Heavy Metal Tribune

We had the drummers spotlight last year, and this year, presenting to you... The guitarist spotlight. In this series, we will feature a number of guitarists from Singapore, bringing to you insights from their guitar-playing experiences.

The first guitarist we feature is Wade (aka Jun), from local death metal outfit Chaos Aftermath.

HMT: Hi Wade, thank you for being a part of our new column on HMT. Before we start the interview proper, give us a brief introduction of yourself. What are some of the bands that you have been involved in lately?

Hi everyone, my name is Wade (aka Jun), guitarist and composer of Chaos Aftermath (CA) – which I’ve formed with Seelan (drums) and Dani (vocals) back in 2000. Due to the sci-fi/futuristic lyrical theme of the songs, I had decided to refer to our music as “Futuristic Metal”; even though it’s pretty much in the vein of (melodic) death-thrash metal. Vinod, the current guitarist of Rudra, was also briefly with CA during the production of our demo album. Until recent, CA has been inactive ever since the release of our debut album, Subtopia, in the beginning of 2003.

In early 2010, the plan to revive Chaos Aftermath (after its 7 years long stasis) was sparked after I’ve gotten in touch with Seelan and Dani via facebook. Even though I was (and still am) abroad to pursue my postgraduate studies, we decided to go forward and attempt this anyway. Seelan had also found us a bassist, Kumaran. This was planned to be accomplished with me preparing the songs in full and sending the tracks over to Seelan and Kumaran to communicate their parts and for them to jam along with. However due to difficulties with communicating with the members, the plan of a CA reunion had to be forgone. Subsequently, I’ve thus made the decision to relocate the newer materials over into a separate project, which I had decided to name as Aeondrift (AD). I’m focusing on both CA and AD as a solo project in the meantime, but hope to reform CA into a proper band once I’ve graduated.

What was it that made you decide to pick up the guitars back when you first started?

The first metal albums that I’ve purchased were Dismember and Dissection and they’ve completely blew me away! I’ve subsequently also went on to discover bands such as Inflames, Children of Bodom, Hammerfall, Metallica, etc. And ever since, the desire to create music like that has been growing within me until I’ve eventually decided to purchase my first guitar – a Samicks, the cheapest one from Davis Music Store in 1997, and a small Vantage amp.

Besides playing the guitar, you also handle the synths and drum programming on Aeondrift. How does being a multi-instrumentalist aid in your playing of the guitar?

I guess perhaps sequencers-controlled-synths can qualify as “instruments” albeit one which does not require years of practice to be able to do something half-decent with. I do own a keyboard actually, but I’ve never gotten sufficiently proficient with it to do anything impressive. Consequently, I control my synths predominantly via my midi guitar-pickup and conduct post-editing with software-sequencers; so I’m not too sure if I can qualify the label of being a multi-instrumentalist actually.

Utilization of these various “tools” have certainly enabled a lot greater flexibilities with my songwriting than ever before, as they have considerably expanded the creative-dimensions within which I could explore. And, although, a somewhat tedious process, they had also allowed me to construct prototypes of my compositions and to explore and test various ideas out, create a virtual-band to jam and practice along with, and even incorporate various substitutive synths/organs leads and overlays, etc for parts that still requires more practice. Thus, it has enabled a more complete and presentable form of my materials to be quickly realized; than I would had otherwise be able to accomplish at the early stage of the conception of those materials. But most of all, they are practically essential since I’m currently working alone.

The only time CA ever had a full lineup was during the time leading up to the release of our demo album, Slave to the System (STTS). Subtopia was released w/o having a bass guitarist, and I wasn’t as good with shredding-solos as Vinod was; and hence it was released with predominantly just vocals, drums and rhythm-guitar (with relatively few lead-guitars and solos), which I kind of regretted. For instance, programming a bass track and incorporating a couple of synths here and there could have at least made the songs a lot more interesting than it was (in retrospect). However, I did not have access to suitable tools nor did I have the experience at the time, to be able to accomplish what I am currently able to now. So, yeh, it has certainly been a substantial aid in my playing of the guitar and as a composer.

