MR: First of all, congratulations on an amazing album, Too Dumb To Quit. I still play it often even after reviewing it many months ago.
Chris: Thanks Marty.....Jim and I are both very happy with the way it turned out.
The CD was actually a long-distance collaboration. I live in Sarasota, FL
and Jim lives in Olmsted Falls, OH. We've never met each other in person -
we crossed paths on mp3.com and both became instant fans of each other's
guitar playing. We made the CD by mailing DAT tapes back and forth over a
period of about 4-5 months. There is an exact 50/50 split of the guitar
duties - on 6 of the 12 songs I play rhythm guitar, and Jim plays rhythm
guitar on the other 6. On every song we also split the melodies and solos
50/50, so each song is equal parts Jim and Chris.
MR: Give us a little bit of your background (both you and Jim). What
other bands have you played in before and what type of music? Are you
guys involved in other aspects of the music industry such as producing
etc.? I see that you both mixed and mastered your CD.
Chris: We've both been in music for many years - I think between the two of us
we've played in just about every style of band imaginable. Individually
we've opened up for artists as diverse as John Mellencamp, Head East, Humble
Pie, Emmy Lou Harris, Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Alan
Holdsworth, 38 Special, Jefferson Airplane, Adrian Belew, George Jones,
Ronnie Milsap, Jimmy Buffet etc.
Between the two of us we've played a bunch of major events like the 1987 Pan
American Games, Disney World's Jamstand 1990, the 1991 US National Hot Air
Ballon Championships, SeaFest 1999, Fishstock 2000, Meeting of the Minds
2001, etc. We've also been featured in Guitar Player, Guitar World, BAM
magazine, JAM magazine, Prog-Resiste magazine, Southbound Beat magazine,
Brevard Live magazine and many others.
I think I speak for both of us when I say that our hearts lie in a prog-rock
musical direction, especially prog-rock that features great guitar playing.
For the past 6-7 years I've been operating my own commercial studio out of
central Florida, doing everything from recording, editing, mixing and
mastering to session guitar and guitar synth work and even some MIDI
pre-production, arranging and drum machine programming for some of my
recording clients.
Jim has a small ADAT-based studio in his home and he's been busily producing
jingles for the last several years, as well as recording some great albums
with his other band "Reindel". Check them out at http://www.mp3.com
MR: Have either of you done any instrumental albums like Too Dumb To Quit
in the past?
Chris: I believe most of Jim's past recordings have had vocals (but they all
feature KILLER guitar playing!!). I've done several all-instrumental CD's,
ranging from fusion to new age to shred:
Killer Album (Killer Dudes - 1992)
Music For A World That's Burned (Chris Hattingh - 1997)
Shred Head (Chris Hattingh - 1999)
Guitar Masters (Chris Hattingh -2001)
Baghavad Guitar (Chris Hattingh - 2001)
Guitar Masters 2002 (Chris Hattingh - 2002)
MR: Chris, I see that on the album, not only do you play lead guitar but
also the bass and drums. Which instrument did you start with?
Chris: I started out on drums at age 12 and became a pretty serious drummer, taking
drum lessons for 5 years and tympani lessons later on. For the first half of
my pro career I played drums exclusively. After going to Berklee (as a
drummer) I became interested in the guitar, and I finally made the
transition from drums to guitar at age 26. Bass came much later....
MR: How often do you guys play live and is it a totally instrumental
show? What other musicians do you use when playing live?
Chris: Actually we've never played live as a band. We have been talking about it a
lot though, and we've got a killer 5-piece band on standby just in case:
Jim & I on lead guitars
Michael Mangaroo from Port St. John, FL on rhythm guitar
Denny Lalouette from Johannesburg, South Africa on bass
Tony Mack from Nashville, TN on drums
If Too Old To Rock ever had to tour we would just rehearse flat out for a
week in a centralized location and then hit the road. It would be an
all-instrumental show though...even though Jim, Tony and I can all sing
quite convincingly, I think the guitar show would be more spectacular.
MR: I love the song titles, Arthritic Shredfest, Viagra Falls etc. They
all seem to be poking fun at growing old. Just how old are you guys and
do you really think that you are in fact getting too old to rock? (I
certainly don't think so)
Chris: We ain't telling!! :o)
MR: I think the tongue-in-cheek song titles also add a playful and good
time feeling to your music and I get the impression that you guys don't
take yourselves too seriously. What's your feeling on that?
