic style from Matthew. He has quite a unique style of singing, I mean it, he really is very different. Still very approachable though. 9. OR THE FACT THAT YOU SEEM TO BE QUITE OCCUPIED WITH YOUR GUITAR LESSONS AS I SAW THROUGH YOUR WEB SITE KEEP YOU TOO MUCH INVOLVED TO FORM A BAND THAT WILL PROBABLY TAKE EVEN MORE OF YOUR ALREADY PRECIOUS TIME ? AS I SAW GUITAR LESSONS SEEM TO BE QUITE IMPORTANT TO YOU . DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE NATURAL NEED OR EARNING ONE’S LIVING ? I love teaching and helping people. Probably more than most would realize. I also love music, math, science, physics, art, and nature. I try to balance it all out. But nothing has ever prevented me from doing the other. In fact I have become quite prolific in my abilities because of my constant studies and diverse abilities. "The George Bellas Instructional Series" is an exhaustive full bodied, 12 CD ROM guitar method. "The George Bellas Instructional Series" covers several different topics and is very well documented. I offer an enormous amount of support to my students, I really, really do love teaching. If you really want to learn, I'm the guy! |
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This interview can also be found here: Authors Page
E.T.P , c/o STEVE TOTOMIS , 3 MOUGLON ST. , NIKEA , GR-18450 , GREECE |
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