Gretchen Menn
INTERVIEW WITH GRETCHEN MENN
By John Davenport
Q. When did you first discover that you had the talent and passion for music?
I grew up in a musical household, and have loved music as far back as I can remember. My father, Don Menn, worked at Guitar Player Magazine and played piano, guitar, and sang. He rented my sister, Kirsten, and I whatever musical instrument we felt like banging on from the local music store—everything from trumpets and clarinets to harps. My mother, Mary Ellen Culver, loved classical music and musicals, and had grown up playing the violin. She regularly brought us to the theatre, ballet, and opera. Music was never forced on me, but always available, and always celebrated.
So, while my family imbued an early awareness of and love for music, it was seeing Eric Johnson play that inspired me to pick up the guitar. My early tastes had been for guitar-driven music like Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. I had heard “Cliffs of Dover” on the radio, and was transfixed, but had no idea who it was. For a few weeks it remained this beautiful, fleeting mystery. But I went to a Joe Satriani concert, and Eric was the opening act. I was absolutely in awe and overjoyed to know who was behind that song. I remember thinking that the music sounded like the auditory joy. And so it all began for me.
Q. Who was your first teacher/mentor? Tell us about him/her.
My first studies were with Phillip de Fremery, my classical guitar teacher. He has incredible patience and focus, which he rather miraculously encouraged in me, as I am not an inherently patient person. He promoted a mindful and detailed-oriented approach to technique. Technical issues were addressed the moment they arose, and though it meant really taking the time to slow things down and dissect them carefully, it also meant problems got resolved early and bad habits were never allowed to form.
One of the most striking things about Phil is he is a completely selfless teacher—he only brought his guitar out the case on very rare occasions, and lessons were always focused entirely on me, the student. His training and approach are always with me, even on my approach to electric guitar.
Q. Was it at Smith College that you studied under Phillip de Fremery? Tell us about your experience while attending Smith College.
I was a music major at Smith College. The music department was very classically-focused, which wasn’t a problem for me, as I loved all that I was studying—theory, harmony, counterpoint, composition, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Debussy, and such. However, it also meant that electric guitar was not taught or academically acknowledged. I did have my first electric guitar with me in my dorm room—my blue Music Man Silhouette—and started applying the theory I was learning in the classroom to the fretboard. If tedious at times, this approach had some benefits, as it meant I had to figure things out for myself, which helped deepen my understanding and familiarity more so than if I had just been shown finger patterns.
A few months into my first year, I started hearing about Phillip de Fremery, the classical guitar teacher for all of the colleges in the area. He had been a student of Andres Segovia, and was reputed to be phenomenal—not just as a musician, but also as a teacher. I had heard that he was so methodical and detail-oriented that all of his students had perfect technique. I thought, “Yeah, sign me up for perfect technique!” I studied with Phil during the rest of my time in college, and even still make occasional pilgrimages back to the east coast to study with him. He is, indeed, absolutely phenomenal, and I owe a tremendous amount to him—he taught me the patience, focus, and attention to detail that I call upon every day.
Q. As a guitar player and a fan of music myself, I find it difficult to come up with riffs that do not remind me of another piece of music. What inspires you to write new music?
It feels like everything inspires me sometimes! Other musicians, of course, but also books, people, experiences. I am very lucky in that I never have felt writer’s block. That’s not to say that certain pieces don’t require a significant amount of time and work to reach completion, but I love puzzles and problem solving.
I don’t have a set creative process, and I like to try out new approaches and ways of writing. Melodies will come to me in my sleep or just jump into my head. I’ll give myself a compositional exercise, and the result ends up developing into a piece of music. I’ll explore on the guitar, and stumble across something that seems to want to be realized.
One of the main ways I internalize a concept is by writing with it. If I hear a lick of someone else’s that inspires me, I’ll take what I like about it—maybe it was a particular type of melodicism, or wide intervallic leaps, or the addition of tapped notes, or a odd subdivision of the beat—and I’ll use the concept that I like to write something of my own. This means I’m pretty much always writing. I do believe creativity can be sort of a muscle—it can atrophy if you let it. So, while things flow better on some days than on others, I just make it part of my daily ritual, and never stress about how much is or is not happening on that particular day. If you write every day—it doesn’t matter if it’s a lick, a riff, a chord progression, or an entire song—you’ll never be at a loss for ideas, and the more time you allow your own ideas to develop, the more your own voice will emerge. You are unique, and so is the music that comes out of you. One of my favorite quotes on creating was from Martha Graham in a letter to Agnes DeMille:
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open…”
