How important was being featured on the Spotlight section of Gitara i Bas for you?

I was very happy to be featured, it is a great honor for which I am very thankful. I was happy to see that column come back after an extended absence. I think being featured on Spotlight is a great way to reach out to more people, maybe also make some interesting contacts which might help with my career development. In a word - it was great. Similarily, being featured on the Undiscovered column in Guitar Nine Records was also a great honor for me. I got a lot of e-mails from around the world, which was a very nice experience. Among others I got an e-mail from GiB editor Krzysztof Maszota, to whom I'd like to send my regards at this point.

What's been happening since then? Are you fulfilling your musical and guitar ambitions in Scandal?

A lot has changed as far as my musical aspirations and guitar playing are concerned. I guess all musicians evolve based on the music they listen to, other musicians they meet and learn from, etc. This was certainly the case for me when I met the bass player I am currently working with - Pawel Gawlik. He set me back on my musical track, I'll admit to feeling a little lost these past few years having spent a lot of time playing technique oriented solos to MIDI backing tracks, which resulted in a kind of 80's sound, which I do like, but I also understood it was time for a change. I had to start thinking like a musician and not just like a guitarist, which required a change in attitude with respect to arranging, dynamics, generating and resolving harmonic tension, and so forth. However, I'm not totally distancing myself from the stuff I did in the second half of the 90's, rather I'm trying to add to what is already in my head and in my fingers. I mine many different musical styles and try to incorporate the most interesting sounding passages into my own playing, which becomes more sophisticated in a harmonic, rhythmic and instrumental sense. I am definitely a rock guitarist, but I won't shut myself off from jazz, blues, funk, soul or even trance techno music. I feel great being a part of Scandal. I have a great rhythm section working with me, Pawel Gawlik on bass and Wlodi Tafel on drums, I guess we could also use someone playing keys at the moment. The music we play is basically oriented around the guitar, which does not take away from the other instruments in the band, because the music is arranged so that everybody is working with each other to add something to the whole. Am I living out my guitar ambitions in Scandal? To a large measure, yes. On the other hand, I would like to be able to eventually release a solo album, which would have some of my old compositions (maybe freshened up a little in terms of tone and overall sound) as well as some other compositions which don't necessarily lend themselves to the Scandal sound, but which are representative of a certain style.

Can you tell us a little about your favorite guitar players and your reasons for liking them?

I have been a fan of Steve Vai for quite a number of years now. He is definitely my favorite guitar player, there is something about the way he treats the guitar as a medium between himself and his audience that appeals to me. The guitar is basically a medium of exchange of emotional states. I think being able to use the guitar in this way is really the ultimate stage of learning to play guitar. There is a lot to be accomplished by concentration and meditation, and I don't necessarily mean that in the Zen sense, more like being able to isolate yourself from your surroundings in order to completely focus on the music. I've noticed that when I'm in the zone like that I'm able to produce sounds that are really extraordinary and amaze me as well as my audience. I would very much like to be able to achieve this mental state more often, it's only then that I believe I'm truly separate from all that's routine and schematic in my approach to music. This is one of my criteria for choosing my musical idols, I believe this trait that is also indicative to a certain extent of a person's character. Anyway, Jeff Beck is another guitar player that I adore. His phrasing just blows me away. It's interesting how many different sounds you can achieve by playing just with your fingers. I would also include John Petrucci as one of my favorite guitar players. I like his playing as well as the music of Dream Theater in general. John Petrucci is without a doubt a virtuoso, and there is a certain quality to his playing, apart from the flawless technique, I'm thinking mainly of melodic development, interesting arrangements and harmony and some fascinating rhythm variations. If you combine this with what Mike Portnoy and the rest of the band are doing, the result is truly amazing. So I've been a big fan of Dream Theater for a number of years. Lately though I have started paying more attention to aspects of music not necessarily related to flawless execution from a technical standpoint. I became fascinated with harmony in general, and specifically with the way certain sounds that would normally be pretty dissonant can be included in a longer musical phrase which in the end blends in nicely with the background. If you add to this a proper rhythmic feel and right hand technique this can really allow you to become a much more universal guitarist - but not in the "jack of all trades, master of none" sense; more like being able to play whatever is in your head at the moment, which is really not as easy as it sounds. Apart from the guitarists I mentioned I also like Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Tony MacAlpine, Steve Lukather, Ritchie Blackmore, Gary Moore, Pat Metheny and many others.

