FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
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The
following are frequently asked questions that have come
up over the years. If after reading these your question
has not been answered, please email me and I will
a) personally answer them and
b) post the answers to the FAQ
Thanks a mil for your feedback.
- John
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Q:
John... Did you really start off
playing the accordion?
A: Absolutely. Instead of playing
polkas and obereks however, I played in an accordion chamber
group and played transcriptions of Bach, Mozart, Bartok, Stravinsky
and Schoenberg to name a few. It was a fantastic learning experience
to go through at the young age of 11. I do admit playing Lady
of Spain and doing the 'bellow shakes' but it was all fun!
Q: Do
you still practice Scientology?
A: Absolutely! The most amazing
operating manual for a spiritual being occupying a bio unit
in the Earth dimension and I truly mean that! It's especially
helpful to the creative process and therefore extremely valuable
to artists.
Q: It's
unbelievable that after your wife's passing you found the strength
and courage to turn that ordeal into your inspirational book
The Song That Never Ended. What motivated you to do that?
A: I believe an artist's sole purpose
is to use his talent and expertise to express how he's experiencing
a particular slice of life. Although that was a horrific slice
for Gloria and myself, our love grew to such new unforeseen
heights that after she graduated, I knew that I had to share
the story. It was the toughest thing I ever did.
Q: How
do you get your B3 sound as it's soulful and full and blazing?!
A: See Keyboard Magazine July 1997
Issue B3 Master Class. Basically I use two leslies, one high
powered biamped solid state, the other a stock tube one. I mic
the tube amp for the warmer harmonic distortion and high powered
solid state one is simply for ridiculous stage volume. I then
take the direct preamp preleslie clean signal and run it through
my mixer with various effects to taste and balance these two
signals. The rest is sheer playing what I hear inside my heart
and soul which is the real secret to my sound.
Q: Is
it true that all of your B3's are solid sate preamps?
A: Yes so far but I'm working on
getting a new addition to my B3 family and it won't be solid
sate not that solid sate is at all bad. Tell you more later
but this is going to be one hell of a custom B3 and leslie set
up.
Q: How
do you write the Niacin material? It's so ripping yet honest
and even though you guys all have monster chops, you always
use them so musically.
A: I take 1000 milligrams of niacin,
wait 20 minutes until I turn red and write and play anything,
add some Billy Sheehan and Dennis Chambers seasoning and presto!....
it comes out Niacin! :)
Q: John....
Your book The Contemporary Keyboardist is a muther of a manual.
How long did it take for you to write it?
A: I didn't write it. Yanni did
and I stole it from him? Well okay... it took me three years
to write and 2 years to edit. I only did it to organize my teaching
notes but once I got into it, I became obsessed!
Q: What's
it like playing with Dennis Chambers and Billy Sheehan?
A: Scary!!!
Q: Who
are your main influences musically?
A: There are many and it never
stops. In no particular order: Chick Corea, Jimmy Hendrix, Mark
Stein, Keith Emerson, Herbie Hancock, Lee Michaels, Gonzalo
Rubalcaba, Oscar Peterson, Jimmy Smith, Keith Jarrett, Joe Zawinul,
Herbie Hancock, Monk, Bird, Coltrane, Bach, Bartok, Bartok,
Stravinsky, Penderecki, Stevie Winwood, Edgar Winter, Pete Robinson,
Basil Ronzitti, Charle Banacos, Dr. Paul Martin, Gary Burton,
Procol Harum, Chester Thompson, Billy Preston, Nicky Hopkins,
Gary Peterson, Felix Cavilier, Dennis Chambers, Terry Trotter...
it just keeps on going but that's enough for now!
Q: Will
Niacin ever ad a guitar player or singer?
A: Do you really think we need
to? I think not having these two colors contributes greatly
to our sound but what do I know?
Q: Do
you use a wah on your organ on Who Cares if It's Raining and
High Bias?
A: Yes I did. I always envied guitarists
when I heard them do this so I put a Cry Baby on the direct
organ preamp and added some distortion. The leslie sound is
'un wah wahed' though as otherwise I would lose the full organ
sound.
Q: What
do you think of easy listening jazz?
A: All music serves a purpose so
who am I to say that it sucks!
Q: Who
do you listen to for inspiration these days?
A: It varies on my mood and interest
but Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Krzysztof Penderecki come to mind
for some reason. I categorize them as 'incredible listening'
music as compared to 'easy listening!'
Q: John...
what do you think of all the B3 clones and samples etc.
A: Well, I will admit to one thing.....
they suck compared to the real thing especially modified such
as I have. That said, I do use some of them in my recording
studio for writing purposes due to the editing and scoring features
of MIDI but live... I'm too used to the double manual and the
positioning of all the performance controls. Also...one of my
B3's has MIDI out on both manuals so in the studio I can record
the real B3 audio and at the same time record MIDI data to control
other sounds such as piano, rhodes, other organ samples... whatever.
I know many people swear by some of these new clones as they
are getting better and better but I'm sorry... you asked and
I told ya! Besides somehow having a band like Niacin (vitamin
B3), it wouldn't seem right playing a wimpy-sounding clone now
would it, let alone it still doesn't sound as f.... good!!!
When I hit the pearly gates, I don't want St Peter to say "Well
John... you've led a pretty good life but I have a report here
that you gave in and gave up your real B3 for a clone! If this
is true, I'm afraid you'll have to go to hell and play Tie a
Yellow Ribbon along with Kenny G & Brittany Spears for eternity!"
Q: I
heard you studied with Charlie Banacos in Boston. What's your
instructional background?
A: Correct! While we're on the
subject of teachers, there are three teachers who really inspired
my whole musical career; Basil Ronzitti in my home town of Erie,
Pa. He exposed me to great music in an accordion choir I played
in and taught me technique, chord voicings and substitutions
and beginning jazz improvisation. He was always there for me
and in fact to this day we are still exchanging ideas. This
was the foundation that really got me headed in the right direction.
Then there was Dr Paul Martin from Edinboro University, rest
his soul as he recently passed away, who taught me the craft
of serious composition and exposed me to 20th century composers.
He was an amazing clarinetist and pianist and could sight read
fly paper. He really opened major doors for me, major! And then
Charlie Banacos in Boston who taught me the craft of jazz improvisation.
I was mostly a blues player with a little jazz experience but
Charlie has the uncanny ability to immediately discover where
you live and then devise exercises to handle what ails you musically.
While I was attending Berklee in Boston, I used to study with
Charlie on the weekends. He trained my ear to actually hear
jazz lines and trained my mind to understand their construction.
He took the mystery out of the process for me which I desperately
needed at the time. (See my interview with him in my book
The Contemporary Keyboardist.) Instructional wise
these three cats plus Berklee College of Music gave me the tools
to go after my musical dreams and only God knows where I'd be
now if it wasn't for these experiences... probably playing Tie
A Yellow Ribbon in Vegas! And by the way.... they're all "muther"
players and composers and could have went on to amazing performance
careers but instead chose to instruct. Teachers, especially
great ones, are a very special breed of individual and maybe
someday they will be publicly acknowledged as they are the true
heros!