005 - Carlos Alvarez (Beholder/Shadowdance)

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Today we sit down with Papa Los! Carlos has been there since my first "real" album and guided my playing the whole way. It's always a pleasure to sit chat music with him!

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

you know, multiple tracks of slot. I'm not I'm not pointing a finger at you. I'm just saying this is something I've dealt with. It doesn't have to. No, come on. I wouldn't drag you like that.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Hey everyone and welcome to Tone Chugs and Harmony, the weekly podcast where we discuss all things rhythm guitar. Through our guests, we try to learn unique experiences, insight, and their thoughts on what rhythm guitar means to them. Today we are joined by a very special guest. Not only does this man probably know my guitar playing better than me, but he is also what gave us the namesake of this podcast. We are joined today by Carlos Alvarez of Beholder Shadow Dance and Dirty Viking Audio. How are you doing, brother?

SPEAKER_03 0:57

I am doing fantastic, my friend. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:59

I am great. I'm excited you're here. I'm excited we're doing this. I don't think I'm capable of doing a new adventure not bringing Carlos along. So um yeah and I I I'm pretty sure I own a few grades we see we see in that beard. Those are from me. More than a few man but I'm glad you're here man uh because happy to be here man thank you for having me on as always of course um I mean I talk about you a lot on my streams on anything with guitar related especially to my plane so I always look up to your words of wisdom and things you have to say so I'm excited to give other people the opportunity to say it. And but let's start with the present right now. I you just recently posted that the beholder album is a year old or roughly around a year old now.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Yeah yeah uh April 25th uh marked the uh one year anniversary from when it uh released on black line records and uh yeah man it's it's been it's been pretty wild how how well it's been received and uh the amount of like accolades it's gotten and then you know good like bang and review after bang and review people like the end of the year it was on like so many uh top you know albums list best of 2025 a couple people had it at the top place like above like some like actual like real bands and stuff so it was really really surprising how well uh that album was received I mean you know we were very proud of what we put into it and how how the songs turned out and stuff but we didn't actually expect uh the kind of reaction it got which was really really awesome so it's uh a little daunting you know because gotta try to write a follow-up to it and hopefully it'll be as good.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Man I always joke that like I'm I'm the I'm the king at debutes because after that I don't know what to do, right? You you make the killer debut and then following it up is tough. But it's well des it's it's well deserved for you man. Thank you. Thank you. I mean you went all out I mean the badass artwork the I mean you know I kind of got a little insight on the process and you you really fucking busted your ass and like I said well deserved especially after the many years of helping guys like me get our stuff out there.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

You know I think Beholder was the universe like you know here you go Carlos uh I'll take it I'll take that why not you know yeah we have a saying we have a saying at my job you know it's like whenever something good could potentially happen we're like why not us?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

You know because everything shitty always happens so like why not why can't we have something good happen once in a while too right um for those who don't know because here we are chit chatting like everyone should know but tell us about Beholder the concept of Beholder and then I'd love to dig into sort of the process of the album itself.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

Beholder is basically is uh it's a love letter to um classic epic doometal bands uh early candle mass uh the first handful of uh solitude eternis albums early uh trouble memento mori uh just bands that I I've I've loved since uh since I was a teenager um I mean you know Solitude Eternus came out a few years later but like Candlemass I was I was big into back when I was a teenager and stuff and I always wanted the opportunity to to try my hand at like a classic style uh epic doom metal album and uh and also just having this lifelong uh love for Dungeons and Dragons and and I was like man what what could be more epic than you know putting those two together and uh yeah somehow it actually worked out man so uh I'm I'm pretty stoked with how it all turned out the the writing for it was just I wasn't trying to like hit any kind of agenda or something like that. I was writing for fun. I was just writing what I wanted to hear. Like if if if I could be 14 year old me and pick up an album with awesome artwork and stuff then I this is the kind of music I would want to hear. I would have been I would have been stoked to hear. And speaking of which that you know that hand in hand with all that stuff I wanted uh every aspect of it to be like the the thing I hate the most uh and I know a lot of musicians can relate to this is when you uh put out an album and somebody wants to check it out or you want to play it for somebody and before you even hit play you start making excuses you know you're like okay here's here's the album uh now just keep this in mind you know or uh just try to ignore that and and so the whole idea with this was I wanted zero excuses I wanted top notch production I wanted uh the the best artwork that you know I could get that made sense with the right artist um you know and just put the the time and effort into to making every facet of the release itself the best version of itself it could possibly be and that way there's no excuses to hide behind it's like either the songs suck or they or or or they're great and you like it. You know what I mean? So that's why we you know we we got like uh we hired uh Sophia Denkova the artist for like Power Wolf and Elvin King to do the artwork she smashed it out of the park for us uh we got our mutual friend Ronnie uh Bjornstrom to do the mix and master he's worked with uh sorcerer on uh I think all their albums and sorcerer is another big uh influence for Beholder uh so why not go to the to to the guy that makes them uh sound awesome you know what I mean makes sense and yeah and I I think a lot of the guys a lot of the guys yeah like there's so many the the guys in the band I think at first were might have assumed I was going to mix it um but being so uh so involved in every aspect of it from the songwriting to the production to engineering things to to coordinating things um it's just too much and and and I don't think I would have been able to approach it from an unbiased standpoint. So that's why from the very beginning I'm like no that I'll I'll do all the all the the the front end stuff I'll I'll you know I'll handle the the guitar recordings as you know whatever the backing vocals the you know all that kind of stuff I'll coordinate everything but I am not mixing this thing no no way I I need to be able to just send somebody the tracks and be like all you now you know take the pressure off me and it's the smartest choice I think because Ronnie is is is amazing and uh and he works fast and it's just uh it was a pleasure working with him and he was kind of like the final step of an incredibly positive experience and process that he just kind of like bookended the whole thing and and made it that that last stage he made that a pleasure and uh and the results I think speak for himself. Even if you don't like Doom Metal uh I think you could like this album because there's so much like classic heavy metal uh sprinkled throughout as well which I mean that's what classic Doom is anyway.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

So right well and it's interesting you say that because uh a thing I was gonna follow up with you was like I remember when you first told me about this and you mentioned Doom Metal um you know I don't know much Doom admittedly so I always go to the slow sort of sludgy stuff. And then when I heard the beholder songs I was like this is not what I expected. It's super riffy. And you know honestly man there was a lot to be desired for the kind of riffs I like too so that was exciting.

