CARL VERHEYEN
INTERVEW
MARK
Hi Carl,your career is one that has rubbed shoulders with alot of great musicians as well as being a great guitarist and musician yourself, How did you end up a guitarsist?
CARL
I played my friends big sister's acoustic guitar and my Dad's Ukelele for about 2 years before my grandmother gave me a my first guitar at age 11. From then on I knew exactly what I was going to be when I grew up, and never did anything else!
MARK
who influenced you the most?
CARL
George Harrison and Roger McGuinn, Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield
Aslo who have you enjoyed working with most of all? The highest level of playing ahs come from the nights on the road with my own band. But I'm currently on tour (in Paris) with Supertramp, and I've had some wonderful times in the big arenas and stadiums with them.....
MARK
How Would you say you have grown from your early guitar years into what your style and voice is today ?
CARL
I've embraced the blues and attempted to define melodic playing using intervals greater than the ones you hear when someone is running scales.
MARK
Is it safe to say your a strat man for sure?
CARL
Definitely! My heart and soul is in the strat.
MARK
You do like your vintage gear and guitars , whats in the verheyen collection?
CARL
I believe a working guitarist should have a good example of every important guitar, and I am constantly adding to and bettering these instruments. Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Gretsch, Rickenbackers, Gibson SGs and a handful of martins, Gibson acoustics and custom made guitars. I also have the quirky ones like a Supro for slide and a Flying V because my name is Verheyen!
MARK
Some of your strats have a floating trem set ups, rather than a one way downward motion, and you've modified it
and adjusted something to do the spirings in the body ,and how did you discover this setup technique?
CARL
Years of frustration with the tuning problems associated with the floating system, and the desire to make it as musical as possible.
MARK
You've got a couple of great tuition dvds that I know of out , forward motion
and intervalick rock.
CARL
Thank you! They were made to help people break out of their ruts that we all get in to....
MARK
Back in the 90'sI read a great article for UK based guitar techniques magazine, you transcribed the solo to "garage sale" and you said
"I liked to hear it when guys use the whole range of the guitar"
In the world of guitar gymnastics what do you personally like to hear nowadays?
CARL
Melodic ideas, a base in the blues, rock or country music and a musical tone.
MARK
In our ever expanding world of guitar tuition and youtube, what would you say to help anyone
find their way to real sound of their own, solid musical teachings and what books of stuff would you recomend for musical study's?
CARL
I don't know too much about the books available these days, but I consider youtube to be a wonderful teaching tool. I learn from it every day!
MARK
Your still touring with supertamp? hows that going?
CARL
I'll let you know in a week, we just started rehearsals today!
MARK
Carl is there a time when a guitarist should kinda stop striving to get faster or better at chops
and make music with what he's got , have you reached your technical goals or are you ever striving to get better at technique?
CARL
Technique for me is NOT about playing fast, instead it's about playing my lines clean and precisely. So I never stop working on the execution of lines and bringing them up to speed.
MARK
who would you most like to meet from the past both musically and otherwise?
What would you do and ask ?
CARL
I'm sorry I never got to play with Joe Zawinul before he died. I would have enjoyed meeting John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery, too. John Lennon, George Harrison.....I'd ask these guys about specific songs and ideas they've moved the earth with!
MARK
I have a tubejuice attenuater and its very good , do you use any powersoack for your valve amps?
CARL
I have many, but in 2 of my rigs I use the THD Hot Plates. They also convert to line level so my delay can be after the power amp instead of in front of the amp or in an effects loop.
MARK
you have a very blues/fusion style and have played with alot of these guys like
Robben Ford and stuff, how does your guitar voice differ from your peers and how did you
gain the voice of your own?
CARL
I continue to write down and practice my own musical ideas which generally sound a bit more open and pastoral than my straight ahead blues peers. But I love what they do, too!
what say to young guys about gaining a guitar voice of their own instead of just cloning other players 0-)?
Take a tonal center or key, like A7. Now work with the scales and arpeggios with a goal of making A7 sound like YOU. Do that in every key, major minor and dominant.
MARK
your pedal board is a very organic sounding setup , the layla pedal helps ,
chat to our members about your gear if you like I love talking gear 0-)
CARL
I actually have 5 pedal boards for various applications. But for live playing I prefer amp switching with separate effects for each rig. So instead of channel switching or midi, nothing cuts off when I change sounds. Burkhard Lehle makes the best A/B pedals, and on my Supertramp pedal board I have his A/B/C pedal with a separate rig for power chords. This makes my clean sound, and power chord sound completely different from my solo sound.
MARK
guitar magazine say's "Carl is one of the top 10 player in the world" who are the other 9 in you opinion ..
CARL
It would be a lot easier for me to name 10 above me!
MARK
Do you have any spiritual convictions or faith and does it influence your guitar or music at all?
