My buddy (the drummer in the vid) has been slowly getting all our old 8MM videos onto his computer. I’m 17 or so here and…..it’s not pretty. In fact, this is my evidence for talent = time + dedication. This wasn’t me just f*cking up the “Creeping Death“ solo, this was how I played a
lot back then. There were some solos I learned mostly note for note, but if I didn’t practice them and forgot I’d just go off and “do my own thing”….including my own key/tempo that shifted at random. This was around the Vai fanboy days, which translated to me just playing fast and acting like a dumbass.
Exhibit A:
Year- 1999, subject is using an Ibanez JEM into a Carvin Legacy head that appears to be powering a Peavey Bandit. I don’t remember doing this, but apparently I did this before I had the 4x12. That f*cker is plenty loud.
Exhibit B:
Same night in ‘99, except it’s Steve Vai’s “Here I Am” I’m butchering, because after seeing him open with it I thought this would be a really energetic song to open our sets with.
![Roll eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I really should have uploaded the whole song but I could only find this whole clip, my vocals really highlight the tone deaf thing. I don’t think I’m
ever in key the whole time.
It was kind of funny, because if I sat down and really worked on learning something back then, I could get it. The stuff I
did practice and actually learn I could play and sound capable/above average for my age, but I could never retain any of the scale/modal information to be able to implement it when I forgot how to play the real stuff. IE- Dream Theater’s “Pull Me Under” was our signature song, I’d play that probably 90% accurately, but then go into something like “Creeping Death” and just f*cking bomb all over the place. Our choir teacher said it best with “I don’t get it, Andy. One minute you’re playing some that sounds like Steve Vai and the next it sounds like you just picked up a guitar for the first time. You should work on that.”