SPEAKER_03 8:41

Again going in with the expectation I had um thinking something like uh how's that what's that band with uh like sleep sleep sorry everybody yeah sleep that super doomy kind of band that I don't know that's what I was thinking and then when I heard Beholder I was like that is not this yeah there's a there's a lot of I mean like anything else right there's there's subgenres of subgenres and doom metal is no exception so you've got that uh that sludgy stoner kind of doom um you've got that like that uh what do they call it like that drone kind of doom stuff or whatever and you got like the death doom and and and and all of that has its its value and uh you know to to whomever really digs that kind of stuff I am not into that really I don't mind uh some some death doom I I loved like old my dying bride and stuff like that um but as far as like the the like the stoner kind of stuff it's just not my thing that fuzzy kind of whatever it's not my thing this is more like I always said uh like classic doom metal is really just um like slow depressing power metal right so that's kind of like you know if you like if you like the sensibilities of I shouldn't even say that either because there's there's too much power metal out now that's just like all like it it'll give you diabetes if you listen to it too long. It's too sparkly. I I mean like the old school shit you know old school power metal that kind of stuff but like you know concentrating more on on on really just like crushing riffs instead of like speed uh and and you know kind of avoiding as much as you can stuff that's happy sounding or whatever but you know you you don't want to get uh you don't want to get bogged down by trying to play slow for the sake of slow and and and you know sad for the sake of sad. So there's a few moments on the album that kind of step off to the side a little bit from that which I think is necessary because uh it you know you add a little bit of brightness here and there in the right spots it makes the dark stuff that much darker and heavier.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

So well yeah it's kind of like you said right like you weren't writing with an agenda or rhyme or reason. So it's like that's where the the mindset started but you let the s it seems like you just let the songs go where they needed to go. Absolutely that's the best way to do it. You know um let's stay on the album but let's switch gears to the guitars this was another exciting thing to talk about with you but now we can share the experience with other people you mentioned you quad tracked with this one uh and I think you I'll let you tell the story but I believe that was at Ronnie's recommendation but how was the experience tracking the guitars for this one and your different approach maybe from other projects yeah I mean I'm no stranger to uh quad tracking uh even like the last Shadow Dance album that was a re-recording of the the the debut album from you know 2000 or whatever uh I quad tracked all those rhythms as well so it it's it's not anything I'm not used to doing.

SPEAKER_03 11:54

Um it's just that when I first approached Ronnie you know to see if he'd be interested in working on this and then I said okay well you know I'm gonna start uh organizing everything and you know I'll I'll get to recording my guitar soon would you prefer dual tracked or or quad? And uh he wrote back quad and I was like fuck yeah okay I I mean I let's elaborate on that fuck for people who might not know why why because it's annoying man it's it's fuck it's fucking annoying uh you know look I have a process that works for me so I would never uh I I would never be so full of myself as to say this is how you do it. Um no I have a method that works for me which is I will um I'll lay down my first rhythm guitar track my primary one and I will um I will I will play the shit out of first of all you got to rehearse rehearse everything before you start recording uh there's there's there's no substitute for that being well prepared for your parts there's I think too many people uh are are a little too comfortable with just writing something in guitar pro and then uh a day later uh trying to like throw the guitar version like for real down without ha having spent you know a month playing that song over and over and just committing it to muscle memory so that by the time you actually do go to record it, you slam through it. You're playing confidently you're playing clean you're playing articulately you know I think there's no substitute for that. So I rehearse everything for a while until I'm feeling pretty good about it. And then I will record my primary uh rhythm track and I will do that to the best of my ability I will punch in where I need to and just make everything as tight as I possibly can against the uh drum tracks or click tracks. Sometimes I will alternate between um tracking two drum tracks like a you know backing track of drums so that I can actually kind of feel a groove. But sometimes uh you know you you you do it like five six times and you're like why am I not nailing this and you just go right to a click track and turn the drums off and and you nail it and you're like why that doesn't even make sense but so I always have the click track on hand to do that as well and then once I'm done with that primary track for a song I will then edit the shit out of that so that track okay I will make it as as tight as tight as possible like as nuts the butts tight as possible against that drum against that click whatever without without sacrificing feel if there's room for that we could get into that later some people they they they they put way too much weight on that that idea but uh but I will get just essentially the idealized rhythm guitar track against them that drum track and then I will proceed to do the next three but I will play along the drums only and I will ignore whatever I did on that first track. And I will just perform I won't edit the other three I will just perform I will punch in I will retake until it sounds good and I will comp takes absolutely people try to act like they don't do that. Yes they do or they should be doing it because they're not as good as they think they are so I don't pretend to be you know some some kind of savant or whatever uh I'm good I'm I'm solid my my rhythm technique is is is well defined and and and honed. So I'm pretty confident in my abilities but I have to comp takes I have to retake I have to punch in so I will do that for the other three tracks on a song without listening to that first one because uh a mistake that a lot of people do make and I made it in the beginning as well is editing things too tight. Um if you get in the habit of trying to line up all your peaks and your DIs and stuff like that, especially across three, four, four rhythm tracks, you actually end up with a more narrow uh overall guitar sound than wider because you want a little bit of smear between those hits uh from track to track because that's what actually creates that wall of sound that that wall of guitars so you don't want them to be perfect. So I ignore that first perfect one and I just track as best I can because I know it's there already. So anything else I do if it sounds really tight I know that first one is locked in. So that's that's basically my process for quad tracking it's what it works for me. May not work for you know everybody else or whatever but uh so far it's gotten me through everything from slow tempo mid tempo doom stuff to you know a couple of things on the Shadow Dance album are still some of the fastest things I've ever played so nice.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Now do you think um do you think it's something where it could either be so the difference of uh you know just tracking one on each side or quad tracking uh do you think if someone has the capability to quad track they should always quad track or is it really preference or circumstantial to the album you're trying to make I I I would say I would say maybe like circumstantial to the album you're trying to make.