CARL
I am a spiritual person, but it's deeply personal and I'm not much into "fellowship." I try to make music on the highest level possible, work hard, and NEVER SUCK!
MARK
Your style has alot of melodic intervalic and rythmic foundations, did this happen naturally ?
CARL
I believe the answer is yes, but it's what I hear based on hundreds of influences over the years.
MARK
I can hear tons of influences in your playing ,players I like also piano style chordal work,
Can you islolate this and tell us about your chordal approach during solo's?
CARL
Instead of building chords using the old standard forms they teach you in books, I have worked to establish a chord vocabulary based on intervals. So my inversions all use a more open, wide interval note choice that makes the guitar sound more orchestral instead of a tight little cluster or beam of tones in the midrange.
MARK
whats comming up next from the carl verheyen camp? albums? tours? tuition dvds?
CARL
We're just finishing up a live DVD due out by Christmas
MARK
What other hobbies and interests take your time thats unreleted to actually playing the guitar
CARL
Washing my car, playing catch with my son.
MARK
Verheyen is a name Ive only ever heard used for you , where does it originated from?
CARL
I think it's from the Netherlands.
MARKS FRIENDS HAD THESE QUESTIONS TO ASK
Joe Holesworth !
Tell Carl thanks for the Strat Trem angled claw set-up-- I love it!
Question for Carl: A couple years ago you were involved in some R&D
with Thomastik-Infeld helping to design a more optimuml string gauge set for
Strats, but I ...never saw if that resulted in a product or upgrade to their
line. I know that Peter Infeld has passed on. Will anything come of this?
CARL
I do have a signature string line with Thomastik-Infeld called Carl Verheyen Balanced Bridge strings. But since Peter passed away and a few key players have left the company, they don't market them any more. Too bad, they're great strings!
Thanks!
JP at http://www.stratoblogster.com/
koek
I would like to know of his experience with Joe Diorio.
CARL
I studied with Joe in the late 70s and he truly changed my life with this one statement: WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. It's due to that simple lesson that I've maintained a lick diary since 1978 and over the years a style begins to emerge!
What mr Diorio taught him in GIT, and what is special about his teaching.
CARL
I never attended GIT, but I snuck in once in a while. Joe taught me at his house.
Tomathius Saint-Leger
- How did you develop such versatility? Was it something you purposefully worked on or something that just came about through many years of playing?
CARL
A little of both. I found that limiting myself to just one style didn't satisfy my insatiable desire to play all the things I really enjoyed. When I'd hear a Joe Walsh solo on the radio I'd think to my self "I gotta learn that!" Same with a Chet Atkins tune or a Steve Vai trick.
- How old were you when you realized you wanted to do music as a career choice?
CARL
It was always my dream, but probably about mid way through High School I started to actaully believe it was possible. That would put me at about 15 years old.
- As a teenager did you play excessively?
CARL
Yes, and I still do!
- How did you start out in the Music Business and how did you get so many sessions and a successful solo career?
CARL
Sessions came about as a result of networking and playing with the best musicians I could. In LA the great players gravitated to the studio scene. But it was never what I truly wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to play in a band and do my own music and the many years I spent in the studios were really a big side track for me. I don't regret doing it because I learned so much, but eventually I had to chose a path to put my energy into, and it was my solo career.
- What age did you start learning music and what was your first guitar?
CARL
11 years old. I got a $30.00 Japanese acoustic called a St. George.
- Do you play any other instruments?
CARL
Anything with strings on it! I have 2 banjos, a great mandolin, a dobro and 2 ukuleles. I also own a grand piano and love to play it, but I really suck!
please indulge me with say 1 word that come to mind when I say
FOOD- WINE
LEADS- TONE
STRINGS- NEW
PICKS-FENDER HEAVY
PICKUPS-SINGLE COIL
FLYING-TOO MUCH
DIGITAL-ANALOG
TAPPING-FUN
DOGS-CATS
SHOTGUNS-LAME
MOVIES-MUSIC
FAMILY-LOVE
CHURCH-CHOIR
GOSPEL-PRIEST
BLOOD-YUK
WORLD-MUSIC
SESSIONS-WORK
TAB-LAME
STAVE-CLEF
WOOD-STEEL
Thanks Carl for taking time out and answering my questions , I know a few guys will have just got tuned into your work
INFO
CARL CAN BE EASY REACHED VIA HIS WEBSITE
http://www.carlverheyen.com/
AND ON OTHER WEB CONNECTIONS
http://www.YouTube.com/CarlVerheyen
http://www.eventful.com/performers/carl-verheyen-/P0-00...
http://www.twitter.com/CarlVerheyen
http://www.reverbnation.com/CarlVerheyenBand
http://www.myspace.com/CarlVerheyen
MARK
Hi Carl,your career is one that has rubbed shoulders with alot of great musicians as well as being a great guitarist and musician yourself, How did you end up a guitarsist?
