classic. That’s cool. I mean, he’s sitting because the neck shape also I armor is very like very large and thin, right? And then but like the Joseani model, it’s like almost like a strap, very round. So I kind of something in between. So it’s good for the tapping stuff also like for the pentatonics kind of. fast stuff you do. Yeah, the fast stuff and also the you know traditional things of fusion or so I can play different styles as well. That’s great. That’s great. I mean do you I mean do you sit down and talk guitars with Dave in terms of Dave I’m going to try this and Dave you know I’m using the Ibanz with the thin body and you know I mean does it get that specific about the specs? No. About the guitar? No. Because I’m not in I’m not into that too. You know, it’s kind of for me it’s just a tool kind of, okay, just, you know, give me something so I can play. You know, of course, if it has to feel comfortable, sounds good, of course, but I’m not into, you know, like trying different woods or whatever, really enough. I should I know, but you know, but he found it works. Well, absolutely. I I did try the the prototypes were mahogany. I tried mahogany and then the other then I preferred the other you know you know and then we get into the whole argument that’s so popular these days about how tone wood doesn’t exist and the wood doesn’t make a difference. I hate those guys. No, but the Dave guitar like the Corina sounds different, you know. Yeah. Like can hear like sounds different. Yeah. From the other ones. So for all you people that said the wood doesn’t make a difference, you’re wrong. It makes a difference. But I think it depends on the pickup and all the rest of the stuff. I don’t care. You’re wrong. You know, you don’t have the absolutely the wood. Definitely. And I think ultimately it comes down to the to the guy playing the guitar, right? The way you play. Yeah. You know, you pick up Dave’s guitar, you’re going to sound like you and then you’re so Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Then have the amps and have all this things there, you know, all this equipment fractal or whatever. So fractal is cool. You can change so many things that you know very cool. Yeah. But you know I’m not the great the greatest guy to talk about guitar and wood and you know you know like radios and I I missed I missed the project. I’m not a guy that knows about you know wood and stuff differences. Anyway, so I mean, what has that experience been like so far for you kind of playing with Dave? And I mean, he’s had nothing but just remarkable things to say about you and Oh, yeah. Well, that’s you know. Oh, you know that. I mean, I don’t think he you know, I don’t think he would suffer a fool a second if it, you know, he didn’t, you know, didn’t he didn’t have the chops and all that. And obviously the the legacy of the kinds of players he’s Oh, yes. you know, so tough, huh, to be, you know, playing all the solos, you know, from legendary guys, you know, coping those Marty Freeman solos and tough tough for you, is a hard Yeah, tough job. Tough job. So for you, it’s kind of learning it then interpreting it and just trying to make those kind of solos your own or is it more kind of the fan wants to hear that Holy War thing and I better play that. Yeah. I don’t know how close I play the solos. try to play, you know, I try to get the feel. But you you can tell me more about it. I think he’s he’s on the money, man. He But you know what? He’s got his own little style to it, though. You know what I mean? You you’ve interpreted him correctly, proping him properly. But you have you bring your own flare. Yeah. So, yeah. I I tried to get the notes first, but I when I grew up, I I was never trying to really transcribe solos, like note per never. I never like it. I never felt like it because too difficult, you know, you know, no, too boring, you know, to get like really I kind of get the vibe and try to play something like right because maybe I was too lazy, right, to like really listen and then I didn’t have like well it’s not like nowadays you have the guys teaching you you know YouTube note for note and all the books and 13-year-old kids playing like Yeah. So, well, we had like the song books and but the song books were never accurate anyway. So, and uh so I was trying to get the vibe of the solo and try to reproduce somehow Mhm. all the you know all the guys that I like. So, the same with these solos from Marty Friedman Poland. What I what I did was I was listening to them whatever they play not the specific solo that I need to learn just to understand how they play even like Chris Paul and I was watching some videos from him nowadays they’re playing fusion and stuff so okay so I understand what they like and because if you start learning the solos like Martin you can it’s like kind of you have like if you learn few solos you kind you kind of understand the way he he builds the stuff you And then the melodic sense is the the best he can he he he does you know the melod the melodies you know. Yeah. So that’s what I try to reproduce in a nice way what he did. Absolutely. But like the fast runs I played the way I feel comfortable. Mhm. I really don’t know if I’m doing close or not. I don’t know the fast run because I think in the end doesn’t matter much. No, maybe for some people actually like but some die hard guy there has to hear that but everybody else Yeah. They just need to feel that it’s Yeah. Yeah. Right. You know what I mean? So the melodies and the the way he expressed stuff and you’re you’re playing on the dystopian record was really beautiful man. You know the difficult thing of u creating the solos. Yeah. for me because I’m really let’s say like a mega death solo that people really like tornado souls right so that’s harmony going on there’s like four four chords changing right but most most of the solos are like one vamp in one note in like a heavy riff mhm and it’s very hard to create a solo on one chord for me I understand that you know so it’s like keeps repeating the same rift the same chord doesn’t move because when it moves from different chords, you can’t play the same note and it’s something new, right? Exactly. The same note sounds