DATE OF INTERVIEW:

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

10th August 2012

METAL DISCOVERY: The ‘Evolution’ EP appeared earlier this year, produced by Sterling Winfield of course, and he’s been quoted as saying some very complimentary things about yourself and your playing, and how you work, how professional you are, no use of Auto-Tune etc. How did it feel to get such praise from such a renowned producer?

(The Commander-In-Chief on working with renowned producer Sterling Winfield)

"...because he’s worked with Dimebag Darrell...I was wondering, hmmm, is this good enough? He really liked it and when I started improvising, he liked that even more."

The Commander-In-Chief backstage at Bloodstock Open Air, UK, 10th August 2012

Photograph copyright © 2012 Mark Holmes - www.metal-discovery.com

Interview & Photography by Mark Holmes

THE COMMANDER: I think it’s really cool because it’s true that sound engineers and producers have to get this type of reputation and whenever you hang out with record producers or sound engineers, they always talk about these musicians who are lip-synching and using Auto-Tune and all these sorts of things and all these stories circulate. I take a lot or pride in my work when it comes to my guitar playing and my singing so, of course, I think it’s really cool when he took the initiative to write something and I thought that was really awesome. It was funny because when I went into the recording studio, I was wondering how the guitar solos were going to be…I wasn’t a hundred per cent sure if these guitar solos were good enough. It was funny because Sterling, he would be tweaking the rig and I was playing all these rhythm things, and every time he walked out I was doing all these lead things and every time he came in I would stop!

RELATED LINKS

The Commander-In-Chief Official Website:

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF DISCOGRAPHY

Evolution (2012)

EPs & Demos

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Elisabeth Hagen for arranging the interview

The Commander-In-Chief Official MySpace:

The Commander-In-Chief Official Facebook:

Battle for the Mind (2010)

State of the Union (2009)

[laughs]

THE COMMANDER: Because I was thinking, that’s the one thing that I was a bit like…because he’s worked with Dimebag Darrell, you know! He’s one of my favourite guitar players and I was wondering, hmmm, is this good enough? He really liked it and when I started improvising, he liked that even more. So it really boosted my confidence in my lead guitar playing because lead guitar is the thing I’ve been doing the least. I’ve been a songwriter for the longest.

MD: Is Sterling somebody you’d want to work with again in the future if he was available?

THE COMMANDER: Oh yes! He is really enthusiastic and that’s really cool so, yeah, that’s the producer I want to work with, definitely.

MD: Is ‘Evolution’ supposed to be a self-reflective title about how you’ve developed yourself as a guitar player, vocalist and artist?

THE COMMANDER: I think the decision for calling the EP ‘Evolution’ was more because there are four tracks on there and one of the tracks is ‘Let It Go’, another one is ‘Thou’, and there’s ‘Famous’... ‘Evolution’ was kind of like the best name.

MD: As well as the Ibanez endorsement, you have other endorsements like Seymour Duncan, Jim Dunlop, Ernie Ball…have you been surprised at becoming an endorsee for so many big companies so early on in your career?

THE COMMANDER: Oh definitely, yeah, I was very surprised by that. I never expected to get an Ibanez endorsement at that point; that was the first major thing that happened. Simultaneously, I got my Ibanez endorsement and Sterling Winfield remixed my songs and came with the statement, so those two things happened in the span of just a couple of months or something…or the same month, I can’t remember. That was really major and really exciting but, for me, the whole endorsement thing is amazing because I never had a lot of gear. I actually started out writing music by hand because I didn’t have any recording device. And then, I actually recorded on cassettes; like seriously, old cassettes! So when I got my first program to record properly, which was PreSonus, I was really excited about it and now, all of a sudden, I’m a PreSonus artist!

MD: I’ve read you say in an interview that you’re a big fan of Hank Marvin?

THE COMMANDER: Yeah! [laughs]

MD: A man with his own, unique style, of course. What’s it about his playing you admire?

