Greg Massi (Baliset, motW, Kayo Dot) - March 2009

also my big plan for the weekend (since i have the house to myself during the days) is doing promo and writing so if you know fo any good url's please feel free to e-mail them to me.

Jake,

Just bumping to get some more attention. =)

Greg, you are now one of my favorite musicians. Good fortune to you and your endeavors.

greg,

i know this is pretty obvious, but try to get the word out to as many outlets as possible -- preferably not exclusively through self-promotion. for example, when i posted this article, i linked to it from last.fm, the kayo dot forums, and other outlets. you might consider uploading sound samples to various places -- like last.fm.

also, you have the benefit of coming from two bands that, while not famous per se, have devoted followings. go to forum posts devoted to those two bands -- i know the mars volta forum (umbilical blisters?) has a few hundred page long thread devoted to kayo dot/motw. post links to your new album, get the word out.

just don't be one of those people who goes on random last.fm artist pages and links to your music, hahah. i hate that ;x

i'm sure there are metal forums out there that would be interested in your music as well. i almost never listen to metal anymore, so unfortunately i can't provide much advice there.

most bands gain the majority of their following through performing live, as i'm sure you know. once you get that off the ground, i'm sure you'll be in pretty good shape regardless of prior self-promoition. good luck!

gregbaliset wrote: hi   thank you all so much for the kind words.   yes i am the male lead vocalist. i am glad some people are digging the vocals because i know that was the scariest part of this whole process especially coming from a band who has a really powerful and unique singer.   i also agree with unmerry about the situation when lead guitarists leave bands and do solo projects. does anyone remember Glenn Tipton's solo album from 1996? i know i bought it being a Judas Priest fan and very quickly never listened to it again.   so i guess you can say that in the back of my head I always remind myself  "Don't pull a Glenn Tipton."

I know what you mean there.
Sometimes people who work very effectively in bands don't make the cut playing solo stuff.
It isn't always the case though, a case in point being the Jeff Loomis solo album (okay, he didn't leave Nevermore, but it was a project outside a band context) and that had guys all over heavy metal forums wetting themselves in excitement, myself including.
Probably has a lot to do with the fact he is a gifted songwriter anyway and understands that no matter how great of a guitar virtuoso he is, you gotta play for the song and not write songs as cold devices purely for showcasing technique, so no matter what he touches, it's pure gold anyway.
On the other side of the equation, there is guys like Joe Satriani, where people think he has beaten the instrumental album thing to piss and feel he would kick ass if he were in a band (which he is now) than being solo because he'd run out of inspiration for writing good instrumental stuff like used to do.
Fortunately in his favor, even some of his most terrible compositions are at least slightly redeemed by his solos.
His solos, at least for me, always enhance his songs.

You're no slouch in the chops department either.
I think you held back on the motW stuff to much, you're the kind of player who could add extra spice without turning it into a w**kfest.

One thing though (please take into account I've never heard your Baliset stuff yet, only Kayo Dot and motW), is that I would love to see solos which have more detailed phrasing and nuance in them.
Alternate picked madness is fine and all, but I often find those kinda of licks lack a sort of uniqueness to them, because they are done so often by other shredder dudes.
I tend to find, guys like Satriani or Vai who have truly got that ability to play something that lets you know who's playing it within 2 phrases without even being told who's playing, you just know it's them because they spent ages not just on crazy legato runs or tapping or whatever, but digging into their personality and it shows in their phrasing. It's why when other 80s hair metal shred hacks died off, Vai and Satch remained to this day, because of their unique elements to their phrasing, approach to soloing and nuance.
Fair enough, you write solos that fit into the context of the music in the band, and they are great solos, don't get me wrong, the ones in Birth Astral Projection are fantastic, but I think you need to draw a bit more from slower, more controlled expressive phrasing that lets out your personality more, rather than licks that make me think "that lick reminds of this player, or that player".
Even if a solo fits a song, even better than a solo fitting a song is a solo which truly kicks a song up a notch.
I think Jeff Loomis is a guy that can do that, write a solo that is a song within a song that gives a song much more kick. When I hear his playing, his one of the few shredders in today's world of a sea of personalityless, souless and copy cat shredders that truly combines a unique style, sheer emoticon and incredibly clincal virtuosity yet never sounds cold or uninspired when he plays. And of course, given your Nevermore shirt, you'd be familar with his sheer talent on the instrument.
The best soloists, for me, are the guys that combine that level of technique and yet know how to back off, apply unique, slow phrases and when the solo climaxes, bam, your head is ripped in half.

