Los Angeles provides us with a plethora of music and the musicians that stimulate our inner beings with their skill is sometimes overwhelming. Tara Lynch is one of those very musicians. She’s a talented artist with skills beyond measure on many instruments including guitar, bass, drums, and piano. She writes her own music and performs it in beast mode with the best. You can get a taste of that from her new single “Trustless” which is from her upcoming debut album Evil Enough due out this year. This album features an all-star lineup of high profile guest musicians such as Tony MacAlpine, Derek Sherinian, Bjorn Englen, Phil Soussan, Brian Tichy, Glen Sobel, Mark Boals, and Vinnie Appice, all doing what they do best on this amazing album that Tara wrote personally, in its’ entirety. Tara is an outstanding guitarist who can shred with the best of them but don’t let that fool you. That is not the only trick up her sleeve. Tara has been driven in this industry since she was a child and she is putting her heart and soul out there for us all to see and appreciate. She’s got this. No doubt.
Interview with Tara Lynch
By: Leslie Elder Rogers
Metal Exiles: As a female guitar player/shredder, you have amazing talent. What or who was the inspiration behind your decision to pursue this kind of career?
Tara: Well, I’ve been playing for the last 35 plus years so it just goes way back to when I was a kid and I always wanted to pick up a guitar and I finally did by the time I was 11 years old. I had an older brother that played and he really inspired me to play more than anybody. As far as the artists that inspired me the most, by the time I was 11, you’re talking about the 80’s now and you’re gonna have your Vinnie Moore, your Michael Shanker, Uli Jon Roth, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, you know, guys like that. Paul Gilbert just really inspired me to pick up the instrument and get it going.
Metal Exiles: What type or brand of guitar did you begin learning your skill on?
Tara: I originally started out with some unknown piece of junk type guitar that my brother had. It was like an unmarked copy of a Gibson SG, I believe. When he heard me playing it, he freaked out and gave it to me and said “that’s it, it’s yours”. I played that and then I think the first guitar that I actually got to go to the store and buy was something called an Aria Pro 2. I played that for a while and then I went on to Gibson. By now, over all these years, I’ve got a massive collection with pretty much every brand you can think of. Every piece is a work of art. They all have something different to offer. They all have different tones, different pickups, different abilities and different feels. Right now, my guitar of choice is an Ernie Ball Silhouette Special that’s been customized.
Metal Exiles: I know you’ve worked with some well-known artists. Tell me about some of the experiences that have helped shape you and mold you into the musician and the guitarist that you are.
Tara: Well, after I played for so many years, I’d become pretty accomplished with the instruments. I never had lessons. I was completely self-taught. Once I really got everything going, I really took an interested in who I thought to be the masters. Guys like Steve Vai for example. Steve had incredible wisdom in terms of how to hold a single note even. He really had some amazing things to teach me about that and about pitch and vibrato, technical things like that. That’s guitar. Then I studied the piano with Derek Sherinian, who also appears on my album as well. I was already playing a little bit somewhat but he took me to the next level which was really nice. Bjorn Englen who used to play with Yngwie Malmsteen, he taught me Yngwie’s rising fourth record on bass from start to finish. That happens to be my favorite record of all time. To be able to just play the bass on that record, all the way through, from start to finish, is like going on ride on an amusement park. It’s very enjoyable.
Metal Exiles: All of those names are very familiar to me because my brother played the guitar and he educated me somewhat on many of them early on. I was really excited to get to talk to you when I saw some of the people you’ve played and studied with. On your album, you have all of those artists that you’ve collaborated with. Was it complicated to involve so many high-profile artists for that one compilation?