While Dystopian and Chaos Aftermath show a more aggressive side of your playing, your other project, Aeondrift displays a wide variety of influences. Which band is the most difficult to come up the guitar lines for, and why?

The inclusions of the more melodic guitars and synths layers in Aeondrift’s materials certainly have “softened” things up significantly. Chaos Aftermath’s songs, in contrast, tend to have a harsher “feel” to them, which has to do with the conceptual theme that I had decided for that project, and can be attributed to its more direct rhythmic-riff based delivery. The remaining old materials selected to be released in CA’s next album would have an even harsher/aggressive feel than the tracks that were released in 2003 debut, Subtopia ;-).

And as to which of my projects were more challenging to compose for? I believe that will probably be the materials for AD. This is due to the substantially more incorporation and emphasis on melodic leads/synths over underlying technical-rhythm riffing – hopefully without losing intensity (at least, that is my aim), and to get the layers to work as perfectly together as possible, to approximate/recreate what is mentally contrived.

Aeondrift was also formed after Dystopian and Chaos Aftermath, and on the status of Dystopian, you also mentioned that “Dystopian is moving on as an AggroTech/Electronic-Metal solo project.” Why the formation of Aeondrift and the move for Dystopian?

I’ve initially intended the materials of AD to be released under CA when I’ve just not so long ago picked up the guitar again; which btw, had mostly been collecting dust in the cupboard for the past 7 years or so – since mid-way through my male-mandatory military service, and subsequently starting my bachelor degree in Australia back in 2005. However, since the plan to reform CA with the original members didn’t quite work out as planned (though I guess at least we’ve tried) I had thus made the decision to move my more current materials into a separate project (Aeondrift) to allow CA to retain its more harsher feel, and to evolve further in this direction for future materials.

I believe this was an appropriate move to take since I felt that those materials (currently assigned for AD) do not really fit into the “theme” which I had envisioned for CA. The materials for AD tends to be more Avant-Garde with perhaps some J-Rock/Metal and Anime/JRPG music influences, and which feels a lot more “full of *life*” (despite of my intention to introduce predominantly *death* metal vocals too for AD) – and hopefully even more so in future materials that I churn out, whenever I’m free (I can almost hear the TROO-KVLT chest-thumping crowd grunting in disgust, haha).

And as for the current “Dystopian” project, well the apparent “move” was actually nothing more than the act of borrowing the name of the very first band I’ve started back in 1999; playing black metal, with a dark-fantasy conceptual theme. I’ve set up the artist-page (at ReverbNation) primarily to showcase the very old song which I had recorded together with Seelan on drums, and (I guess) as a “marker” and self-reminder of what I plan to do with it in the future. I already have accumulated a library of promising electronic-loops which I’ve sequenced, but have yet to find the time to arrange them into proper songs.

All of these might seem rather over ambitious. However, before I had commenced with my postgrad studies, it all did seem like a plausible thing to pursue, going by the level of productivity I was having with AD then. But once I’ve started with my PhD, everything just seem to virtually grinded to a halt. My current plan is to be focus on both AD and CA (but mainly on AD), during whatever spare time I may have from my current scientific research priorities. As said, it is my hope that later on, once I’ve finished my postgrad studies, I will be able to successfully assemble a proper lineup for CA again, and hopefully play in a couple of gigs and evolve that project as a “proper” band. Otherwise, I would probably have to go about producing CA’s materials alone, with programmed instruments, as I’m doing for AD’s preproduction materials.

As a guitarist, what are some of the difficulties you encounter when writing music for each of the bands? Do you sit down and decide which band to write for, or write when inspiration strikes and decide which band to release it under later?