Chris: Your reaction is exactly what we were hoping for. Jim and I are both very
tired of all the new bands who always try to look so serious and pissed off,
and we don't particularly like the new face of rock today (the hostile and
aggressive attitudes, the mandatory tattoos, body piercings and tongue
splittings, pants ten sizes too big, all the posing...etc.) We also think
it's pitiful that many capable musicians who are in their thirties seem to
think that the only way they're ever going to make it in music is to pretend
that they're 21 again.....so we decided to go for the exact opposite image.
We're trying to act older than we are, we have no "cool" image (in fact we
don't give a damn about what anyone else seems to think is "fashionable" or
"trendy"). We're just in it for the fun......and to play some good guitar
music. We kid each other mercilessly about our ages, and if we ever do play
out live, we're gonna be wheeled onto the stage on wheelchairs for our
opening number.....
MR: I see in the liner notes of your CD that you mention Jimi Hendrix,
Rush and Michael Schenker (one of my favorite guitar players) as being
influences. What does each one of those artists mean to you as far as
your development as a musican and an artist?
Chris: It's Jimi Hendrix's fault that I turned out the way I did...from the time I
heard my first Hendrix album at age 12 (Band Of Gypsys) my life has never
been the same...at that moment I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my
life. Although I don't sound much like Jimi now (I've had many other
influences since then) I can always get back to the magic of that moment
emotionally.
I'm going out on a bit of a limb here speaking for Jim, but just by
listening to him I am automatically reminded of Rush, Eddie Van Halen and
Michael Schenker...only Jim is better in my humble opinion. I also hear
faint references to Ritchie Blackmore in his playing. (Blackmore is one of
my faves too....)
MR: I also hear influences from Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen (obviously
on Arthritic Shredfest), Led Zeppelin for some of the acoustic work and
even Iron Maiden, with the rhythm guitar sound on a few tracks having a
big fat mid-range thick sound like on the Piece Of Mind album. Any
comments on those observations?
Chris: Your ear has not failed you my friend...you are right on the mark with all
of the above observations, except that I've never heard the Piece Of Mind
album you refer to (however I do dig the Run To The Hills album, and there
are one or two places on our album where I can hear a slight Maiden
influence in the rhythm guitar parts....)
MR: What type of gear (guitars, amps, effects etc.) do you and Jim use
(prefer). Do you prefer the modern digital effects or are you like me
and prefer the analog stuff and old tube amps? Whatever your
preferences, describe how they shape your guitar sound.
Chris: Actually we play through some god-awful cheap shit...I think Jim has a POD
and a Tokai guitar and I have an old Digitech Legend preamp (all digital -
sounds horrible) and a Samson power amp with a Peavey 4x12 cabinet. My
electric is a Jackson Stealth with diMarzios, and both of our acoustics are
cheap entry level guitars with horrible action and tone, where the 1st and
6th strings keep slipping off the necks....
MR: How are the sales so far of the CD?
MR: hat parts of the world have been most receptive to your CD? Are you
getting any radio airplay at all?
Chris: Actually response has been very good around the globe...we're getting some
airplay in Germany, England, Finnland, Brazil, Indonesia, Canada, France,
Australia, Singapore and Greece, as well as here at home in the USA. We've
also gotten some great reviews from music publications around the world...so
far all the feedback has been very positive - it's quite humbling.
MR: Have you managed to attract major label interest yet?
Chris: Not yet...I think maybe we should have shown a bit more leg when we posed
for the album cover....
MR: Are there any plans in the works to do another CD? If so, will it be
the same instrumental format as Too Dumb To Quit?
Chris: Funny you should ask - Jim and I were just talking on the phone last night
about that very thing. We're dying to do another album, but we first want to
wait until this one at least breaks even. The next album will continue the
zany geriatric theme and will also be all-instrumental and all over the
place stylistically - we just can't help ourselves......
MR: I'd like to thank you for your time to answer these questions for us
and I wish you much success and luck in the future. Any last words for
our readers?
Chris: You're never too old to rock!!
