Interview with T.D.Clark!!! M.A.C.E. Artiest

Who are you?, Where do you live? and What do you do for living?

Have you ever gotten any musical education?

Do I have a musical education? Not officially. While I studied music in High School and College and have a firm grasp of music theory and the like I actually was studying to be a High School History teacher. I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and I do play some piano as well.

How did you hook up with Michael Angelo from M.A.C.E music?

Both Michael and I were judges for "Guitarmageddon," which was Guitar Centers (which is biggest chain of music stores in the U. S.) guitar contest. He ended up producing my new CD "Perspective."

What was inspired you to play guitar?

I really wanted to play piano but when I was young my family did not have a lot of money. My Mom had tried to learn guitar once so we had a guitar in the house, and one day I started messing around with it and the next thing you know it's 20 some years later and I am still having playing and having fun.

Who are your main influences?

I love pretty much all types of music and guitar players. I really don't care so much for pop music though. I would say Adrian Vandenberg, Joe Satriani,Paco Delucia, Al DiMeola,Strunz and Farah,Peter Frampton,Elliot Easton,Yngwie J Malmsteen,Tony MacAlpine,Vinnie Moore,Manolo Sanlucar, Jamie West Oram, Warren DiMartini. I could go on and on because I really think many players have a unique quality about them.

In fact you’re great shredder…Why don't you Shred more on my records and What advice do you have to younger players on the use of speed?

Well, I think that certain songs call for "Shredding" more than others. I think that if in every tune you play every note, arp and string skip, you know you don't leave the listener wanting more. I also think that melody for me is a much bigger concern when I write. I am not saying others who shred all the time don't think of this a well. However I want to capture the non-guitarists ear as well as the guitarist ear and rich melodies do that. I also think if you use too much speed it can take away from a speed runs impact on a song. Speed is also only one part of a songs dynamic. Even Paganini played slow. I like combining bends and vibrato and note slides combined with arpeggio's and string skips to give a song a more balanced feel.

What are your Tips for playing fast and clean?

Slow=Fast! Start playing the scale or arp slow and gradually build up your speed. Your fingers have to know where they are going in order to play fast and clean. I recommend a metronome but I have to say when I was learning as a youth I didn't have one so I would build speed by sitting down with a lick and working it till I could play it as fast as the record and then I would try to play it faster and faster. Also practice with the distortion off. You can hear all your mistakes better.

Do you prefer a super fast guitarist with no melody or a fast guitarist with great melody?

I always prefer melody over speed but that is not to say that if a super fast player has a killer melody that I am against that. Again it comes down to balance.

What modes or scales do you like to use?

Well, I am getting called the happy shredder lately because I use a lot of mixolydian in my writing. I like to play a lot of major sounding stuff. I don't like when a CD is all written in minor scales and modes that much. It really depends on the artist though. I love Yngwie and he writes almost exclusively in minor.

Have you ever jammed with Michael Angelo? How fast is he?