Hey guys!! today we have an interview with the great Don Alder, the winner of Guitar Idol 3, 2011. Don is an amazing guitar player and an even more amazing guy. I'm sure you guys would absolutely love his music. As usual while you go through the interview, here's a small clip of Don Alder, doing what he does best.
1. Hey Don! First off all thanks for being a sport and agreeing for the interview. Now lets start off with the questions. To begin with tell us about your experience winning the Guitar Idol 3?
Winning idol was quite the experience and I feel very humbled by the win. The players were all amazing. A few days earlier I had a concert and my guitar got damaged to the point where I had to use duct tape to hold the top down on the guitar. That messed with my confidence big time. So when I hit the stage I just had them crank the volume at the front end and I just played my acoustic with a rocker attitude and somehow got top honors. The music I chose to play was just in std tuning and shredding with right hand so to speaker (fast fingerpicking) I thought of doing tapping stuff but electric players can do that with much more ease and sophistication so I just played a fast song in the good old key of E and tried to cover everything possible in that key.
2. There are different reasons why each one of us picked up the guitar in the first place, What was yours? and what, or rather who were your early influences who inspired you to reach where you are today? Well I’ve always loved the guitar and the tactile feel of the guitar, its healing and meditative for me. If nobody in the world wanted to hear me play I would be just as happy playing and creating in my bedroom. The movie Woodstock was a first big influence. Watching Alvin Lee from 10 Years After and Jimi Hendrix blew my mind. I love so many different players. I look for players that create magic. I would say my approach on acoustic carries the main influences from Jeff Beck and Wishbone Ash even though there electric players. Some folks have referred to me as the Hendrix of acoustic guitar but I don’t see the connect. Id prefer if they substituted Jeff Beck for Hendrix but but really I’ve been on a journey with my own sound for a long time now so would like to be known as Don Alder.
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3. I know behind this nice, calm acoustic guy there is a rocker hidden somewhere, care to let him out ?
The Rocker comes out every time he hits the stage ..haha. Like I said earlier I’m a rocker but my best playing comes out on an acoustic guitar. I was raised on rock so no escaping it.
4. Tell us a lil about Greenfield "Don Alder G4" model
Yes the Greenfield Don Alder G4 is a pretty special guitar. I don’t use the guitar much these days as I have an endorsement deal with Yamaha. Greenfield approached me some years before my Yamaha deal and said he wanted to build something to fit my playing so we did and endorsement deal and he created this signature guitar for me. I guess the guitar got most of its visibility when Andy Mckee said in an interview for Premier Guitar Magazine that he was playing the Don Alder G4 however because of his fame I think they renamed the guitar for his purposes but the design is still pretty much the same. The guitar has an armrest bevel and is a large body style, mine if Brazilian so can’t really travel with it. The guitar was probably one of the first few acoustic guitars to introduce a 2 inch fan fret which is very cool. The guitar is most happy living from D to D. In std theres just to much tension. The guitar has been repaired a few times as I have such a heavy right hand.
5. Now I have been a big fan of your Youtube videos. Ever thought about doing online lessons? If you do keepwww.shredthisway.com in mind
Yes I’m way overdue for doing and instructional DVD for Truefire. My problem is that Im just to busy creating and also I play by ear so cannot read or write music. This makes it very tough to get prepared for doing an instructional DVD so I keep putting it off but hopefully will do it this year or early next year. I may also do some online lessons with Guitar Lick Community. I do have tab music for sale on my website and had to hire people to tab my tunes. In fact my good buddy Andy Mckee tabbed my song DRDR.
