Arrizza

ARRIZZA'S FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

- WHAT DO YOU CATEGORIZE YOURSELF AS MUSICALLY?

That's a good question! I often get asked what I do musically, as most know me for my Spanish guitar. So people ask me, "Are you a flamenco player? Do you play Instrumental music?" The answer to that is, I am an eclectic artist and musician. While my primary instrument of choice is the Spanish guitar and my style is inspired by Spanish guitar forms, I am not by any means a flamenco player. If I had to categorize my music, which is difficult to do, it would have to be Contemporary Instrumental with New Age, Electronic and World influences. Early on in my musical life, I was exposed to the music I grew up with which was a lot of Latin-American, Spanish and Mediterranean (Italian, Greek, Middle-Eastern) music. I later learned about musicians such as the Gipsy Kings , Jesse Cook and Johannes Linstead whom inspired me to play Spanish guitar. But in reality, my true calling was with New Age and Electronic music as in the early 90's, I grew up admiring famous artists such as Yanni and Jean-Michel Jarre. Even before I picked up the guitar, my musical mindset was focused on the piano and keyboards which I dabbled on and picked up a bit while reading a book called "Piano For Dummies" (lol) that I borrowed from the local library and had a cheap Yamaha DJX keyboard. Fast forward to now, I have combined the two instruments to compose music that is soothing, enjoyable and healing, drawing from my early musical influences.

 - What is your inspiration when composing?

 I draw my inspirations from many sources such as: life experiences, an emotion, or even sometimes from dreams. Whatever the mode of inspiration, I totally surrender to the process. In other words, once I latch on to a particular feeling, I take it as far as the composition guides me. I try to never "control" the process, as I have learned early on that once you seize control of it, the creative process stops. It is when one completely surrenders to it and let go of judgement and control can the process flow, like sort of a Zen meditation if you will. It can be for a long period or even a short amount, I take the creative process for as long as it goes. I kind of go away for a while and shut out any external stimuli around me. That is why I might sometimes stay up late at night or don't answer the phone (I try to once I can), the creative process takes center stage as I ride its waves. Once the composition I am working on is nearly complete or done (which might take time that varies from a few days to a few months), I start producing the music as I determine things such as tempo, arrangement and instrumentation to use or the technical aspects such as EQ'ing, Compression and the overall mix.

- What comes first, the melody or the drums, etc...?

It depends, most of my musical ideas are born from the ether: I might hear a melody or a harmony play through in my mind, I hear a piece of music in a dream, or sometimes stumbling on it during a practice session. I am very melodic-driven, so usually the melody comes first. I might subconsciously pick it up from some kind of music I might hear in the background such as music in the distance, then make it my own. Or, I might hear a harmonic sequence being played, and will hum it to myself. I record it somehow, as I cannot read or write musical notation, to my phone or tape recorder and then work on the idea later in my home studio. The drums typically come later in the process once the melody and harmony parts are recorded. I might add some sequenced synthesized parts to enrich the arrangement further and then add the sound textures such as: wind, birds, waves, and rain sounds. Again, it depends individually on the pieces of music I am working on.

- How do the titles of the songs you compose come about?

I have to admit that the titles are about the most difficult part of composing. At least for me, the creative process, is a non-linear task. I approach the musical pieces as it comes, I might compose an intro/prelude or a chorus section, out of sequence or it might come all at once. I do my best to avoid controlling initially what comes first in the process and just flow with it. After the songs take shape, I identify with the feeling or inspiration that came from it. It could be a lingering feeling that the music speaks to me subconsciously upon listening to it in its entirety or maybe something I witness such as something I might read about in a book or surfing the Internet. Sometimes I use a working title that is temporary and then revise as the song develops. Usually the first one I pick is the right one by gut feeling. Not always, but usually. Other times, I just get stuck and have to resort to a title generator (or just throw darts on a board, lol)

- Where do you record/compose your music?

I record and compose primarily at home in my private home studio called "Zen Sounds". I originally started it as a recording space in my bedroom for recording my solo ideas and then some local musicians who wanted to record demos. As my musical skills developed, I invested in my space and spent on new instruments and recording equipment with the guide and care of a few mentors who have inspired and helped me over the years. It has developed into a nice little comfortable space that creates a suitable environment for composing.

- Have you collaborated with other artists on your albums?

Collaborating with other musicians is quite a gratifying and freeing experience. You never quite know the direction a piece of music is going to go during the creative process. When you have other musicians lend their unique talents into a project, they are in a sense, putting a bit of themselves into the music. It certainly adds to the overall flavor and style of the music that you might have not expected just doing it all yourself. I have collaborated with a few wonderful musicians from music session services such. as Studio Pros, Air Gigs, etc. I have recorded with others such as U.K. Spanish guitarist, Mark Barnwell (https://www.markbarnwell.com), New Age vocalist, Kerilyn, U.K. multi-instrumental composer, violinist and bassist, Tim Juckes (http://pyramidweststudio.co.uk) and World percussionist, Shlomo.