Q. Tell us about working with Larry DiMarizo.
I was using DiMarzio pickups for years before I started working with the company directly. DiMarzio is absolutely fantastic—both for quality of products as well artist support. I have worked with both Steve Blucher and Larry DiMarzio, and both are brilliant, exceptionally cool guys. They talked to me a lot about my wish list for what I was hoping get out of my pickups, and really worked with me to get the sounds I was after. I love their pickups for flexibility and tonal quality. The combination of single coils and Fast Track 2 in two of my Music Man Silhouettes, for example, allows for a huge spectrum—from celestially clean and warm to huge and screaming. I have also been really enjoying the new Angel acoustic pickup, which I recently had installed in my Santa Cruz Guitar Company OM model. Larry is also an amazingly talented photographer, and I was honored to get to do a photo shoot with him last year. He is a very smart, kind, funny guy who is adamant about the quality of his work and products.
Q. Can you tell us about the transition from classical nylon strings to steel strings and was there any difficulty?
I started on classical and electric guitar around the same time, so I guess it’s like growing up bilingual. I never felt that one technique impeded the other. If anything, I think playing classical guitar helped me develop solid left-hand technique as well as develop an ear and taste for polyphony.
Q. Please tell us more about your guitars, gear, amps, and other effects/pedals that you use and why you chose them.
My first guitar was my Music Man Silhouette, and Music Man continues to make my favorite electric guitars. They are so solid. They stay in tune amazingly well. Their fit-and-finish is immaculate. They have the best-feeling necks of any electric guitar I’ve ever played. I like that they are clean and classic-looking, as I’m not partial to ornate inlays and really flashy tops. Plus, their truss rod system is simply brilliant. My Silhouette and Silhouette Specials are pretty much the only electric guitars on my new album, Hale Souls. All pickups are DiMarzio: stock single coils in one of the Silhouette Specials, and stock single coils in the neck and middle positions and a Fast Track 2 in the bridge position of the Silhouette and one of the Silhouette Specials.
I use GHS strings, gauges 0.10 – 0.52 (light top, heavy bottom). Simply put, they are high-quality, reliable strings that feel great and sound great.
My custom OM model from SCGC is a work of art—from the beautiful, warm yet articulate sound, to the gorgeous red finish, to the neck they meticulously carved for my hands and playing style. I use the DiMarzio Angel pickup in it, which allows for great tonal flexibility. It is the guitar I used on the tracks, “Fast Crowd,” and for one of the guitar parts of the guitar quartet, “Is It Not Strange,” on my album.
Les Pauls are classics, both in their look and sound. And there is no other guitar you could really use for a Zeppelin tribute. Yes, yes, I know Jimmy used a Telecaster at the beginning, but we all know what instrument is most associated with him. They have DiMarzio 36th Anniversary PAF pickups.
My Kenny Hill Ruck model is my classical guitar, and it is all over the new album—The engineer for my record, Robert Preston, and I often shook our heads when we recorded with it. It has such great tone.
My Engl SE 670 EL 34 is the main amp for all the crunchy tones on my album. I love the Engl’s ability to remain really articulate and to track quickly, even at high gain settings. It also is incredibly flexible, with 4 channels that range from clean to super distorted. Playing at high gain settings, especially with single coil pickups, is usually a huge battle with noise, and the noise gate on the Engl is brilliant and allows for adjustment of threshold as well as depth of mute.
For pedals, I have been loving a few pedals I recently got from Godlyke: the Providence Chrono Delay, and the Maxon FL9 Flanger and Pure Analogue Chorus. All combine rugged construction with ease of use and, most importantly, gorgeous-sounds.
My rig for Zepparella is my 1977 Marshall JMP, and my pedal board includes a vintage Crybaby Wah Wah, a vintage MXR Phase 90 (script logo, for the MXR pedal geeks), my Xotic Effects AC Booster, a Line 6 DL-4 Delay, and a Boss TU-2 tuner.
The cabinets I use are custom-built Stewart Guitar Cabinets with Celestion Neodymium speakers. Stewart Guitar Cabinets are hand-built, amazingly crafted boutique cabinets that sound better than any cabinet I have ever tried. My main cabinet is made out of solid poplar with Finnish Birch baffle and rear panel. They look like 4×12 cabinets, but actually have two ports, which redirect the sound coming off the back of the speaker forward. They have great clarity and tone.
Q. We know on your solo project that Stuart Hamm is playing bass, especially “Oleo Strut.” Is he playing on any other tracks? Tell us about your experience working with him.