Tara: You know the most complicated part is the scheduling. I was hoping to have already had this album out but scheduling is really the biggest challenge because all of my artists are very, very busy; still at the top of their game and working constantly. A lot of them are personal friends that are literally fitting me in to their already brutal schedules. For example, I just recorded Glen Sobels’ drums and I had to wait until he was finished on the leg of an Alice Cooper tour. He’s going back out again soon so I had to catch him in that gap. I’ve got to catch Tony MacAlpine in a gap between shows as well, etcetera, etcetera. Tonight actually, Bjorn Englen is coming in to throw down a couple of bass tracks for a couple more songs on the record. Again, it’s just scheduling that’s the biggest challenge. As far as working with everybody, oh it’s absolutely joyful. It’s just joyful. A lot of these guys I’ve known for many years and to go from a personal relationship to being able to work together peer to peer is pretty awesome. Plus, I am producing the record along with a magnificent guy by the name of Brent Woods. Derek Sherinian coproduced four of the tracks with me but he’s very busy now with his schedule so I’ve moved on to another producer now to help me out with the rest of the record. We’re just having a blast. Everybody has been just wonderful.
Metal Exiles: I read that you were called in to do some writing and guitar solos for Beyond the Labyrinth for their upcoming album. Combining working on that as well as your own album, that’s probably been hard. Has there been a lot of conflict there or do you feel it has affected the quality of either project?
Tara: No, not at all. I’ve been able to manage it without any issues. Once again, I’m very good at dedicating my time so when it was to work on Beyond the Labyrinth, I put aside that time, stopped everything I was doing on my own work, went out to Belgium, laid down the tracks for those guys, came back, and got right back to work on my own album like nothing happened. I gave them my all and I think it’s a very good record. It’s called “The Art of Resilience” and it’s coming out in March. It’s their fourth album. I’m excited about that as well. This is all going on at the same time. What a way to get started, right?
Metal Exiles: Absolutely it is especially if you’re able to individualize and separate it all without any conflict. That says a lot about you as an artist.
Tara: Yesterday, I was in the studio working on Glens’ drum tracks and I also shot a video for Beyond the Labyrinth as well, for a song called “Someone’s Watching Over You”, which is on that record, so I just manage to fit it all in somehow. It’s not too difficult. There’s 24 hours in each day. I just don’t sleep. Obviously I eat, but I don’t sleep. I think I should swap eating for sleeping and maybe I’d be doing a little better.
Metal Exiles: As a musician, you are new to me, and I hate to say that to you, but I do love to find and learn new artists and their work. Female musicians are powerful and don’t always get the recognition they deserve. You do what you do so stinking well and are right up there with some of the best male counterparts as far as your talent. What are some of the struggles and a multi-talented musician that you’ve faced throughout the years?
Tara: Well, you know, the fact that I’m female and unfortunately, no matter how much I can play an instrument well, sometimes the focus is on my femininity, if you will. I started one of those Facebook band pages and I’ve got over 35,000 fans on that at this point, and I’ve got to tell you, the overwhelming majority, I’d say even 99% of the commentary is very respectful on my musicianship. There’s only that 1% that talks about my looks or anything having to do with being a woman. Otherwise, they’ve been fantastic about it. As far as my peers are concerned, there are some that are surprised at the level of musicianship I’ve accomplished at this point, being a female, which I think is kind of bazaar because I really don’t think that instruments should be gender specific. They’re certainly not. There are a lot of fantastic female musicians out there on every instrument known to man and with your eyes closed, you would not know the difference. You can’t hear the difference in gender so what I tend to say is “Don’t listen with your eyes. Listen with your ears”. It’s that simple. I’ve been getting a great deal of respect out of most that I’ve worked with and the fact that I’m a woman hasn’t been an issue at all. Everyone I’ve been working with have been very respectful musicians. It’s tough for women unfortunately because the predominant audience for metal, hard rock, and things like that is a very male audience, especially when you get into shred. It’s a very male audience. I don’t know if you’ve been in the audience at a show for people like Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, or Tony MacAlpine but I find that I’m one of maybe three women in the entire room, unless they’re an upset girlfriend or wife being dragged there by the husband or boyfriend. I think that’s really sad. I don’t know why that kind of stuff hasn’t appealed to more people but for some reason it is a very male dominated environment when it comes to guitar instrumental work and things like that. That’s what I’m trying to avoid with this album. I don’t want to make an album by a shredder for a shredder. That is not what I’m doing here at all, whatsoever. It’s music from my soul; from my heart. It’s what I do. If you want to compare it to anything, by all means, go right on ahead but really, it is a clear example of what comes out of me naturally. I don’t bend for anybody. I don’t compromise and I’m certainly not trying to write music for mass appeal. This is what it is. This is what I do. This is what I create naturally and I hope you like it.
