Hi Tom,
Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Congratulations to you
and the band on the
release of your second CD "OPUS 2".
1) You list
Fryderyk Chopin as an influence. What is Chopin's influence
on you?
- Chopin is an
enormous influence for me. There are many aspects of music
that are very
influential for me. He was a master of tonal harmony and
modulation. His
phrases and melodies also are great. His use of rubato
too, but above
all it is his ability to express the most passionate side
of
himself that is greater than any other composer (alive or dead) in my
opinion. When I listen
to many of Chopin's pieces, I feel that I know
him, that
I know everything about his soul. It is as if all his emotions have
transcended out
of his heart, into music, and into me (and other people
who really understand
and love his music).
2) What effect
have the following two musician's/composers/guitarists had
on you....
a) Yngwie
Malmsteen
b) George Bellas
- I heard Yngwie
when I was in high school and he blew me away. The
style, the
tone, the technique, the and the fire of his playing and songs just
grabbed me like no
other player before him.
Bellas was more of a direct influence because I know him personally and
studied his music with
him. George was different because I liked his
compositions more and
I personally think he is the greatest electric
guitar virtuoso of all
time.
3) When I listen
to your playing I can "hear" the control/command you
have of the guitar. It
sounds like you OWN the notes. That's very rare in a
lot of players. Did
you spend a lot of time working on the often "neglected"
aspects of guitar,
like vibrato, bending, phrasing, etc....?
- Yes I did
spend a lot of time on those issues. Music is self expression
for me so every
little nuance (phrasing, vibrato, etc.) is a big part of
that.
4) You teach
both locally and via correspondence.
a) How long have
you been teaching?
- I've been
teaching since 1989, professionally since 1991, correspondence
since early
2002.
b) Roughly about
how many students are you teaching right now?
- Total (private
lessons and correspondence) I have about 190 students,
but not all of them
take a lesson each week, most of the correspondence
students one big
lesson a month.
c) Are you still
accepting students?
- I am still
accepting correspondence students. I have room for only 3
more students
at Harper College where I teach. I am accepting students at my
home studio, but
it is by audition only now - only the most serious
students are accepted
there.
d) How can those
who are interested in studying with you "sign up" for
lessons?
- The first step
is to send an e-mail to me at hess@mc.net
5) How was it in
the studio this time around compared to the OPUS 1
sessions?
- It took a lot
longer because we never rehearsed the music for Opus 2
beforehand as a
band. Opus 1 took a let less time because the band had
already played
those pieces live before we went into the studio. We also
had a lot more
money for Opus 2 so we could take more time. The final
aspect is the
music itself, Opus 2 is a lot more complex musically than
Opus 1 was so it took
longer.
a) Now that you
came into the OPUS 2 sessions with a better
understanding of
recording techniques, did you spend a lot of time tweaking? Or was
it, "Fire it up
and go."
- We kept on
improving things, we often rerecorded parts if we found a
better tone later in
the process. There are a few of Mike's solos that he
recorded three
separate times and a lot of the others he recorded twice.
My tone was pretty
much set from the beginning so I only had to record my
parts once.
b) How much time
do you give yourself and your band mates before you
head into the studio
to put things "on tape"?
- I wrote the
music and gave everyone their parts (except where they had
the freedom to
improvise or write their own parts. Mark was actually the
fastest in the studio,
his parts were recorded quickly, Scott's part took
longest on some tracks
because they are so very very complex rhythmically.
Mike's solos took time
because he wrote them all and he took as much time
as he needed to get
them just right. I am slow because I am a perfectionist
when it comes to
phrasing, so I was always trying to get the best
performances out of my
self.
6) You mentioned
that most of OPUS 1 and 2 was written in Europe.
- A lot of the
original sketches originated there, but most of the details
were worked out
at my home (Chicago area, USA).
a) Is there a
certain place there that inspires you to write?
- Yes a very
specific place in Krakow, Poland. At an old small desk which
sits in front of a
large set of windows that face south and overlook a
beautiful valley. The
room is the bedroom where my wife lived as a child
until she was 21 years
of age. The room and the view itself is not the
source of inspiration
(that is inside me in my memories, thoughts,
emotions, etc.) but
that room and that view is the best place for that inspiration
to manifest into
music.
b) Is it the
people? Scenery?
- It is knowing
that it is the view that my wife saw as a child and young
adult everyday,
every night. The view is great also.
7) What are your
favorite tracks from OPUS 2?
- I can't really
answer this because I like different tracks for very
different
reasons. From a personal view (not a musical one) these tracks
are my favorites:
1. The Cynic,
The Sad, And The Fallen
2. What Could
Have Been...And What Is Not...
8) What's the
hardest part of promoting an all instrumental band like
HESS?
Some high
caliber players choose NOT to tour at all. Stating that
financially it's
just not worth it to tour.
- The biggest
challenge is that I live in a country (USA) where
instrumental,
highly expressive, virtuoso music is not appreciated by
99.9% of the
population. If I were living in Japan, it would be much easier -
but I have no plans to
move my home there.
a) Is there a
big turn-out when you play live? That depends on what one
considers to be
a BIG turnout. The most people we have ever played for in
one show was
1,100, but an audience is not typical for HESS at this time.
200 people is
more realistic of the number of people we played for when
doing shows for
Opus 1. We have yet to play live for Opus 2, so we'll see
how large the
audience is when we do in a few months from now.
b) Are the
audiences generally larger Stateside or Overseas? Chicago is
the biggest
market for us to play live, but we sell more cds in Japan than
anywhere else.
9) Your brother
Scott (drummer for HESS) seems like such a perfect fit
for your style. One
advantage is that he is your brother so he more than
anyone else KNOWS what
you want. He really completes the HESS sound.
- Yes. Scott
knows what we wanted and is a very good match for the band.
10) Is there
anything that you would like to say to your many fans and
students?
- Thanks to all
of you who have supported HESS over the years. And an
extra special thanks
to those who actually bought our cds instead of copying it
illegally over the
internet or burned a copy from a friend.
In closing, I'd
like to thank you for sharing your insight. Also, I
would like to welcome
you as an ANGELO GUITARS endorsee. Stay tuned to see
Tom's Custom Angelo
guitar.
- Thanks to you Rommel and
everyone at Angelo Guitars.