SPEAKER_03 17:18

I think if you're doing um if you're doing like a a really uh like a very thrashy um seedy kind of thing um or or really really super technical I I don't know necessarily that you need to have everything quad tracked I would think dual tracking would probably uh do the job just fine for for that style um you may quad track certain parts like um when big just big chords come in you might want to do that or you know like when you go into like a bridge section some strum thing or something whatever you you you might want to throw in a an extra set of rhythm tracks there just to kind of you know you could pan them different or whatever in the mix and and you know it adds some some excitement and stuff like that to the song but as a whole um I don't think there's any specific rule I don't think if you're playing this style of music you should never quad track or you should always quad track um I think it's really dependent on the album on the style on the song what the song calls for um it's just that for for me um the majority I mean first of all for the beholder stuff it's all low tempo with a couple little pickups uh you know uh a a couple of mid-tempo sort of vibes and stuff I don't think anything goes above like 125 BPM or something like that maybe 130. So so and and also because there's not a lot of uh fluff in in the album from the very beginning my intention was to do something old school in terms of like there's no keyboards on the album anywhere um and most like I would say 90% of the album is stuff that can easily be reproduced live with two guitars so there's not a whole shit ton of like you know overdubs and crazy things in the background and all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

So tracking some Blind Guardian stuff here.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

Exactly and which again perfect for that style you know but for this this was meant to be to s to have a vibe that sits alongside like those older albums and so because there wasn't as much space being taken up by other things other elements uh it it allowed for all the rhythms to be quad tracked through every song and not cause any kind of issue. Like it was like it was more about here's the guitar sound and now let's fit everything around it kind of thing. That was that was sort of the idea.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

So gotcha yeah cool awesome man all right let's uh let's journey back in time now let's uh talk about sort of the the early days of your guitar playing um and then we'll you know we'll we'll we'll catch back up here to the present but what were some early struggles for you like and I'm not talking about like starting the guitar right we all we all have the origin story where we started with the you know place your finger on the fret and press press the string kind of stuff but when you really kind of started to get to that next point of playing these heavy styles these heavy heavy metal rhythms if you will um what were some early struggles for you to overcome to really lock in with yourself or start to understand more of oh this is what I need to be doing if I want to achieve this tight plane well um two things come to mind actually uh when I when I first started um I probably got about a year into my playing where I was having a lot of difficulties um getting like articulating things when I would try to play uh faster or move between strings and um it it it turned out it was because of the way I was holding my pick um I was actually I we used to call it like when when you would skateboard if you use like a different leg than everybody else we called a goofy foot.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

And it was almost like I was holding the pick like goofy foot. So instead of like that um hold on let me see you see this? Okay. So like got a pick so like you know instead of having like that where you where you're you're you're holding down like at an angle like that I was doing like the Marty Freeman or the Chuck Scholar and I was holding it like bent upwards. So I was like actually scra I was like scraping the strings Like this instead of doing like like that. So I don't know if you can see that or not. But anyway, um, so it just turned out I was holding the pick almost not upside down, but just I was angling it upwards the way if you watch Marty Freeman, he does it. And you know, God bless him, the guy is a god. But I it was sorry.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

I always reference I always reference him when talking about like trying to remind people, like, you know, when I like to a student when I'm showing them how to do something, it's like, look, this is what I found works for me, but then I'll I'll I'll reference Marty Freeman um or like James Heffield with the three-finger thing. I'm like, who am I to tell those guys they're wrong? Even though to me that looks just crazy. Um yeah, so I just wanted to agree with it.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

He held it weird like that, like the Marty Freeman kind of posture on his his right hand. So anyway, um I I was I was struggling with uh clarity and articulation and uh just being able to to jump from like different patterns and stuff like that. And and it turned out that once I started to force myself to hold the pick the opposite way, much like James Hetfield, um it it it wasn't like I lost a whole year. It was like it took me about a month to reprogram my hand and my brain to never even consider holding the pick the way I originally was again. And so once I did that, um it it it opened up a whole bunch of stuff for me because things that I had been struggling with uh all of a sudden were so much easier. And I realized it was just that the the way I held the pick. Now, does that mean that that's the correct thing for everybody? No, again, I'm not the kind of person to say, this is how you do things. If you're not doing it like this, you're wrong and you suck. No, if it works for you, obviously, Marty Freeman, then fucking hold the pick that. I don't give a shit how you do it, you know. Uh I've seen people play, they're not even left-handed, but they play left-handed guitars upside down, like with the the low E at the bottom and shit like that, just for, you know, I don't know, just because they want to steal your woman or something. So, you know, whatever works for you is what works for you. But that was that was a big thing for me. That really opened up a whole like, you know, it I shouldn't say it opened anything up, it removed a stumbling block. It removed the stumbling block for me.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

Right.

SPEAKER_03 24:27

So that that was definitely uh one thing. And then um struggles. Uh yeah, I don't know. I I I I never really I never really struggled with too much else, I guess. Um I I I've always I've always uh just kind of kept a mindset that I just want to be able to play what I hear in my head. Um so maybe that's an insult to myself that I'm not that I'm not hearing anything in my head that's so abject like so absolutely complex that I need to struggle to get good at it or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Right.

SPEAKER_03 25:14

Um, but I think that was a a pick thing was a big roadblock for me. Once I got past that, it it just if if I really wanted to learn how to play something, I I I've been able to play it.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

So and was there anything else you can think of that like came maybe not a roadblock, but little obstacle you had to get through. So, for example, a lot of people when it comes to this kind of playing seem to get stuck with feeling super tense in the arm, right? Or um, you know, not actually locking in the wrist and things like that. Was that ever an issue for you, or did you kind of just it just kind of worked for you? You just kind of did it.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

Um that's that's just all technique. And I think once you um I think once you play something enough times, you instinctively uh understand if the way you're playing it feels good or not. And if you're playing something and at the end of it you're in pain, that you should be taking some type of notes from that that you're doing something wrong. Because obviously, if other people can do it and they're not in pain, then you know they must be doing something different that could be of benefit to you. So for myself, the only thing that I um the only thing I learned from any of that kind of stuff was proper stretching. Um, because I I think there were a lot of times, especially when I was playing, like just balls out real fast shit all the time. Um, I would just jump in and start playing. And then maybe after like 10 minutes or something, uh I'd like that your tendon and your elbow, it would start to get really aggravated. And uh I was like, you know, uh, I'm gonna hurt myself. So uh I would take five minutes and I still do it before gigs, before before I practice. Uh I don't even do shit until I stretch my fingers out. You know, I I I stretch my wrists out and and by extension my my forearms. And uh I'll do that for just like a couple minutes, you know, not even. And it makes all the difference in the world. Uh I don't I don't ever lock up in my arm anymore or anything like that. And and it just uh, you know, yeah. If you're feeling pain, you're doing something wrong, so address it. Pay attention to it and address it and fix it, and and you'll you'll be happier for it.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Yep. Yeah, and you brought up uh a few points that Rob, my last guest, brought up, and I like to point that out to people listening as just reminders of like, here's now two people saying the same thing. Uh he mentioned the importance of stretching, and then also like we talked about sort of techniques and how there's not a certain way, but trust your body. If it feels wrong, it's probably wrong. But if it feels right and it sounds good and someone tells you it's wrong, don't listen.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

