Having guested on Atomkraft's cover of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat" as well as issuing solo instrumental single "Face Off", Joe Matera released electric solo instrumental EP "Slave To The Fingers" on November 28th through W.A.R. Productions in Europe and Mercury Fire Music in Australia.
Comprised of four tracks, Mick McConnell of rock outfit Smokie supplies a guest guitar solo to "Cruise Control". Backing Matera on the release is Tony "Demolition" Dolan (Venom / Atomkraft / M-Pire Of Evil) on bass and James Strickler (Angellic Rage) on drums.
A twenty-year veteran, Matera was a lead guitarist in Australian rock outfit
Geisha (2007-2010) and founding lead guitarist of
Double Vision (2003-2008). His track "
Starry Night" appeared on the soundtrack to Australian movie "Ricky! The Movie", the man also serving as lead guitarist in the orchestra for stage productions of "Les Misérables" and "Chess". A music journalist as well, the Australian has written for the following publications (besides Ultimate-Guitar.com of course); Australian Guitar and Rolling Stone in Australia, Classic Rock, Guitar & Bass, Guitar Buyer, Acoustic, Metal Hammer, Performing Musician, Total Guitar, Kerrang!, Record Collector, Guitar World, Goldmin, Guitarra Total in Spain, and Chitarre in Italy.
To discuss "Slave To The Fingers", Joe Matera was interviewed via email.
UG: Ultimate-Guitar.com readers will be familiar with your interview work, though you also founded the band Double Vision (2003-2010) and was also a member of Geisha (2007-2010). Could you provide some more information on your musical career for those interested?
Joe Matera: I started playing guitar at age fifteen and am completely self-taught. I learned by picking things up by ear, by listening to my vinyl collection. Back in those days, there were no guitar tabs, or YouTube videos or anything to learn from. I had to put in the hard yards be able to play my favorite solos. One trick I used to do was to slow down the record player’s speed, so that I could work out any intricate passages, but the problem with this was that the pitch dropped considerably too, so I had to take that into consideration. But it was a great way to learn and certainly helped me fine tune my ear and be able to play to anything on offer.
I started playing in working bands several years after picking up the guitar. I have played in a wide variety of bands, from jazz outfits to cabaret acts to rock bands to traditional music bands, quite a diverse range of styles and bands. All my original outfits I have played in have been rock based as I am at heart, a rock player through and through and my roots are firmly rooted in the classic rock and guitar pop-rock of the 1970s. Every band I’ve played in has been invaluable, as I’ve taken something from it, as one can learn from everything they play.
"You have to work hard to make guitar speak with emotion and paint pictures visually in your head, which is normally what the vocals do in a song."
I love hearing melodies in any kind of guitar playing. A lot of the bands I grew up on were bands like Cheap Trick, Boston, Dire Straits, bands that all had melodic guitar at their core. I loved the way you could hum a guitar solo with some of these bands. When writing my music, I don’t think particularly of any influence, I write how I write. It is a natural process. Obviously influences do seep into my writing. My only priority when writing a song is that it’s got to be melodic and its got to be able to connect with the listener on some level. Most of the EP tracks – except for “Face Off” and “Out Of The Blue” – were mostly written on acoustic guitar, which forces me to focus on the melodic aspect even more. If a song can stand on its own in an acoustic setting then, in an electric setting its melodic content is going to be even more emphasized.
Having interviewed a vast number of instrumental guitarists, what valuable advice have you possibly taken onboard from them?
Speaking to a lot of instrumental guitarists, particularly guys like Hank Marvin (The Shadows), Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Nokie Edwards (The Ventures) and others, what I’ve gained from having interviewed them was the knowledge that since the guitar takes the place of the vocals in an instrumental setting, its extremely important to focus on making the guitar melody as strong and as unique as possible. You have to work hard to make it speak with emotion and paint pictures visually in your head, which is normally what the vocals do in a song.
How did Mick McConnell of Smokie come to provide a guest guitar solo to the title track “Slave To The Fingers”?
