Chris
Forum MVP
<div align="right"><img src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/cb_xlogo2.gif" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<b>Interview: Chris Broderick of Nevermore & Jag Panzer</b>
<font size="1"><i>Interviewed by: Jerich</i></font>
</div>
<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/1.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">Jerich</span>: Hi Chris, thanks for taking time out of you busy schedule to take part in this interview. To those guitar players not fimilar with your work please fill them in on what bands you have played for and recorded with.
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">Chris Broderick</span>: Thanks for having me, it's my pleasure. I am most known for my work in the band Jag Panzer, a traditional metal band with a progressive edge. I have also played in Nevermore along side Jeff Loomis in 2003, and before that it was the band I am still working with, Industrial Eden, a progressive guitaristic band with world and ambient sample material.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: One thing that I have always liked about your playing is that your influences seem to run deep in music forms other than simply metal. What are
some of your primary influences?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Well, I got my degree in classical guitar performance at the Lamont School of Music and the University of Denver, so classical is huge in my life, but my influences are any style that demands talent. For example, I could never stand country until I had to teach with an excellent player (Mike Precis). Not only did he throw out the smokin' riffs, but he also turned me on to players like Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, and the Hellecasters. So to sum things up, my primary influences are metal (of course), classical, flamenco, traditional jazz, blues, and country.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: At What age did you start playing music, and with what instrument?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>:I started playing the guitar at age 11, added the violin at 14, and the piano at 16. Unfortunately, I don't have time to practice the piano and violin anymore, but maybe someday I will find my way back to them.
<img style="padding:20px;" align="right" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/2.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your musical education? I know that you are a GIT educator/instructor - how did that come about?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: My formal education is a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance from the Lamont School of Music, and the University of Denver. Outside of that I have have countless lessons in Metal, Violin, Piano, Flamenco, and Jazz improve. I started taking lessons almost from the time I picked up the guitar, and still take lessons to this day. It got so bad at one point that I was taking five lessons a week ( classical guitar, electric guitar, piano, violin, and voice).
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Liking so many forms of music, how do you prepare yourself to play pieces as diverse as "Ronda alla Turca"?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Well, in that case there wasn't any preparation, only frustration [laughs]. For that piece, the only thing to do was to start practicing it.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Your technique seems to be very tight and fluid at the same time. What is your practice routine like?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It changes depending on what I feel I need to work on, but I always include a diverse range of styles.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How important is ear training to you and how do you try to convey it to your students?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's very important in a abstract sense. It won't make you play any faster, or tap more notes but it will give you a clearly defined knowledge of what you and others are playing with out having to have your guitar in hand.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: When you think of perfect tone who comes to your mind?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: There are so many. at times it Yngwie, or Vinnie Moore. George Lynch, and Eddie Van Halen also come to mind. For rhythm Stuck Mojo, and old Fear Factory.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What are your choice of guitars right now?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: For electrics, Ibanez 1527 7-strings all the way. The pickups I use are Bareknuckle (made in England by hand), .010 gauge strings, and the picks are called "cool picks" - I didn't name them - they are about the size of a Jazz III but much harder material.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: You play ENGL powerball heads, and are endorsed by them as well. How has ENGL been towards you so far?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: The funny thing was that I had never heard of ENGL until I went to tour in Europe and fried my newly bought Marshall TSL-100 in sound check before the first show. Yorick from the band Raising Fear was kind enough to lend me his amp, which was an ENGL Powerball. I was very uneasy because I had never heard this amp before and thought that it would suck (because most amps do) and was blown away. It smoked my Marshall, and from there I contacted ENGL A&R headed up by someone I happened to have toured with and lucked into a deal with them.
<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/3.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Please tell us about your Edward Victor Classical Guitar!
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Well I can tell you I love the guitar and it's tone, but I hate the builder. He and I had issues regarding the quality of some of his work. I am of the mindset that if you pay $5000 + for an instrument it shouldn't have any defects. I had him build it with a European spruce top, Brazilian rosewood sides and back, and mahogany neck with a radius fret board with large frets (very un-common on classical).
