Daniel Bautista, interviu în exclusivitate!

Aşa cum am anunţat încă de ieri, Daniel Bautista a avut amabilitatea de a ne acorda un interviu în exclusivitate. Am fost, cum s-ar spune, la primul nostru pas de acest gen, şi sperăm că veţi considera că este unul pozitiv. Înainte de a vă lăsa cu Daniel Bautista, vreau să vă asigur că albumul său este unul extraordinar şi că merită din plin să vă alocaţi o oră din viaţă pentru a călători în compania unui chitarist aparte.
În ceea ce-l priveşte pe Daniel Bautista, el a fost exact aşa cum este şi muzica sa: direct şi fără compromisuri.
Interviul a fost realizat de cei trei Bogdani de la Rock Talk, adică Bogdan, Wolf in Light şi DeMaio.

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1. We noticed that you’ve played in a few bands. Why did you decide to turn to a solo career?

Daniel: Playing in bands is cool because of all the sharing, the fun, the sinergy… But all of these depend on a number of things: the availability and degree of involvement of the musicians, the technic skills, the schedules, the good luck… Playing alone lets you make music faster and easier. And you can explore and compose music without discussing with anyone. Those were my main reasons… I still play in bands, however.

2. How do you write? You book time, you think “ah, yes, today I have something to do”, or simply let things come by themselves?

Daniel: The core ideas and the riffs usually come by themselves. I record them, and later, when I have time, I say “let’s do something with this”. That’s the moment when the core idea becomes something different (and yes, I mean different, not necessarily better :).

3. What made you go towards progressive rock, considering the fact that you’ve played mostly metal at the start of your career?

Daniel: I consider myself an eager person, musically speaking. I like trying and making different things. On the other hand, I had a crush in 1995 when I listened Dream Theater for the first time in my life. With this combination, it’s not strange I move on from plain metal to new ways, progressive rock being only one of them.

4. You brought into your album breaks of rhythm, in Marc Rizzo’s style, classical and neo-classical parts on Yngwie Malmsteen’s model and “anger” (in a good musical manner) which is to be found at a shredder like Joe Stump. Over all these you have managed to lay a special personality, to express your way of interpretation, that differs from everyone else. How do you manage to develop and keep your style on a segment that is very easy to fall to the influences?

Daniel: Well, that’s because I’m not very good at copying :). Maybe the fact that I’m a self-taught musician has something to do with that…

5. We saw that among of your influences are two names that many of us are, personally, feel close. We talk about Dream Theater and Freak Kitchen. We have to refer to the second and have to ask you to tell us what, musically speaking, brought Mattias “IA” Eklundh to you. Did he open some new way of interpretation?

Daniel: Yes, absolutely. I love his style of playing… I like calling it “simple complexity”… or “complex simplicity”. His songs are very simple, but with very technical and difficult parts. He’s an incredible player, makes things that sounds amazing, and he’s a good teacher. By the way, also a very cool and funny man.

6. Your music is selfproduced and distributed under the Creative Commons License.This would make one think that you believe in the internet more than in record companies. Is that true? Why so?

Daniel: I make music for the people. I want my music to be listened to. I don’t want to make money, I already have a job for that. If someone likes my work, that’s enough for me. I love playing and making music. I think the Creative Commons is the perfect license for my way of thinking. I feel very comfortable with the idea of sharing. And the whole Free Culture concept. I’m also involved in the free software movement. I’m not against record companies. It’s only I’m not interested in them… That’s not a problem, because they are not interested in me, too :D.

7. Do you think guitar-oriented albums still have a commercial potential?

Daniel: Mmmmm… I don’t think so. Maybe int the late 80′s :D. I wish I could sing :D…

8. Your last record includes some renditions of classical pieces. What made you decide to record these?

Daniel: Well, some time ago, when I played in a band called Hipospadia, we decided to make an album like “The Director’s Cut” by Fantomas, but with classical music instead of soundtracks. I started working in several pieces, but the idea didn’t come off. So I think “What the hell do I do with this?” and the rest is history :D.

9. The track “Con Nombre de Tango” features a very interesting combination of Spanish harmonies, and progressive riffs. How much does the culture of the Spanish people influence you musically?

Daniel: Well, I’m Spanish, so there’s always some influence. I’ve tried some flamenco pieces, and also some tango pieces (the tango is more from Argentina). I have played the classic guitar (which we the Spanish call the ‘Spanish guitar’, selfish, eh? :) in several tracks. But I’d say that’s not a main influence.

10. I am a beginner guitarist, and I know for sure that among us are a few more. What would be the first advice that you give to a newcomer in the world of guitar?

Daniel: The first advice would be: play, play, play and play. Play as much as you can. And then, play again. I’d add more advices: have discipline and get a table of exercises (digitation, scales, arpeggios, string skipping and that kind of stuff), always have fun with what you do, and so on. But always play, play and play (did I say ‘play’?).

Thank you again. And thank you for your goodwill and for your time. I’m looking forward to know your answers. And our readers too. Bogdan

Daniel: Thank you for this interview. It’s been a great pleasure.

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