I typically tend to rely upon inspirations as they come and then build them up from there. Forcing a new song purely from scratch while uninspired tends to bring about materials that can sound too similar to what I’ve already previously done – due to my bad tendency to fall back on familiar riffing patterns and note progressions. And as for deciding which of my projects a song belongs to depends largely on the feelings and mental-imagery which that particular song evokes. I rely a lot on conjured mental imagery, of scenes and events, to conceptually guide and inspire me with my compositions; and I assign “working-titles” to them accordingly once the “personality” of a song that I’m working on becomes clear to me. I feel that having working titles are important – kinda gives a “soul” and a sense of coherence, to the materializing song as its being carved out. Sounds corny I know, but that’s just how I like to work. =P

Inspirations don’t necessarily come just from other music (of similar genre or otherwise), but can also come from stories/scenes from which the emotions are molded into the form of music. I always believe that good music are those which are able to evoke strong emotions; and that applies even in the brutal-est of brutal-metal (perhaps those of rage and aggression). Music which failed to accomplish that are just merely (empty) sounds to me. But then again music is highly subjective anyway; i.e. not everyone would relate to the same song in the exact same way.

One difficulty that I frequently face is the process of translating some of the more complicated (instrumentally challenging) ideas onto the instrument itself. Often, I would come up with stuff that I can’t actually play properly without significant repetitive practice (well because I suck), and that could sometimes break the creative flow. Practicing on stuff which you can already easily play would never get you anywhere anyway, so I guess these provide an ideal opportunity and excellent motivation for me to continually improve upon my proficiency with my guitar playing. My primary aspiration in music has always been to be able to express myself through my compositions, and less so with the playing of instruments. However, notwithstanding, instrument-proficiency and the ability to compose good music tend to go hand in hand.

But ultimately, the main difficulty that I currently face is with the availability of time to focus with getting my ambitions in music realized! For instance, almost all of the materials which I’ve composed for AD were basically churned out during the three months (Dec 2009 - Feb 2010) worth of break from any kind of work or studies, before the commencement of my PhD. That was also whence I had started picking up the guitar again. And also, towards the end of the year, during the two and a half weeks of (Christmas/New-Year) break that I had was when I came up with another two more songs: “Relic of the Aeondrift”, and “KOSMOS”. Basically, I tend to require a period where I could de-stress (and not think about my scientific research), where I could feel at ease to let loose my mind to wander freely into a different world; a period conducive for inspirations to strike and to proceed to transcribe and record down those mental-ideas whenever they come *immediately; instead of leaving it be and having a promising song-idea fade off into oblivion.

Throughout the years, how has your songwriting and guitar playing improved? Who have been your biggest influences in guitar playing?

Sadly my proficiency with the guitar hasn’t really improved all that much over the past 7 years due to the toll of male-mandatory national service and the subsequent commencement with my university studies soon after. However, despite of my stagnation, I feel that my songwriting style certainly have somehow evolved and matured appreciably over all those years. I’m also now putting in a lot more effort with developing my shredding ability. My biggest influence in guitar playing must have been my friend, Benson, who was the guitarist of the (now inactive) band Resurrect. He was the one who had first introduced me to bands such as At the Gates, Carcass, The Haunted, Soilwork, etc. and had taught me a couple of the relevant technical-riffing techniques when I’ve only just started out as a total guitar noob.


Let’s talk a bit about the technical side of guitars. What is your current preferred setup, and do you have a dream guitar and setup?

As for my current setup, there is really nothing worth boasting about haha. But since you asked, I currently own a Vantage 428GDT guitar re-fitted with an EMG-81 pickup (thanks to Vinod’s recommendation), Roland GK3 Midi pickup, Zoom GFX-4 digital Multi-effects processor, a Roland Keyboard, Marshall-MG15R and Vantage-VG10 amplifiers.

My dream guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Standard. I’ve really grown to love the incredible tone that it gives, but it’s beyond what I can afford at the moment. I also hope to one day acquire a Roland-VG99 virtual-guitar modeling unit, and I am currently planning to upgrade my Vantage with an EMG-85. My dream setup is basically whatever that can provide me with the greatest amount of versatility in terms of sound and tone, which is why I have always been very fond of digital multi-effects. This is despite being told that analogue gadgets tend to give better (more “organic”) sound. But that was like almost 10 years ago, so perhaps not true anymore these days?

Many guitarists practice hard and aim to be good at shredding, mostly neglecting the tone of their guitar. How important is the tone of the guitar for you, and what is your favorite kind of tone?