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What do you use equipment wise to get a great sound from the Edward Victor?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Nothing, no compression or equalization.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Are there any other seven string guitar players out there that pique your interest?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: I really had a great time playing with Jeff Loomis from Nevermore, he is an awesome player. I started playing 7's back in the early ninety's because Petrucci showed me that the 7Th string was sonically usable, and he of course is a great player as well.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How do you feel doing this interview for a website dedicated to sevenstrings, and the sevenstring community as a whole?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: I love it, we need more technically proficient players so the 7-string can shed it's simpleton labeling that bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn have given it.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How does it effect you knowing that you are an influence on the seven string community?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's a very odd thing to me because I am still such a fan of great players that I never think about how others perceive me. In the big picture, we are all climbing the same ladder and have the same goal in mind.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What initially got you into sevens?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Dream Theater's Awake showed me that the 7Th string doesn't have to sound like a pile of mud. I had tried them before in a store and couldn't get any sound out of them I liked until I heard that CD.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: I know you frown on the style of shred just to shred. Being a schooled guitar player, you seem to pull out the stops only when it is needed. How has that helped you overcome obstacles?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Honestly, I think that I am as guilty as the next person, but I am trying to use shred in a more musical way. For example I used to just think, "for this riff I will play fast" and now I like to think "well I am ending a melody on this G note but would like to end the whole solo on an A so why don't I do a sextuplet scale run ascending to it since I have a measure to do so". Also the best solos are the ones you hear in your head before they happen. That is truly music minus any technical consideration.
<img style="padding:20px;" align="right" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/4.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Can you give us a rundown of your live rig, as well as your home studio?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Ibanez -> Powerball, and that is it. I haven't had an effects processor for a few years now, but would like to eventually get one again. At home, I built a PC specifically for recording, that uses an E-MU 1616m audio card and Cakewalk Sonar recording software. I monitor with Mackie 824 monitors.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Jag Panzer has been ongoing for many years now with no end in sight? what is the secret to success in that Field?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: We work well together. By knowing each of our tasks for the band, we get everything done in an efficient manor. Example: I handle the merch shipping, Mark handles the press ( for the most part).
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Will we ever see a full on solo instrumental CD from you?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: I hope so, I still want to release an Industrial Eden CD formally.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: If you had a chance to work on a project with someone who would it be and why?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Andy Sneap, because he has released so many great sounding products.
<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/5.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your opinion of the current trends in music?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's all over the place, but one thing is for sure Rap and R&B dominate sales. This doesn't concern me though, because the minute you try to
predict the scene you are to late. I would play any style of music to make a living (just like any other job) but will always play the music I love for myself.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is the single most important lesson you could give anyone who plays a 7 string guitar?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It would be the same for any instrument. Have no expectations about what you should be able to play, just look at how you are playing at the moment and work efficiently to reach your goal. I used to start out practicing thinking about how well I could play something and if I were off that day I would get pissed because I knew what I was possible of playing. Now I look at a riff as if it were the first day I played it, everyday.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your favorite technique?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: All of them! [laughing]As soon as I hear a great player do something I can't I'm like "I have to do that".
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What does the future Hold for Chris Broderick?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Ya never know but I will always be a guitarist.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Lastly, might you have anything else to say?
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's funny because I love sevenstrings, it seems they were made for me, but overall I make little distinction between them and any other form of guitar (just extended range). If I heard and eight or nine string I thought was usable I would probably get one of those as well. Sevenstring.org does a great job of promoting the instrument against sea of narrow minded misinformation that six string players (not all) sling at it.
<div align="center">
<span style="colorrange;font-weight:bold;">For more information on Chris and Jag Panzer:</span>
<span style="color:white;font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.chrisbroderick.com" target="_BLANK">Chris Broderick - Official Website</a></span>
</div>
<b>Interview: Chris Broderick of Nevermore & Jag Panzer</b>
<font size="1"><i>Interviewed by: Jerich</i></font>
</div>
<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/1.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">Jerich</span>: Hi Chris, thanks for taking time out of you busy schedule to take part in this interview. To those guitar players not fimilar with your work please fill them in on what bands you have played for and recorded with.
