Category: Guitar (page 1 of 2)

Kill By Inches – Underdog

Underdog was a Kill By Inches crowd fave which survived a few vocalist changes. We recorded a few versions of it, but this was the only one that was released on a demo CD.

Featuring Kevin Oriol on bass, Steve on drums and Alex (me) on guitar this version was recorded at Electric Plant Studios sometime in early 1998. The silly photo is an outtake from the Down To 3hree CD sleeve shoot, taken by Beth Benfatti. (Down To 3hree EP would be recorded in early 1999.)

Kill By Inches – Desecrate The Flesh (with Jeff Blanchard)

Ink was the topic of a few KBI tracks, and Desecrate The Flesh is probably the first one that comes to mind. Many versions were recorded, with different vocalists and guitarists.

This one was recorded on January 12, 1998 at Electric Plant Studios with Jeff Blanchard (check out his new band: Eyes Of The Sun) on vocals and Kev, Steve and me (Alex) laying down the rest. A heavy-ass track, this one was often requested during live shows. I’ll put up a another version of it soon.

Kill By Inches – E.F.S. (Instrumental)

Another instrumental KBI jam from the 1998 session at Electric Plant Studios. Once again, Kevin Oriol is rocking the bass, Steve beating the crap out of his drums and I’m on guitar. E.F.S. (Everything Fucking Sucks) was one of my all time KBI faves.

Steve wrote the lyrics but then lost them so it always remained an instrumental. (I remember reading the words once and they were really good. Oh, well.)

Kill By Inches – Animal Farm (Instrumental)

KBI at Electric Plant Studios. January 12, 1998. (Holy shit that’s long ago.) Kev on bass, Steve on drums, me on guitar. Party like its 1998.

If I remember correctly, Animal Farm was always an instrumental so what you’re hearing is the real deal. (I think Kev might have had words at some point but not sure what happened to them.)

Dig it. More KBI to come.

Assignment 9.2 (Jazz Guitar)

I apologize for the lack of updates in recent weeks; work has been out of control and lots of things are happening on the side as well. But I expect to back on track very soon.

In the meantime, here’s a relaxing jam which was recorded during my Jazz course at Berklee, taught by the fantastic Bruce Sanders. The lead was an improv played by me, the rest was performed by Bruce and an unknown drummer. (I’m planning on taking Bruce’s follow up course, but time hasn’t permitted that, yet.)

The photo is of the guitar used on this recording. I ran it through a Black Finger, and a small Tech21 amp (made right here in NYC. Represent!), into a Motu 828, then the RME Multiface (my sound interface – most highly recommended) and finally into Nuendo. Yeah, I know this sounds crazy complicated, but there are actually good reasons for this signal path. Well, there seemed to be anyway.

Enjoy.

Exclusive: Kill By Inches – Stylin’ (Live)

We’re going all the way back to 1997, to Electric Plant Studios somewhere deep in Brooklyn for a live Kill By Inches session with Shane and Tommy on vocals. Joining the two were Kevin Oriol on bass, Steve Papa on drums and Alex Kolundzija on guitar, with Vin Cin producing the mix.

Stylin’ was a unique and popular KBI jam separated from the rest by its mellow vibe topped with Shane Ali’s awesome rhymes.  Never released, this might be a the only recorded version of it.

As the story goes, about a year after this session the band’s lineup would be reduced to only 3 guys, with both Tommy and Shane moving on to other projects.  What followed is the Down To Three EP, still available in stores and featured here already with another KBI exclusive.

Btw, for more recent Shane Ali works (including some KBI covers!), check out his page on MySpace.  And while at it, be sure to check out Born Of Scars, the band that features KBI’s Steve and Pete (who replaced Alex on guitar many years ago).

Kill By Inches recorded at Electric Plant Studios on many occasions and I’m happy to report that I have a few other sessions as well.  Check back soon for more.

Download: Kill By Inches – Stylin’ (mp3)

Michael Hedges – Point B (Montaz remix)

Michael Hedges died on December 2nd,12 years ago. I only learned this recently and was completely unaware at the time I did this remix of Point B, Michael’s track released on his album Taproot in 1990. Like many of Michael’s works, Point B (as well as Point A) are solo guitar pieces performed using a Steinberger guitar. (I really like the original Steinbergers and have a few of my own. Btw, the photo on the left shows Michael with a custom Steinberger Klein guitar, which was a result of a collaboration between Steve Klein and Ned Steinberger.)  Micheal did some cool stuff with Steinberger’s TramsTrem which caught my attention.

