G-Fire II Interview with Vernon Neilly

Interviewed by: Nick Martinelli
Published: 11/1/2005

SZ: Well Vernon, we’re glad to have you back in the hot seat again at The Shred Zone.com. What have you been up too lately, what projects are you working on currently and what can we expect in the months to come?

VN: Hi Nick always a pleasure to talk with you and the great guitar, and music fans at The Shred Zone.com. I actually just got back from Brazil where I played at the largest music trade show on the continent of South America called Expo Music. I was joined there by a couple of the guitarist from the latest G-Fire CD, Miguel Mega, and Mark Whitfield. While I was there Seji Tagima presented me with a version of my VN1 signature guitar that I used to so the performances at the show. I got a chance to hangout with some old friends Kiko Loureiro from Angra, Edu Ardanuy from Dr. Sin, and Carlos Tomati who is a killer guitar player, and plays in the band of the most popular Brazilian talk show Jao Suarez. There is another Brazilian company that I endorse called Giannini who is making me a signature acoustic/elec nylon string and acoustic/elec steel string guitars. They will present them to me at the upcoming 2006 Winter Namm Show. As far as projects I am in the process of putting together a guitar project with my friend Victor Johnson (Sammy Hagar), and Kiko Loureiro from Angra. I have started working on some new tracks for a new Jazz Fusion CD, and started production on a new Blues CD for release next year. So there is a lot of stuff happening!

SZ: Can you fill us in on how you formulated the G-Fire II release? G-Fire I is significantly different, in the sense that it has a heavier sound. G-Fire II has a smooth more refined vibe. How did progression take place?

VN: Well the whole concept behind “G-Fire” and “G-Fire II” are different in the respect that for “G-Fire” we just all wrote stuff that we wanted to contribute to the project regardless of genre, but a strange thing happened. One of the songs got picked up by commercial Jazz radio, and did well for the project to the point that “G-Fire” won a Jazz Award, and the single got picked up for various other project releases. It also paved the way for my label to pick up a multiyear national retail distribution deal with Synergy Distribution based in Denver, Co. That’s being the case when it was time to do “G-Fire II”. The stakes were a little bit different because now I had to follow up the first release with which won an award, with a project that commercially was going to top “G-Fire”. I was very fortunate to be able to enlist the guitar playing of one of the top Jazz guitarists in the world for “G-Fire II”, Mark Whitfield. Mark had already had commercial Jazz radio success with his recordings for Warner Brothers, and Verve Records. So we actually wrote “G-Fire II” to be a more commercially accepted releases than “G-Fire” and it worked. The first single released to commercial Jazz radio “LFO” went straight to the top 40 commercial Jazz Charts, this resulted in “G-Fire II” far outselling “G-Fire”, and our second consecutive Jazz Award in 2 years. That’s what happened with that!

SZ: How did you select the artists to accompany you on this continuing musical journey?

VN: I always try to surround myself with top talent whether it be guitar, vocal, bass, keys, whatever. I am very fortunate to know friends that happen to be some of the best guitar players, bass players, keyboard players, singers in the world.

SZ: Is jazz a natural guitar nitch for you?

VN: No not at all, it is something that I have had to learn and work very hard at, and still learning, Jazz is a very complex musical form. I am a Rock/Blues/R&b player who has learned how to play Jazz over the years. I have at this point done a ton of Jazz gigs which has helped tremendously, but it’s an style of music because of it’s complexity that I will be studying and learning for the rest of my life. When I started playing guitar I was listening to Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Grand Funk, Zepplin, Santana, Cream, Alvin Lee and Ten Years After, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Alice Cooper, Yes, stuff like that. Jazz came much later.

SZ: I read that you recently returned from Brazil for some concerts and appearances. Fill us in.

VN: I pretty much covered this one above I think, but I did see a lot of beautiful Brazilian women :0 )

SZ: You’ve made a few trips over the past couple years to Brazil. What kind of market have you discovered there?

VN: A very exciting, and growing musical scene. Brazil is a very musical country, it is a part of their culture so music is everywhere. Brazil has given the world the Bossa and Samba styles of Brazilian Jazz that just took the world by storm. Here in the US people hear Brazilian music all the time, but just don’t know it. Brazilian musicians are very serious about their craft, they have some awesome players down there, well you already know Andreas Kisser (Sepultura), Kiko Louriero and Rafael Bittencourt (Angra), Edu Ardanuy (Dr.Sin), Max Cavalera (Soul Fly), but there is also Miguel Mega, Ricky Furlani, Alex Martinho, Carlos Tomati, Sandro Albert, Flavio Gutok and Torcuato Mariano all of these guys can flat out play guitar in their respective styles.

SZ: Congratulations on your recent partnership with Tagima guitars based out of Brazil. They slightly revised your earlier Vernon Neilly signature guitar. How did you come across this awesome guitar maker and develop the relationship? What can guitar players expect when picking up your signature guitar for the first time?