CARL
I played my friends big sister's acoustic guitar and my Dad's Ukelele for about 2 years before my grandmother gave me a my first guitar at age 11. From then on I knew exactly what I was going to be when I grew up, and never did anything else!
MARK
who influenced you the most?
CARL
George Harrison and Roger McGuinn, Eric Clapton and Mike Bloomfield
Aslo who have you enjoyed working with most of all? The highest level of playing ahs come from the nights on the road with my own band. But I'm currently on tour (in Paris) with Supertramp, and I've had some wonderful times in the big arenas and stadiums with them.....
MARK
How Would you say you have grown from your early guitar years into what your style and voice is today ?
CARL
I've embraced the blues and attempted to define melodic playing using intervals greater than the ones you hear when someone is running scales.
MARK
Is it safe to say your a strat man for sure?
CARL
Definitely! My heart and soul is in the strat.
MARK
You do like your vintage gear and guitars , whats in the verheyen collection?
CARL
I believe a working guitarist should have a good example of every important guitar, and I am constantly adding to and bettering these instruments. Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Gretsch, Rickenbackers, Gibson SGs and a handful of martins, Gibson acoustics and custom made guitars. I also have the quirky ones like a Supro for slide and a Flying V because my name is Verheyen!
MARK
Some of your strats have a floating trem set ups, rather than a one way downward motion, and you've modified it
and adjusted something to do the spirings in the body ,and how did you discover this setup technique?
CARL
Years of frustration with the tuning problems associated with the floating system, and the desire to make it as musical as possible.
MARK
You've got a couple of great tuition dvds that I know of out , forward motion
and intervalick rock.
CARL
Thank you! They were made to help people break out of their ruts that we all get in to....
MARK
Back in the 90'sI read a great article for UK based guitar techniques magazine, you transcribed the solo to "garage sale" and you said
"I liked to hear it when guys use the whole range of the guitar"
In the world of guitar gymnastics what do you personally like to hear nowadays?
CARL
Melodic ideas, a base in the blues, rock or country music and a musical tone.
MARK
In our ever expanding world of guitar tuition and youtube, what would you say to help anyone
find their way to real sound of their own, solid musical teachings and what books of stuff would you recomend for musical study's?
CARL
I don't know too much about the books available these days, but I consider youtube to be a wonderful teaching tool. I learn from it every day!
MARK
Your still touring with supertamp? hows that going?
CARL
I'll let you know in a week, we just started rehearsals today!
MARK
Carl is there a time when a guitarist should kinda stop striving to get faster or better at chops
and make music with what he's got , have you reached your technical goals or are you ever striving to get better at technique?
CARL
Technique for me is NOT about playing fast, instead it's about playing my lines clean and precisely. So I never stop working on the execution of lines and bringing them up to speed.
MARK
who would you most like to meet from the past both musically and otherwise?
What would you do and ask ?
CARL
I'm sorry I never got to play with Joe Zawinul before he died. I would have enjoyed meeting John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery, too. John Lennon, George Harrison.....I'd ask these guys about specific songs and ideas they've moved the earth with!
MARK
I have a tubejuice attenuater and its very good , do you use any powersoack for your valve amps?
CARL
I have many, but in 2 of my rigs I use the THD Hot Plates. They also convert to line level so my delay can be after the power amp instead of in front of the amp or in an effects loop.
MARK
you have a very blues/fusion style and have played with alot of these guys like
Robben Ford and stuff, how does your guitar voice differ from your peers and how did you
gain the voice of your own?
CARL
I continue to write down and practice my own musical ideas which generally sound a bit more open and pastoral than my straight ahead blues peers. But I love what they do, too!
what say to young guys about gaining a guitar voice of their own instead of just cloning other players 0-)?
Take a tonal center or key, like A7. Now work with the scales and arpeggios with a goal of making A7 sound like YOU. Do that in every key, major minor and dominant.
MARK
your pedal board is a very organic sounding setup , the layla pedal helps ,
chat to our members about your gear if you like I love talking gear 0-)
CARL
I actually have 5 pedal boards for various applications. But for live playing I prefer amp switching with separate effects for each rig. So instead of channel switching or midi, nothing cuts off when I change sounds. Burkhard Lehle makes the best A/B pedals, and on my Supertramp pedal board I have his A/B/C pedal with a separate rig for power chords. This makes my clean sound, and power chord sound completely different from my solo sound.
MARK
guitar magazine say's "Carl is one of the top 10 player in the world" who are the other 9 in you opinion ..
CARL
It would be a lot easier for me to name 10 above me!
MARK
Do you have any spiritual convictions or faith and does it influence your guitar or music at all?