6. What other projects have you worked on before Guitar Idol ?
In 2010 I won the Guitar Player magazine Guitar Superstar contest and in 2007 The International Fingerstyle championships so at this point I don’t think there’s any more guitar contests. I did get selected for Canada’s Got Talent so that will be my last contest so to speak. I have provided guitar music for TV, documentarys, radio, plays etc. My history does connect me with a very strong human interest story which made Canadian history and created awareness around the world. In 1985 I put my music career on hold to help my friend go around the world in a wheelchair to create awareness for the potential of people living with spinal cord injuries to allow them to reach their full potential and to also raise money for spinal cord research and quality of life initiatives. Rick Hansen wheeled 24,901.55 miles around the world through 34 countries and when we returned home the tour raised 26 million dollars. This trip took 2.5 years. I still work with Rick today at the Rick Hansen foundation. www.rickhansen.com The tour became famous for a number of reasons, Rick became a national hero, the song St Elmos fire theme song for the movie, was acutally written for the tour by David Foster and John Parr. The tour was called Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion Tour. If you watched the opening ceremonies for winter Olympics in Vancouver, Rick wheeled in the stadium with the torch so he’s a very honored Canadian. There’s also been a play written around his story and my character is in it as he and I have been life long friends. I was in the accident with him but I walked away with no injuries he was paralyzed from the waist down for life. My character has also been in books etc and most recently a movie. British actor Andrew Lee Potts plays my character. www.heartofadragonmovie.com and check the cast section. So as you can my day job is a very important part of my life. When I returned home in 1987 I had pretty much given up any idea of playing guitar but fortuneatly I did get back into and even played with a band that had members with disabilities, band was called Spinal Chord, Here’s song we did in the late 90’s called Mary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?
I also have some old recordings playing electric that I may revive but will get current electric players do redo for me. My next recording may also include some famous guest rockers. TBA
7. Tell us a bit about "Not a planet" ?
Yes this was my first CD with additional instrumentation. I had some very special guests like Michael Manring who played with Michael Hedges, Julia Thornton a harpist is plays percussion in Roxy Music, and others. The CD also received 2 nominations in 2009 for instrumental CD of the year at “Canadian Folk Music Awards” and the “Western Canadian Music Awards” The concept of the CD was simple. I grew up in school learning about nine planets in our solar system. Then there was a debate to take Pluto off that list leaving only eight planets. I think were still at nine but I wanted to dedicate this CD to Pluto so “Not a Planet” seemed like a good idea. Each song has a title with a story behind it. As I stated above I play music in the key of social responsibility so try to encourage positive change or to create awareness with the pieces I create. One of the songs is dedicated to a young girl that was in an accident at the age of four and will be paralyzed for the rest of her life. Her name is Diana so I titled the song Ms Diana. Julia Thornton also plays on this song as a duet with her harp.
8. So how did it feel like, winning guitar idol?
FREAKIN AWESOME especially knowing that it put a smile on my 97 year old grandmother who’s very proud of me as well as my mom of course.
9. Now of all the videos I've seen of yours, this one is my favourite http://www.youtube.
For this piece of music I wanted to think outside the box. I wanted to integrate modern techniques but I want to make sure I used the gimmicks so to speak for the sake of the composition and not use gimmicks for the sake of gimmicks as theres so much of that going on. I wanted the tune to groove as well so hopefully I achieved this.
10. What's your favourite music related website?
I guess I’d have to say youtube.
11. Tell us a bit about your last show. How do you find playing live?
My last show was in California and it was fun. I got to play a guitar, baritone acoustic guitar and a harp guitar. I also played at the NAMM show at the Yamaha Booth and at the Seymour Duncan booth and got lots of compliments even from the legendary Alan Parsons and Mike Stern as they wandered past the stage where I was playing. Playing live is really great For me its all about the energy I really don’t care if I make a ton of mistakes I really just want to entertain.
12. Besides music, what else are you into?
I love to listen to audio books and going to movies but also volunteering at various things to help make a difference the in the world. I always wanted to be a leader but that’s been elusive for me howver I did realize that in order for leaders to make a difference they need to people so It then became clear to me that you don’t have be a leader to make change and that everyone could make a difference by at least helping a good leader.