Don't listen to them.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:05

I mean, like there's you know, a lot, there's a lot of things, like especially when you're playing real fast. Um, you know, obviously you're supposed to be using your wrist and not really your elbow. Okay. So, but that's just technique. And if anybody is solidly 100% using their elbow to play really fast stuff, they are doing something wrong because they are going to start to feel pain after a while. You're supposed to be just using your wrist as a pendulum. Right. And but but but there are times where it makes perfect sense for you know, a section or whatever where you may want to just lay into it with your elbow to get like a little extra, a little extra depth of feel when you're, you know, especially if you're like locking into a double bass groove or something like that. But you shouldn't be doing it all the time. You you have to know how to like float back and forth. It's kind of like um like for technique things and stuff, you know, everybody's got their own little quirks and shit. I absolutely uh detest fixed bridges, I prefer uh floating bridges, but I don't even really I don't even use a trim bar or anything like that. I just prefer floating bridges because when I play, and it's just something I noticed that I I had over years just became a thing, I will um when I'm playing really fast, I'll be pushing back with my palm on on the bridge. And it's not enough to put anything out of tune, but I'm actually creating just a touch more tension on the strings. And so that allows me to pick cleaner and faster. And I anchor that by my pinky always hooks around the high E string. So it like serves two purposes. It anchors my hand and it also uh deadens any of the higher strings when I'm you know riffing. So I'll do that. And then when I when I go into something heavy or whatever, I just I lay off that back pressure and and just you know what I mean, then I can just normal palm mute and stuff. But when I play fast, I notice that it's something I didn't even realize I was doing. It was just kind of like instinctual. I was pushing back just a tiny bit just to get a little extra tension on the strings to make make it easier and and I can you know play at pretty much whatever speed with and still get like a lot of no clarity.

SPEAKER_00 30:21

I I remember when I switched to Evertunes, I struggled for a while to I noticed I just I've still never had a guitar with one of those. Yeah, it's like you lose it's just like a flatter surface, so it's like you lose that place where your palm rests, and it fucked me up for a while where I was like, I almost like literally like, I don't know if I can play these things, but I think now I've gotten used to it, but I understand the difference in bridges, like and all those little things can make a difference, you know, where like all the and you said you said the word already earlier, but the muscle memory you get used to placing it here, or you know, you twist a little bit this way, um which actually thought made me think of another question, right? So you mentioned uh the bridges, things like that, and then so strings, like what gauge strings and picks did you end up finding that you use now, which I assume you've probably used for a while, but have really worked for you. And follow-up question. When do you change the gauge of your strings depending on what you're recording? So if do you know what I mean by that question? Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Well, I I know you get that, but sometimes I tend to I tend to ask long questions with like, let me answer one part first, bro. I I get yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

Yeah, no. Um, so I've been pretty much I went through a lot of different picks uh when I was younger. And I I can't say when I settled on these, but um Dunlop Tortex yellow ones, I've been using those probably since the late 90s. Um never looked back. I I don't need anything else. That's it, that's my pick for the rest of my life. Um, as far as strings, I've gone through uh several different brands that I was in love with at the time. Um, but now um what am I using? Uh yeah. 11 11s, uh Dunlop Heavy Cores. That's my string of choice. Um 1150. And uh no, I don't use different gauge strings for different stuff. So all the uh all the shadow dance stuff, uh, I used those strings and all the beholder stuff, I used those strings. And when I did all the guitar stuff for uh for the last Power Theory album, I used those strings. So yeah, no, I don't I don't need to go to like, you know, like uh like piano wires or something like that, just because I'm gonna be playing in in C or whatever. Just set the guitar up better. That's all.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Yeah, um, because I've been curious, and this is more of like a off-topic thing. I guess I'm kind of about to ask Cardus a question, but it could be good for you guys as well. Um, you know, one thing I've noticed, I like to use heavier ones, so I do the the hybrid 1156 because I like the a little heavier for the the top. Um, but then sometimes I'll grab someone else's guitar who is a lighter gauge string, and I'll try to do like a little lead lick, and I'm like, oh, I'm so much better at it on these lower strings. So a part of me is considered like, oh, maybe when I'm tracking my own shit, I should consider uh a smaller gauge string for the lead parts. Uh I can hit the vibrato better and things like that. So I I don't that's kind of what I was curious about, is depending on what you're tracking, but you just you don't you don't even worry about it. Just same gauge. I don't even worry.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

I use it, I use a different guitar.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

All right.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

I'll I'll use it like for uh for my rhythms. I've got my two primary uh Jacksons with uh the Seymour Duncan pickups, uh the SH10 full shreds. Um I have two different Jackson Kellys, so I'll use one for either side. I know they're the same guitar, same same brand, and it's the same pickup, but they're two different guitars. So you're getting just the slightest difference in natural EQ separation from one side to the other. So I do that for my rhythms, and then I have a third uh Jackson Kelly, same strings, uh, same pickups, but it's a different, it's different style, uh different make, I mean. And um, I'll use that for like my like my cleans and and uh melody leads, and and if I have solos, because I mean I I can play solos. I'm I'm not like a uh I'm not some maestro, you know, shred master or anything like that. But uh and it doesn't come it doesn't come naturally or easy to me because it's not something I ever focused on. Um, but I can. I I was the primary lead guitarist for in in power theory for you know the six, seven years or whatever I was in that band. Um, I've done plenty of solos on my own stuff. Um, you know, Beholder is probably the only thing so far that I haven't done any solos on uh with this album because uh it was just nice to actually just take a break from from any of that kind of stuff and say, let me just concentrate on writing songs. And Matt is just on such a different level of guitar playing. I'm like, he can he can handle all the solos. I don't need to even try to, I don't have that much of an ego. So I let him handle that stuff. But for my own stuff, yeah, I'll I'll use the same gauge strings. I just use a different guitar and uh and different amp sound. That's I think that's more important than anything, is to get the right amp sound. Um you know, so for like uh for like leads and and and melody uh guitar lines and stuff like that, I'll I'll typically I'll actually use less gain, um, but a little bit more mids to get kind of like a almost like a little bit of a chimey bell kind of attack, a little bit more percussive, and uh and a different amp sound. And that just naturally helps it sit on its own against all these you know rhythm guitars that have their own sound as well. So that to me is more important than a gauge of strings or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Okay, nice. Um, and then who are tell us some of your early influences, um, some guys that really uh shaped you in your in the plane that you like to do now.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

Okay, I mean, yeah, I first and foremost, I mean, you you know, keep in mind I'm old, so uh, you know, uh I I was there when a lot of these classic albums were actually coming out. So uh I I I can't deny Papa Head is you know, is in a top spot for sure. Uh, you know, and anybody and everybody when when I was a teenager, when when all of us were kind of um you know discovering instruments and stuff like that, if any of us gravitated towards a guitar, it's because we want it to be as cool as Papa Head. So that's just you know, there's no arguing that.

