Myles Kennedy (above) of Alter Bridge (the rock band that features three members who are in or have been in Creed) will return to Utah at the end of this month to play at Saltair. (Remember Myles? He sang for Slash when the latter played at The Depot back in January.)
I will be talking to guitar plater Mark Tremonti on the phone, but Myles is so busy he had to do an e-mal interview. Here are his responses:
1. How does performing as a member of Alter Bridge differ from the last time you were here, performing with Slash back in January?
Musically, Alter Bridge and Slash are very different. With Slash it's more blues based, straight up Rock and Roll. With AB, it's got more of a Modern Rock and Metal vibe. Besides singing I also play guitar for most of the set with AB while with Slash I only play on a couple of songs. Between both entities I get to stretch myself in very different directions.
2. Besides being in Alter Bridge, do you have solo and Slash projects upcoming? How do you balance your time wearing "many hats"?
Yes. I have a Solo record that I recorded back in late 2009. I just need to finish the vocals and find a time when I can get it released. I am currently writing a record with Slash as well. We are talking about trying to record it very soon. Sometimes the biggest challenge is finding time for everything. I have basically been working non stop since September of 2009 with little time off. I hope that doesn't come across as if I am complaining because I love being an artist. I consider myself very fortunate to have all of these incredible opportunities.
3. You have mentioned before that "AB III" was one of your most personal projects to date. How so?
Yeah, I don't know if I have been a part of making a record this personal since my days in The Mayfield Four. AB III is centered around a lot of questions and internal soul searching that I have been going through for some time. I won't bore you with the details but I will say that it was written from a very honest place.
4. Describe both the songwriting process and performance aspect of playing with Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips.
Mark and I are both perfectionist. We work very hard. That bodes well for our approach to songwriting. We basically stockpile ideas and then get together and create songs with everything that we accumulated separately. Scott Phillips is really great at helping us sift through the ideas. He is amazing at bringing a fresh perspective to the songs and coming up with great drum parts (he is one of the best drummers in the business if you ask me). Brian is a really creative Bass Player. I love his ability to come up with interesting parts. When we perform live we try not to get out of hand with production and lights etc. We spend so much time trying to craft good tunes that we don't want to dilute the presentation with visual gimmicks. It's all about the songs.
5. With "AB III" being a darker record and viewed by some as a "concept album," how are fans reacting to the new material at shows in a live setting? Are you playing songs from "AB III" side-by-side with other songs from the catalog, or are you guys focusing on playing the songs together?
We were really surprised with how quickly the crowds became familiar with the new material. The album had only been out for a few days last year when we started a European / UK tour in Scotland. People were already singing along like they had the record for years. We are pulling from all 3 albums for our setlist. The new songs are played side by side with the older material. Though AB 3 has a theme lyrically I don't think it tells a story like a proper concept record.