THE COMMANDER: A beautiful sound and I think the melodies are really nice. So it’s very, very beautiful and that’s why I like it. And, of course, you know, really cool glasses!

[laughs]

MD: So maybe that quiff you have in some of the promo photos I’ve seen was inspired by The Shadows?!

THE COMMANDER: [laughs] Maybe, maybe! It’s cool though.

MD: It’s a good way to learn lead guitar actually with ‘Apache’, ‘F.B.I’ and tracks like that.

THE COMMANDER: ‘Apache’ was the first song I ever learnt how to play.

MD: Oh right, ‘Apache’ was one of the first songs I learnt on guitar as a kid too and then went on to play an Ibanez and metal so maybe all metallers start out with Hank Marvin!

THE COMMANDER: [laughs] I think his guitar sound is very pristine and beautiful with a lot of beautiful melodies. Not very metal but I dig it.

MD: I read in an interview as well that you’d like to play with Syd Barrett if you could play with anybody…obviously if he was alive still and sane because he went mad many years ago! So what’s it about Syd’s music that you like?

THE COMMANDER: Well, it’s pretty much about the Pink Floyd thing. I’m a big Pink Floyd fan and it’s really about him and how he had all these visual arts going on with the music. I think creative people are cool, you know, and if you can do music and visual arts and all those type of ideas, I think it’s awesome. So yeah, I love Pink Floyd really and that’s where it comes from.

MD: So you prefer early Barrett-era Floyd before Dave Gilmour joined ‘em?

THE COMMANDER: I like all of it and all their styles because they have an evolution going on, musically speaking. It’s kind of like Queen – you can definitely see something moving.

MD: And I think with Queen, like with Floyd, there’s an evolution just on single albums because you could take any one of their albums and hear lots of different styles.

THE COMMANDER: I love ‘Innuendo’, that’s my favourite Queen album.

MD: What’s your favourite Syd Barrett song then, off the top of your head?

THE COMMANDER: Oh my good god…

MD: How about ‘Effervescing Elephant’? One of his solo songs…

THE COMMANDER: I don’t know…now you’ve got me!

MD: What about ‘Bike’?

THE COMMANDER: Yeah, that’s a funny one.

MD: A marvellous song. ‘Astronomy Domine’ is also a very good one of course from Barrett-era Floyd.

THE COMMANDER: When it comes to actual songs though, you’ve got me there. I know some people know who produced everything and know every single album…I’m the kind of a person that will just dive into the music and then say, “which song was that again?” So that’s a tricky question!

MD: Not from the Barrett era, but ‘Echoes’ is the best Floyd song of all-time, I think.

THE COMMANDER: Oh yeah, yeah, that’s cool, definitely.

MD: So my final question – what are your goals and ambitions for the future?

THE COMMANDER: Well, my goals and ambitions…I think it’s cool to play for a big audience and this is my first festival and, obviously, I want to see my music all over the place, like getting really popular. I think it’s really cool that it goes down really well with the audience and I think it’s really awesome that people are checking it out and I’m getting a lot of views without being signed. And today, I was the first act playing on the Sophie stage and I thought there were a lot of people there to be that early. And it’s also something I’ve been seeing when I’ve been playing these clubs and venues around the UK – a lot of people come to see me and then they leave early! [laughs] And that’s interesting; it’s really, really cool so, yeah, I’ve been asked to come back and play again, like in London at the venues where people show up and then they want me to come back and play. I think that’s a good sign and makes me happy. Today, I’ve been signing autographs for people and taking pictures with people and stuff. It’s really fun.

MD: It must be a nice feeling to get that kind of recognition.

THE COMMANDER: Yeah, it is. It’s really weird but I think it’s cool though. I like talking to people so I’ve been talking guitar with people and taking pictures and it’s awesome.

MD: Marvellous. Thank you very much for your time.

THE COMMANDER: Alright, yeah, that was really cool. I liked that; that was awesome.