Interview w/ guitarist Adrian Galysh

by Anthony Bernardi

Today I had the an opportunity to speak with a musician, author, columnist, and teacher who is undoubted on the path to being one of the greatest guitarist’s of our age. Aside from writing and preforming his own blend or blues tinged rock on his solo releases, he is an accomplished session musician and the author of ‘Progressive Guitar Warm-ups and Exercises’. Adrian Galysh is lesson columnist for Guitar World Magazine and Education Coordinator for Guitar Center.

We were please that he took some time out of his busy schedule to speak with us about his newest release and future plans.

Thanks for taking the time out of your schedule to chat with us today, how are things going?
Been going good lots of gigging, playing and teaching, and talking to people such as yourself. But I can’t complain because nobody would listen.

Right! I get that. I hear so many different styles in you music I can’t really nail one this down. So I have to ask, in your formidable years what were your biggest music influences?
Man, there are a bunch. If I were to list like five then it would have to be the ones that really got me into music and really playing guitar. Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhodes. Man, after I heard Randy Rhodes I just wanted to do that and learn to play guitar. Then of course you have guys like Van Halen, then the Scorpions’ Michael Shanker, old Rainbow and Deep Purple. That era of music really spoke to me at the time. I probably was really too young to be listening to that music. But that’s what my older brothers and their friends were listening to. That’s probably how I got into it.

When you say “You probably shouldn’t be listening to that music”, would you say that your parents were supportive of your musical choices and you picking up the guitar?
My parents were pretty conservative. I grew up in a household that listened to classical music and the occasional pop or rock album such as Pink Floyd The Wall some Abba something like that. So when I got into it I think they were a little surprised . At the same time they were musicians themselves, my mom played the piano and my dad played the violin,o I think they were into it. I remember at the age of ten really, really wanting to play guitar and taking lessons. After two years of begging they finally gave in. When I was twelve I finally got my first music lessons. They said if your going to play guitar you are going to take classical guitar lessons. I’m thinking most people would be disappointed, but me being such a Randy Rhodes freak by then I thought “Well that’s something Randy did.” sign me up!

What was your first guitar?
My Fist guitar was a classical guitar. I still have it, then I save all my birthday and Christmas money for a good couple years then I bought a Gibson Les Paul, which was a pretty happening guitar at the time. They weren’t nearly as expensive as they are now. I used to have a poster of Randy Rhodes with a black Les Paul and I wanted one of those.

Do you remember your first concert experience?
You know, I probably saw some small shows and local bands before this, but the first big arena rock show I went to was Whitesnake with Steve Vai on guitar. I was in high school. It was early nineties and I had cheap seats all the way in the back.

You have just released the 20^th anniversary edition of Venusian Sunrise, how was reliving that, and what about this edition makes it different?
The obvious things that have changed is I have an unlimited amount of production value. Meaning I can do as many tracks as I want . That makes the sound light years better than before. You have the ability to edit and get better guitar tones and life-like strings and pianos. The biggest difference this time around is that instead of program drums, which was kind of a thing back then, you know Joe Satriani and guys like that were using drum machines. Now we are using real drums. It really takes on a life of its own.

Did you completely re-record the whole album?
Literally re-tracked the whole album. Every single instrument.

That’s a real undertaking, are you more satisfied with the way it turned out?
You know hind sight is 20/20, but when I listen to the original album I cringe at parts . I’m like “WOW I wish I would have played that differently” or “I wish I had real drums” or “My drum timing was off” or whatever it is. You know I was twenty-two at the time and I was seeing what I could get away with.

From you perspective, how has the music industry changed since you began? And do you like the way its going?
Oh that’s a big question. It used to be, to get your music out there you had to be on a record label. Then there would be these people that would decide if your were good enough.Then they would print records and they would eventually give you some money if your good and screw you if your not. So there’s that. The thing that has changed the most is that anybody can do this. With a laptop anybody can get their music out there. The pond is much bigger and your competing against anybody who can record music.

