Rob Fowler is one of SoundClick's most talented guitarist/songwriters, currently based on the western coast in the USA. Since discovering his music in late 2006, the members of New Horizon's Music have kept in touch with Rob to support and encourage the development of his music writing. In the interview, Rob talks about his forthcoming debut album by Digital Chemistry.
Q: Please tell us briefly about yourself, for example, where you are from, what is your background.
A: My name is Rob Fowler, I'm from Des Moines, Washington, USA. I'm a proud and loving husband, father of 3 lovely girls, and have a been a semi-pro (and sometimes full-time) working musician for the last 18 to 20 years. Besides the Digital Chemistry project, I also work as the featured guitarist in a local classic rock coverband, "Boneyard".
Q: When did you start to play music? Were you self-taught or did you learn music formally when you were young?
A: I started dabbling with music about age 8, first on the piano, then drums. About 1973', I was given my first guitar, an old Harmony acoustic. I took classical lessons for about a year, then abandoned them in favor of teaching myself the songs I wanted to play. So you could say I've been self-taught ever since. Later in life, I spent a year with a classically trained teacher/guitarist...it helps to know what you're playing in order to grow beyond the standard forms.
Q: Who were your early influences?
A: Rush, John Denver, Billy Gibbons, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Jeff Beck, Tommy Matolla, Jimi Hendrix, Jean Luc Ponte, Micheal Oldfield, Jean Micheal Jarre, Vivaldi, Bach, Santana, Joe Dioreo, Black Sabbath, Chicago, Steely Dan....a 1000 others.
Q: You are putting together your first album - what are the obstacles that you've had to overcome?
A: Wow...
#1: Trying to find what defines you as a player/writer/musician.
#2: Trying to forget all that you learned as a working guitarist.
#3: Understanding "one man's art is another man's rubish"...
#4: Knowing when to let go of all that technical mumbo-jumbo, and just play.
#5 How to be guitarist / writer / engineer / artist / producer...and NOT do drugs to stay sane.
#6 How to be consistant in your recording / performing / production values
(i.e. how not to give up and publish trash...)
Q: If you could recommend one track to potential fans, which one would it be and why?
A: "Fallen"... it's a song I wrote about 10 years ago, and then shelved, never to be released. The original version was messy and I was really trying to be someone I was not. I rewrote it about a year ago, changed the entire lead to reflect my maturation as a guitarist.
Q: Do you have any interesting stories from your live playing that you would like to share with other musicians and fans of rock music?
A: If you mean do I have some great "name-dropping moments in my travels as an itinerant musician" stories...no....I'm as underground as they get. Playing live: I've probably seen as much as any touring musician has..."sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll" didn't get the name for nothing. My most interesting story is probably the 3 hours I spent playing backstage at Randy Hansen's birthday party. He, I, and a guitarist I didn't recognize (but the guy could play) swapped my guitar as much as we did our other indulgences...come to find out after we finished our set (we did some "cool" overs and Randy was also playing that night) the guy came up to congratulate us...along with the rest of PEARL JAM...
His name was Mike...we had a great evening hanging with the #1 grunge band in the land...cool!
Q: How do you go about composing? How do you write music?
A: Completely "by the seat of my pants"...I do not set out to write a song, the song writes itself, and invariably, I will bang out a basic arrangement, some rough lead-line ideas, rough bass, and some basic drum grooves in about 2 hours. A song starts as a jam with whichever guitar I choose to play at that moment (bass included). I find a drum loop I like (I use Beta Monkeys' sets for composing), set a groove, and start exploring...I love to improvise, and once an idea germinates, I record it immediately with Acid (a great looping program), and start asking myself "what comes next?" Inevitably, the song writes itself...I use Acid for composing, and writing my drum parts (I "hand" program, and play the hat and ride parts live to better emulate a real drummer). I use a true recording program / sequencer (Cubase VST) for recording...
So really, the song is recorded at least twice, once in composing form, and then again, without looping (cutting and pasting of parts). The lead guitars always start as a jam that is then organised and re-learnt as a single cohesive part...
Q: Most of your music is instrumental rock. Why this choice?
A: Instrumental music is ageless...it's appeal is not any of that crap marketing people like to call "your window of opportunity". It takes years of practice to play well, even master an instrument...not something that today's music buisness guru's can comprehend, or care about at all. To them, instruments are things they hang on walls as art to impress their clients, and musicians are best when they play exactly what they're told to...
Such shallow, meaningless, music. I've always been drawn to music that eliminates the "words getting in the way" feeling. I'm a lover of modern jazz/ fusion, acoustic instrumental music, classical music. Although I do write and sing, I feel that I am strongest as a pure player of the guitar. I'm not a technical virtuoso, I know that...but I feel I'm able to convey emotions with my songs that others have a hard time expressing...
Besides, when was the last time an instrumental rock record had a parental advisory sticker on it?
Q: Do you see a market for instrumental rock music? From your viewpoint, what does progressive rock mean?
A: Well...that's two questions in one...
A market for instrumental rock? There's always been a market...musicians, and those rare few people (especially now) who can appreciate the dedication, artistry, and musical vision of an instrumentalist...Hmmm...outside the handfull of people who dedicated their lives to the guitar (I'm not one of them, but I play every day)...not much of a market in the mainstream. On-line it's slightly easier. There are 1000's of guitarists who have every bit as much to say musically. I've been lucky...people seem to like the rough drafts I've made of my material. The issue - as we've all found out - it's easier to download than buy. But here's the silver lining...commercials, video games, movies, TV programs are always looking for musical interludes, and themes...instrumental music is used more often than not...
Now.... prog-rock?
From Tull, to ELP, to Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree...it's music that pushes the envelope of what is called "rock"...its' heyday (I feel) was in
the 70's, and though there is some resurgence now by those who are reacting to the "packaging of a generation". For me, it's always been the cool thing that no other band was doing at the time you heard it. Personally, I'm a Rush fan (25 years, never missed a show, have all the swag)...one
could say Alex Lifeson taught me to play the guitar...he's a player (like the rest of his band) not content with standard pop format, who is always searching for something different. If there's anything I've learned about prog (and I'm a FAN) is that it is music by musicans for musicians and fans of great art in music. It was rock's Baroque period that is ever evolving into something different, and above all...new.
Q: Can you tell us about the music you are working on now? What are your future plans for this music?
A: As of this writing, I am 3 songs into recording my first CD...the demo's are done, and on-line, the response is gratifying. I will probably write one or two more along the way so I end up with about 13 or 14 songs total. Plans are kind of in limbo, I am in some early negotiating (kind of - the CD's not done!) about maybe looking into a distribution deal. I may float copies to the labels that concentrate on instrumental rock, in a vain hope of being signed...LOL...
I may also look to some of the markets I talked about earlier. I would love to play the stuff live, in it's raw, stripped down essence, but I've yet to come up with a rhythm section. Maybe after I sell millions (laugh) they'll be lining up to audition.
Peace all, RW Fowler.