CARL
I am a spiritual person, but it's deeply personal and I'm not much into "fellowship." I try to make music on the highest level possible, work hard, and NEVER SUCK!
MARK
Your style has alot of melodic intervalic and rythmic foundations, did this happen naturally ?
CARL
I believe the answer is yes, but it's what I hear based on hundreds of influences over the years.
MARK
I can hear tons of influences in your playing ,players I like also piano style chordal work,
Can you islolate this and tell us about your chordal approach during solo's?
CARL
Instead of building chords using the old standard forms they teach you in books, I have worked to establish a chord vocabulary based on intervals. So my inversions all use a more open, wide interval note choice that makes the guitar sound more orchestral instead of a tight little cluster or beam of tones in the midrange.
MARK
whats comming up next from the carl verheyen camp? albums? tours? tuition dvds?
CARL
We're just finishing up a live DVD due out by Christmas
MARK
What other hobbies and interests take your time thats unreleted to actually playing the guitar
CARL
Washing my car, playing catch with my son.
MARK
Verheyen is a name Ive only ever heard used for you , where does it originated from?
CARL
I think it's from the Netherlands.
MARKS FRIENDS HAD THESE QUESTIONS TO ASK
Joe Holesworth !
Tell Carl thanks for the Strat Trem angled claw set-up-- I love it!
Question for Carl: A couple years ago you were involved in some R&D
with Thomastik-Infeld helping to design a more optimuml string gauge set for
Strats, but I ...never saw if that resulted in a product or upgrade to their
line. I know that Peter Infeld has passed on. Will anything come of this?
CARL
I do have a signature string line with Thomastik-Infeld called Carl Verheyen Balanced Bridge strings. But since Peter passed away and a few key players have left the company, they don't market them any more. Too bad, they're great strings!
Thanks!
JP at http://www.stratoblogster.com/
koek
I would like to know of his experience with Joe Diorio.
CARL
I studied with Joe in the late 70s and he truly changed my life with this one statement: WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. It's due to that simple lesson that I've maintained a lick diary since 1978 and over the years a style begins to emerge!
What mr Diorio taught him in GIT, and what is special about his teaching.
CARL
I never attended GIT, but I snuck in once in a while. Joe taught me at his house.
Tomathius Saint-Leger
- How did you develop such versatility? Was it something you purposefully worked on or something that just came about through many years of playing?
CARL
A little of both. I found that limiting myself to just one style didn't satisfy my insatiable desire to play all the things I really enjoyed. When I'd hear a Joe Walsh solo on the radio I'd think to my self "I gotta learn that!" Same with a Chet Atkins tune or a Steve Vai trick.
- How old were you when you realized you wanted to do music as a career choice?
CARL
It was always my dream, but probably about mid way through High School I started to actaully believe it was possible. That would put me at about 15 years old.
- As a teenager did you play excessively?
CARL
Yes, and I still do!
- How did you start out in the Music Business and how did you get so many sessions and a successful solo career?
CARL
Sessions came about as a result of networking and playing with the best musicians I could. In LA the great players gravitated to the studio scene. But it was never what I truly wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to play in a band and do my own music and the many years I spent in the studios were really a big side track for me. I don't regret doing it because I learned so much, but eventually I had to chose a path to put my energy into, and it was my solo career.
- What age did you start learning music and what was your first guitar?
CARL
11 years old. I got a $30.00 Japanese acoustic called a St. George.
- Do you play any other instruments?
CARL
Anything with strings on it! I have 2 banjos, a great mandolin, a dobro and 2 ukuleles. I also own a grand piano and love to play it, but I really suck!
please indulge me with say 1 word that come to mind when I say
FOOD- WINE
LEADS- TONE
STRINGS- NEW
PICKS-FENDER HEAVY
PICKUPS-SINGLE COIL
FLYING-TOO MUCH
DIGITAL-ANALOG
TAPPING-FUN
DOGS-CATS
SHOTGUNS-LAME
MOVIES-MUSIC
FAMILY-LOVE
CHURCH-CHOIR
GOSPEL-PRIEST
BLOOD-YUK
WORLD-MUSIC
SESSIONS-WORK
TAB-LAME
STAVE-CLEF
WOOD-STEEL
Thanks Carl for taking time out and answering my questions , I know a few guys will have just got tuned into your work
INFO
CARL CAN BE EASY REACHED VIA HIS WEBSITE
http://www.carlverheyen.com/
AND ON OTHER WEB CONNECTIONS
http://www.YouTube.com/CarlVerheyen
http://www.eventful.com/performers/carl-verheyen-/P0-00...
http://www.twitter.com/CarlVerheyen
http://www.reverbnation.com/CarlVerheyenBand
http://www.myspace.com/CarlVerheyen