Who haven’t you played with that’s on your bucket list?
I have met and played with everyone that I wanted too. Before I moved to Los Angeles I had imagined wherever I would turn I would run into members of Van Halen, or maybe Steve Martin or something like that. I have yet to see any of them, but have seen everybody else. Eddie Van Halen is a guitar GOD and a LEGEND, I would be happy to just be in the same room with him.

Do you have a favorite group now?
As far as what people consider contemporary music, I would say the closest thing I get to that is I listen to a lot of Devin Townsend. I think that he is a real artist, who does different kinds of music. He likes to explore things and he does it all himself. I can kind of relate to that. Producing his own work, recording his own work, writing his own stuff and playing most of it. That’s kind of where I come from as well. Plus he has such a unique voice on the instruments and otherwise. Artists like that are what I enjoy the most.

When music isn’t taking up 90 percent of your life what do you like to do for shits and giggles?
Ha, I drink a lot of wine. I’m here in California in wine country. I really enjoy that. I do a lot of trips up to Santa Barbra County ,its just a way to get away and explore a whole different facet. I am also into cooking. Today I am baking a loaf of bread from scratch.

Are you still writing? Do you have anything new in the works?
You know people ask this all the time and it makes me giggle, but it’s a perfectly fine question. I literally just released the last record two and a half weeks ago. While I have yet to even start thinking about anything else there is always stuff in the back of my mind.

In the immediate coming future in the next couple months, I will be doing what I usually do for all my records. I release an album of backing tracks. It’ll be Venusian Sunrise, but without the lead guitar and things like that so students and other people can practice their chops and jam over these tunes as well. I’ve got a couple other versions of the previous few so ill be doing that.

Then I’m trying to… and I say this all the time. I have a book out called “Progressive Guitar Warm-Ups and Exercises” and its did very well and I’m probably going to do a follow up called “The Ultimate Guitar Workout” or something like that and its going to be a combination of all the lesson columns I have done for Guitar World.

What are your plans for the rest of 2018 this year are we going to see you touring?
Touring is very complicated and very expensive to do. However somebody like me is interesting for the guitar type guys out there. What I’ll end up doing is guitar clinics, visiting some schools and festivals. While there is nothing I can talk about yet, I would definitely keep an eye open for that. That’s usually where I end up doing my traveling and meeting most people out there.

After 20 years do you have any regrets?
Ha, Ha, any regrets. You know what’s funny is Stu Hamm is on this record and he has a tattoo on his arm that says no regerts. I think its one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Talk about having the balls to actually get a tattoo of that. That just killed me when I saw that. It’s totally his personality. Anyways regret wise there was probably a period of a round ten years ago, when I moved to Los Angeles . I ended up taking a couple different office jobs. These were jobs in the music industry, but it was when I should have been focused on making music, performing, and pursuing that. I think It kind of gave me security that I liked, but in the long run it held me back for some time. Just like anybody that has a job and loves to play to guitar, but after a nine hour long day doesn’t want to practice . They just want to veg-out on the couch. That happened, but I stopped doing that and I have been doing music for the last nine years and I don’t regret doing that!

Okay and I always ask this question as a closer, Star Wars or Star Trek?
Star Wars is the go to, but I can go on and on about everything that has gone wrong with Star Wars over the last couple years. The original three movies are fantastic! Star Trek I do like, but I generally don’t consider people that like and watch Star Wars to be geeks or nerds, however the people that like Star Trek kind of are. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I am the Star Trek fan that likes the first movie The Motion Picture. I like the headiness of it the high concept of it. The idea of Voyager satellite going into outer space and coming back as something unidentifiable at first and the artificial intelligence of it. I think later on Star Trek became good guy -vs- bad buy space-cowboy kind of stuff, with the Wrath Of Kahn.

Well folks that was a hell of an interview, I truly enjoyed having a chat with one of the country’s leading guitarists. So If you are a student or just have a passion for music I recommend you get your copy of Venusian Sunrise 20^th Anniversary Edition, You won’t be disappointed.

www.adriangalysh.com

There you have it another awesome interview brought to you by www.EmpireExtreme.com

Catch you on the flip-side!
Anthony

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Anthony Bernardi

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