I met Mick a number of years ago when Smokie visited Australia. And Mick and I struck up a friendship due to similar interests in all things guitars. Mick recently released his solo debut album – 'My Kinda Heaven' – which I have to say, is a great album – and around the same time of his album’s release, I released “Face Off” as a digital single. Mick picked up a copy of “Face Off” and wrote me saying, after he listened to “Face Off”, he’d wished he had made his album a little bit more guitar heavy, which was a nice compliment for me. So I thought he’d be the perfect guest to have on the title track, and he played an amazing solo that complimented my track superbly.
How did you come to guest on Atomkraft's cover of Thin Lizzy's “Cold Sweat”, and how did that lead to mainman Tony Dolan lending bass to 'Slave To The Fingers'?
Atomkraft mainman Tony 'Demolition' Man and I have known each other for many years now. We first met after respected writer / author Joel McIver introduced us to each other. I later sent Tony some of my tracks and he loved the guitar work I did. At the time, Tony’s band were planning to do a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Cold Sweat”, and since we are both Thin Lizzy fans, Tony thought it’ll be a great idea to have me do a special guitar solo, and so he sent through the track, I went into a studio, laid down a solo, which I kept to within my style of playing, and sent it back to him, and Tony loved it. And from there, it led to having him play bass on all the EP tracks.
James Strickler (Angellic Rage) drums on the release. How did he come to complete the recording lineup?
James and I first met through an online recording forum we both frequent. We struck up many conversations over time, and aside from sharing a love of all things to do with recording, we found that we both shared the same musical tastes and other interests so our friendship developed from there. Eventually I sent James some of my recordings and he loved them and in return, he sent me his stuff to hear too and I loved them as well. He is an amazing drummer so I invited him to be part of my project and to play drums on it. I also loved his mixing work so got him to mix some of the EP’s tracks as well.
"Every band I’ve played in has been invaluable, as I’ve taken something from it, as one can learn from everything they play."
They are both on the same page with what my musical needs and musical vision are. They are consistent players, highly skilled and have a wonderful sense of timing and feel. Their respective contributions really gave my tracks the solid foundation they needed musically for my guitar melodies to shine through and to give support to my guitar. Also they really brought an international flavor to my music and our chemistry working together really gelled perfectly.
What equipment did you personally use to record the EP, and why was that equipment specifically chosen?
I used a signature model Haywire Joe Matera guitar, built for me by U.S guitar maker Rick Mariner of Haywire guitars. Rick builds amazing custom guitars, since I’m a fan of Dave Gilmour’s playing and always loved his famed black Strat, I always wanted to have a similar kind of guitar. I sent through the details to Rick on what I wanted, playing and tone wise, and he built it exactly to my specs. It is the sole guitar I used for my EP, 'Slave To The Fingers'. I played most of the guitar tracks stuff with my DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup in the bridge position, which is integral to my guitar tone. I also used a Laney LV200 65 watt combo miked up close to the speaker with a Rode condenser mic. The only effects I used were a Boss OS-2 for all of the tracks’ dirty guitar tones, as well as added a Boss CH-1 on the second set of rhythm guitars on the title track, “Slave To The Fingers” and a Boss DD-3, for some extra color on the lead tone for “Face Off”.
W.A.R. Productions has released the EP in Europe, with Mercury Fire Music releasing it in Australia. How did those record deals come about?
Alex Wieser the head of W.A.R Productions initially came across my music after hearing my guest guitar solo on Atomkraft’s cover of “Cold Sweat”, which his label released this year. Alex loved my playing so much that he asked to hear more of my material. I sent him a bunch of stuff and he really loved my music and guitar playing and so offered me a European deal to release my music and EP through his label. Mercury Fire Music is my own label I set up a couple years ago to handle all the releases of my own original music in Australia, while W.A.R handles my music in territories outside of Australia and elsewhere.
What are your future musical plans?
At the moment I’m in promotion mode for my new EP but I am also writing new instrumental material for a future release. I am also currently co-writing material for a vocal rock album with Rich Davenport, the singer / guitarist with metal band See Red. This new project will be under the moniker of Davenport / Matera. The album will be released through the same label W.A.R Productions. The music we’re writing and recording will be in the vein of classic twin guitar bands such as Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash with strong melodic rock songs that recalls bands such as Foreigner, Journey and Cheap Trick. Aside from that, I am also hoping to perform some live shows in 2012, so stay tuned.
Interview by Robert Gray
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2012