SPEAKER_00 37:06

Dude had the charisma for sure.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Oh god, the the man was a god. The man was a god. Okay, so he he still is, uh, but you know, he's also hands down the greatest rhythm guitar player out there. Uh and that's just, you know, I know there's people that can probably do stuff that you know that's outside of his technical ability or whatever, but it has nothing to do with that. It's not it's not showboating. It's like this guy is just he commands on that guitar, every single note. Okay. And I learned a lot of uh, you know, ironically, the only thing I didn't learn immediately from him was how to hold the fucking pick, but uh everything else, everything else, you know, I would say, you know, was he was hugely uh influential. And then um as you know, which again it's funny because he's not even the reason why I ever uh decided to play guitar. I I got my first guitar because I was like I heard uh the song Twilight of the Gods from Halloween, and I was like, holy shit, uh I don't want to be able to do that. So I I would say Kai Hansen, um, even though I don't really write in his style or whatever, but Kai Hansen is probably my my biggest overall influence because that's actually the guy that got me to to you know deliver newspapers in the middle of winter and stuff to save up to get my my first guitar.

SPEAKER_00 38:42

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 38:42

Um Kai doesn't have shut up.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

I don't think, yeah. I mean, yeah, godfather of power metal and all that kind of shit for sure. But uh I you know, unless you're actually like a strict power metal guy, it seems, I I don't hear a lot of non-power metal-ish people ever cite him as an influence. And I think uh that's a shame. Um, but hey, whatever. Uh so yeah, Kai Hanson, uh, James Heffield, Scott Ian is another absolute beast of a rhythm guitar player.

SPEAKER_00 39:13

He's another one. I know we've talked about it, but he's another guy I feel doesn't get the credit he should get.

SPEAKER_03 39:19

Um I don't I think he definitely doesn't, absolutely. Yeah, he is just uh he an absolute three and a half foot tall beast of a player. Yeah. He's a monster, dude. Yeah, and uh and I would say then like after that, that was kind of like the the primary, like the first first wave of influences. And then, you know, as I started to kind of develop a little bit of a uh a playing ability and I wanted to like stretch a little and test myself, I would say probably the next most influential one was uh Greg Fulton from uh Cyclone Temple. He was in a band before that called Snow White from Chicago area. Um that dude is just oof, man, what a player. What an absolute monster of a rhythm player. And uh and and I learned something important from his playing, which I didn't see the other guys doing a lot of, which is um he he would actually play chords with Vimbrato, which I was like the the first time I actually realized what he was doing, I was like, what the fuck? Nobody I didn't I didn't see anybody else really doing that. He was like he's like shaking his power chords and stuff, and I'm like, that's so cool. So I I adopted a little bit of that into my own playing.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

And uh I've seen people do that now, maybe it wasn't as common then, but it always sounds really cool.

SPEAKER_03 40:40

Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd say Greg Fulton was probably the first one I I heard and and seen doing that. And then yeah, I guess like the there there really wasn't too much too much else after that. Uh I think like uh I I nicked a few um uh uh a few techniques from like uh like Andy Sneep back when he was in Sabbat. And uh and and and a few things obviously from uh John Schaeffer back when uh like Night of the Storm Rider was was pretty that was that was some hot soup back then. So uh yeah, I definitely nicked a few.

SPEAKER_00 41:15

I always try to remember that that shit came out in '92, man. That's crazy. Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:21

Who was there?

SPEAKER_00 41:23

I was I was there.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

I was uh well, yeah, yeah, but I mean I was like, I was at this I was at the fucking record going, what the hell is this? This looks awesome. So I bought it, and I was like, it is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

Yep. Um so this this brought up a question I wasn't gonna ask, but um a lot of people cite especially the earlier ice dirt stuff as just being like this top level of playing, especially with the gallops and things. Did you ever find ice dir stuff any harder than the rest, or is it just sort of faster? You know?

SPEAKER_03 41:52

Um it it's again, it all comes down to technique. I think John Schaefer had uh amazing technique. Um, he definitely he could rip his ass off. There's there's you know no disputing that. Um, but I think um so uh speed is is speed is nothing really. Um it it's really about your it's about technique, a combination of good technique and endurance. Okay, if you have good technique and endurance, you can play anything at any speed. So the the the stuff that was really kind of making people go like holy shit with John Schaefer, and you're like you know, like that kind of stuff. That's not hard. And and I was able to do that stuff back then as well. Um, but can you do it for six and a half minutes straight cleanly? That's where he excelled, I think. Um, because the patterns he was playing are not difficult, they're not anything uh overly special or yeah, they're pretty pretty standard gallop patterns. Yeah, uh you know, but he would he would he would he would trick them up a little bit, which was cool. And I think really the thing that made them stand out to me was the fact that he was doing this uh very uh precise, brashy style of rhythm playing over a very power metal-ish sound, which was unusual at the time because uh, you know, we didn't really have a whole shit ton of power metal bands back then. So you know, there was you know, Halloween and riot and stuff like that, and and and they weren't doing that kind of stuff. And and Blind Guardian wasn't doing stuff like that at that time either. So they were more kind of straightforward, just you know, like tremolo tricking and stuff, you know.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Leeds and tremolo cooking was was Blind Guardian.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

Yeah, so uh again, what you know there wasn't really anything mind blowing. It was just really cool to hear. So it's it's not difficult to play though.

SPEAKER_00 44:04

Yeah. So here's a question I've I've never really asked anybody. Uh, because we always hear about have good technique, right? Um, but what can people do? Uh, cause say someone's working really hard, like, great, okay, cool, I got the technique. What can players do to work on their endurance? I feel like that's something I don't hear a lot talked about. Do you just just play?

SPEAKER_03 44:26

Just I mean, that's all I kind of did in the younger years, but yeah, you you gotta you gotta establish habits. Uh you know, like what's the goal? You know, if your goal is to be able to do, you know, something like that for you know a high rate of speed and cleanly for six minutes, uh you're not really you're gonna frustrate frustrate yourself if you try to just play until you get there. You're you're you're gonna get discouraged, I think. Uh you know, and rightfully so, because that's boring. And like you know what I mean? Like you're you're just constantly struggling and strike. It's like no, you have to build a solid foundation. And the only way to do that is to take that rhythm that you hear. And if it's like a you know, if you're trying to do a John Schaefer thing for six minutes and go, take that rhythm, break it down, you know, to to get yourself a a metronome or a drum drum machine, whatever, you know, like easy drummer or something, set up a loop like that, and just play, take a tempo, and just say for for for five minutes, don't do it over long because you'll get bored and that that's not good. Do it for like five minutes every day. And then after a few days, if you get to the end of that five minutes, you're like, that was nothing, then do it for six minutes, or raise the BPM like two BPMs and do that, and just keep doing it's methodical and but you keep it short, you do it in in in just like daily bursts of controlled amounts of time, and you keep doing it every day, and in two weeks you will make more progress than if you just try to wail away at it for two weeks, you will be so much further ahead, and with that that solid foundation in place now, as opposed to just fucking swinging for it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

And I I think that's the the part you're always trying to hit home when you tell someone to take it slower, right? Slow down, break it apart. Because in the moment, that seems like I'm gonna be fucking here forever. But like you just said, like the like the difference you'll have two weeks later will be so worth it.

