Mark Tremonti – A Guitar Hero for a New Generation

By: Robert Cavuoto

Mark Tremonti – photo credit: Robert Cavuoto

Guitarist Mark Tremonti seeks to explore and discover new walls to breakdown in a never-ending quest to master the guitar. As he reaches the horizon of the guitar, he finds a plateau, only to find yet another world of mastery to work toward.

It’s the magic of the instrument and the essence of inventiveness and creativity and for the guitarist, an unquenchable thirst.

What separates the innovators from the followers is the courage to try something different and overcoming the challenges, to break the rules and rewrite them at every opportunity.

We all know that this was the case with guitar greats like Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, and Randy Rhoads. Mark Tremonti can be added to this list of innovators as he is finding that there are still walls in guitar playing to break down.

With his powerful and unfaltering right hand he is known for his horse galloping and string muting. With his left hand he marries sheer speed with technical intricacies. Combine that with his experimentation of tuning and prolific songwriting, there should be not doubts as to why he is a guitar player for a new generation.

He is back with his solo band and putting out the group’s sophomore CD, Cauterize, slated for release on June 9^th via Fret 12 Records. The album features Mark on vocals/guitars, Eric Friedman on guitars, Wolfgang Van Halen on bass and Garrett Whitlock on drums. It’s produced by long-time friend and collaborator, Michael “Elvis” Baskette.

The lyrics on Cauterize can be dark at times, yet inspirational and uplifting. From the first riffs of CD opener “Radical Change” to the final notes of the epic closer “Providence,” it is apparent that Mark Tremonti has broken new ground with his songwriting.

His hard rock/heavy metal influences shine throughout the album on tracks like “Flying Monkeys,” “Arm Yourself” and “Sympathy.” The debut single from Cauterize is the up-tempo track “Another Heart.”

I caught up with Mark at a hotel in New York City to discuss his playing techniques, guitar tones and thoughts behind his dynamic and furious new CD!

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Robert Cavuoto: I think Cauterize is far more aggressive and heavier sounding than All I Was. The word that comes to mind is “Furious” – Was that the intention?

Mark Tremonti: When I started pulling out ideas to show the guys, they seem to get more excited about the heavier songs. We had eight or nine heavy songs done when it dawned on me that we want the CD to be more dynamic. Ten heavy songs don’t sound as heavy as if you have six heavy songs mixed with a few atmospheric songs and a slow song. But, we do want to make it heavier than the first CD.

Robert: What was it about the song “Cauterize” that made you choose it as the CD’s title, as there were so many great songs that could have worked equally well?

Mark Tremonti: I had “Providence” in my mind as the title, but was the only one who wanted it [Laughing].

I went through all the song titles and lyrics to come up with 150 possible titles. I ran them all by my brother. He really likes the one word titles. I then choose my favorites and when I said to him “Cauterize,” he was like – that’s it! It brought up great imagery for CD artwork.

Robert: There seems to be a lot of attention given to the fact that the CD has been pushed back, what happened?

Mark Tremonti: In reality it was only two weeks. People got upset because it went from May to June, but it was only two weeks. We have a publicist over in Europe that asked for some extra time to set the CD up over there and didn’t want to overlook anything. Who am I to say, “No…” to that?

Robert: What were some aspects of All I Was that you liked and maybe didn’t care for that you needed to re-assess before going into making Cauterize?

Mark Tremonti: On the first CD were under time and financial constraint. Plus it was only me, Eric, and Garrett and we didn’t have a bass player. We were initially going to release it online and see what happened.

As things progressed we got really excited about it and felt we needed to release it as a CD, so we needed to find a bass player and tour for it. We knew what we were capable of going into this CD, so we increased the budget tremendously. We got more time out of Elvis Baskette [producer], spent more time in pre-production, and pushed the writing process as hard as we could with the sessions being four times as long compared to the first CD.

We spent at least 40 days writing together before pre-production. On Alter Bridge’s Fortress CD, we only spent a week writing, multiple that many times over to see how much work went into this CD.

We have a fully completed second CD that came from these sessions. This is just part one of the two CD cycle. We are going to release Cauterize, see how it does then try to develop a plan to release the second CD; whether as a complete CD or as singles over time.

Robert: That’s pretty incredible, was it challenging to pick what songs would be on each disk?

Mark Tremonti: Yeah, it was really tough. One of my favorite songs from all 20 songs was a song called “Dust.” It will be the last song on the second CD, so if we release a song at a time, it will be the last song anyone will get to hear, which is tough for me.

My brothers couldn’t believe that I did not have it on the first CD. We both feel it has the best chorus of all the songs. I don’t want anyone to think this CD is the A sides and the second CD will be B sides. That’s not the case and I want everyone to like the second CD just as much as the first one.

