Recently, I pulled a song called “Energy Explodes” out and started reworking it.  State of Balance, my prog-alterna-metal-punk-fusion band, played it live a couple times.  The song was solid, but something wasn’t working.  I got out the test tubes and Bunsen burner and Wile E. Coyote (me) went back to the lab.  I started re-imagining the bridge with a new Slay-Fighter-ish riff.  Then, devised a drum track that was earthquaking and inspired the prehistoric drums of the ancients and a badass ending drum fill.  I cackled when I played it back.

The key element missing from this soon-to-be-preeminent guitar recording was a totally bitchin’ solo.  With a Tempo of 185 bpm, it could be really “meh” or scary shredding.  After two days of improvising thru the changes(Gmaj- Dmaj- Amaj- Cmaj), playing along to my rhythm tracks…I bid an abrupt farewell to the licks I knew from before and swam out past the breakers to play with the sharks.  On the 3rd day, I was really stretching.  My “Yoga for guitar” sessions must be paying off.  Balancing the mind and body, using my eardrum, cochlea and inner ear bones to blend the reality of my world to the fantasy of my temporal lobe.  Steve Vai calls this “Ultra Zone”.  My brain was creating molten alloy to be fused into something that I hadn’t the technique or ability to play yet.  Chuck Berry, Slash and Marty Friedman are having a rumble with Vai, Becker and Petrucci.  Miles Davis stopped by to laugh at them all.  You gotta keep your head on a swivel, ya know!

Let your mind play until you come up with interesting ideas you really love.  The above words are just a few images I used to describe what I let happen.  Yes. You must allow yourself to breath creativity.  Open firmly closed and locks doors.  Be vulnerable to things you’ve never experienced before.  How can we be truly open with others if we do not first own ourselves to the highest degree?  Confidence and belief in the playful process of imagination takes time to develop.

Written between Oct 24 and Nov 3, the solo may be revised yet again after I hear the results played back thru the speakers.  My goal is to grow each time I create music that I’ve never done or that I may have never heard before.  Use the creative process to come up with something that intrigues your heart, mind, body and soul.  The Archeology expedition begins anew with each song.