Intervista Tremonti (Mark Tremonti)

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A few weeks before the release of the new album “Dust”, follow-up of “Cauterize” which was released last year, we talked on the phone with a very busy Mark Tremonti.

Hi Mark, welcome to TrueMetal.it, how are you doing?

Good

You have a lot of things going on these days, your new solo album is about to be released, last year you released another solo album, “Cauterize”, you’re working on the new Alter Bridge album, and your touring as well! How do you keep up with all those things?

I just work hard, you know, that’s definitely what I do, working as hard as I can

 “Dust” is about to be released and it’s the follow-up of “Cauterize”. Why did you choose to do a double-album? And what is the concept behind the two albums?

I thought that 25 songs was too much to release at one time, so I decided to split them up so that each album could have its fair share.
As for the concept there’s not really a concept other than the artwork itself.

What’s the meaning of the artworks of “Cauterize” and “Dust” which you were just saying are linked?

The first record, Cauterize, was about a kind of science fiction monster coming to the earth to purify the earth and cauterize all the impurities out of the earth and Dust is pretty much the accolade of that.

Even though I find your vocals very good on “All I Was” (especially considering that you were known as a guitarist rather than a vocalist), listening to “Cauterize” I found you improved a lot. What happened between the two albums? Have you had a vocal coach?

It’s just touring and getting experience, it really helped a lot.
You can take as many lessons as you want, but until you get out there and sing in front of a crowd it’s not a big game changer.

The biggest step for me has been being out there and sing to the crowd.

Between “All I Was” and “Cauterize”, other than the differences on the vocals we just talked about, there’s also an evolution in terms of sound, sound which got darker and further from your usual alternative/hard rock background. What do you think?

I think that the two records were pretty similar.

Other than Alter Bridge, Tremonti and Creed, of course, what kind of music do you usually listen to?

The stuff I grow up with, you know, some old speed metal and that kind of music

Many – myself included – see you as one of the biggest guitarists around, one of the few that could be compared to some extent to the greats of the past. Do you find it to be true or do you think it’s an exaggeration?

I’d say it’s an honour to be considered in the same league as some of the musicians I grew up with, I just try to work as hard as I can, keep my head down.
I appreciate the accolade but I just try to work as hard as I can with just that in mind.

Going back to your music with your solo band, how does the songs are written? Does it all comes from an idea of yours or it’s more of a band’s effort?

I write all the original ideas and I play them to the guys and we try to arrange the songs together to see how the pieces comes, but all the original ideas, I bring them to the table.

Are you happy with how the albums were received?

Absolutely, it’s been a tremendous feedback so far, better than I ever hoped it could be

And what do you expect from the future?

I always try to keep developing, but it’s gonna be a little while before we start to put stuff together, so I have a lot of experience to gain before it happens.

Are you planning to come to Italy?

Yeah, I’ll be there hopefully by the end of the year

Well Mark, thanks for your time, it’s been a pleasure to talk to you, see you soon!

Thank you, see you!

Interview by Davide Sciaky in collaboration with Stefano Burini