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">Chris Broderick</span>: Thanks for having me, it's my pleasure. I am most known for my work in the band Jag Panzer, a traditional metal band with a progressive edge. I have also played in Nevermore along side Jeff Loomis in 2003, and before that it was the band I am still working with, Industrial Eden, a progressive guitaristic band with world and ambient sample material. <span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: One thing that I have always liked about your playing is that your influences seem to run deep in music forms other than simply metal. What are
some of your primary influences?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Well, I got my degree in classical guitar performance at the Lamont School of Music and the University of Denver, so classical is huge in my life, but my influences are any style that demands talent. For example, I could never stand country until I had to teach with an excellent player (Mike Precis). Not only did he throw out the smokin' riffs, but he also turned me on to players like Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton, and the Hellecasters. So to sum things up, my primary influences are metal (of course), classical, flamenco, traditional jazz, blues, and country.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: At What age did you start playing music, and with what instrument?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>:I started playing the guitar at age 11, added the violin at 14, and the piano at 16. Unfortunately, I don't have time to practice the piano and violin anymore, but maybe someday I will find my way back to them.<img style="padding:20px;" align="right" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/2.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your musical education? I know that you are a GIT educator/instructor - how did that come about?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: My formal education is a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance from the Lamont School of Music, and the University of Denver. Outside of that I have have countless lessons in Metal, Violin, Piano, Flamenco, and Jazz improve. I started taking lessons almost from the time I picked up the guitar, and still take lessons to this day. It got so bad at one point that I was taking five lessons a week ( classical guitar, electric guitar, piano, violin, and voice).<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Liking so many forms of music, how do you prepare yourself to play pieces as diverse as "Ronda alla Turca"?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Well, in that case there wasn't any preparation, only frustration [laughs]. For that piece, the only thing to do was to start practicing it.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Your technique seems to be very tight and fluid at the same time. What is your practice routine like?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It changes depending on what I feel I need to work on, but I always include a diverse range of styles.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How important is ear training to you and how do you try to convey it to your students?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's very important in a abstract sense. It won't make you play any faster, or tap more notes but it will give you a clearly defined knowledge of what you and others are playing with out having to have your guitar in hand.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: When you think of perfect tone who comes to your mind?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: There are so many. at times it Yngwie, or Vinnie Moore. George Lynch, and Eddie Van Halen also come to mind. For rhythm Stuck Mojo, and old Fear Factory.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What are your choice of guitars right now?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: For electrics, Ibanez 1527 7-strings all the way. The pickups I use are Bareknuckle (made in England by hand), .010 gauge strings, and the picks are called "cool picks" - I didn't name them - they are about the size of a Jazz III but much harder material.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: You play ENGL powerball heads, and are endorsed by them as well. How has ENGL been towards you so far?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: The funny thing was that I had never heard of ENGL until I went to tour in Europe and fried my newly bought Marshall TSL-100 in sound check before the first show. Yorick from the band Raising Fear was kind enough to lend me his amp, which was an ENGL Powerball. I was very uneasy because I had never heard this amp before and thought that it would suck (because most amps do) and was blown away. It smoked my Marshall, and from there I contacted ENGL A&R headed up by someone I happened to have toured with and lucked into a deal with them.<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/3.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Please tell us about your Edward Victor Classical Guitar!
