Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge – Melodies are Paramount for us on Fortress

By: Robert Cavuoto

Passion. Emotion. Melody. Aggression. These are the hallmarks of Alter Bridge, one of the most acclaimed hard rock bands around. Formed in 2004 in Orlando, Florida, the band includes: guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, drummer Scott Phillips and vocal powerhouse and guitarist, Myles Kennedy.

Together they have steadily, but purposefully, risen to the upper echelons of the rock world thanks to a mixture of supreme songwriting talent, musicianship, and an unerring collective belief in the power of music.

The band’s first three albums – One Day Remains, Blackbird and ABIII – have helped Alter Bridge to accrue a huge international fan base, all of whom will be thrilled by the prospect of hearing the band’s fourth album, Fortress, for the first time.

Fortress is a bold, ambitious and exhilaratingly powerful collection of freshly-minted anthems that refines and redefines its creators’ trademark sound, while simultaneously raising the bar in terms of speaker-melting, state-of-the-art sonic values.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with both Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti while visiting New York for a press run. Part two of this two-part interview series features Myles Kennedy where we discuss collaborating with Mark on Fortress, why this is such a personal CD for him.

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Robert Cavuoto:  The first thing that crossed my mind when I heard the CD was that somebody must have really pissed you off. You’re like the Taylor Swift of hard rock. Tell me about the rage and emotion behind the lyrics?

Myles Kennedy: [Laughing] It came from looking around and seeing things that upset me that was happening in other people’s lives that I care about. A lot of these situations were not necessarily things I was personally dealing with. I saw dear friends and family members being put through the ringer. We have all been in situations where we have been betrayed or hurt, so it’s easy to tap into those emotions. It’s just part of being human.

Robert: Sounds like a very personal CD.

Myles Kennedy: It comes across that way. It’s a CD that touches on a theme and I’m definitely expressing my discontent for what people do to one another.

Robert: Tell me about the writing process with Mark Tremonti?

Myles Kennedy: You never know until you get in a room with your writing partner. With Mark, we write separately. With Alter Bridge it’s about writing with heart, it’s important to have a stock pile of riffs, choruses, and verses.

We’ll get together and I’ll say, “I have this chorus do you have something that will work with it?” So, once we start to build a skeleton of the song we can just take it from there and know where the story will go lyrically. For me I tend to wait until the very end to write the lyrics, that’s the last piece of the puzzle. The music is the sound track that will inspire the lyrically story.

Robert: When writing songs do you take into account if you can simultaneously sing and play guitar to it?

Myles Kennedy: It’s actually great because if you come up with a part that you know is going to be challenging to play and sing at the same time, you can turn it over to your partner.

For example on “Bleed it Dry”, I came up with the guitar riff, but Mark plays it because it’s easier for me to focus on singing. Then Mark has a song “Waters Rising” and he has already alluded that he wants me to play the clean guitar part live so he can focus on singing. It’s great to have two guitar players that can cover the bases live.

Robert: Who are some of your  influences as a songwriter?

Myles Kennedy: There are so many, but Zeppelin is probably the biggest for me. There are many others in different genres that have affected me. Stevie Wonder is huge influence and Sting lyrically, I think he is brilliant. I’m certainly not the lyricist that he is. I think he is on a different level than most.

Miles Davis; Kind of Blue, is one of my go-to records. I will listen to that all time. I try to put all those influences into a musically caldron and stir it up.

Robert: That’s interesting to hear. The choruses are heavy, yet melodic. I would imagine that you have some solid influences that drive you down that creative path.

Myles Kennedy: I appreciate that!  Mark is great at that too, so when it comes to guitar parts and melodies, it whatever best suits the song. He is a very competent melody guy. Melodies are paramount for us and we are always trying to make it as strong as possible.

Robert: One of my favorite songs on the CD was “End it All”, mainly because it gives the listener hope.