Metal Exiles: As a song writer/instrumentalist, the information I’ve read about this album says that it is basically an autobiography. As an artist, whatever your contribution is, you pour your feelings into what you’re doing. This album is giving you to express those emotions and your journey. Elaborate on that a little if you will. Let’s use “Trustless” as an example. Tell me a little about that.
Tara: Well, that’s basically about a situation that happened in my life and writing that song was incredibly therapeutic for me. It really helped me step back and take a look at the situation from the outside. I came out stronger on the other end no matter how you slice and dice it. It also taught me that some relationships just can’t be broken no matter what. Things happen, especially when you’re with somebody for many, many years. If you can get past that, it means that you really do love each other enough and that you can go on; however, I’m definitely indicating that this person is trustless at this point and I’ve gotta’ make him earn that back. That’s basically what it says and that’s what it’s about. It’s definitely a public beating but the individual involved is completely in support of the situation and has no issue with the song whatsoever. He figures it’s his penance. The entire album is pretty much that way. What “Evil Enough” means is that I’m evil enough to basically come out and tell my story. My perspective. My record. My art. I tell it the way I see it in my own head and feel it in my own heart. Each song is indicative of a situation, a relationship, or any kind of occurrence that happened during my lifetime and I’m putting it on record. It’s sort of my diary and I’m sharing it with everybody because everybody is human and goes through the same things one way or another. It’s very relatable. Doing this helps keep my head on straight and helps keep me strong and focused.
Metal Exiles: Do you have a release date yet for the album?
Tara: I don’t have a specific date and the reason why is because this isn’t like a band recording together and that’s all they’re doing. Because I have so many artists coming in to work with me, working with their schedules can delay something by months even. I’m going to say mid-2017. Definitely this year. Mid 2017 is vague but it’s the best I can do. I do have another artist that has come on board and I could certainly announce to you during this interview and that is Vinnie Appice. He’s a drummer. He was Dios drummer for Dios entire solo career. He was also in Black Sabbath. He’s a magnificent drummer. I feel like I want to pinch myself. I mean, half of these guys were torn out of magazines and pasted up on my bedroom walls when I was a teenager. The fact that these guys are friends of mine and are available through friends of mine is really a remarkable thing. Also I feel very proud of myself that the friends of mine that know me and know my musicianship, even though I haven’t done anything very largely professional yet until now, have that kind of confidence in me that they would call a guy like Vinnie and say “hey are you available for this because I’m working on it and she’s the real deal” and then they jump on board. I really appreciate the confidence that these musicians have in my song writing that would be involved and play. These guys have all been in the biggest bands in the rock and metal industry ever so it is pretty mind blowing.
Metal Exiles: Speaking in terms of all of the people you’ve worked with or are continuing to work with, do you have someone, that extra special person that you feel truly helped you the most along the way.
Tara: Really, the reason it’s not a band and it says my name, it’s Tara Lynch. It’s not Tara Lynchs’ band. It’s because I’m really running the show. I’ve just really drawn on these personal relationships that I’ve had and spoken to them individually. I’ve pulled them in. I don’t have a very personal relationship with Brian Tichy, for example. Derek brought him in but Derek is a good friend of mine. That’s one example of someone that’s on the record that I didn’t have a personal relationship with. The same goes for Vinnie Appice who is being brought in by Phil Soussan, who has been a personal friend of mine for many, many, years. He is a dear, dear friend and a phenomenal bass player. He used to play with Ozzy. He wrote Ozzys’ only number one song, “Shot in the Dark” for example. Everyone else is a personal friend and I was able to call those guys up and make it all happen. Who’s helped me the most throughout this whole thing? The answer is ME! Unfortunately that sounds very Gene Simmons, but you know, it’s true. I’m owning it. This has been a lot of hard work on my part, wrangling all of this together. Yeah, so. Here’s another thing. These guys are all playing on the record but they’re playing what I wrote. They’re still putting their mojo on it which is why I had each person involved. That’s the thing. Every artist I have involved on each track is very well thought out and very specific. I know a lot of guys and there’s a lot of options in terms of what musicians I want to use for which tracks and really I thought really deeply about who I wanted on what based on the style of the track. For example, Glen Sobel is amazing at tribal drumming and off beat stuff, so I wanted him specifically for these two tracks “Enigmatic” and “Exit the Warrior” which require that kind of warrior drumming that he does. That’s his forte’ so that’s why I wanted him on those tracks specifically. I’ve got a couple of tracks that Vinnie Appice is going to play drums on and those are very much in his style. I’ve very carefully chosen who I want for what track based on the style in which it’s written because I write in many styles even though it’s all metal. Some is straight up drumming. Some is tribal, etcetera, etcetera, and that goes for every other instrument as well.
