Interview with guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine

Check out the song: “Ölüdeniz”

Recently, guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine took a moment out of his busy schedule to speak with me about his newest, self-titled release. Since the 80’s MacAlpine has been wowing fans with his fret board wizardry and this disc is no exception. Over the course of his career he’s played with some of the best musicians in the world across many different genres. On this new release he returns to his signature, tasteful shredding that has garnered him so many accolades. Here’s what Macalpine had to say.

Now that your new self-titled CD is complete and about to be released how do you feel about and are you satisfied with the outcome?
Tony:Oh man, I am really happy with this record. It seems like this was a long time coming for us. It was really a lot of fun making this record and we are really enjoying it.

How do go about writing your music? Do you write while on the road or when you are at home?
Tony: Well there is no real formula for me. I don’t really write on keyboards a lot or on the guitar a lot it really just comes to me.

When you are writing do you have the live setting in mind?
Tony: Always, I always think about what it is going to be like to pull the songs off live. Since the very first record I did back in the 80’s I have always thought about how they will be performed live. I never try to do anything in the studio that I won’t be able to reproduce live.

Are there any tracks on the disc that are personal favorites or that have good stories behind them?
Tony: Oh sure the whole record was written about places that I have been; that was the whole idea. I spent quite a bit of time in Turkey and every tune on the record has a personal reference to an experience we have had in the places we have been.

How much practicing or playing do you do on a daily basis?
Tony: Well, it is not really practicing you know? I think it is something akin to people who speak English don’t really sit down and practice grammar every day. After a while when you have been doing it your whole life it is just something that you just do. I spend more time writing songs and working in studios engineering sessions with other people to keep my mind sharp.

You mentioned that you have been doing this since the ’80s. Did you ever imagine you would still be making records and touring so many years later?
Tony: Yeah, sure. I always wanted to do this for as long as I can.

What kind of touring plans do you have in support of the record?
Tony: Well we are looking at China, Japan and some other Asian Pacific countries in February. Then we are going to do some South American and European dates. The offers are coming in and we are working on some other tours as well.

Check out the song: “Pyrokinesis”

So you are going to be heading out across the globe again?
Tony: Yeah we sure are we are looking forward to that.

Is there any place you have not played that you would like to get to?
Tony: I have never played in Hawaii.

Any closing words at all?
Tony: I Just want to send out my love to anyone that has supported us through the years. We really enjoy what we do and without them it would be impossible to do. I hope to see everybody out on the road and Rock On!