The "Pin"terview is complete! (Sikth, Aliases, Within the Void)

[JeffFromMtl]

So, I had to interview a creative person for my Creative Process course in University, and Pin of ex-Sikth fame was cool enough to agree to do the interview, so here it is!

Just for the record, the first 2 were compulsory for the course that I conducted this interview for, I'm not that lame Enjoy!

1.How would you define creativity?

The practical use of imagination.


2.What, would you say, is a creative person?

Anyone who puts their imagination to use.



3.When it comes to writing music, what are your main inspirations?

I have very few musical inspirations, i just pick up a guitar and play till i fall on something which catches my ear, then i will develop it, from that point sometimes the ideas will just flow and a song will come together, sometimes its a case of experimenting with other ideas and piecing them together even if initially there is a feeling they wont fit together, there is always a way.


4.How has your writing process evolved over the years? Did it change when you started playing with other musicians?

It has evolved significantly, when starting out i did the organic, just jam and put it together in the rehearsal room method. Then we got music software and started writing a lot more around the computer which was great for being pedantic and really focusing on details but lost a bit of the raw vibe so if you imagine this being around the 'trees' album we had to do a lot of jamming before recording.

Death of a Dead Day was a different process again in which we stockpiled tons of riffs in tunings and tempo and then built basic song structures, then went over them tweaking all the tiny details.

Within The Void is different again I have written predominantly with Jamie Hunt, and we think much more in terms of techniques and timings, mixing my free guitar style with his large theoretical background.

Aliases is probably the easiest band i have had to write for, there are no rules we just write in whatever way works for that session - so it could be any of the above, I am really pleased with the results and speed at which things are coming together.

5.How does the technical/theoretical side of things interact with your creative output?

I really dont think in theoretical terms at all when creating music, techniques and rhythm do figure a lot, techniques especially as i like to find different ways to combine them and also push my playing. Rhythms are also extremely important i hate lazy or obvious rhythms / phrasing, they dont have to break your mind but they need to have some character.

6.Being a guitar teacher and a successful musician, does playing the guitar ever start feeling like a chore or a job? How does that effect your playing?

Iv never felt that playing guitar is a chore, there have been frustrating moments where nothing seems to be moving forward, but for me music is my creative outlet, there is always something else to explore.

7.When a band reaches a certain level of success, people come to expect more and I understand that can be intimidating, and possibly even hindering to some artists. How has this sort of thing effected your creative output?

I think that because I have never been in a position where we were forced or needed to turn out music rapidly and risk dropping the quality i havent been affected at all by those expectations.

8.The music you played in Sikth is anything but conventional. Has it at any point, especially at the beginning, been difficult to find an audience for what you were doing? If so, was it discouraging, and did it effect your playing/creativity?

I think we developed our sound correctly, when Sikth appeared on the live scene we were playing songs such as Suffice and Pussyfoot which arent really very out there, they were kinda kickass metal songs with a bit of something different for the time, we gained a great following almost immediately in our local scenes and as the music developed the people came with us!! Playing / Creativity wise it just allowed s to push it further.

One of the things a lot of people think about Sikth is that its very random and all over the place, but my musical philosophy then and now is always to push the music as far as possible but retain a song!

9.Now that Sikth is done, I understand that you have been working on some new projects, Within the Void and Aliases. Considering that Within the Void is a band with members all over the globe and Aliases started out as “the fun band”, how would you compare the writing/creative processes of these two projects? How do they compare to the writing/creative process in Sikth?

WTV involves a lot of problem solving with time zones and not being able to jam at all as a band, so a lot of time is sent just recording riffs etc and emailing back and forth, piecing together and developing emailing again etc etc

Aliases is my ideal writing / creative process Leah and i can just grab our guitars whenever we like and just play, record and write, the rest of the band are all close too so we can jam regulary, with whoever is about - theres nothing better than those moments of ' hey guys iv got a new riff / beat / bassline, lets play'. It just comes together easily.

10.I've read that you've been experimenting with different tunings for these new projects after using some pretty basic tunings in Sikth. How has that changed your approach to writing?

No change at all in terms of approach i work purely by ear when writing, different tunings just give me different sounds to play with in different places, new chord shapes to use - the open c tuning in Aliases has been particulary fun

 

[distressed_romeo]

Great interview! Just to clairfy, by Open C does he mean CGCGCE tuning, as I'd be really interested to hear what he comes up with in that tuning?

 

[vampiregenocide]

Great interview

 

[BrainArt]

Awesome, dude! I too, am curious if he meant CGCGCE.

 

[JeffFromMtl]

Awesome, dude! I too, am curious if he meant CGCGCE.

Yeah, that should be it.

 

[pin]

Yeah, that should be it.

Yup CGCGCE all the way.......... well for that tuning anyway! Its a lot of fun

 

[BrainArt]

Yup CGCGCE all the way.......... well for that tuning anyway! Its a lot of fun

That it is! I love that tuning, gives me so much more creativity when playing in a "Standard" tuning.

 

[pin]

That it is! I love that tuning, gives me so much more creativity when playing in a "Standard" tuning.

It is a nice one to mix stuff up with, haha nothing like a Devy cover to inspire some new fingerings, chords etc

 

[BrainArt]

It is a nice one to mix stuff up with, haha nothing like a Devy cover to inspire some new fingerings, chords etc

Exactly! I need to retune my guitar to Open C, so I can do just that.

 

[Fred]

Great interview, thanks for this!

 

[bobrob]

Thanks for posting this up man, some great questions in there.

 

[pin]

If anyone else has any questions etc, feel free to ask, Im more than happy to answer anything - within reason

 

[ToupaTroopa]

Danke for that! We need more Pin music/info/interviews!!!!!
One of the most creative guys out there!

 

[ittoa666]

Should've called this thread "Call of the PinTermoon."

 

[MF_Kitten]

have you ever tried open A tuning, without the major/minor thing going on? it´s VERY interesting!

AEAEAE