Metal Exiles: When you have an idea behind the formula that you want to create, you’re taking it to a level that maybe some people don’t necessarily think about so vividly.
Tara: Yeah, I’ve drilled down to it being very song specific with who I’m going to use where. In other words, there are multiple drummers on my record but not all fit each track. They can all play anything however, they have their specialties so I’ve chosen them for the track that uses that specialty. The same with the bass players and the keyboardist and so on. Of course, I play all guitars. I’m the only guitarist on the record. You’re talking about layers and layers of guitar.
Metal Exiles: Do you ever sing any of the vocals?
Tara: I do background vocals. I am singing in the background. I don’t do any lead vocals as of yet although my producer is trying to talk me into it. What I do is I do provide the vocal guides. Before Mark Boals comes in and sings a song, he hears me sing it first so he knows what I’m looking for and then he comes and does his magical thing. I don’t plan on singing lead on any of these tracks because I think that would downgrade my guitar playing when I do it live. I’m not so sure I want to do that. That’s still up in the air but for right now, I am definitely singing backup vocals, which you’ll hear.
Metal Exiles: Sounds like you’re kind of a Jack (or Jill) of all trades when it comes to musicianship and not everyone can say that. Most people are pretty specific to what they can or cannot do, and then there’s you. I can’t wait to hear the album in its entirety once it’s released and I thank you for talking to me today. Thank you for everything you do for those of us who appreciate music.
Tara: Without people to listen, then what is it but noise, right? I’m going in to the studio today and we’re gonna lay down some rhythms on a couple of tracks. Bjorn Englen is coming in to add in couple more bass tracks so I’ve got a full day ahead for sure.
“Trustless” single: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1171251707?ls=1&app=itunes
Official Website: http://www.taralynch.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taralynchguitar
YouTube: https://youtube.com/Tara%20Lynch%20OFFICIAL
Twitter: https://twitter.com/taralynchrocks
Instagram: https://instagram.com/taralynch_official
Interview with Tara Lynch
By: Leslie Elder Rogers
Metal Exiles: As a female guitar player/shredder, you have amazing talent. What or who was the inspiration behind your decision to pursue this kind of career?
Tara: Well, I’ve been playing for the last 35 plus years so it just goes way back to when I was a kid and I always wanted to pick up a guitar and I finally did by the time I was 11 years old. I had an older brother that played and he really inspired me to play more than anybody. As far as the artists that inspired me the most, by the time I was 11, you’re talking about the 80’s now and you’re gonna have your Vinnie Moore, your Michael Shanker, Uli Jon Roth, Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony MacAlpine, you know, guys like that. Paul Gilbert just really inspired me to pick up the instrument and get it going.
Metal Exiles: What type or brand of guitar did you begin learning your skill on?
Tara: I originally started out with some unknown piece of junk type guitar that my brother had. It was like an unmarked copy of a Gibson SG, I believe. When he heard me playing it, he freaked out and gave it to me and said “that’s it, it’s yours”. I played that and then I think the first guitar that I actually got to go to the store and buy was something called an Aria Pro 2. I played that for a while and then I went on to Gibson. By now, over all these years, I’ve got a massive collection with pretty much every brand you can think of. Every piece is a work of art. They all have something different to offer. They all have different tones, different pickups, different abilities and different feels. Right now, my guitar of choice is an Ernie Ball Silhouette Special that’s been customized.
Metal Exiles: I know you’ve worked with some well-known artists. Tell me about some of the experiences that have helped shape you and mold you into the musician and the guitarist that you are.
