artists » Dave Martone

Canadian rocker Dave Martone hails from Vancouver, British Columbia. Known for both his collaborative works as well as his own band – Martone – Dave is also deeply involved with the National Guitar Workshop programs. Most recently, Dave’s latest album Clean features Nickelback drummer Daniel Adair, and guest appearances by Jennifer Batten, Greg Howe, Billy Sheehan, and fellow VOX alum Joe Satriani. Dave put down his axe just long enough to fill us on his latest projects.

VOX: Dave, when did you start?

Dave: I started at 6.

VOX: Wow, that’s a long time. Were you always eager to play the guitar?

Dave: I never wanted to play the guitar. I was more content to play with my hot wheels cars and beat up my brother. My father had it in mind that I should play guitar. He was a player and wanted to become a famous guitar god. So…when he had me, his evil plan was to torment me and make me play and practice as much as possible.

VOX: Well, it must have worked. You obviously practice. How did he get you to do it?

Dave: He actually bribed me to practice. He would pay me 10 cents an hour, and I’m not kidding! After that…it got me going on my own.

VOX: When did it become your passion, and not his?

Dave: The mighty day that pushed it into the stratosphere was when I heard “War Pigs” [the opening track from Black Sabbath's top-selling Paranoid album] for the first time, or any heavy music for the first time!!! My ears almost fell off! I was hooked and knew that was what I wanted to do.

VOX: Your latest album Clean sounds great. Did you approach this album any differently?

Dave: I spent so much time in the past on making sure everything was correct; musically, technically, sonically, etc. I would stress myself out. Plus, I have been doing this for a few years now, and had been getting used to the flow and how things work. I was quite pissed that many of the songs off the last record I could not perform live because so many parts were in different tunings - in the same song! It was really impossible to re-create live without a gazillion tracks playing behind you…which I did not want. I just wanted the songs to speak! Like for instance, a great song is one that could be kinda just strummed on an acoustic guitar to get the gist of it. These songs of course you can’t do that, but that was the idea in my head for all the songs. I wanted the band to be able to play as a power trio and just kick some serious ass without having us missing all kinds of parts, etc. That is why the record is less produced and has way more focus on songwriting.

VOX: You worked with a number of guest musicians on this album. How did that come about?

Dave: Let me start with Joe [Satriani]. I have been trying for a while to get Joe to play on a track with me. It was honestly just him needing to feel comfortable with the track and fitting in while being inspired by the track. He also had quite explicit settings that he wanted for dynamics and delay settings. It was very nice to have this so I could make it sound exactly like he wanted after I imported his solo into my session. Joe is just simply an amazing talent and person and I am so humbled to have him on this record. After sending songs back and forth, he decided on “Nail Grinder”.

VOX: Tell me more about “Nail Grinder.”

Dave: I think this is a cool quirky track that has a very strong melodic form. I actually had two versions of the chorus for this song; the other version didn’t have as much harmony and was quite a bit darker. I emailed the two different chorus excerpts to different people in the industry to see what they would pick. I also posed this same question to Joe but he said, “I can’t pick but I will tell you this, go with melody over technique since they (the people) will always be able to figure out technique.” That might not be word for word, but basically is the general idea. The darker version had more notes in it as well. I would say it was about 60% to 40% who favored the angelic chorus over the darker technical chorus. After was all said and done, I picked the more angelic chorus that was full of melody, and Joe played an amazing solo in this song with great colors, feel, execution, technique and Joe-isms.

VOX: You also teamed with Greg Howe on this album. Tell us about that.

Dave: When Daniel [Adair; drummer] decided that he wanted to do a cover of “Hard Wired” [from Dave Weckl's album of the same name], first of all I nearly sh-t my pants since it is a freaking hard song to figure out. I took my time with that track and decided it would be great to have a guest solo on this fusion type of song. I had done some work with Greg Howe for the last two years in LA at the National Guitar Workshop, and we usually jam up a storm for the students there. I figured I would just ask him if he wanted to play on the record. He agreed and I was very excited to have another amazing talent on the record. I knew that “Hard Wired” was the song of choice since it fits in that “fusion” category type of song and that is totally Greg’s style. I remember getting his solo while I was on a clinic tour across Canada. I got it when I got home one night after a show and had a few adult beverages in me. I remember just being shocked with how devastating it was. It was the perfect combination of Rick’s bass playing on the track with Daniel kicking ass and Greg’s solo that just made this song severely rock.