SPEAKER_03 46:50

Absolutely. Yep. You have to set up a solid foundation, and the only way to do that is to do things slow. You start out slow, speed comes with, again, technique and endurance. And before you know it, you're gonna you're you're you're gonna those those forest gump leg braces are gonna fly off and you know you're gone, man. That's it. No one would be able to catch you.

SPEAKER_00 47:12

Dude, I need a I need a pee-wee's fun house button when they say like the word of the day, and every every time someone says slow on the podcast, I'm gonna press it.

SPEAKER_03 47:23

Oh, I got it, I got this one.

SPEAKER_00 47:25

I got that that was easy.

SPEAKER_01 47:29

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 47:31

Okay. Um, so we talked a lot about uh guitar in the studio. Uh we went over a lot of that, some of your influences, you're playing, your upcoming or your upbringing with guitar. Um, I'm a little curious to hear about uh you playing live and maybe your different approaches. Uh, one thing in particular, we talk about quad tracking, right? Get the big studio sound. Um, how do we translate that over to a live environment? Is it is it really just as simple as crank up the fucking volume on the amp, or do you sort of approach either gear or technique a little different live?

SPEAKER_03 48:04

No, live is a completely different thing than than recording studio, whatever. It's a it's an it's an entirely different animal. They're not even related. So I never even it never crosses my mind when I uh when I have to play a gig, how am I gonna reproduce that sound live? It doesn't matter, it's not gonna happen. So the only thing I do is I I play live with the uh with the same sound that I use for the album. And then at that point, I'm at the mercy of the sound guy, like everybody is. So be nice to your sound guys and tip them. So yeah, that's that's it, man. There's there's there's nothing else you can really do. I mean, you don't want to turn up louder because then you're gonna make an enemy of the sound guy. Again, be nice to your sound guy. Um, for for myself, I use uh my camper live, and I have uh it's not the powered one, but I have a power amp for it. So what I'll do is um if if the option is there, uh I'll run direct to you know front of house, direct out from the camper, and they're getting my profile sound, so they're in complete control, but I have independent control from my power amp. I can run that if there's a uh you know 412 on the stage or something like that. I can run that into that cabinet and have my own stage volume. So, you know, if I'm a couple songs deep and I feel like I, you know, on a little more, I want to feel something hit me in the back a little bit, I can go turn up on stage and it does not affect anything going to front of house. So the sound guys are always happy. You know, see your sound. So it that works for me, you know what I mean? And and I have that option. They never have to worry about it, they don't have the mic on the cabinet, so it doesn't fuck them up or anything. So yeah, that's that's all I do, man. I don't, I don't, I don't worry about how I can get this sound of quad tracked guitars from the album live. I don't give a shit. It's not gonna matter, you know, is sound guys gonna make you sound good or not. So that's it.

SPEAKER_00 50:18

Cool, man.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

In the room.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

Yeah, that's true. Awesome. All right, so a couple more things. I want to uh get some advice questions from you, maybe uh for those I feel like naturally through the conversation of the of us talking, you've answered some of these already, but I'm still gonna ask them. And if there's anything you want to add on, go ahead. Or if not, you can just revert back to what you already answered. But you've been doing this a long time, you've been a guitar player, a songwriter, an engineer, a producer, you've fucking done it all. You've had to deal with guys like me for 10 years. Uh so you've got some knowledge, and I want to I want to take some of it for our listeners here. Um, what what is something just as a player or an engineer that you see a lot of rhythm guitarists do wrong that you wish they wouldn't?

SPEAKER_03 51:12

Okay, so uh uh, you know, again, as a player, uh I'm I'm not I'm not gonna really comment on that, on what I see people do wrong because I'm doing shit wrong too. So um everybody's on their own their own trip with that kind of thing. Figure it out, you know. That's all. As far as recording, um what do I see guitarists doing wrong with gets with recording? Not rehearsing, not rehearsing their stuff for a good amount of time before they uh then record it, their their final takes. That is probably the biggest mistake I see, especially now, because like I said earlier, it's it's all too common for people to just write their shit in guitar pro uh without even really picking up a guitar or a bass or whatever. And then uh they go, okay, song's done, I'm gonna record it now. And then they they you know they lay down you know multiple tracks of slop. I'm not I'm not pointing a finger at you, I'm just saying this is something I've dealt with. He doesn't have to, he doesn't have to. No, come on. I would I I wouldn't drag you like that. Um listen, hey, look look, let me be clear about something, okay?

SPEAKER_00 52:28

Is my face red, everybody? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

If beholder, if beholder had to go play live at a big festival or something, and and I I and I fell off my roof and fucked myself up and couldn't play, you'd be you'd be like my top pick to replace me to do it, because I would trust you to play.

SPEAKER_00 52:47

Oh, let's push Carlos off the roof, everybody. I'm kidding. Yeah. So I can play this one beholder show. You no, let me thank you. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03 52:59