Tara: Well, after I played for so many years, I’d become pretty accomplished with the instruments. I never had lessons. I was completely self-taught. Once I really got everything going, I really took an interested in who I thought to be the masters. Guys like Steve Vai for example. Steve had incredible wisdom in terms of how to hold a single note even. He really had some amazing things to teach me about that and about pitch and vibrato, technical things like that. That’s guitar. Then I studied the piano with Derek Sherinian, who also appears on my album as well. I was already playing a little bit somewhat but he took me to the next level which was really nice. Bjorn Englen who used to play with Yngwie Malmsteen, he taught me Yngwie’s rising fourth record on bass from start to finish. That happens to be my favorite record of all time. To be able to just play the bass on that record, all the way through, from start to finish, is like going on ride on an amusement park. It’s very enjoyable.
Metal Exiles: All of those names are very familiar to me because my brother played the guitar and he educated me somewhat on many of them early on. I was really excited to get to talk to you when I saw some of the people you’ve played and studied with. On your album, you have all of those artists that you’ve collaborated with. Was it complicated to involve so many high-profile artists for that one compilation?
Tara: You know the most complicated part is the scheduling. I was hoping to have already had this album out but scheduling is really the biggest challenge because all of my artists are very, very busy; still at the top of their game and working constantly. A lot of them are personal friends that are literally fitting me in to their already brutal schedules. For example, I just recorded Glen Sobels’ drums and I had to wait until he was finished on the leg of an Alice Cooper tour. He’s going back out again soon so I had to catch him in that gap. I’ve got to catch Tony MacAlpine in a gap between shows as well, etcetera, etcetera. Tonight actually, Bjorn Englen is coming in to throw down a couple of bass tracks for a couple more songs on the record. Again, it’s just scheduling that’s the biggest challenge. As far as working with everybody, oh it’s absolutely joyful. It’s just joyful. A lot of these guys I’ve known for many years and to go from a personal relationship to being able to work together peer to peer is pretty awesome. Plus, I am producing the record along with a magnificent guy by the name of Brent Woods. Derek Sherinian coproduced four of the tracks with me but he’s very busy now with his schedule so I’ve moved on to another producer now to help me out with the rest of the record. We’re just having a blast. Everybody has been just wonderful.
Metal Exiles: I read that you were called in to do some writing and guitar solos for Beyond the Labyrinth for their upcoming album. Combining working on that as well as your own album, that’s probably been hard. Has there been a lot of conflict there or do you feel it has affected the quality of either project?
Tara: No, not at all. I’ve been able to manage it without any issues. Once again, I’m very good at dedicating my time so when it was to work on Beyond the Labyrinth, I put aside that time, stopped everything I was doing on my own work, went out to Belgium, laid down the tracks for those guys, came back, and got right back to work on my own album like nothing happened. I gave them my all and I think it’s a very good record. It’s called “The Art of Resilience” and it’s coming out in March. It’s their fourth album. I’m excited about that as well. This is all going on at the same time. What a way to get started, right?
Metal Exiles: Absolutely it is especially if you’re able to individualize and separate it all without any conflict. That says a lot about you as an artist.
Tara: Yesterday, I was in the studio working on Glens’ drum tracks and I also shot a video for Beyond the Labyrinth as well, for a song called “Someone’s Watching Over You”, which is on that record, so I just manage to fit it all in somehow. It’s not too difficult. There’s 24 hours in each day. I just don’t sleep. Obviously I eat, but I don’t sleep. I think I should swap eating for sleeping and maybe I’d be doing a little better.
Metal Exiles: As a musician, you are new to me, and I hate to say that to you, but I do love to find and learn new artists and their work. Female musicians are powerful and don’t always get the recognition they deserve. You do what you do so stinking well and are right up there with some of the best male counterparts as far as your talent. What are some of the struggles and a multi-talented musician that you’ve faced throughout the years?