VOX: Next up is the song “Moron Face” featuring Jennifer Batten. Many people still recall her brilliant work with the late Michael Jackson. How did you meet up with her?

Dave: I have had the pleasure of doing some clinics with Jennifer for DigiTech and VOX and we hit it off instantly. She is such a cool, talented woman who has achieved so many amazing things in her career. This song needed some female attitude and Jennifer was the one to just make it rock, and she laid down one freakishly cool solo. She also has gotten heavily into iMovie and has been making all kinds of videos lately for her project. She actually made one for the song “Moron Face” just because she wanted to, how cool is that? I’m sure it will be up on YouTube by the time you read this [available here], so look out for it.

VOX: What other surprises does Clean hold?

Dave: “Dinky Pinky” features the incredible Billy Sheehan laying down some sick, sick bass freakishness.

VOX: Where did you meet up with Billy?

Dave: I had a chance to meet Billy at the National Guitar Workshop in Connecticut. He did a wicked and hilarious bass clinic there last year and we hit it off instantly, he is such a funny, funny dude. After the clinic we went to downtown New Milford to have some dinner and a glass of wine or two, well…what a hell of an amazing night we had. I asked him if he would play on the record and that I had a perfect track for him with fast double bass and tons of notes, plus he got to have a long-ass bass solo in the middle of the song. He accepted with a smile on his face. His performance is stunning on the track and his solo is just stellar. I am so honored to have him playing on this record and on this track.

VOX: You’ve been a great advocate for the well-known National Guitar Workshop…how do you compare performing there to a typical Martone gig?

Dave: The National Guitar Workshop is a great gig, as well as when I am at Berklee College of Music. It is more on the educational side but there is still performance involved. I perform at the beginning of each week, and then I teach select master classes or seminars on topics of my choice for the week. It’s tons of fun and if people are interested, they can learn more about this awesome program at www.guitarworkshop.com. Here are a few promo videos I made for some of the master classes/seminars I was doing there.

VOX: I’ve heard you talking about “mono” being a disease. Tell us why running your guitar in stereo is important to you.

Dave: Yes, mono is a disease! I love a whole other channel of sound, especially for the effects section. I really like the sound of a ping-pong or stereo delay setting, as well as a stereo reverb setting. When performing live, it gives such a huge sound. With my Parker guitar, I have the option of using the acoustic piezo pickups as well, and if I run that stereo I can have 4 channels of sound…Awesome!

VOX: Let’s talk gear. You’ve been using the VT100 [VOX Valvetronix 2 x 12" modeling amplifier] and ToneLab ST [multi-effect modeling floorpedal] lately. Any favorite features, functions?

Dave: I enjoy how easy they are to use! That is a main feature. I have had other pedals in the past where you had to go so, so deep into the unit just to find what you are looking for. That sucks. Most of the layout is simple and effective to get where you have to go quickly. I like the USB out on the ST because that makes it a nice little piece to get into Garage Band on the road to lay down ideas, plus the unit just sounds deadly! The VT100 rocks because of the sounds! Also you have the choice of running it in 3 ways: Manual, Program and also all the patches. Very cool!

VOX: What other VOX products do you have/use? Why?

Dave: I have the [older model] VTX Valvetronix Head and the VC12SV foot pedal. I love this and use this quite extensively live. I also have the AC50CPH head, which I use all the time as one part of the creation of my rhythm sound in the studio. I have an AC15 that I use for many studio sessions and live performances where a great clean sound is required, with just a bit of bite!

VOX: So what’s next for Dave Martone?

Dave: I will be performing in Armenia in November for a large guitar festival. I have a new book from Alfred Publishing that I was part of called Shred Boot Camp. It features work from Michael Anglo Batio and me. There is work I just completed for Magna Carta Records on a Rush Tribute Record doing the tracks “Fly By Night”, “New World Man” and “Force 10″. More info can be gotten from Guitar9 Records. Also, I have been featured on the latest Guitar Trax 4 from Cakewalk software. They have “The Goodie Squigge Song” used as an example along with the video.

VOX: Anything else you want to share with VOX?

Dave: VOX enables me to create without limitation!

Wow! That’s great, Dave; thanks so much for speaking with us.

Check out this video of Dave Martone with the Tonelab ST.

Check out this video of Dave Martone with the VT100.