Robert: Was Wolfgang Van Halen part of the writing process for this CD and what did he brings to the table?

Mark Tremonti: He came out a few days after we started writing so he had to catch up. I can’t think of a better bass player. He learns things in seconds, has great ideas, and his bass lines are always wonderful. He is very precise.

He does a lot of chordal stuff mixed with the slap style. He is not a bass player who plays one note at a time. I love it and it adds such an important element to the songs.

Robert: My favorite track is “Sympathy” which I think is the most commercial sounding song, what can you tell me about its creation and about the inspirational lyrics?

Mark Tremonti: “Sympathy” was the light on the CD. It’s a song that allows us to show diversity while giving the CD its flow. It’s a song about getting through all the trials and adversity of life with all its ups and downs. Every time you think you reached your goal, you get knocked down, but you manage to get back up. “Sympathy again you abandoned me again” it’s about feeling sorry for yourself but fighting through it.

Robert: How would you differentiate Tremonti’s sound from Alter Bridge’s sound?

Mark Tremonti: The biggest difference is on the singing. Myles Kennedy and I couldn’t be any more different on vocals and that is why we are in a band. Our ranges fill the opposite space. The rhythm section on the solo materials is so dramatically different than with Alter Bridge.

Scott Phillips [drums] and Brian Marshall [bass] play in the pocket and have a very smooth approach, where my solo band is more speed metal. The kick drum and bass are always more syncopated doing more of the metal approach.

When I bring up riffs I’m always bringing the horse galloping picking and all the traditional metal techniques. That being said, Alter Bridge is getting heavier, so that area is getting grayer. I do my best to make Tremonti more speed metal.

Robert: How do you think Elvis Baskette separates and defines the sound of both bands?

Mark Tremonti: Everything he does is to make things sound better than he previously did. He is an artist too. He becomes the 5^th member to both bands. I can’t image another person making a CD sound better!

When we went into the studio to make this CD, he never talked about a separation; he just wanted to make this CD sound 100% sonically better than All I Was.

He told me Fortress sounded better than All I Was and since then he got a lot better at using this board. He wanted this CD to sound better than Fortress. When he did Slash’s CD, he got comments back during the mastering, that this was the best sounding CD they have heard. So, with my CD being next, it will hopefully sound even better.

Robert: What are a few things about your approach to the guitar that you feel you own and tends to define what you do?

Mark Tremonti: I find that I tend to look at the guitar as if there are no rules it. This is different than the way I live my life [Laughing].

I use alternate tuning and I’m not afraid to go from one tuning to another. When I write I’m not thinking of any rules or scales, I’m finding things by chance. When I’m practicing the guitar I practice scales and my techniques, but when I’m writing I turn that all off and I’m not afraid to dive into the deep end with some crazy tuning that I’ve never played before.

I play with a lot of guitarists who don’t do that. If you spent most of your life playing with one tuning I can see how people would be afraid to try something different. I wouldn’t be here or a tenth of the songwriter that I am if I took that approach.

Robert: Let’s talk about the strength of your right hand. How does it affect your rhythm playing and your unique technique?

Mark Tremonti: Since I was kid, I listened to speed metal and learned Slayer and Metallica songs. I would challenge friends at school who could draw more “Ns” on a piece of paper in one minute. The horse gallop on a piece of paper looks like “Ns.” I would sit in my room with a metronome and down strokes.

When I do guitar clinics I have the down pick challenge and invite people up and see how long everybody can last. Those down strokes are the anchor of speed metal along with alternate picking. Remember it can always be much faster.

Robert: Do you think Tremonti’s sound is heavy enough?

Mark Tremonti: Vocally, Tremonti has more of a melodic approach, that what keeps it from being the “Slayer Heavy”. Music-wise we can be as heavy as those bands. I would like to add more of a progressive sound with some crazy time signature and rhythmic change ups.

Robert: Are you more comfortable as a singer now than you were on All I Was?

Mark Tremonti: Yeah, I’ve heard people say that my voice is getting better, but I think it has to do with touring and pushing your voice live. You get to do things that you never thought possible. You can sing in your bedroom all day long and get all the vocal lessons in the world, but until you get up there and perform in front of people, I don’t think you will notice as much of a difference. Experience is so much better than knowledge to me.

Robert: I would imagine that you could hurt your vocal chords if misused?

Mark Tremonti: I think genetically I’ve been lucky in the voice department. I’m pretty resilient because I sing very loud when I’m on tour. The first few shows I get nervous, because sometimes it can go out on me. After that I feel completely safe with it.

Robert: Van Halen just announced their tour dates; will Wolfgang be with you for some select shows?

Mark Tremonti: Our first May-June tour he won’t be with us. He’ll come back on the next tour provided Van Halen isn’t touring. We’ve always known that Van Halen is his number one concern, so when he said he couldn’t do it, I understood. I would do the same thing [Laughing].