Tara: Well, you know, the fact that I’m female and unfortunately, no matter how much I can play an instrument well, sometimes the focus is on my femininity, if you will. I started one of those Facebook band pages and I’ve got over 35,000 fans on that at this point, and I’ve got to tell you, the overwhelming majority, I’d say even 99% of the commentary is very respectful on my musicianship. There’s only that 1% that talks about my looks or anything having to do with being a woman. Otherwise, they’ve been fantastic about it. As far as my peers are concerned, there are some that are surprised at the level of musicianship I’ve accomplished at this point, being a female, which I think is kind of bazaar because I really don’t think that instruments should be gender specific. They’re certainly not. There are a lot of fantastic female musicians out there on every instrument known to man and with your eyes closed, you would not know the difference. You can’t hear the difference in gender so what I tend to say is “Don’t listen with your eyes. Listen with your ears”. It’s that simple. I’ve been getting a great deal of respect out of most that I’ve worked with and the fact that I’m a woman hasn’t been an issue at all. Everyone I’ve been working with have been very respectful musicians. It’s tough for women unfortunately because the predominant audience for metal, hard rock, and things like that is a very male audience, especially when you get into shred. It’s a very male audience. I don’t know if you’ve been in the audience at a show for people like Yngwie Malmsteen, Vinnie Moore, or Tony MacAlpine but I find that I’m one of maybe three women in the entire room, unless they’re an upset girlfriend or wife being dragged there by the husband or boyfriend. I think that’s really sad. I don’t know why that kind of stuff hasn’t appealed to more people but for some reason it is a very male dominated environment when it comes to guitar instrumental work and things like that. That’s what I’m trying to avoid with this album. I don’t want to make an album by a shredder for a shredder. That is not what I’m doing here at all, whatsoever. It’s music from my soul; from my heart. It’s what I do. If you want to compare it to anything, by all means, go right on ahead but really, it is a clear example of what comes out of me naturally. I don’t bend for anybody. I don’t compromise and I’m certainly not trying to write music for mass appeal. This is what it is. This is what I do. This is what I create naturally and I hope you like it.
Metal Exiles: As a song writer/instrumentalist, the information I’ve read about this album says that it is basically an autobiography. As an artist, whatever your contribution is, you pour your feelings into what you’re doing. This album is giving you to express those emotions and your journey. Elaborate on that a little if you will. Let’s use “Trustless” as an example. Tell me a little about that.
Tara: Well, that’s basically about a situation that happened in my life and writing that song was incredibly therapeutic for me. It really helped me step back and take a look at the situation from the outside. I came out stronger on the other end no matter how you slice and dice it. It also taught me that some relationships just can’t be broken no matter what. Things happen, especially when you’re with somebody for many, many years. If you can get past that, it means that you really do love each other enough and that you can go on; however, I’m definitely indicating that this person is trustless at this point and I’ve gotta’ make him earn that back. That’s basically what it says and that’s what it’s about. It’s definitely a public beating but the individual involved is completely in support of the situation and has no issue with the song whatsoever. He figures it’s his penance. The entire album is pretty much that way. What “Evil Enough” means is that I’m evil enough to basically come out and tell my story. My perspective. My record. My art. I tell it the way I see it in my own head and feel it in my own heart. Each song is indicative of a situation, a relationship, or any kind of occurrence that happened during my lifetime and I’m putting it on record. It’s sort of my diary and I’m sharing it with everybody because everybody is human and goes through the same things one way or another. It’s very relatable. Doing this helps keep my head on straight and helps keep me strong and focused.
Metal Exiles: Do you have a release date yet for the album?
Tara: I don’t have a specific date and the reason why is because this isn’t like a band recording together and that’s all they’re doing. Because I have so many artists coming in to work with me, working with their schedules can delay something by months even. I’m going to say mid-2017. Definitely this year. Mid 2017 is vague but it’s the best I can do. I do have another artist that has come on board and I could certainly announce to you during this interview and that is Vinnie Appice. He’s a drummer. He was Dios drummer for Dios entire solo career. He was also in Black Sabbath. He’s a magnificent drummer. I feel like I want to pinch myself. I mean, half of these guys were torn out of magazines and pasted up on my bedroom walls when I was a teenager. The fact that these guys are friends of mine and are available through friends of mine is really a remarkable thing. Also I feel very proud of myself that the friends of mine that know me and know my musicianship, even though I haven’t done anything very largely professional yet until now, have that kind of confidence in me that they would call a guy like Vinnie and say “hey are you available for this because I’m working on it and she’s the real deal” and then they jump on board. I really appreciate the confidence that these musicians have in my song writing that would be involved and play. These guys have all been in the biggest bands in the rock and metal industry ever so it is pretty mind blowing.