While the Point B is a very focused effort, my version features lots of instrumentation and beats with the goal of creating a very different aural experience.  I purposely didn’t stay true to the source material but instead wanted to go in the quite opposite direction. Enjoy.  And check out the Michael Hedges store on Amazon.com for all of his releases.

Download: Point B [Montaz Remix] (mp3)

Exclusive: Sovereignty – Evil Mind

sovereigntyWe’re going waaaaaay back to 1993 (if my memory serves me right) for a track by the Bronx based band Sovereignty named Evil Mind.  Formed by the guitarist/vocalist Derek Torres, Sovereignty was a speed/trash metal band influenced by the sounds of Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and others.  Joining Derek was Eddie Moore on bass, Chris Peloso on drums and Aleksandar Kolundzija on guitar.

Accompanying the music were dark lyrics, frequently centered on dangers and effects of drug abuse, and challenges of urban life.  Written by Derek Torres, Evil Mind is in a way an odd choice for an introduction to Sovereignty but the track represents the band’s core sound well, both the fast riffs and groovy breaks.  It also features a great bass solo by Eddie (R.I.P.).

Sovereignty went through a few lineup changes after the release of Utopia, which featured Evil Mind, and the band eventually morphed into Derek’s current project – My Situation.

Download: Evil Mind (mp3)

Exclusive: Kill By Inches – D.N.A. (Down To 3hree Bonus Track!)

Kill By Inches released Down To 3hree exactly 10 years ago, and while the disc is available on Amazon, iTunes and elsewhere, the song D.N.A. recorded for this release never made it to the disc.  I have to admit that listening to it now I’m not exactly sure why we left it off since it was one of my favorite KBI tracks, but we did nonetheless.  So, guess what?   We’re making it available here so you can listen to and download it right now!

The song, along with the rest of the songs from Down To 3hree was recorded in March and April of 1999 at Multisound Studios and produced/mixed by Dave Weiner.  This was a particularly difficult time for me since my hometown Belgrade was being bombed by NATO.

Like most other KBI recordings, the music was recorded live with no overdubs and vocals were recorded separately.  So here it is: D.N.A. presented unmastered, unedited, straight-from-the-DAT.  Let us know how you like it.

Kevin Oriol – Bass, Vocals (left channel)
Steve Papa – Drums
Alex Kolundzija – Guitars, Vocals (right channel)

Download: D.N.A. (mp3)

Decade Of Dissonance

Decade Of Dissonance started out as a remix of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  That idea was quickly dropped and the track took a direction of its own.  However, things kept getting in the way and it would take more than a year before it was done.  Its another relatively long track and it takes a bit of turn around the 5th minute before getting back on, well… track.

The main line is played through Native Instruments’ insane modular software studio (to put it mildly), Reaktor, which allows you to create your own instruments and ensembles by literally drawing out the components (generators, knobs, faders, etc.) and connecting them into the signal flow as you see fit.  NI produces some of my favorite software based instruments including Absynth (also used on this track), Battery and the newer Massive.  To beef up the tone and give it some air I usually run the digital sounds through an analog device, preferably a preamp and/or a compressor, which was the case here.

(Speaking of preamps and compressors, I’ve gone through a few over the years and some of the highlights were a JoeMeek box, a Focusrite compressor (which I still have), and FMR Audio’s RNC 1773.  Nowadays, I find that the Universal Audio’s UAD powered plugins provide accurate emulations of the favorite analog hardware while allowing project-related presets.)

Yet another NI plugin, Guitar Rig was used on the guitar which meanders in the background and is more prominent in the break.  Guitar Rig does a decent job of simulating classic guitar amps and sounds, but it also offers some weird effects such as the one used here.

Exclusive: As you’ll see below, this post features the original (wav) format file for download.  This the mastered version of the original mixdown available here with no compression.  Enjoy.

Download: Decade Of Dissonance (mp3)Download: Decade Of Dissonance (wav)

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