Dreamfullofzen

It’s something of a rare treat to sit here and get to talk away with an individual like “Dreamfullofzen. An interesting fellow, hailing from the United Kingdom, and living in the Middle East, he’s spent the last several years carving out a reputation as someone who composes and produces music of a very compelling nature.

He’s most notably come to the limelight with his playing of the Armenian Duduk, a double reed woodwind which has featured prominently in Hollywood film scores and prime time T.V productions.

Alongside this, he’s also contributed music to several media productions, some of which have featured on major cable T.V networks, and had viewers in the 6 digit range!

So, DFZ, or can we abit more formal here… Dave.. Where did it begin with you?

I guess like with most people, it began with the music. Hearing guitar over the years on old rock records, most notably the guitar work of Brian May with Queen, and just wanting to play those amazing songs on the guitar.

I see, and when was that? and did you play any other instruments before that?

I picked up the guitar around 14, just before I turned 15. My father had tried to get me into keyboard (which I didn’t really like.. Keyboard’s are not as interesting musical as a real piano), and later on for some bizarre reason I was interested in the Accordion.. Rather embarrassing really.. But I was comforted in knowing Tonni Iommi also dabbled with one.. But yes.. I was an extremely unmusical child as it were… Never showed any real musical ability or talent.

But looking at how you play & hearing your music, it seems like you’re just being humble?

No trust me, no humility there. The guitar is a fairly forgiving instrument for ignorant people like myself, in that you can just pick it up and bash away and make musical noises without really having to know much about music… And I have been playing for 15 years now.. and I’m a stubborn and obsessive kinda guy.. I don’t give up too easily… lol…

But you say you’re an ignorant person, yet you have a Degree in music no?

Well a degree in music doesn’t necessarily make you a smart person per say. But yes, I have a B.A Degree with Honors from A.C.M in Guildford surrey, back when the program was being head up by the amazingly gifted and wonderful Eric Roche,  before he sadly passed away. I got to study around some of the finest musicians around, including Guthrie Govan, Dave Kilminster, the ridiculously jaw dropping Pete Callard, and the outstandingly cool Pete Fresin of Alice Cooper fame.

That must have been great! Did the time there help you develop your chops?

No, I had chops when walking in there. That place mostly taught people like me the things I was missing: Reading music, Playing styles other then rock with some fluency, how to work in a professional environment with other musicians without being a complete prick, and generally all the things a musician needs to step out and start working. As I found out.. All the chops in the world were not going to land me a gig if i couldn’t play a simple chart or follow a chord progression in a more jazzier vain.

What was it like studying with Guthrie Govan?

Quite revealing to say the least. Amazing guy, very affable, very knowledgeable, and obviously an extremely gifted individual. Was very nerve wrecking at times though since his technique and touch were just flawless in every aspect… But it is his attitude and mentality I think that people can learn the most from.

We could easily spend the whole time talking about your guitar playing and aspects of your playing, but I’d rather discuss more about your music and more importantly, your use of digital amp simulation. How did you get into that?

Well the concept always fascinated me, having used computers for a long part of my life, the concept of getting a bunch of tones out of a computer or gadget seemed appealing. I remember seeing the original magazine ad’s for the first Pod.. Found it fascinating, and eventually got my hands on the Pod Pro rack unit… Which I had mixed feelings about. It didn’t respond to playing dynamics at all, the low gain sounds were terribly dull and didn’t compress or sag right.. the cleans were a downright joke…. it was basically a metal box.. it did high gain mesa and marshall tones “ok” but that was about it. The software plugins at the time were also not so hot, plus the hardware for guitar to computer direct recording wasn’t as good as it is now.

You’re most known for getting ridiculously good tones out of plugins, most notably the Guitar Rig series by Native Instruments

Yeah I was travelling allot at the time and doing various things, and my rig wasn’t very portable. And the places I travelled to didn’t even have amps, so I jumped on the idea of running something like Guitar Rig on my laptop. I got the original version, and was pretty impressed with it. It wasn’t amazing, but it was certainly a leap forward from the previous amp sim plugins I had tried. Version two was a huge leap forward to, I was able to get some really hip tones from it. Eventually they released version 3 with a new foot controller interface & I just jumped on that and have been using it for about 4 years now.

Are you endorsed by N.I? Have you done presets for the GR series?

Hahaha… No.. They never bothered to reply to any of my emails. Maybe if I was more famous they would…

So what equipment are you running? Guitar wise & Software wise?

Predominantly I play ESP guitars… The older ones.. Can’t say much about the newer ones really. I have an old translucent purple ESP Horizon model which is a really amazing axe… late 80′s model. And then there’s my maple necked ESP M2 model, which I recently fitted out with Kent Armstrong pickups and a new 3 way switch for more strat like inbetween tones. Software wise I run GR3, and am thinking of making the jump to GR5 since it sounds good… GR4 was just a joke…. Non commercially speaking I use Lepou software amps, they’re all over the new record actually, especially the rhythm guitars… His “Legion” and “Lecto” amps just sound *$%&ing massive…

What string gauge do you use? and Picks?

I use Dean Markley Signature series .10s…. I can’t play for shit on .9s… I mean for legato and whammy bar stuff .9s are great.. but I was always too heavy handed to play on them without snapping strings every few days. .10 give a good balance of tone and grip for me, and I’m more concerned with my tone then I am being able to slide and shred… That said I had .9s on my M2 for awhile and that guitar in particular did seem to feel better with those on there, so I might go back to .9s on the M2 and keep the .10s on my other axes. My picks are custom made from InTune Guitar picks. They’re Jazz III clones, but derlin, last longer, smoother, feel better to grip and aren’t as thick. gauge wise I used to use 1.5 picks in the past but really 1mm or less is fine for my picking style.