Yeah, you would you would you would be you would be about one of the only people I would I would trust to to to do that and to do it right. So uh so no, I'm not dragging you, I'm not pointing a finger at you, but it is something I see a lot of guitarists do. Um, they don't rehearse their own material before they decide they're gonna record it and send it to somebody. So um, you know, for myself, I I have never written a single thing. Again, this is I'm speaking for myself. I'm not saying don't do this. You should do this, you should not do that. I'm not doing that. Do whatever works for you. I have never written a single fucking thing in Guitar Pro. Okay. Uh it it it annoys me. Just looking at it annoys me. Um I understand it. I I I I understand I have a working understanding of theory. Uh, I'm not an encyclopedia by any means. I can I can pick out I can pick out all the notes on a guitar. Like if you point to a fret on a guitar somewhere, I can tell you what note it is. But there might be like a one or two second buffer before I spit the note out. So I'm not like you know, Rain Man with this shit. But uh, you know, just looking at guitar pro and and and it's like it seems so artificial to me. So when I write, I just I have a session open in in in Pro Tools. If I have a basic uh idea of what I think the drum should be doing for some riff that I'm trying to work out or something, I'll just lay a simple drum pattern and easy drummer and loop it, and I'll play along today and I'll build my song from there. And once I have a song built in a session, before I ever entertain the idea of doing some kind of final recording for the rhythms or the leads or whatever, I will play the shit out of that song. I will open it up every single day and I will play it twice, usually twice through, and I will just keep doing that until I I'm gonna make mistakes, but I'll keep doing that until I can't make mistakes. And so when I go to actually record something, uh then when I do make a mistake, it's gonna be because the the the pick shifted in my hand in a way I wasn't expecting, or because you know my finger got caught on the string and you know I frumped a note, or or or I get the you know, I get the red light fever, and you know, I know it's a big power slide down my knee, and I go to the fucking F for whatever reason, even though I've done it for two months straight on the E, but I go to the F. And everybody does that, but I'm going to get done my recordings quicker with better end results, way faster than somebody who just jumps from guitar. Unless there's some kind of like again, some kind of savant or whatever. But for the most part, I think that's the biggest thing people should avoid is just jumping from one thing where they write to going, okay, now I can record this. No, you can't. Most likely you can't practice the song, practice the shit out of it, and then record it. And and if you don't believe me, try doing it both ways. Once just try doing it both ways and see at the end of it. And when you find out that I'm right, you don't have to tell anybody, just keep doing it the correct way from now on, and there you go. And it'll make people like my life easier, even if you never send me a guitar track, you being the royal you, even if you never send me a guitar track to work on, you've still made my life easier somehow. Okay, because I know there's some other some other asshole like me that's you know, going like this, listening to these raw tracks, okay. And and if they don't have to deal with that, then I feel all the better for it. So yeah, that's the big mistake. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 57:00

Nice. Uh, and and this is something I think you might have touched on, but maybe again you'll have more insight. What is something the beginner for this style of playing, uh, and when I say style, everybody again, we're we're focusing on like rhythm, right? The down picks, the really tight, intense playing. What is something they should really focus on in the beginning?

SPEAKER_03 57:23

Wow. Okay. Um I would say uh clarity and articulation. Um when you're playing, if you're just doing something very basic and simple and you're you know going like jun jun jun jun jun, uh does it sound scratchy or does it sound solid and percussive because you want it to be solid and percussive. If it sounds a little like that, maybe you're not holding the pick right, or maybe try adjusting how you're holding the pick or your hand position or something like that, and see if you can change that to a chun chun chun chun. Get that percussive kind of you know, that that bloom from the note. And if you can do that, then then that's already that's that's the primary thing you need to fix because now at least you know where your hand might need to be to replicate that sound when you want. Okay. Uh and then apply it to everything when you start cross-picking to pick up, you know, start going like jka juggle juggle juggle jokka jukka. See if you can maintain that percussive clarity instead of instead of it turning into shh shh like that. Because when you start double tracking, quad tracking, whatever, and you're going, it's gonna sound like okay. So you want that like you know, you want that percussive kind of that that that you know attack. And the only way to do that is start slow and just break it apart and listen to what you're what the sound is that you're creating when you're chugging away, down picking and stuff like that. Or alternate picking, whatever. Because you want to you want to maintain that percussive sound when you're alternate picking as well, like when you're tramelo picking, when you're playing, whatever. You want to do that as well. So I would say that's definitely something to listen for, you know, is like the try to try to get any any shit in in the sound that you instinctually know is probably not supposed to be there, try to get that out of your playing and do it. The the sooner you do it, the better. Because again, foundations. Once you build that foundation, you're always going to be listening when you play something, if you're playing it with the shit, shh, shit. Okay. And it and and and as soon as you hear that you might be, you can on the fly adjust how you're holding a pick or you know, your hand position or whatever, and and correct yourself. So you don't have to watch a bunch of dudes in the front row with their arms crossed make squinty faces at you and shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:02

Oh, well, they're going to anyways, but maybe there'll be less of them. Um I mean, come on. No, they'll be in the back. They'll be in the back. They don't they don't have the front row. Right. Um very cool. Carlos, I appreciate your time so much, brother, and thank you so much uh for being here, sharing your insight and everything. But before you go, I always have a few rapid fire questions I like to ask the guest. So these ones are a little more fun. Uh don't think too hard on them. Um we're just gonna run down there real quick and then we'll do some shout-outs and get out of here. Um, so the thing you're most proud of of all your work.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:42

What do you mean, like album, song?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

What do you mean? Whatever it is, a riff, a song, an album.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

Um, I I mean the the thing I'm most proud of would probably be uh the first Shadow Dance album, but that's because that was my first, you know, the the first thing that I ever did that was on that actual level, that scale, where you know, here's an actual album I created of, you know, my my music, right? So that's probably the most proud. What was I was I super thrilled with the end result of it? Not not I am now, uh, but back then I wasn't, but I was still incredibly proud of it. It was still probably my proudest moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

Yeah, nice, awesome. Um cool, yeah. That works for me, man. Most influential album that you would consider for you. There could be more than one.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:37

Okay, yeah. I mean, there's there's definitely a lot of influential albums, but I I I guess uh just going off of the guitarists that also inspired me. I would say, you know, like the uh keeper of seven keys part one and part two. Um I would say uh uh Dreamweaver from Sabbat, um Master of Puppets for sure. Um Among the Living from Anthrax. Uh and uh yeah, I mean again I'm I've already kind of touched on the guitar, so I guess like I hate Therefore I Am from Cyclone Temple and uh uh I wouldn't really say neither the storm rider was really in uh a top influential album or something. You know what I did love that actually has no bearing on like playing whatsoever? The fur the first Saigon Kick album.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:30

That was that was a that one like had me rethinking shit musically and stuff. Uh you know, they're not what you think. Like some people might immediately just lump them into some kind of weird hair metal band, but they are not. They are like progressive, they're really awesome. Awesome. So, yeah, the first Saigon Kick and uh yeah, and I think probably uh the last one I would say uh Purple Rain from Prince. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:54

Yeah, we were just talking about Purple Rain. Yeah, that one's fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:58

