I was able to enjoy Glen Drover's guitar skills live when he performed with Testament the New Year's Eve before last in San Francisco. What a great night!! And now he has a new solo album out, METALUSION on Magna Carta Records. This is what he had to say about it . . .
HJB: Congratulations on the launch of your new album METALUSION!! I love it but you have been hearing that ALOT. How do you feel about how it's being received so far?
Glen Drover: All is good. Reviews have been great so I'm very happy.
HJB: Tell me about the evolution of the album. Who are some of the people you collaborated with?
Glen: It started with an idea I had after leaving Megadeth. I wanted to do something more instrumental and dynamic. I spoke with a drummer friend of mine, Chris Sutherland about this idea and he was really excited about getting involved. Chris recommended Jim Gilmour from the band Saga for keys and a buddy of his, Paul Yee, who is an incredible bass player, I must say. We then started the whole thing by doing a few covers to see how we all sounded together. After completing the covers and being really happy with the end result, we then decided to make an album. We also had a few guests on the album: Jeff Loomis, Chris Poland, Vinnie Moore, Steve Smyth and Fredrik Akesson.
HJB: Which track is your favorite or the one that surprised you the most by the way it turned out?
Glen: Probably the first track, Ground Zero. I wasn't sure how that one would turn out. In the end, its one of my favs on the album.
HJB: [I'm listening to it now, it's my favorite also. I put it on at work when I want to block everything out, it takes me away, well alot of the songs do!] What were some of the challenges involved?
Glen: Thats cool! I would say some of the issues would be production. I'm very critical of that stuff. The mixing and mastering process, that is.
As far as recording, it was lots of fun. Working with great musicians just makes the whole process very enjoyable!
HJB: Do you have any plans on touring?
Glen: Not yet, but we all want to play! This lineup of players would be good live. We have a good chemistry. I'm sure something will come up for us very soon as far as playing live.
HJB: You guys need to come to SF right away :o). Do you have any advice for anyone who is thinking about trying to do a solo album?
Glen: Be true to yourself when you write . Don't be a follower. We have too much of that these days. We need artists to come out with something fresh.
HJB: Words of wisdom!! I read that you give online lessons? How does that work?
Glen: The online lessons have been great. Very simple process. All you have to do is download skype from www.skype.com. It's free and super easy to use. You will need a webcam and a paypal account. Its $100 for four 30min lessons, which will happen the same time every week. For serious inquiries, email me at gdlessons@gmail.com.
HJB: How awesome would that be to get lessons from Glen Drover! Thank you Glen!!!
METALUSION is available now, go support your local music store and buy it!
