ALTER BRIDGE HELLFEST 2017
REPORTER - SO YOU PLAY A JACKSON GUITAR YOU PLAYED AT DOWNLOAD AND NOW YOU ARE PLAYING HELLFEST I WAS WONDERING HOW IT WAS RECORDING THE NEW SONGS?
ALTER BRIDGE - It’s been tremendous this whole album cycle been well run for us we have toured for more than we ever had as a band and um just such great feedback to keep us out on tour till the end of the year till we do another record.
REPORTER - WITH THE GUITAR SOLO IN BLACK BIRD BEING NAMED THE BEST OF ALL TIME IN GUITARIST HOW DOSE IT IMPACT THE WAY YOU WRITE SONGS TODAY?
ALTER BRIDGE - You know the accolades are nice but you try and keep your head down to do what you do best play from the heart and hope that your fans enjoy it you know it doesn’t really change things you just work harder.
REPORTER - YOU GUYS JUST ANNOUNCED OTHER SHOWS WITH AN ORCHESTRA WHICH IS ALREADY SOLD OUT. ARE YOU GOING TO RELASE MORE DATES IN EUROPE?
ALTER BRIDGE - Those two shows did sell out rather quick so we are trying to find a way to add a third show. We are going to add more shows throughout Europe but those will be the only two shows with a orchestra accompaniment I think after that it will just be the four of us which will probably be a lot easier.
TWINMUSIX -WITH THE GUITAR SOLO IN BLACK BIRD BEING NAMED THE BEST OF ALL TIME IN ‘GUITARIST’ HOW DOES IT IMPACT THE WAY YOU WRITE SONGS TODAY?
ALTER BRIDGE- You know the accolades are nice but you try and keep your head down to do what you do best play from the heart and hope that your fans enjoy it you know it doesn’t really change things you just work harder.
REPORTER- WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE SONG TO PLAY LIVE?
ALTER BRIDGE- I think the general consensus among the four of us is Blackbird it felt like a special song when it was created and it continues to be a staple of the set ever since then there’s some other ones (Scott Phillips) Metalingus is a fun one for me because it’s such a drum heavy song.
REPORTER - WHATS YOUR FEELING OF THE MANCHESTER ATTEMPT?
ALTER BRIDGE - We have hired out more security then ever I think, everyone is watching it very closely making sure everybody in the building is safe. Security is also making sure everybody is outside taken care of. It’s a different age now and we have to be much more prepared then we used to be and its very tragic, very tragic.
REPORTER - HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF YOUR NEW ALBUM HAVE YOU GOT ANY IDEAS AND WOULD YOU GO BACK TO YOU OLD MUSIC LIKE ONE DAY REMAINS FOR EXAMPLE?
ALTER BRIDGE - Well right now I’m writing my next solo album. Every time I write one album a lot of the content spills over to the next, so I’m definately writing Alter Bridge material as well. I don’t think we would go back to the one day remains sound I think we are going to keep on trying to develop what we are doing keep pushing our boundaries try to become a new band with every album.
REPORTER - YESTERDAY AT GRASSPOP FESTIVAL WAS IT FUN TO SHEAR THE STAGE WITH BJORN GELOTTE FROM IN FLAMES?
ALTER BRIDGE - Absolutely we have known Bjorn for years and had the opportunity to tour through the States together right before we left for this tour and all those guys were sweethearts. We have become really good friends and we brought Bjorn up for one of the last shows we did in the USA to play rise today. And to have him play it at Grasspop was a blast.
REPORTER - PLAY FOR LIFE WAS ONE OF THE SEVERAL CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES THE BAND HAS BEEN INVOLVED WITH, DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO SUPPORT OTHER CHARITY CAUSES IN THE FUTURE?
ALTER BRIDGE - Always whether it’s in the public eye or privately I think we do a lot of stuff privately that we enjoy doing. My wife is hugely involved when I go home its one charity event to the next it’s a good thing to be involved in. We are going to do the Royal Albert Hall, which is Myles foundation, we have donated a lot to the foundation and always try to think of something.
REPORTER - I WAS WONDERING IF YOUR BOGNER UBERSCHALL AMP IS HEALTHY AGAIN?
ALTER BRIDGE - My Uberschall is at home right now I cut it flip flop riggs, we have a B rigg and that’s on the other gig right now. Right now I have the Black Face Rectifier Revision instead and a Garrus Archive amp.
REPORTER - HOW DO YOU APPROACH YOUR PRACTING ON TOUR?
ALTER BRIDGE - I just try to play as much as I can and it seems like when you’re always on tour you’re always warmed up and try to tackle song writing on tour and playing through new techniques all the time. You just try to develop something, so when I’m doing the next record I’m not doing the same thing over and over again.
REPORTER - WHEN YOU SEE BANDS LIKE AEROSMITH PLAY IS THAT A PLAN FOR YOU TO PLAY THAT LONG?
ALTER BRIDGE - It’s a huge honour to play with such legendary bands like Aerosmith. We played last night alongside Deep Purple, but had to leave three minutes into their set to make it here on time for loading. We had a chance to do a few shows with Aerosmith, the bands that have been around that long and are still headlining acts that have such an amazing and exciting career, it’s an honour to be direct support with them. In a few instances you might get a chance to interact with them, you know they are living legends so it is currently an honour.
REPORTER - WHATS THE WORST WEATHER YOU HAVE HAD AT A SHOW?
ALTER BRIDGE - We have done some hot shows over the years. We have done some shows where people have been created out in ambulances because it so hot. I don’t know why they put on shows and don’t have the proper A/C indoors but outdoors you can’t control, so we just have fun during the show.
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