How long have you played guitar for?
I’ve been playing since I was 14 so that’ll be 8 years now.
What’s the hardest part about writing music?
Transitioning. I think I read a really smart quote somewhere that says something along the lines of, “Anyone can write a musical piece but a really great composer/songwriter has mastered transitioning”.
How was the album, “Odyssey” written?
Well it was written by all 5 of us when it was all said and done. In the beginning stages it was Matt and I sitting together with a laptop/Pro Tools. We were jamming riffs or ideas we wanted to go into songs while taking input from Jordan, Mike and Chris. But in the end all of our ideas were morphed when we all got together to jam them.
What are your 5 most influential metal bands in your playing?
This is hard to answer because I think you’ll always take an influence from any band you listen to whether consciously or subconsciously. But I would say Lamb of God, Between the Buried and Me, Trivium, Mastodon and As I Lay Dying. Basically all the bands I grew up with and learned from.
If you didn’t play guitar, what other instrument would you want to play?
I own a violin that I REALLY want to master one day. Little did I know that it’s the hardest instrument to play so I’m really shitty at it haha.
Favourite album of 2011 so far?
It’s a tie between Born of Osiris’ “The Discovery” and Between the Buried and Me’s “The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues”
Music that you listen to that would surprise Dimensions fans?
Lol. Well, I love the singer, “Lights” who plays Electro-Pop. Don’t care what anyone says, her music is amazing. I like Skrillex as well as some other Dubstep and I even like John Mayer too. I think the more genres and types of music you listen to becomes a part of your style so I’m not really ashamed to admit any artist I like who isn’t metal to my influence list.
Best part about being in your band?
I get to hang out with my friends, make music I love to listen to and then eventually play that music to a bunch of people who want to have a good time.
Favourite line from a song?
I have a lot but one that I think is really cool is from BOO’s “The Discovery”… No more waste in faith cause we are home
We are at ease in the way we've grown
In the moment when time the timings right
We can start to feel the stars align
How do you practice guitar playing?
I don’t really practice as I do write new music, work on songwriting transitions/flow and learn other people’s songs. Practicing scales and chords are always a good thing to do but I find that seeing other bands style’s and how they do things benefits the way I learn/write a lot more.
How do you know when a song is done?
Mike Portnoy had the best quote for this question and it said something like, “Artwork and music is never complete, it’s only abandoned”.
Makes perfect sense to me because you could work forever on a song, nitpicking at things so in the end you just leave it as it is and move on.
Album that you are most stoked for to be released?
Meshuggah’s new album.
What can you say about the music scene around Halton Hills?
Well for metal, there really isn’t one lol. I'm thankful there are people around the area who still love/play metal but as for venues and shows they are very scarce. We definitely need more venues who are willing to support local music and host shows, that’s for sure.
What advice would you give to someone just starting to play guitar?
Practice A LOT and learn other bands songs! And listen to as many genres as possible. Even if you hear an album and aren’t even a complete fan of it, you may end up finding something they do in that genre for songwriting that NEVER happens in your style of music. And when that happens you can take part of that and fuse it into your personal sound. That’s the beauty of music :)
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