Yeah, I mean it was a dude, it was a it was a it was a really um I don't you know I don't know if you ever listened to uh to the last power theory album, but it was a big deal for me for the one song I was actually able in my solo, was actually able to sneak in a little tribute to uh to to Purple Rain in the middle of the solo there. It's subtle, but it's there. Which song? And if you listen for it, you'll be able to uh it's a song called Albion on uh the last Power Theory album, which was uh called Force of Will. But um the the other guitarist does the um the the very first solo that comes in for like 10 seconds or whatever is him, and then I jump in, and you can hear the difference in guitar sound, so you'll know immediately when I jump in. And it goes through the heavy part, but then the whole song comes down into a quiet part, but I still continue to solo. And in that quiet section, I managed to sneak in just a little tribute to to Prince and Purple Rain in that spot. So I'll I'll send you the link uh after we're done with this. Yeah, check it out.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:59

Definitely, definitely. And everyone listening, go check it out. All right. Uh I feel like we already named two of these guys that you would say, but uh most underrated guitarist, in your opinion.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:09

Oh, Scott Ian is definitely one of them for sure. Um and and when I say underrated, I mean, of course, he's in, you know, anthrax is one of the big four, so it's like, how is he underrated? But I think underrated in terms of people's appreciation for his rhythm technique and abilities. I think that's what he's underrated for. Right. Um, as far as other guitarists that are underrated, I don't know because I would uh yeah, that's a tough one, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:40

Carlos Alvarez is my vote, everybody.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:43

Oh, come on. No, I I would I would say uh again, maybe um I think Greg Fulton is underrated because uh, and not just for uh rhythm, because I actually had the pleasure of uh playing a show opening up for his uh his other band that he had years later um out in the Chicago area. And uh they were called um Rebels Without Applause. And uh I didn't even realize who they were or who their guitarist was. So it was like I was like fucking starstruck when I saw it was him, and you know, it turned out to be like the fucking nicest, most humble dude too. He was great, but man, holy shit, he took everybody to fucking school that night, dude. It was it was a it was a master class uh of watching him play because it was so his playing was it was an afterthought. This guy could have been thinking about food or cartoons or whatever, because it was just hit his playing was so naturally an extension of himself. It was awesome, man. So I would I would say I would say Greg Fulton, uh just overall. I think more people should know his his stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:02

And what's his uh what's his main band? In c in case.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:06

Well, I don't know what his main band is now. Okay. Cyclone temple only did a couple albums, but the first one's the only one I really care about because the singer was the amazing. Um, but uh that album, I hate therefore I am, and then uh like the the the Snow White when they were called Snow White, uh those albums were thrash classics too. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:38

Okay. Uh you're going to a show, you're going on tour, hypothetically it doesn't matter. There are three items you must have in your guitar bag.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:51

Three items. Um that's a tough one, dude. I guess uh a spare cord. Um I don't use active, so I don't need a battery. Um yeah, I don't know, man. Power supply and uh I guess I don't know, a DI box. I don't know, man. That's that's a tough one. I I dude, I obsess over the things I need to bring to a gig. So uh you know, and and and it's funny because uh earplugs, how about earplugs? Yeah, there you go. There you go. That's a great one. Without a doubt. Yep, yep, earplugs.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:30

All right, last question. Uh if given a chance, who is an artist you would love to work with?

SPEAKER_03 1:07:37

Ooh, man. Um I I think uh I think for myself, uh most of that tends to be uh singers. So I would I mean it I mean personally it would be really fucking cool, uh considering you know what Beholder does if I could ever somehow manage to collaborate or have some kind of guest performance from like Messiah Margolin from uh Candlemass, you know, the original, well not the original, but the the from the classic lineup of Candlemass. Right. Uh that would be amazing. Um I guess uh Rob Lowe from Solitude Eternus would be pretty amazing too. Um I don't really think of too many others because I mean I've kind of actually collaborated with a lot of people that are you know people I looked up to and stuff. I mean, I've been on a couple albums or like Hans V and stuff like that. So you know. Very cool. Yeah. I guess I guess uh Kai Hansen, that that would be awesome, you know. Whether some if he threw down some weird ass screechy vocals or you know, a guitar solo or something, that would be that would be pretty pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:54

It'd be kind of cool hearing his unique voice on a beholder song. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:58

There's not there's not a lot of people that sound like him. I think the only person I can think of that reminds me of like this is what Kai Hansen would have sounded like if Halloween kind of stayed in the speed metal thing, is like the dude from Power Mad. I think he has about the closest kind of like that weird, unique kind of timber to his voice, too.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:18

Gotcha. Cool. Well, Carlos, once again, thank you so much, man. I always enjoy chatting with you. I hope people got some good insight out of this one. But before we get you out of here, please let people know what you got going on that you can speak of, where to find your bands, where to find you.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:34

Well, first of all, uh thank you very, very much. Uh, I appreciate the hell out of you, brother. I love you. And this is always, you know, I always look forward to doing these things with you. So thank you for having me on and for letting me ramble about, you know, nonsense and stuff. So uh yeah, so you know, um I'm appreciative of that, man. And uh as far as what what we got going on, um at the moment, uh what do we got going on? We're we're we're we're working towards um, you know, because all of us in Beholder in are different parts of the country, as you know. So um anything that we try to do usually involves plane tickets and a lot of planning. So we're uh we're we're trying to make some shit happen at the end of next month, um, to get some rehearsals underway or what? Who knows? Something, maybe. So find out another time. But some rehearsals, some fresh band picks, you know, the word I absolutely fucking despise content. Um, but this is content with a purpose. I'm talking about short, short form, you know, flashy, ooh, nickel, you know, kind of shit. But um, yeah, so we're doing that, and we're just in the process of uh starting to uh demo um some some new songs for uh the next Beholder album. So if uh if anybody is looking to check out some some really, you know, our motto is Magic, Mayhem, and Riffs Heavier Than a Storm Giant's S. And if you get that reference, you're our kind of nerd. So please find us at beholderdoom at bandcamp.com or on Black Black Lion Records. Um, we've got our debut album in the Temple of the Tyrant. Uh Tyrant, it's been out for a year now. Um, we have our uh two-song single just came out in October, which is called Tower of the Broken God. And uh yeah, so we have some stuff, some sounds for your ear holes that you may enjoy. Uh, and if you dig it, buy something, please. We have CDs and vinyl, it's really cool shit. Um, what else? Um, I also have some Shadow Dance stuff. If you're into that kind of stuff, progressive power metal. It's on Bandcamp, Shadow Dance something or other. Bandcamp, I don't know. Just whatever. That's all I got. Man, I don't know. That's the whole thing. Dude, I'm I'm terrible at marketing myself, you know?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:08

It's all good, it's all good. All right, thank you all for listening. Uh, if you want to join a community with like-minded players and rhythm enthusiasts, go ahead and jump in our Discord, the Rhythm Dominion, and please share this podcast. Uh, give it a rating, leave a comment, whatever works to get the engagement and let more people know about it. Thank you so much, and I'll see you next time.