Hey, interesting question! Yeh, I agree the tone of the guitar is certainly a vital component that should never be overlooked. And in fact, I think it should perhaps be considered just as important as the playing of the song and quality of the music composition/arrangement itself. While writing a song, sometimes a riff that might sound really good mentally ended up sounding like crap when it was translated onto an actual guitar. But frequently, it could occasionally simply be due to an unsuitable tone being used instead of poor execution. I believe it would be difficult for most listeners to appreciate a song no matter how well it is composed if the production is poor. As earlier said, to me music is ultimately all about the evoking of emotions (whatever that may be), and the tone of the instruments certainly contributes greatly towards this end.

Having a proper tone would also tend to facilitate motivation during the tediously repetitive and boring process of practicing complex guitar licks and riffs. I actually had this exact same discussion with a long-time friend of mine not very long ago, and this was his observation which he had shared. However, I guess accessibility of guitar tone is also heavily dependent on the rigs that one has, and which is limited to what the musician can afford (guitars, pickups, effect-pedals, amps and all).

Ultimately, I believe that what tone a guitarist uses has to also actively depend on the music and what kind of “feeling” the composition intends to bring out for a given part of a song, etc. However, while I’m practicing, I personally tend to abuse the same old warm and punchy distortion tone which ZOOM digital multi-effects gives, and switch to a “screaming” tone; sometimes with a little bit of delay or auto-wahs for leads and solo-licks practice. I also play around a lot with the EQ, compressor and noise-gate (all good stuff!).

Do you have a certain practice routine? Would it be possible to share it with our readers?

My “practice-session” usually involves me grabbing the guitar whilst relaxing at the computer, listening to music or watching television, and I’ll just randomly play my own riffs of existing songs or improvise, or try to catch riffs of other band’s songs from how I remembered them (probably adding my own flavor to them in the process). I believe it is very important, to the composing of music, to develop the ability to quickly catch riffs of your favorite bands by ear, or random things which you come up within your head. Tabs downloaded off the internet are typically not that accurate anyway. Playing every single note cleanly and with precision (timing, vibratos, bends, etc) are also very important I think, and that is pretty much what I’ve have been trying to get myself to improve lately. I tend to practice with lick phrases that I randomly come up with and start playing them slowly and gradually work my way up in speed with the aid of a metronome (which I had never bothered with in the past).

Finally, any other advices that you want to give to aspiring guitarists and musicians out there?

Write songs with the aim to evoke emotions or to portray a certain mental imagery, scene or to tell a certain story; instead of coming up with “dry” soulless stitched-together riffs, perhaps just to sound like a particular favorite band. Find and develop your own style and constantly evolve upon it, and don’t try to be something that just isn’t you (even if you enjoy listening to that particular style/sub-genre) or your materials might come off as sounding “forced”; i.e. brutal death-grind just isn’t my thing even though I listen to that genre too. Music isn’t necessarily about how fast you play or how technical and complicated your riffs are. Music is about, well, the “music” itself. But notwithstanding, being able to play fast and etc. reduces the limitations on the music you can create. Disregard artificial expectations and pressures within the mainstream of the “underground scene” of how metal should or shouldn’t sound like, and just go ahead and do what comes naturally and what YOU personally like to do. To me genres are merely artificial classification-boundaries; they are not “real”. Some people might appreciate your music, some won’t, and that’s just how it is. Music is subjective, and whatever opinions that I’ve expressed here in this interview might not work for everyone anyway, nor would I expect everyone to agree. They are just philosophies that I personally try to adopt. And with this disclaimer established, thank you so much for the interview!!! =D \m/

Btw, music is pointless unless it is shared. For people who have never heard of my band/project, they can be found via the following links:

Chaos Aftermath: http://www.reverbnation.com/ChaosAftermath
Aeondrift: http://www.reverbnation.com/Aeondrift
Dystopian: http://www.reverbnation.com/Dystopian

Cheers!
Jun (俊) Aeondrift

©2011 Heavy Metal Tribune | Hong Rui