- What are your musical influences?

As I have mentioned in my bio, I have grown up in a diverse musical world. My earliest influences have been from music I have grown up listening to such as Latin-American and Mediterranean music. I heard a lot of music from legendary artists from Julio Iglesias, Jose "El Puma" Luis Rodriguez, Jose Jose, Braulio, Daniela Romo, Rocio Durcal and many others. I also listened to a lot of Italian and Greek music from legends such as Brigan Tony, Domenico Modugno, Toto Cotugno, Andrea Bocelli, Luciano Pavarotti. Sicilian group - Agricantus, George Dalaras, Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarhakos, Vasilis Tsitsanis, Glykeria, and many others. In my young years, I also listened, thanks to my parents, to Smooth Jazz and heard a lot of Kenny G and David Sanborn. The two songs that bring me to my childhood, respectively, are "Songbird" and "As We Speak".

In the 90's, I had discovered the New Age sensation, Yanni, after witnessing his "Live at the Acropolis" PBS special. I fell in love with Yanni's music instantly! Shortly after, I discovered Electronic superstar, Jean-Michel Jarre after listening to a Pure Moods CD I borrowed. I then learned of other great New Age artists such as Enya, Kitaro, Medhi, Omar Akram, and Enigma. My love of New Age and Electronic music led me to discover other artists such as Amethystium, 2002, and more. As I picked up the Spanish guitar in early 2000's, I drew in my Spanish roots and delved into a lot of flamenco and New flamenco artists such as Ottmar Liebert, Jesse Cook, Gipsy Kings and Johannes Linstead. I'd say much of my music is more or less a blend of these many influences: a little Latin, a little New Age, a little Electronic, and a little World - much like my ethnic heritage, it's an "antipasto" of sounds, haha!

- Do you perform live?

I am quite a shy individual, and since I was a kid, I've had some serious stage fright. During school class concerts, for example, I would often be the one hiding in the very back of the stage so I wouldn't be seen. Performances of any kind I had dreaded, even public speaking I had a very difficult time doing. My first public performances as a musician were frightful nerve-wracking experiences, I would often freeze up and have terrible anxiety! I decided on just being a studio musician for a while until I gained more experience on stage. Since then, I have worked on my stage fright and feel more comfortable performing on stage. I still prefer composing music "solo" in my private studio and devoting my time on releasing albums. But I will, usually after an album release, book performances locally and do live performances based on the new music. I will also do performances at select venues such as restaurants, festivals, etc...

- Have you ever taken any lessons as a musician?

I am mostly self-taught, having developed a good ear for music in my young years. I would often pick out melodies and hum them to myself or play them by ear on my toy guitar or my first keyboard. I was so good, that I could even predict how a song would take direction based on its chord progressions. When I first picked up the guitar, I would learn by fretting the notes I heard. I didn't even know the notes I was playing. Same on keyboards, I would pick a note and slowly learn by ear. It wasn't until later with the invention of the Internet that I discovered websites such as Cyberfret.com where I took online tutorials and a few lessons to broaden my musical vocabulary. I also depended on books such as Mel Bay's Music that have helped me grow as a musician. I have also learned from mentors that have thankfully guided me along the way. I cannot write or read traditional musical notation, so I have depended on musical tabulature to read music. I also have to record my ideas on tape.

- What Guitar(s)/Keyboard(s) do you use?

My first guitar was a Montana CL-80 Spanish guitar my father bought for me for $100 when I first started 20 years ago. It was featured on my first album I recorded on a budget. It was a pretty decent guitar for its price, but being a laminate bodied instument, it did have its limitations. It wasn't a loud instrument nor a great sound acoustically, in order to record it, I had to use different mic placements and some creative EQ and compression to make it sound the way it does on the album. I have since retired it once I gained access to much better instruments. Currently, my primary guitar of choice is a 2018 Andy Culpepper flamenco cutaway blanca, custom-built for me by NY-based luthier, Andy Culpepper (http://www.andyculpepper.com). I use it for all my recordings, especially for lead playing. My second guitar is a Cordoba GK Pro flamenco cutaway blanca I bought in 2012 that is used for recording (mostly rhythm parts) and live performances. Lastly, I have a Yamaha GC171SF flamenco that I use as my backup guitar for live performance.

As  for keyboards, I used to have a Roland XV-88 synth workstation that I used for my first album recording pads and other effects. I have since retired it in favor of my Roland System-8 synthesizer as a replacement. What I love about it is its patented "Plug-Out" technology which replicates awesome legendary synths such as the Jupiter 8, Juno 106, and the Juno-60 among others. I also use a Nektar LX61 MIDI controller to play on various software synthesizers I have collected such as the ever-powerful Omnisphere by Spectrasonics. In addition to that, I have acquired a brand new Korg Krome 61 synth workstation as well.