Robert: Does it ever hit you that he is Eddie Van Halen’s son, I better be on top of my game?

Mark Tremonti: Nah, it’s Wolfgang. We all mess with each other more than anything else. We don’t talk Van Halen, we just hang out. Most of the time they are playing video games while I’m trying to rush them to get somewhere. [Laughing]

Robert: I heard he was putting out a solo CD; will you be working with him on that?

Mark Tremonti: I’m not involved in it. He and Eric were out in L.A. and Elvis happened to be in town so they ended up recording a handful of songs. I’m too busy with my three bands.

Robert: Tell me about the secret to your tone with PRS Guitars. Did you still use the Bogner 6L6 or Bludotones amp?

Mark Tremonti: On this CD I brought in all my amps. I’m am “amp-aholic.” I have every amp you can imagine.

I brought in my Van Weelden Twinkleland amp for most of the clean tones and some of the half dirty clean tones. The heavy tone is the Bogner Uberschall, I have 6L6s as they usually come with EL34s. I love the sound of that amp as its one of my main touring amps.

I brought in my Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier and used that for 20% of the tones. My Cornford RK100 was in there, as well as my PRS Archon amp.

It was a mixture of all four amps. The lead tone was mostly the PRS Archon and the Bogner Uberschall. I also brought in a 1956 Tweed Deluxe and 1960 Bassman. I took the Bassman home immediately, but the Deluxe stayed there the entire time. We spent a day plugging them all in and hearing them, but mainly it was up to Elvis to pick the best.

Robert: How do you keep up with all the advancements in technology, yet stay true to your signature tone?

Mark Tremonti: Most of my tone comes from my fingers. You can put me through any number of amps and it’s gonna sound relatively close to my tones. I am amp fanatic so I try everything, but when I’m playing hard rock / heavy metal I tend to play more of the high gain stuff. If I’m on a 5150, or an Uberschall, or a Boogie, I’m always going to sound similar.

Robert: Are you a pedal or rack effect type of guy?

Mark Tremonti: I’m a pedal guy, but I have one rack mounted G Force for clean in tone in line, with my Twins for a little bit of delay and reverb.

Robert: You have always used the Wah Wah pedal and lately I don’t hear as much in your music, what is that due to?

Mark Tremonti: I started with the Wah Wah very early on and it became security blanket when I went for leads. It would help me not feel as exposed.

A few CDs back, I think it was Alter Bridge III, I saw a fan comment that said, “I wish you would use less Wah.” So on the next record I didn’t use any Wah at all. On this CD I only used it in a few places.

Robert: Does this fan know who he as he affected so many CDs and your style of playing?

Mark Tremonti: I’m not sure [Laughing]. There was no Wah on the Fortress CD, very little on Cauterize. It’s usually on a fast descending pick runs and not through the whole solo like back on old CDs. I remember listening to Michael Schenker solos and trying to learn it, but the Wah was going on so I couldn’t make out what was going on sometimes. I used to think, “I wished he didn’t use the Wah.” [Laughing].

Robert: I have to imagine between Alter Bridge and Tremonti that it must get challenging managing all the member logistics and available timing?

Mark Tremonti: Yeah, we have to plan ahead. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. We hope for the best and when you put out a CD put everything you got into it. We missed out on some touring time on the last Alter Bridge CD because the Slash camp was so busy this year. Next time we just have to plan better.

Robert: I know that you tried to reach out and help Scott Stapp of Creed, were you two able to connect and we hope he is in getting the help he needs?

Mark Tremonti: I reached out to him just to say that I hope he gets clean. He responded back that he was clean, but obviously he wasn’t. I heard that he went and got some help.

Robert: I won’t pretend to say I know every aspect of your relationship with him, but what do you think pushes a talented and hard working guy over the edge?

Mark Tremonti: Everybody is different; Brian had his problems, as well too. You never think that you are going to end up in a situation like you read about with bands who are addicted to drugs and have crazy antics. When you go out there you start to see these things happening to your friends, you start to realize it can happen to anybody. It happened to Brian; it happened to Scott, it happened to the owner of our record label. I saw it all around.

Robert: How did you avoid some of the trappings of the road being in several high profile bands?

Mark Tremonti: Thankfully, I don’t have an addictive personality. I drink like anyone else. Its funny, when I go home to my friends who are not in the music business, they bust on me for not partying as hard as they do.

“You’re the dude in the rock band; you should be the one out drinking everybody.” [Laughing] I don’t like being hung over for three days.

I tell people I only drink on the job, I drink at every show. I have two beers before I go on and a few during the show, so I can relax and have a good time. I can also go for months without a drink and not think twice about it.