The way you hold a pick is kinda weird.. yet it doesn’t seem to have slowed you down…

Yes I know.. I’m self taught so the concept of how to hold a pick properly never came naturally to me. I’d feel very bad about it if wasn’t for the fact that there are others who kinda hold it and angle it the way I do, which is angled upwards and back slightly. George Lynch, and more notably Shawn Lane did that, albet Lane could float his hand.. something I’m slowly working on doing.

You mean not resting the hand on the body, like most fusion players?

Yeah, I anchor my pinky on the body, which I started doing after I relearnt to pick after damaging my shoulders. I used to pick using my shoulder and forearm, and floated my arm and could pick stupidly fast, but the act itself not only sounded incredibly unmusical, but lead to serious injury. So I had to start from scratch and learn to pick from the wrist, and that’s where the anchoring of the pinky started to happen. Anchoring is ok, but it also creates tension and that can actually reduce flexibility and control when it comes to playing faster or more importantly, playing more smoother and more accurate.

How about the two handed style we’re seeing so much of on Youtube now? How fluent are you in doing that?

Not very… I’d intended to develop my 8 finger tapping over the years, but in all honesty, I wanted to develop the freedom to improvise with it, not just play set licks or arpeggios with it.. you know? Because I’m not really a lick based player.. and that approach really always annoyed the heck out of me.. because I don’t want to listen to a guy play a bunch of licks.. I want to hear music, creativity, and spirit.. not a bunch of bloody exercises… So I tried developing some basic ideas, and wrote that piece “Echoes of Rain” from those ideas.. but I found myself unable to write anything or develop anything remotely interesting beyond that. Maybe one day I’ll go back to it, but for not, it’s not a big deal.

Who are some of the players up and coming now that you admire or think is going to be a big name soon?

Well there are allot of young talented people out there.. I tell you when I was their age I could barely play a Zakk Wylde lick to half speed.. this kids are really something else.. technique is just really incredible… I’m almost jealous.. But in retrospect it’s always been that way with guitar.. newer generation just keeps on taking it further. As for current players I think who are going to be names to watch, there are a few, the ones that spring to mind would be Andy Wood, Jess Lewis (ridiculously talented young girl she is..), Chris Geden who I’m surprised is still under the radar, considering his playing, and well.. I dunno.. my mind is drawing a blank.. I really don’t listen to that many guitar players anymore to be honest.

You mention a female guitarist there, do you think there will be more girls playing guitar in the future?

The future is now… There are a ton of talented female players, but there always has been. The industry might shine the light away, but they’ve always been there. Thanks to Youtube, they’re just more prominent now. It’s a two-fold thing obviously, because there are girls who are simply getting by on their looks rather then skills, and it’s a shame, because there are some female players who deserve allot more attention, but aren’t getting it because they are actually good musicians, and are more focused on their craft then their hair…

Are you referring to anyone in particular?

Honestly…. I pretty much am… But I don’t want to single anyone out or seem mean…. She’s not the worst player in the world… But I’ve seen 16 year old girls who can play circles around her.. But it boils down to her appearance and attractiveness… The majority of people who support her do so entirely on the fact that they’re attracted to her… it’s ridiculous.. If I was blonde, Hot and younger, I’d be very successful.

You sound rather bitter about that

The majority of people I speak to think I am bitter.. I’m not.. I just hate what the industry has become… The fact that a persons success can be based on the clothes they wear, how they cut and style their hair, and how photogenic they are, without even hearing their music… is just a big $#*@ing joke to me quite frankly… Half these people.. you hear their music.. and it’s just terrible.. you know? No soul.. No Passion.. No honesty… Nothing… Yet they are touted as artists and are apparently worth listening to.. and then there are those who create truly amazing musical works… And the majority of them will go unheard, struggling, working a day job just to get by, watching as the world doesn’t notice what they do.

Let’s talk about your day job for a moment, because it’s rather amusing to an extent, you’re a professor at a university?

Well, apparently so. I consider myself an “instructor” but people do go around calling me “Doctor” or “Professor” and yes it is rather amusing to see a person of my age, walking around with long hair and a leather jacket and whatnot being regarded as an academic. I enjoy teaching and being able to help others though, so I don’t mind it so much.

So you work as a Professor, What other work do you do?

I do allot for film and T.V. Not major motion picture sadly. Mostly lower budget and student level. I’ve had some music licensed for Cable and Satellite T.V for large audiences. It’s a career avenue I always wanted to pursue but never did, due to the fact that I simply cannot afford to up and move to L.A, and sadly this business is all about networking.. Then again, which business isn’t these days.

So, what does “DFZ” have in plan for the future?

Well.. a lot! After the release of 2035, I’m going a monthly comic, which I hope to turn into a big thing and get on the iPad comic app stores and make some revenue from, enough maybe to start a comic studio with some other artists. Then there’s some side projects I have that I want to finish up, including music with the Kora. Then there’s the Duduk, which I’ve been lax about studying these past few months. I plan to sit down and seriously study Mugam, and perhaps write a Book on the subject, since it’s certainly an area I feel people are interested in, but there isn’t much published on the musical form. I also intend to release a book for musical instruction or tuition, not sure if for free or money yet, and some other musical things…. I’ve been very lazy since 2010, and I’m slowly starting to realize that nothing is going to materialize out of thin air… I’ve done allot of hard work these years, and most of it has paid off, but the rest hasn’t because I wasn’t willing or able to go the extra mile… But I feel I’m ready to now.