VN: On my first trip to Brazil, a friend of mine Andres Martins who was then an editor for Cover Guitarra, Brazil’s largest guitar magazine told me of Tagima Guitars and set up and appointment for me to go by their factory to see the layout, and meet the owners. The first thing that I remember that impressed me the most when I walked into the factory was stockpiles of wood, that were going to eventually be guitar necks and guitar bodies. Touring the factory I saw that every step of making Tagima guitars and basses was done by hand from start to finish. I had my my signature guitar with me that was made by Aslin Dane here in the US, and Seji Tagima took it from me made a drawing of it, and by the next time I came to Brazil a few months later it was already done. Most guitar players upon first picking up my guitar are amazed at the weight of the guitar, is very light. I purposely designed it that way so that playing for long periods of time, would reduce shoulder fatigue. The next thing they are amazed with is how big the guitar sounds, it has a thick sound. It is also a very versatile guitar that can be used for almost every style of modern guitar playing. My relationship with the company has grown over the years, not only am I their only American endorser, but I am the US, and foreign territory guitar representative for Tagima. Another words if you want to purchase a Tagima Guitar outside of Brazil, I am the guy that you have to talk to.

SZ: Last time we talked you filled us in on some of the latest on gear you were using. So what’s currently in your gear lineup these days?

VN: I am using Meteoro tube amplifiers now, these amps are handmade in Brazil. They are very warm sounding amps. Andreas Kisser of Sepultura also uses Meteoro amps. Digitech who I also endorse just sent me a couple of killer pedals that I like a lot, the DF-7 distortion factory, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience pedal. I have other assorted stuff from Digitech that are also favorites like my Whammy pedal. I also use Xotic Effects AC and RC booster pedals, I endorse Morley and love my Bad Horsie II wah. I endorse Aphex and have their little red Exciter box at the end of my signal chain, that box puts my sound right up front in peoples faces, wonderful little box! Of course my guitars are loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups, my signatures guitars for the most part are 59 neck, Vintage staggered Strat middle, and Jeff Beck bridge. My latest signature has a Seth Lover in the neck instead of the 59. Levy’s supplies me with my great straps and wild guitar bags, laptop case, it’s a great company with very cool people. In the studio these days I am still using Cakewalk products, they just sent me their new top of the line recording software Sonar 5, it’s loaded with all kinds of new features. I am using a Tascam FW 1884 digital recording interface to control the Sonar. For all of my critical studio editing I am still using Sound Forge by Sony Media, and I have libraries of sounds from them as well, they are great creative tools.

When sculpting your guitar tone, what factors do you take into consideration? Along with that, do you have different tone/effects settings depending on the type of guitar you are using?

VN: I just try to achieve the tone and sound that I am hearing in my head with the gear that I have, based on what kind of song it is for. Of course certain effects give you certain sounds. Pretty much I am using my signature guitars for everything except the really Jazz sounding tracks, I have a Jazz archtop for that kind of stuff. I pretty much adjust the pedals that I am using to dial in the sound that I am looking for that particular guitar part, whether it be a solo, or rhythm part.

What type of amplification and effects do you use when you record with your nylon string guitars?

VN: I run the nylon string guitar direct into the board flat so that I can get the natural sound of the guitar’s top vibration through the piezo pickups. Then I might run a mike in the front to pick up the ambient sound, and the sound of the direct attack of the strings. Live I use an acoustic guitar amp, and my Xotic AC booster for gain on solos.

SZ: You always have a lot of guitar licks up your sleeves, so what guitar techniques have you been using a lot lately?

VN: I am always practicing different things, but lately I have just gone back to the basics of making sure that my picking is accurate, that I am hitting the strings with the pick the way that I want to attack them, whether it be a hard or soft attack. I hope to one day have enough time to do an instructional video of the different guitar styles that I play.

What advise can you share with younger artists looking to breakout on their own to make a name for themselves?

VN: Learn all of the guitar from different guitar players that you can, then forget that and start to find your own voice on the instrument. Be original, Vai is who he is because he is original, Yngwie is who he is because he is orginal. Find that part of you in your guitar playing that is only you, people are always going to want to hear something that is new and fresh!

SZ: So what’s next for Vernon Neilly?

VN: Man I nice tall cold one :0 ), maybe a six pack ! You know I really don’t try and figure it out, I just let it come to me as I go along on this musical journey. There is still so much that I want to do musically, I want to do more movies and television, it’s a lot of fun, and it pays well. I just try to be prepared for whatever comes along, that’s one of the very cool things about music, things can just take off in a moments notice, so you just have to be prepared !

Well Vernon thanks again for spending some time with the readers at the Shred Zone.com. Any closing comments or remarks?

VN: It is always my pleasure Nick to talk to you and the very cool theShredzone.com readers. You know I almost forgot to tell you that I have a DVD coming out by the end of the year called “Live In Brazil”, that was shot from concert footage taken in Brazil. It also has extra footage of me and Miguel Mega doing a full length guitar clinic, so I hope that everyone will enjoy it. Peace and elbow grease!

Credits: Images provided by Vernon Neilly.com and Tagima Guitars.