Does instrumental guitar music (Satch, Vai, et al.) have a chance in appealing to a mass audience?

I think it's pretty obvious that instrumental music, be it guitar, violin or piano, will never be as popular as songs featuring vocal parts. The singing has been and will probably continue to be of central importance. Instruments have always been used mainly for accompaniament. Only about 100 years ago did people start experimenting with different roles for instruments in popular songs. The 70's and 80's were the golden years of guitar (electric guitar obviously), along with the rise in popularity of hard rock and heavy metal. In the 90's we witnessed the increasing presence of electronic music and the use of computers which meant live instruments went back to a supporting role. However, in the past two, three years you have seen some nostalgia for live instruments, you can see rock music coming back to a certain degree, and I hope this trend continues. As rock music comes back, the importance of the guitar will start to increase. I think we are about to see some great times for guitarists, also in terms of demand for that sort of music, maybe not necessarily in the style of "The Extremist" album by Joe Satriani or "Passion & Warfare" by Steve Vai (by the way, those two albums are my favorite works by Satch and Vai), since guitar technique has changed so much, and so has the general understanding of the guitarists' role, but I'm convinced that the guitar will make a comeback in a very big way, which will allow me to appeal to a much wider audience both as a bandmember as well as a solo guitarist, which is a way to showcase your abilities, something I wish all guitar players have a chance to do someday.

What kind of equipment are you using now, amps, effects, etc?

I am currently playing an Ibanez RG-505. This is a relatively good instrument in its class, which is kind of middle-of-the-road. I dream of several guitars: an Ibanez JEM (7VWH, 77FP or 7DBK), Ibanez Universe, MusicMan Axis, a Suhr strat, and a good electro-acoustic. Until recently I plugged into a customized Marshall Valvestate amplifier which had a pretty good distorted sound, but I was really in the need of a good tube amp. I tested a couple and eventually bought a Peavey 5150 (amps endorsed by Eddie Van Halen) head and cab. This amp has an extraordinary lead sound, which I was mostly interested in. For a fully distorted sound the gain knob is set at 4. If you go past 5 or 6 you get an extremely heavy death metal type of distortion. It's a really fantastic amp. The clean channel is also very nice, it has a very warm tube sound which lends itself perfectly for playing rock, jazz and blues. Eventually I would like to have several different amplifiers to use according to my needs, for example for my studio work. I would love to own a Rivera Knucklehead, a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier which has the best lead tone I have ever heard (works great for heavy riffing), I also like the sounds you can get out of a Bogner Ecstasy, a VHT Pitbull, as well as classic Marshall amps such as the JCM 800 or JCM 900. At this point I am not using many effects. I have a Boss DD-5 delay and a Morley Bad Horsie wah. I'm thinking of buying a Morley Little Alligator volume pedal, a Digitech Whammy and a nice warm chorus, kind of like the one John Scofield uses. I would also like to have true bypass capabilities for my entire rack. In the future I'm also thinking of buying a Lexicon G2 and a Mesa Boogie Triaxis preamp. I use Dean Markley Blue Steel strings, gauges 9-46. I have to use criogenic strings on account of my heavy use of the right hand, which has resulted in many broken strings in the past. I use Planet Waves cables and Dunlop 73 picks.

Your musical plans.

These mostly have to do with further developing my abilities and stage experience. I also do some work in the studio. Recently I have taken part in quite a few recordings as a hired guitar player for many Polish performers. When I'm not recording or on tour I teach guitar. I developed an original approach, where the two most important qualities are developing your musical consciousness and melodic thinking as opposed to memorizing licks and passages. I try to impart a sense of creativity upon my students so that they can go on to compose their own pieces on the basis of the information and theory that I have conveyed. I do not try to enforce my own musical attitude upon my students. I have developed some simple practice routines that will allow you to quickly assimilate knowledge that has to do with using intervals, modal approaches and more advanced chordal theory that expands on the extensions of dominant chords. I have also been asked to write a book which will clearly demonstrate the application of music theory to the guitar. I think there aren't many books like that currently on the market and that it will be very useful to many guitarists. I would also like to record a video tutorial, because you can convey so much more on a visual basis. I'm currently part of two different lineups: one is Scandal and the other is Analog, which is comprised of some of the people from Scandal and vocalist Monika Wierzbicka. Both bands are hoping to release albums pretty soon.

Regards,
Krzysztof Kuczkowski
Editor in chief Gitara i Bas