Metal Exiles: Speaking in terms of all of the people you’ve worked with or are continuing to work with, do you have someone, that extra special person that you feel truly helped you the most along the way.
Tara: Really, the reason it’s not a band and it says my name, it’s Tara Lynch. It’s not Tara Lynchs’ band. It’s because I’m really running the show. I’ve just really drawn on these personal relationships that I’ve had and spoken to them individually. I’ve pulled them in. I don’t have a very personal relationship with Brian Tichy, for example. Derek brought him in but Derek is a good friend of mine. That’s one example of someone that’s on the record that I didn’t have a personal relationship with. The same goes for Vinnie Appice who is being brought in by Phil Soussan, who has been a personal friend of mine for many, many, years. He is a dear, dear friend and a phenomenal bass player. He used to play with Ozzy. He wrote Ozzys’ only number one song, “Shot in the Dark” for example. Everyone else is a personal friend and I was able to call those guys up and make it all happen. Who’s helped me the most throughout this whole thing? The answer is ME! Unfortunately that sounds very Gene Simmons, but you know, it’s true. I’m owning it. This has been a lot of hard work on my part, wrangling all of this together. Yeah, so. Here’s another thing. These guys are all playing on the record but they’re playing what I wrote. They’re still putting their mojo on it which is why I had each person involved. That’s the thing. Every artist I have involved on each track is very well thought out and very specific. I know a lot of guys and there’s a lot of options in terms of what musicians I want to use for which tracks and really I thought really deeply about who I wanted on what based on the style of the track. For example, Glen Sobel is amazing at tribal drumming and off beat stuff, so I wanted him specifically for these two tracks “Enigmatic” and “Exit the Warrior” which require that kind of warrior drumming that he does. That’s his forte’ so that’s why I wanted him on those tracks specifically. I’ve got a couple of tracks that Vinnie Appice is going to play drums on and those are very much in his style. I’ve very carefully chosen who I want for what track based on the style in which it’s written because I write in many styles even though it’s all metal. Some is straight up drumming. Some is tribal, etcetera, etcetera, and that goes for every other instrument as well.
Metal Exiles: When you have an idea behind the formula that you want to create, you’re taking it to a level that maybe some people don’t necessarily think about so vividly.
Tara: Yeah, I’ve drilled down to it being very song specific with who I’m going to use where. In other words, there are multiple drummers on my record but not all fit each track. They can all play anything however, they have their specialties so I’ve chosen them for the track that uses that specialty. The same with the bass players and the keyboardist and so on. Of course, I play all guitars. I’m the only guitarist on the record. You’re talking about layers and layers of guitar.
Metal Exiles: Do you ever sing any of the vocals?
Tara: I do background vocals. I am singing in the background. I don’t do any lead vocals as of yet although my producer is trying to talk me into it. What I do is I do provide the vocal guides. Before Mark Boals comes in and sings a song, he hears me sing it first so he knows what I’m looking for and then he comes and does his magical thing. I don’t plan on singing lead on any of these tracks because I think that would downgrade my guitar playing when I do it live. I’m not so sure I want to do that. That’s still up in the air but for right now, I am definitely singing backup vocals, which you’ll hear.
Metal Exiles: Sounds like you’re kind of a Jack (or Jill) of all trades when it comes to musicianship and not everyone can say that. Most people are pretty specific to what they can or cannot do, and then there’s you. I can’t wait to hear the album in its entirety once it’s released and I thank you for talking to me today. Thank you for everything you do for those of us who appreciate music.
Tara: Without people to listen, then what is it but noise, right? I’m going in to the studio today and we’re gonna lay down some rhythms on a couple of tracks. Bjorn Englen is coming in to add in couple more bass tracks so I’ve got a full day ahead for sure.
“Trustless” single: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1171251707?ls=1&app=itunes
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