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Piping Hot 4:360:00/4:36
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Token 4:070:00/4:07
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0:00/4:12
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0:00/7:05
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Couch Potato Odyssey 4:010:00/4:01
Who IS the bald guitarist?
The Short Version
I’m an upbeat, nerdy dude that loves guitar instrumentals and video game music.
The Long Version
HOW I GOT STARTED
Growing up, my family had a rule that everyone had have a sport and an instrument. When my mom finally told me I had to pick an instrument… I, with the sounds of wailing 80s guitar solos in my head, said “guitar I guess.” It was to my great disappointment when I started learning by things like “Ode to Joy,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” “Jingle Bells,” etc. Where was Van Halen? GnR? Scorpions? Hell, I would’ve even been happy to be part of the “Smoke on the Water” meme crowd.
Thanks to the awful “standard” beginner guitar songs my music teachers used–btw, I do teach…and I DO NOT use LAME songs–anyways, thanks to these stupid, boring pieces, I quickly decided I didn’t like guitar at all. Thankfully, my parents forced me to stick with it, to the point where I had to chart out my practice time and have a minimum of 30 minutes every weekday. At first, this made me hate the instrument (and music in general) even more, especially as I got into my teen years.
HOW I GOT INTERESTED
That all changed when the fire nation attacked; erm, I mean, that all changed when FREAKING GUITAR HERO III was released on the Wii (I didn’t have a PS2 or X360). I absolutely LOVED this game. It made me remember the original reason that made me pick guitar as my instrument in the first place. Wailing guitar solos and chugging riffs. ESPECIALLY that one superb guitar masterpiece that made it in the game… “Cliffs of Dover.”
I played that song so many times. The feel, the melody, the amazing runs sprinkled throughout… just amazing stuff. As if that weren’t enough to start making me enjoy guitar more on it’s own (probably was, but who knows)… I really got my butt in gear one day thanks to showing off to my dad that I could get 5 stars on Expert on such a difficult song to play, and his response was “Nice. Too bad you suck in real life.” After that, IT. WAS. ON.
INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATION
I was asked the other day “what kind of music do you listen to?” by someone who was trying to figure out where my weird style comes from. I love when people ask this question because “normal” people don’t know ANY of my go to music, “musicians” are shocked when I list video game music, and “nerds” still don’t know any of the instrumental guys I listen to. It’s a weird mix, I know.
Anyways, I was musically molded from a young age through playing Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger (Still best RPG of all time. Come at me bro), Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, etc. and I have always loved upbeat, melodic, and/or ambient style music thanks to the amazing soundscapes and immersion that came from the absolutely top notch soundtracks in these games.
In addition to being raised on classic and 80s rock, after hearing “Cliffs of Dover” for the first time I went deep into the Instrumental Guitar Tunnel and discovered Satch, Vai, EJ (of course), Malmsteen, and Andy Timmons (his music is EXTRA good). More recently, I’ve been digging Intervals, Polyphia, Plini, Angel Vivaldi, James Norbert Ivanyi, and a few others that have really given me some new ideas over the past couple years.
It’s been a goal of mine to have an instrumental album of my very own for the past 10 years or so, and it’s VERY COOL to finally be putting something out there. I hope that you’ll grab that free download and have a listen if you haven’t already!
I hope you enjoy the music, and thank you for your support!
-Chris