I'm 20 years old myself, and still trying to find my own voice on the instrument.
One thing I did to get closer to that, is buying a 7 string recently to get me to change my approach a bit and since 7 strings are in a niche market, I'm in a smaller and less common field of guitar players already by doing that, and as you did too judging by the pic of your and your ESP 7 string.
I gave up on my dreams of wanting to be a solo virtuoso instrumentalist, knowing I'd never be as good or as innovative as Satriani, Vai or Malmsteen (although I don't particularly enjoy much of Malmsteen's work, I understand his legacy).
Maybe you were one of this kids too, I don't know, that wanted to do be that and kinda gave up. Maybe you weren't.I went through stages where I wanted to quit entirely, but now that I know local kids want lessons off me, that gave me more fire to practice more again, knowing at least some of the hours I've put in is gonna be worth it when I finally get to inspire other players by helping them learn and achieve their goals, all the while bettering my own playing, becoming a better teacher over time and of course being able to earn dough while having a blast and knowing you're having a positive influence on people.

As a musician myself, I understand you never stop learning and getting better as long as the passion and fire burns within you. I understood what it's been like to have given up a lot for my art and passion, while kids were getting f**ked off their heads on drugs on weekends and getting drunk (I did the drunk part too, but I'm 20 and growing out of it now, hehe) on weekends, I spent hours laboring away, mastering licks in my suburban bedroom. I didn't get laid until I was 18 because of this, haha and truthfully haven't had a girlfriend for 2 years partly because none of them understood how much time I had to devote to guitar, and they always made me give up time for them even though they never had passions or an instrument to practice daily, and it was biting into my practice time, so I just had to sacrifice the girls entirely.
Yeah, I'm kinda lonely at times, that's true, but as before, finally getting students for guitar, and finally having people say "I love it when you that lick man" and knowing when people hear me play and them hearing ME in my playing and no longer people just hearing other people's licks and phrasing in my playing, was so worth it.
You still work a day job, because playing isn't paying your bills and I respect that so much that even though maybe you could have chosen to have taken a different route musically, had no artistic integrity and chosen to play sold your soul to masses pop or something, you stuck to your guns, even if it meant sacrifice and the fact that you work your ass off to be able to write music, rehearse with bands, practice playing even if you still have a day job that must take up a fair bit of time out of your life.
sh*t ain't easy, and a lot of non musicians who are used to seeing their favorite rich pop star idol on TV getting paid bucketloads to lipsync don't understand that unfortunately.

You're still fairly young bro, at 30, you'll only get better and I hope to one day hear on a motW album or Kayo Dot album, some solo that tears my head off like no other solo you've done before and one that makes me think "That's Greg Massi playing that!".
I'm a big fan, but I have my honest criticisms to of course, which hopefully you prefer to hear a fan tell what he truly thinks than just kissing your ass with "YOU'RE PERFECT".
Maybe some guys do think your perfect though

I need to check out your Baliset stuff of course soon too hopefully, I should enjoy that.
And it's excellent to have you hear at the forum man. A lot of bands and artists forget that having contact with the fans is so important and keeps them down to earth and human and of course, keeps you in touch with what's going on in the fanbase,
And, of course, good luck with your future ventures, whatever they may be.
Hopefully you found this rather long post from not just a fan, but a fellow musician and guitarist interesting too. Maybe you learnt something from my post hopefully:P, I dunno, cos I can at least say I learnt some things reading the interview.

Well put auralsun.  A "rare combination of accessibility and depth" describes it perfectly.  and thanks for making the album Greg!  You have a great voice literally and as a songwriter.  Looking forward to hearing more.  But in the meantime, this album will definately keep me busy.

Edited by theunmerrygoround77 - March 25 2009 at 14:03

hi unmerry,

yeah, this is definitely a very good record in its own right, and the music here is totally distinct from Toby Driver's current projects (for those of you who can't seem to dig Kayo Dot). it has that rare combination of accessibility and depth. it's grown on me a lot since the first listen!

about the singer: i assumed for this interview that the male vocalist is greg (i'm 95% sure this is correct). he did some vocals for maudlin of the well and kayo dot as well, so it makes sense that he would contribute them for his solo project.

glad you enjoy it!

Excellent interview, will have to get A Time for Rust now.