Myles Kennedy: It is the most anthemic and optimistic song on the CD. The lyric was inspired by my Mom. When I was growing up she would tell me, “If you believe in yourself, everything will work out.” When I was kid I had insecurities, so it was always good to have a mother to help navigate through life. The song is a reflection of that. Hopefully some of those lyrics will serve a mantra to other people’s live,s as well. That would be really special.

Robert: Tell me about the meaning of CD artwork and how the song “Fortress” ties it together?

Myles Kennedy: I think when you’re younger; you see a lot of the world around you built to keep you safe. You can view that from a government or religion standpoint or even marriage. As time goes on you start to discover that these things are not as invincible and steadfast as you thought. That song really deals with when those things around you break and the disillusionment you feel. You realize how fragile the world around you is.

Robert: Tell me about playing guitar with Mark.

Myles Kennedy: That’s pretty much been the dynamic of the band since the CD, Blackbird. I’m on every song and we even trade solos. We have the old school Iron Maiden approach with the dueling leads like on “Farther than the Sun”, “Fortress”, and “Cry of Achilles”.  I do the intro guitar to that song.

Robert: You did a fantastic job on the flamenco guitar intro.

Myles Kennedy: That’s great to hear. That was a part I had written on the road last year and when I played it to Mark he said we had to work it into a song. That’s how that came about.

Robert: Are you fan of flamenco guitar?

Myles Kennedy: To be honest with you, I never spent a ton of time with it. I have seen a ton of people play it and watched admiringly because it’s something that’s a complete different approach. There was a record that I used to listen to called, “Friday Night in San Francisco” with Al Di Meola. I think I absorbed so much of that record that, maybe, it comes out in my playing once in a while.

Robert: How does the writing process differ between Mark and Slash?

Myles Kennedy: It is different. With Mark, we come together with different parts of songs. Mark may have a verse and melody or a chord progression and ask me if I have a guitar or vocal melody to marry up to it.

With Slash a lot of times he will send voice memos or demos of chord progressions and riffs and I’ll put my vocal melody and lyrics to it. I may also say, “Let’s try moving this part to here or there in the song.”

So, the approach is different and also stylistically it is very different, because they are so different they allow me to strengthen myself in different directions.

Robert: Most people can only dream of being in one great band, you are in two. What’s that like?

Myles Kennedy: It’s wonderful. I’m very cognoscente of the fact I’m fortunate to be in two bands that tour the world and I get to live my dream. It is a tremendous amount of work and it means that you are gone from home. Anytime you think you have a break the other project has dates or an album to make. It’s just a matter of making sure you don’t burn out and keeping it fun. The people are all great and there is no drama. You have to plan far in advance and have a good calendar.

Robert: I take it you’re in development with Slash on another studio CD?

Myles Kennedy: Yeah, we have even been working on things. He sent me four ideas and we are chipping away at them. I think the plan is to get in the studio next year and make another CD.

Robert: Mark said the set list hasn’t been determined yet. If you had a choice, what would you like to perform live?

Myles Kennedy: I would like to tackle “Cry of Achilles”, the single “Addicted to Pain”, and “Fortress”.  I have been playing along with the record all morning, just to re-familiarize myself with the parts in case things come up on tour and  we want other songs.

Robert: Will you be playing the intro to “Cry of Achilles” live?

Myles Kennedy: I think I’m going to give it a try and man up. I’m going to practice it hard just for you! [Laughing]

Robert: What guitars did you use on the CD?

Myles Kennedy: I used my PRS 245, which is their single cutaway. I used it on the last two CDs pretty extensively. I also used my old PRS McCarty which I’ve used since the Blackbird CD. Those are pretty much my go to guitars.

Robert: If you never became a singer and guitarist what would be your career?

Myles Kennedy: I would probably be a shoe designer. I have no idea why, ever since I was a kid I would sit in class and draw shoes.  It’s the weirdest thing. [Laughing]