Stu played on all the tracks with bass, except “Scrap Metal”—Angeline Saris was the guest artist on that one. Stu is a legend, and I was honored to get to work with him. Everyone knows that Stu has insane technique, but part of why I was so excited to have him on the album was because of the breadth of his taste and ability to approach things compositionally. Though guitar is my instrument, I like musical dialogue, and didn’t want the other instruments relegated to backing roles. I didn’t want 8th notes on the root and 4-on-the-floor so I could shred unimpeded, as if to backing tracks. I wanted interest everywhere, musical conversations and different instruments featured at different moments. Having musicians as amazing as Stu Hamm and John Mader on the album makes that a given.
Q. On your web site you mention your guitar influences are Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Frank Zappa, and Jeff Beck. Are there any others that inspire you?
Oh, absolutely! Too many to mention! A few that you didn’t already say are Django Reinhardt, Eddie Van Halen, Jason Becker, John McLaughlin, Adrian Belew, Paul Gilbert, Andrès Segovia, Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, Jimmy Page. I am leaving out a long, long list of guitarists who I respect deeply, but those were the first few who jumped onto the paper. I just saw Charlie Hunter last week, and he was absolutely stunning—virtuosic in one of the purest senses of the word: his technique is mind-bending, yet it is all clearly for the music, not just for show or ego or to impress. At the end of the night, I bought a CD, because, technique aside, what he plays is simply beautiful. I also love baroque, classical, romantic, and 20th century composers—Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Debussy, to name just a few.
Q. You may have been asked this before but, when I first heard “Oleo Strut,” I first thought of Joe Satriani. Has anyone else mentioned that to you?
I have heard that a bit, and people have also mentioned they hear some of my other influences on that tune as well. In any case, reminding anyone of such a great guitarist is an absolutely huge compliment! Joe Satriani was one of the first to make me want to pick up the instrument, and is an enduring inspiration. My hope and intention is to learn from my inspirations, to assimilate their influence, and to evolve as a musician, with the goal being to develop my own voice on the instrument. I never intentionally imitate anyone, though my influences have, of course, informed my aesthetic.
Q. Is “Valentino’s Victory Lap” a tribute to Eric Johnson? What I mean is in the style of the song.
Not consciously, but in way everything I do is a tribute those who inspire me. “Valentino’s Victory Lap” is officially dedicated to Valentino Rossi, Moto GP virtuoso, who rides motorcycles with the joy that Eddie Van Halen plays guitar. That same, pure joy is palpable in Eric Johnson’s playing—“Cliffs of Dover” and the solo of “Venus Isle,” for example, soar and transcend. I love Eric Johnson’s melodicism and the way his lines almost scream with exuberance when they reach their melodic apex. “Valentino’s Victory Lap” is, in a way, a tribute to that kind of spirit.
Q. What is happening with your current projects?
My solo project has started playing shows, which is great fun. Angeline Saris is playing bass—she is a monstrous player, with chops as well as taste and groove. Thomas Perry is on drums. He balances amazing technique and power with musicality and nuance. Both of them have great intuition around what the music calls for, and we are having a blast.
The video for “Scrap Metal,” the first track on Hale Souls, is about to be released. It was directed by Diana Cordero, and features Angeline and John Mader.
I have already started writing for the second album in my solo project, which is really exciting. I love the writing process, and am really looking forward to the next album.
Zepparella just finished shooting a video, which will be released right around the first of the year, and we will be busy with shows throughout 2012.
Q. Are you planning a solo tour?
Yes! The plan is for more shows and touring in 2012. Very exciting! Details and dates will be posted on my website: www.gretchenmenn.com.
Q. Any other musicians you would like to work with and explain why?
It would be amazing to work with Jeff Beck. He is so creative and has such integrity, as well as the artistic Holy Grail—absolute unmistakability. I would have loved to have been able to work with Frank Zappa. He was one of the most creatively adventurous composers of our time, and I can only imagine how inspiring and challenging it would have been to be part of his musical entourage. Working with Steve Morse or Eric Johnson would also be amazing. They have both been heroes from the beginning. In terms of non-guitarists, I have always dreamed of working with Mike Patton. I think he is one of the most talented singers and front men out there. I discovered him through Faith No More, and then got into Mr. Bungle, and now his various other projects like Mondo Cane. He is aggressively adventurous and creative.
Thank you, Gretchen, for giving us the opportunity to interview you for Coolgrrrls.com
Find out more about Gretchen on her website at www.gretchenmenn.com.
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Gretchen Menn: Hale Souls
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