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Well I can tell you I love the guitar and it's tone, but I hate the builder. He and I had issues regarding the quality of some of his work. I am of the mindset that if you pay $5000 + for an instrument it shouldn't have any defects. I had him build it with a European spruce top, Brazilian rosewood sides and back, and mahogany neck with a radius fret board with large frets (very un-common on classical).<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What do you use equipment wise to get a great sound from the Edward Victor?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Nothing, no compression or equalization.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Are there any other seven string guitar players out there that pique your interest?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: I really had a great time playing with Jeff Loomis from Nevermore, he is an awesome player. I started playing 7's back in the early ninety's because Petrucci showed me that the 7Th string was sonically usable, and he of course is a great player as well.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How do you feel doing this interview for a website dedicated to sevenstrings, and the sevenstring community as a whole?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: I love it, we need more technically proficient players so the 7-string can shed it's simpleton labeling that bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn have given it.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: How does it effect you knowing that you are an influence on the seven string community?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's a very odd thing to me because I am still such a fan of great players that I never think about how others perceive me. In the big picture, we are all climbing the same ladder and have the same goal in mind.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What initially got you into sevens?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Dream Theater's Awake showed me that the 7Th string doesn't have to sound like a pile of mud. I had tried them before in a store and couldn't get any sound out of them I liked until I heard that CD.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: I know you frown on the style of shred just to shred. Being a schooled guitar player, you seem to pull out the stops only when it is needed. How has that helped you overcome obstacles?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Honestly, I think that I am as guilty as the next person, but I am trying to use shred in a more musical way. For example I used to just think, "for this riff I will play fast" and now I like to think "well I am ending a melody on this G note but would like to end the whole solo on an A so why don't I do a sextuplet scale run ascending to it since I have a measure to do so". Also the best solos are the ones you hear in your head before they happen. That is truly music minus any technical consideration.<img style="padding:20px;" align="right" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/4.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Can you give us a rundown of your live rig, as well as your home studio?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Ibanez -> Powerball, and that is it. I haven't had an effects processor for a few years now, but would like to eventually get one again. At home, I built a PC specifically for recording, that uses an E-MU 1616m audio card and Cakewalk Sonar recording software. I monitor with Mackie 824 monitors.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Jag Panzer has been ongoing for many years now with no end in sight? what is the secret to success in that Field?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: We work well together. By knowing each of our tasks for the band, we get everything done in an efficient manor. Example: I handle the merch shipping, Mark handles the press ( for the most part).<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Will we ever see a full on solo instrumental CD from you?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: I hope so, I still want to release an Industrial Eden CD formally.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: If you had a chance to work on a project with someone who would it be and why?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Andy Sneap, because he has released so many great sounding products.<img style="padding:20px;" align="left" src="http://www.sevenstring.org/newsimages/cb/5.jpg" alt="Chris Broderick" />
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your opinion of the current trends in music?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's all over the place, but one thing is for sure Rap and R&B dominate sales. This doesn't concern me though, because the minute you try to predict the scene you are to late. I would play any style of music to make a living (just like any other job) but will always play the music I love for myself.
<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is the single most important lesson you could give anyone who plays a 7 string guitar?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It would be the same for any instrument. Have no expectations about what you should be able to play, just look at how you are playing at the moment and work efficiently to reach your goal. I used to start out practicing thinking about how well I could play something and if I were off that day I would get pissed because I knew what I was possible of playing. Now I look at a riff as if it were the first day I played it, everyday.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What is your favorite technique?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: All of them! [laughing]As soon as I hear a great player do something I can't I'm like "I have to do that".<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: What does the future Hold for Chris Broderick?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: Ya never know but I will always be a guitarist.<span style="color:red;font-weight:bold;">J</span>: Lastly, might you have anything else to say?
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">CB</span>: It's funny because I love sevenstrings, it seems they were made for me, but overall I make little distinction between them and any other form of guitar (just extended range). If I heard and eight or nine string I thought was usable I would probably get one of those as well. Sevenstring.org does a great job of promoting the instrument against sea of narrow minded misinformation that six string players (not all) sling at it.<div align="center">
<span style="color
range;font-weight:bold;">For more information on Chris and Jag Panzer:</span><span style="color:white;font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.chrisbroderick.com" target="_BLANK">Chris Broderick - Official Website</a></span>
</div>