different. So that’s what happened in Tornado of Souls because you’re playing a melody against the the chords that are moving. Mhm. And then the other solos and dystopia is basically all the solos are one riff and one note riff. So it’s very hard to have to really think and what I going to do here because after do like one two three solos you you need to have more vocabulary to to create something melodic or that tells a story but it’s just one thing you know it’s just one chord one so that was was difficult for me interesting because I always my solo albums and then it was always a lot of chords progressions you And it feels that’s what I you know I feel comfortable. Gota the acoustic stuff on the new record was really cool. Thanks. Thanks. That was like a little different thing for Yeah. So that was I was like listening to the riffs and how can I do a solo over this one chord, you know, like 16 bars of this one same riff, which that’s the style, you know. Yeah. Yeah. There’s a lot of And then Marty’s genius because he did like great solos is in this one note with you know absolutely like throughout the Absolutely. So I mean was that a comfortable experience for you Kiko? I mean doing the record and being on your first Mega Death record and No was very comfortable. Yeah I could say. I mean it was completely new because I joined the band and I met the guys at the studio things were already happening. Wow. you know, so of course it was like, "Wow, this is like it’s a new band, new guys, new studios, new new engineers, everything was new, you know. First time for me in Nashville, you know, everything was like new, you know, but and then I was there for a few days and then they announced my name, right? They announced that I was got the gig. I was already there listening to the rifts, the ideas. Uh they’ve had a lot of songs kind of finished some are not were not. So and that was just I was just you know absorbing everything you know understanding you know before I say something I think before you say anything you have just to understand what’s going on what what is totally so listening to the new songs or the the new ideas the old songs you know like reading the comments of the fans about the old songs the new songs and uh reading about you know Dave’s biography and I was like really kind of okay understanding the whole thing because before I was as a fan I was a guy that you know I knew me but not to be inside you have to know really well so absolutely yeah you know like offering your ideas some yeah a little bit yeah then I also couldn’t understand what kind of ideas that I was bringing would work and then some that was not yeah because of the day end of the day the a band is a concept. A band is a concept. It doesn’t matter if you know how to play 100 styles of music, but what’s the concept of this band and what can we put to keep this concept and can what is fresh but is still inside this you know the frame of the concept of Mega Day. I understand, you know, which I think Chris Poland and Mart Freedom, they always brought something new. So it gives you some kind of a space to bring something new. Mhm. That’s when I put an acoustic guitar in the intro of the song or record a piano in the end. So there’s this um you have space to do something but still inside the concept, inside this frame. Yeah. So I was kind of understanding how far can you know should I do a like Alan Hosworth kind of solo or not. Maybe not. So it’s like more Randy Rolls kind of solo or you know got this little things you know it makes a big difference you know. So something like conquer or die. I mean um Dave is open to that kind of a approach and yeah since the beginning uh I because well then I I know because he was giving some interviews and he mentioned the first time we met when I went to his house I got got my acoustic guitar and I was playing and then he was on the phone and then he heard that and then oh okay that’s he like it right cool yeah so when I was in the studio He was always saying, "Wow, the acoustic guitar, you you know, you have to," but I didn’t know what, you know. Oh, so there was all there’s other songs that if we play the acoustic, some some acoustic stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And then I wanted I wanted to bring something with nylon like acoustic because I love playing nylon um classical guitar. So I wanted to do something. I didn’t know what. But that’s the first step, you know. I I I think it fits if you do something nylon classical like an intro or some something you know interlude and then he came with the idea Kiko you should try to think about something that can highlight you on the album so he was he came with the idea something like yeah something like eruption you know something like not I was like eruption wow that’s I thought you put this that’s a tough job isn’t it like just do another eruption. Yeah, why not? So just like Yeah, that’s what work with him is like that. You just put raise the bar right really high, you know, like exactly do another eruption for the, you know, tomorrow and then we record. So then I was thinking what to do and then I said, "Wow." And then one day I was like playing the acoustic guitar. I was all the time playing the acoustic guitar in the at the studio. So like and then I showed him, I have this idea here. What do you think? And then and then we kind of develop together would be an intro for a song but then in the end it’s like a song itself because it developed so well that’s like 3 minutes for me. That’s cool. So Dave was more than willing like you said to allow you this space and let’s focus on Kiko our new guitar player and give you that that spotlight. That’s that’s that’s pretty cool. I mean you know not all band leaders might do that. You know what I mean? Yes. Yes. Yes. That’s cool. But it’s a very it’s a guitar band, you know. I think it’s it’s cool to have a there’s a lot of solos and songs. Lot of solos. And uh yeah, I think it’s that’s the it even if you do like a three minutes guitar piece is still like inside the mega death concept because all there was always a lot of solos in the songs like long instrumental parts like hangar 18 or whatever you know like