13. Enchant us a little more about your gear! Guitars, effects, picks, amps , what would we find if we were to walk in to your studio?
Lots of acoustic guitars and harp guitars. There is an electric guitar that I had that comes with a very sad story. When I was a kid in school I use to hang out around a band called Rabbit. The Lead guitarist’s name was Ted Robinson and they played groovy old stuff. His dad was our typing teacher in school. One day a saddened community learned that Ted committed suicide. Being from a small town we were all pretty devastated. About a year later I asked Mr. Robinson if I could buy Ted’s guitar and he said yes as he thought Ted would want me to have it. HE practically gave it to me. This guitar was a 1963 Les Paul (last year where it was the SG shape with bigsby and PAFs). I couldn’t get this guitar to work for me as I became a strat player. So this guitar travelled with me and stayed in storage for over 25 years. One day in approx 2002 I decided to sell it and didn’t check its value. I posted in the local buy and sell newspaper for 1,000.00 CDN. The phone didn’t stop wringing and I finally let some guy have it that offered 1200.00. He came over and got the guitar and was very happy. The next day I went to a music store and saw that a brand new SG copy was selling for 2500.00. Upon doing some research I realized the guitar may have had a value of 12,000 to 15,000. So big mistake but it gets worse. About 3 weeks later I get an email message from Caroline Robinson, Ted’s sister. She and I went to school together. I hadn’t heard from her since school so I thought it was kind of odd. So she said hello and I responded. Her next email said her daughter was learning to play guitar and that it would be really great if they could buy back Ted’s guitar to keep it in the family. Needless to say my heart sank. I would’ve gladly just given the guitar back if I had it. I do have some great acoustic guitars. I have range of awesome Yamaha acoustics, Mustapick fan fret baritone, Galloup Baritone, 1918 Dyer harp guitar, 1973 Stratocaster, Koto, Greenfield G4 DA, 18 string Sympitar. I also experiment with lots of acoustic pickups. I’m a Seymour Duncan endorsee and use the magmic in most of my guitars. For strings I’m a Dean Markley endorse and use the Alchemy and Helix series.
14. Do you also play in studio sessions? If so how has it treated you?
Not so much, when I was younger I was the house musician for a studio so played on many recordings and jingles.
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| Click here to buy Not a planet |
15. Without thinking for a second if you had to name your favourite guitar player, who would it be?
Electric - Jeff Beck, Acoustic - Michael Hedges
16. How does a normal day in your life go?
I get up around 7:30 and play guitar for 30-60 mins trying to create something new, the I go to work from 8:30 To 5:00 pm then I get home from work and eat and stuff then play guitar again for a bit the will take care of messages, FB, youtube etc. I do go out lot of open mics to try out new songs, test pickups, guitars etc and to keep my chops up as playing live is much different then playing tin the bedroom. To get good stage presence you have to constantly be on a stage. I could go full time music however as mentioned earlier my job is pretty important to me and is a big part of my history. So I play music as a professional hobby and do get enough time to somehow make it all work . If tremendous music opportunities present themselves in the future and they fit my quest for a better world then perhaps Ill take a leave of absence from work.
17. Your 5 most favourite movies?
Avatar, StarWars, Slumdog Millionaire, Lord of the Ring, Cinema Paradiso, my fave soundtrack is Jeff Wayne’s “War of the Worlds”
18. Which is the one place where you've always wanted to perform?
India of course
19. You are pretty active on facebook and myspace! how do you find surfing these social networking sites and meeting fellow guitar players?
I started off with myspace and was slow to move to facebook however I very rarely use myspace now, facebook is so much more functional. Connect with lots of other musicians using FB. To be clear I hate them both but there a necessary evil to be functional in the current state of music.
20. Any plans for the future?
Yes to release an instructional DVD, upcoming tour of the UK, new CD way overdue, and do see how far I get in the Canada’s Got Talent contest. More youtube videos.
