01- Hey Vernon, how are you? Thank you so much again for another Interview! We would like how the idea of doing this tribute came out?
Rafael it is always my pleasure to speak with you, and to fellow guitarist and guitar fans in Brazil, and around the world that visit Guitar Clinic. The idea for the Stevie Wonder Tribute CD came about because at first I was going to actually do a Santana tribute, but someone here in the US had already done one recently, so I needed to have some one who had a name as big as Santana or bigger, and most importantly an artist who was well respected around the world and had great music. I came up with the idea about Stevie Wonder, then I talked to my good friends Greg Howe and Kiko Loureiro about it, and they both agreed that it would be a great idea!
02- Stevie Wonder is definitely one of the biggest arts of the music history. But what's was the reason for chosing his stuff between several big artists?
Well I think I answered part of this in the first question, but again I was thinking it had to be someone who's music was well respected around the world, and Stevie Wonder music is very diverse. So when thinking about making original arrangements of such a celebrated icon in music, this was also important, because it would give the guys contributing to the project great music to create from. I think that music lovers and musicians everywhere love and respect the music of Stevie Wonder, he is a musical genius!
03- You have several well known fellow musicians featuring on this tribute. How did the invitation come up for all these musicians?
Actually all of the musicians are well known and international artist in their respective genre's of music. I am just very fortunate to know and have great musicians as my friends that I can call for projects like this, because it is their creative musical minds that will make a project like this successful. It was my objective and plan to put people together that you would not normally see together on the same recording, because this helps expose them to different consumers, and vise versa helps me to expose the consumer to artist that they may not hear of before. For example on the project I have a great sax player by the name of Michael Paulo who is an outstanding solo artist in jazz and r&b, and Michael has worked with people like Al Jarreau, Earth Wind & Fire, and too many more to list here in this interview, so now through this project he gets exposed to a more guitar oriented audience. The same for say Kiko Loureiro, who is very well known in international guitar circles, and know he will be exposed to more jazz, r&b, pop consumers, so this is a great thing for both sides. Everyone that was chosen to participate on this project regardless of what genre they are most popular in, love music and different forms and styles of music. It is a challenge for them to step outside of what they normally do and create music in a genre where they are not well known, they are all true artists and musicians!
04- What was the process of picking songs from Stevie's discography like and how it worked for each guitar player?
This was a difficult thing because Stevie has so many great song in his catalog of work, but say for example in the case of Kiko Loureiro, he already had an idea of what songs he would like to do, but then he went and listened to some of Stevie's songs and came back and said I would like to do these songs. The same with Miguel Mega, he already knew the songs he wanted to do and did them. U-Nam the great French jazz guitarist the same, he told me this is the song that I want to do, so of course this is ok with me, because guys go to choose which songs they wanted to do, they put their heart and soul into the performance of their original arrangements, and all the tracks are just great. The guitar fan and music fan truly is going to get a special treat with this CD because all of the playing is amazing from the artists and their support players! Greg Howe is playing the solo on one of the songs that I chose, and this will give people a chance to hear another side of his playing, he is just simply amazing, great sense of feel and timing. As I said before all of artist participating are special, and that's why they were chosen by me !
05- What was the process of recording like and what was the equipment used in your track?
The music was recorded in several different studios in different parts of the world which was great! Because of that I do not know all of the technical aspect of what used to record each song because it was different from studio to studio. Some of the recording was done in France, some in Brazil, some in the US, some was done by sending files back and forth over the internet since we all have very busy scheduled, and this was the only way we could coordinate time to get the project done. It is just wonderful that music can be recorded this way due to technology, everyone does not have to be in the same studio, same city, same country to get a project like this done. If I would have had to do it that way the project would never have gotten recorded because we are all too busy !
06 -The arrangements were created by the musicians themselves? What was the arrangement which sounded the most "unexpected" for you?
I don't think I was surprised at the creativity or quality of any of the arrangements, you have to remember we are talking about some of the most talented people in the world at what they do, so for me when I heard the arrangements and tracks as they were completed, my reaction was more like "great job, people are really going to love this". We create music that hopefully people will when they listen and hear, they too will feel the passion that went into creating such a musical arrangement. Yes all of the arrangements are original by each artist which is the whole point because we are taking a legend in the music business music and interpreting this music the way it impacts us. Not an very easy thing to do when you are talking about someone like Stevie Wonder, but everyone did their thing and it is great, so I am very happy with all of the music because from artist to artist it is different, and that is the whole point and idea, I wanted what was inside each artist to come out in their own unique and special voice on their instruments!
07 - Where people can get to know more about the album?
When the CD is released it will be available all over the world either in stores or by the internet. Right now we are actually having a pre-release sale of the CD, that if you order it now, you can get the CD for US 5.99, and this will automatically put your name in a drawing for one of my guitars that will be signed by me and other people like Kiko and Greg who are participating in the project. So you can actually go to Boosweet.com right now and order the CD, and this will be the only place where you will be able to get this price and enter for a chance to win the signed guitar. Once it is released the price will be normal at between US $12.99-15.99 depending on where it is purchased. The whole idea is to give people a break early on the price because there are so many people around the world that love music, but just cant afford to pay US $12-$15 for it, so this is my way of saying to these people here is a great deal for you, and you can even possibly win one of my personal guitars signed by great players! This is an unheard of deal in today's music business, and most of my competitors think that I am crazy for making such and offer, but this is my way of giving back and understanding that not everyone in the world has been as fortunate in their lives as I am!
08 - What are your plans for the future? Is there another tribute coming up?
Well I have some new things going on at Boosweet Records in the near future that are going to give artists all over the world a chance to earn a real record deal from Boosweet Records, the program will be called Boosweet Indie, Those people who think that they are the next big star in the world will get a chance to prove it. This is a program that I set up because week after week we get bombarded with emails from people around the world who think they have something special to offer through their music, so now they will have a chance to prove whether they actually have what it takes or not! What most artist out there do not understand is that they think that this is some fairytale business, but that is wrong! This is a business that you really have to have true passion, commitment, determination, to work your butt off to be successful at, and that is really stating it mildly. Personally I will be doing shows after the release of the CD to help promote the new release which is always very important, have to get out there and let the people see you and hear you! I will be coming back to Brazil sometime this year to do some TV appearances, and also to participate in Expo Music, so those of you in Brazil who are always writing me and telling me that you want to meet me in person, Expo Music is a great place to catch up with me in Brazil as I will be there to support my sponsors Tagima, Meteoro, Giannini, and others.
No at the moment I do not have any future plans to do another tribute CD, so you guys better get this one, a lot of hard work when in to it, and it is amazing!
09 - Please, leave a message for Guitar Clinic viewers! Thanks for the Interview!
As always it is a pleasure for me to speak to you the Guitar Clinic readers, thank you for your support! If you want to reach out to me, you can always write me at my myspace.com page www.myspace.com/vernonneillyband or at vern@boosweet.com. One of the most important things that I want to say is that dreams can come true, but you have to work for them to come true, they do not magically happen. Careers in music are built by hard work, belief in yourself, and determination to accomplish your goals, and the word can't be a part of your vocabulary. It is a true test of your will and perseverance as an individual, as there will be very many tough times on your way to success, but remember this is a part of the journey that you must take. Enjoy the journey as much as you enjoy getting to the finish line !
The new CD is amazing make sure to get a copy !
Website: www.vernonneilly.com