huge instrumental parts solos and trades off and stuff like that. So it’s inside but there’s something different because then it’s acoustic nylon classical intro but it’s still the harmony is very mega the harmony it’s very dark fian kind of so that’s that’s Dave’s thing is that friian kind of harmony guitar thing I mean I think I suggested that yeah but I I suggested knowing that’s that’s the thing you know I wouldn’t yeah uh suggest something else Right. No, no, but I mean I maybe have may I maybe I suggest some other stuff. I don’t remember now, you know. But when I played that thing, I said like that’s I think this really fits to me. Yeah. Yeah. And then he he said yes. Yeah. Yeah. That’s cool, man. That’s cool. And that because he has the feeling what is because I’m just like I’m he is like in the band for 30 years and I’m I’m from a one week, right? So like he knows, right? Absolutely. So what he what’s the vision, you know? So I can’t give any uh suggestion but I was always like do you think it really belongs to the Mega Death sound is what you know. Yeah. You know and it’s funny because I mean I mean we kind of know Dave’s reputation. I mean I I I’ve never met Dave. I’ I’ve interviewed Dave five times on the phone and he’s always been incredibly cool. Mhm. You know, but I mean, we kind of hear things about Dave and he could be a little puff and opinionated, but the the truth of it is, I mean, this is the band that he started, right? He’s been in the band for 30 years and he’s gone through these various players and he’s kept that integrity and that sound of the band. So, people don’t quite look at that, you know, the the fact that guitar players leave or guys, you know what I mean? It’s it’s I think it gets a little bit of a of a bad rap, you know, especially now you’re telling me yes, Kiko, you know, do your acoustic guitar piece and you know, I’ll listen to your ideas. If they’re not right, I’m going to say no. If Exactly. I wouldn’t it wouldn’t be there, you know. That’s pretty fair, I think. Yeah. And then if I come if I don’t pay attention the whole the whole meth or what what is this frame and then I put an idea that is good sounds new but it’s still inside the frame of the concept of the band. Yeah. He would say, "No, this is not Mega Death." And he would would be the guy to say, "What is Mega Death or not?" What? It’s not me. I’m just like a fan from outside or a member for one week. So, I don’t have the right to say now I think that this is Mega Death. You know, that would be very stupid, you know, going somebody’s house and say, "I don’t like the color of your sofa." You know, why don’t you change that? It’s very stupid, you know. So, you understand why there’s a reason for the whole thing. And it’s a very successful band. So exactly. So you forget how successful that that band is. Exactly. Right. But wasn’t a successful band like hey does it really matter what 30 years to be in the business you know like that you know like touring and you know Yeah. And it was a normal ups and downs of any any life you know. Absolutely. Absolutely. So we’re just a you know we’re a couple hours away from Mega Death going on stage here at the Hollywood Paladium. I mean, you’ve played millions of live shows, Kiko, but I mean, is there I mean, do you get nervous at this point? Is it is it absolute muscle memory? Do you think, "Oh my god, the the first song, what what do I play?" Or I mean, does it ever It cannot be like that. Yeah. No. If you’re like, "What I going to play?" You know, that’s just for a brief second. You have to be prepared. I uh The first show Yes. The first show I did was Kebec uh last year, July last year. We had I was still doing all the stuff that I had to do, right? So, I was doing a month tour in South America and I had to learn the 16 new songs with all the Marty solos and all this stuff expecting to be like all the the die hard fans going to be they want to hear note per note of all those solos. Um, it’s going to be a open air festival with 70,000 people, Canadian TV, and you know, full on. So, and then 3 days rehearsal. But the rehearsal, they know the songs. So, they’re like, "Okay, 3 days rehearsal, you know, if you rehearse or not, you know, like, so we play the songs." But, you know, for them it’s like, "Okay, another gig." For me, for me and Chris was like, "Okay, that’s like that’s huge. That’s huge. And then how can I am I was just worried about not how to play because you can practice and sit down at home and and play, right? But how you going to play and be on stage for your first show and look like you have been there for 30 years. Yeah, you have to look like you have this you know authority kind of I would say right that you you you own stage like the them you know like Dave and David. So that was my I was concerned about okay let me I have to go and then really know everything by heart. I have my techniques how to memorize stuff and um because you cannot have any scores or any I could have papers on you know whatever but it’s all first rehearsal everything memorized all the parts and everything. So when you look back on that performance, did you Well, now it’s better, of course, because then uh Yeah, now it’s better. It feels even more uh comfortable. But I didn’t play any wrong weird chord. That was my concern, you know, to play like a something or forget the next part. What’s the next part? Is the chorus or the verse or something? So nothing happened. It was good. So and that’s Yeah. So we didn’t sound check for that show. I just got on stage for the show and it was raining, it was slippery, it was like everything that could be wrong for show, you know, but the the the tax, the crew, everybody’s like super great. Yeah, it’s great. We’re ready. Yeah. Perfect. Thank you so much. No problem. really Brazilian music. They have a lot of good chords. Kind of kind of grew up listening to some Brazilian music. Yeah. Yeah. George B of course. Wow. Yeah, that’s nice. Nice guy inspiration. But I grew up kind of playing like listen to this. Oh yeah. That’s kind of loud. Jump in, right? Yeah. One note down. Yeah. Yeah. Or No. Yeah. It’s one of my favorite songs.
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