Tag Archives: classical

First Axe: Christoph Götzen

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On our series called “First Axe”, we ask members of Tilted Axes to tell us their electric guitar origin stories. This time, we’re talking to guitarist and composer Christoph Götzen, who is based in Düsseldorf, Germany. He was raised on punk rock but studies and experiments with jazz composition.

Christoph is organizing a festival this week in honor of International Strange Music Day on August 24th.

Strange Music Festival runs for three days, August 24 to 26, and features a line up of DJ’s and bands at various locations around Düsseldorf.

Christoph says:

“The reason I got so attached to Strange Music Day and wanted to make it into some kind of festival was to bring people together. People who were like, listening to different music . And with the festival,I felt it’s a good way to do it because, mostly you will have more than one band.

So even if people only like one band, they’re most likely gonna listen to another that maybe isn’t their style of choice, but still, they will be there listening to it. And the term “strange” – I like to use it in a way just to open up and to experience different cultures of music.”

Tilted Axes: Music for Mobile Electric Guitars is an orchestra of guitarists and percussionists led by composer/performer Patrick Grant. They perform original music with mini-amps strapped over their shoulders, moving through public spaces in museums, parks and city streets. Its roster of musicians can change from performance to performance, city to city.  Follow the group at @tiltedaxes.

John Halo: Strings and Things

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On this episode, John Halo of the hard-rocking NYC quartet Downtown Equipment is here to work on his Les Paul Standard, while our host, Patrick Grant, changes the strings on an old friend, his sea-foam Fender Jaguar. 

We’ll find out how many guitars John actually owns and how he names them, and of course, he and Patrick will boot up and plug in for a special year-end jam.

John handles guitars, composition and vocals in Downtown Equipment, and the band is working on a follow-up to their most recent EP, Calls for Chaos, which you can listen to right here:

By day, John molds young minds as a program coordinator in the New York City public school system. He creates courses and projects for junior high students in the science and the arts, from 3D printing to aeronautics to producing musicals. He also teaches a lot of math and music theory, which was the focus of his post-graduate studies.

This is our last episode of 2016! A huge shout-out to all of the guitarists who have joined us this year and a big thank you to all of you who have stuck around and listened to the show.

Happy New Year!

Sudeip Ghosh: Strings and Things

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This time on the Strings and Things podcast, super-shredder Sudeip Ghosh is here to change the strings on his Dean Zelinsky guitar while our host, Patrick Grant, works on his trusty Les Paul. Sudeip grew up playing and singing Indian classical music, but a chance encounter with a hard rock mixtape ignited his dreams of power chord glory.

Sudeip will tell us how a one-string acoustic and a scarcity of guitar magazines tested his determination, and how he’s come into his own as a metal guitarist, a film composer, and a Bollywood musician. As always, we’ll put the new guitar strings through their paces when Patrick and Sudeip plug in to record some rollicking riffs.

Let’s take this opportunity to check out some of Sudeip’s many musical projects. First off, he is the lead guitarist for the band Meaxic, a progressive rock/metal trio which also includes Jeet Suresh Paul on vocals and guitar, and John Stallings on drums. Here’s a video for their song, “Back On”:

Next up is Akramon, Sudeip’s instrumental project with band-mates Hirak Sen on lead/rhythm guitar, and Rishabh Natarajan on bass. The band’s name means “attack”, which describes their approach to taking metal styles and techniques and adding some Indian classical or eastern musical flavors. Here’s a piece from them called “Graviton”:

And here’s the great video for “Stay” which Sudeip talks about in the podcast. Manas & Sudeip is more of a rock/grunge project with Indian influences, and their new EP, The Remote Collaborations, is available on iTunes:

To find out more about what Sudeip is up to, find him on Facebook or visit his YouTube page for more music!

Daniel Reyes Llinas: Strings and Things

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On this episode of Strings and Things, Daniel Reyes Llinas loosens the pegs on his custom Strat while our host, Patrick Grant tunes up a sparkly Danelectro.

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Daniel takes us back to his childhood in Colombia, where he sang in the choir until his godfather gave him money for his first guitar. He was self taught until beginning formal instruction with Carlos Castilla and he went on to study classical guitar at Andes University in Bogotá.

But like many young musicians, Daniel was also drawn to pop and rock and formed a couple of bands with frends. He points to his early love of the Beatles, his Dad’s Pink Floyd and ELO records, New Wave and Latin rock, and finally, the discovery of King Crimson, as signposts in his musical development.

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Proving that one does get to meet one’s heroes, for the last decade, Daniel has studied in Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft courses, and performed in Fripp’s Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists. He released a first album called “Molino” and has worked on the scores for several films. He’s the composer and co-founder of Parias Ensemble, “an instrumental group dedicated to blurring the lines of improvisation and written music”.

Find out more about Daniel’s work at his website, llinasmusic.com.

Strings and Things Episode 8 Trailer

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A Colombian-born, New York City composer brings in his custom Strat and looks back on his earliest musical influences.

Daniel Reyes Llinas, co-founder of the Parias Ensemble takes us back to his first 10 dollar guitar and traces his evolution as a musician through some of his favorite genres: classical, pop, new wave, metal, jazz and progressive rock. Then he’ll tell us what he’s cooking up when he’s not onstage or in rehearsal.

Join our host, composer/performer Patrick Grant, on the Strings and Things podcast, where guitarists come by to change their strings, tell some stories and play music. Look us up on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.