Elmo Karjalainen | Interview

Finnish guitarist Elmo Karjalainen is one of those rare shredders who possesses not only prodigious technique but also a highly developed melodic sensibility. His latest prog-rock release Unintelligent Designs showcases well-crafted songwriting, soaring melodies and some mighty fierce, but not over-indulgent chops.

We featured Elmo in our last post demoing Fractal Audio's Axe-FX amp simulator and effects processor. And we are very glad to be able to feature him again in this exclusive email interview.


The Guitar Column: Thanks so much for doing this interview with us Elmo! Just for clarification, for us non-Finnish speaking folks, how do you pronounce your last name?

Elmo Karjalainen:  Sure thing, the pleasure’s all mine! You can say my name any way that gets my attention. So saying “Hercules” probably wouldn’t register. For English speakers, think of the 'j' as a 'y', like in “yes”, and pronounce the 'a’s' like you would the 'a' in “part”.

TGC:  When did you start playing and what drew you to the guitar in the first place?

EK:  I think I was eleven when I got my first guitar. However, the first two years of my playing mostly involved random hitting of the strings and dives with the whammy. What got me really interested in actually playing was hearing Gary Moore’s live version of 'Shapes of Things'. The guitar solo really grabbed me, and I knew I wanted to be able to play like that. I had tried out piano and drums before that. The piano I wasn’t too keen on, and my drum teacher was my dad, which didn’t really work out. We mostly ended up arguing. Nowadays I’d really like to be able to play the piano (and the drums too for that matter).

TGC:   Did you take lessons early on?

EK:  I took lessons from one teacher for a couple of years, but that didn’t really work. I then changed teachers and Sasa Opacic became my guitar teacher. He asked me the magic question: “What do you want to play?” I said “Gary Moore”, and he said, “Ok. Let’s start with bends and vibrato”. He was really strict with the bends.

TGC:  Who were you listening to back then?

EK:  Aside from the aforementioned Mr. Moore, I was listening to Queen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai (and the bands that he had been in) and a lot of the old Genesis stuff just to name a few.

TGC:  Were you influenced by any Finnish guitarists in particular?

EK:  Not really, unless one counts not wanting to play like Finnish guitarists as an influence. A few years later I did get into Ben Granfelt quite a bit. He’s a very good rock guitar player from Finland. I also got into Pekka Pohjola, a Finnish bass player, who wrote some very interesting music.

TGC:  Did you keep to a steady practice schedule when you first started out?

EK:  Well, I was probably all over the place with my practising. At times I’d practise like crazy, and then I could have a week when I didn’t play at all. The good thing with this approach (although it wasn’t a conscious approach) is that you can take a step back and maybe not get too caught up in your own playing. I listened to a lot of different music all the time, which I think was important. I didn’t stick only to guitar players (although there were a lot of those), and I didn’t just listen to rock.

TGC:  What is your typical practice schedule like these days? Are there particular things you work on?

EK:  I don’t really have one. What I’ve been doing for years now is mostly playing along to stuff. That’s a great way to practise, or at least it works for me. I try to emulate the feel of whoever it is I’m playing over, without trying to play the same licks. Then I try to transfer that into my own playing when I’m playing something else, or in a live situation.

That being said, getting that Yngwie feel while playing jazz could be a bit of a challenge. Nowadays I have trouble finding the time to practise. There’s just too much stuff to do, so when I finally do have some spare time, I can’t really be bothered anymore. I just feel like going to sleep. I’m hoping that will change once I get my master’s thesis out of the way.

TGC:  Name some guitar players whose playing you admire. What elements of their style would you like to incorporate into your own playing?

EK:  Well, I admire a whole bunch of people. We have the usual suspects: Vai, Satriani, Malmsteen. Steve Lukather is someone I really like. Danny Gatton had great technique and he was funny too. Guthrie Govan and Mattias IA Eklundh are both incredible. I really also like Fredrik Thordendahl of Meshuggah.

Then there’s Pat Metheny. His playing and writing skills are brilliant. But if there was someone I had to mention above the others, then I would have to go with Jeff Beck. What he does with a guitar is to make it really sing. Plus his whammy technique is otherworldly.

TGC:  Tell us a bit about your new album Unitelligent Designs, and why that unusual title.

EK:  The title is a bit of a jibe at creationists who want to have creationism taught in schools, but under the name of intelligent design. Also, it’s not the most intelligent thing trying to make money by making an instrumental guitar record. Although in fairness I don’t think many, or any, of us have any illusions on that point.

Other than that the record is a collection of songs that have been around for a long time, some for as long as 10-15 years. I just decided that I had to get it done, to kind of make room for something new. So I sat down and recorded a bunch of tunes, and I also used a couple of older recordings.

TGC:  Tell us about your songwriting process.

EK:  It varies greatly. Sometimes I start with the drums, like in 'The Promised Land of Roundabouts', sometimes it’s a melody bit, sometimes it’s a riff. These songs are from a time when I did lots of stuff by doing the chord progression first. In general I don’t like to spend too much time tinkering with arrangements and stuff. Some songs take longer than others, but I try to avoid going around in circles with tunes. This way stuff gets written.

TGC:  What is the most important thing you would hope to get across to a listener hearing your album for the first time?

EK:  I hope that listeners feel something. Even anger is better than nothing. I also hope that they find it musical and well produced. The technical shreddy side of it is less important (although that’s fun too). Most of all I hope to make people smile.

TGC:  What recording gear did you use on that album?

EK:  I had an AKG C-414 in front of the cab. That went into an RME Fireface. The software used was Sonar. Most people use Pro Tools, but Sonar is what I got used to using when I got to know recording software, and I can’t be bothered to learn the use of a new one.

TGC:  What was your guitar, effects and amp setup for the album?

EK:  Guitars and amps varied. The main guitar was a Fender Yngwie Strat. I also had a couple of guitars built by Sasa Opacic (the man from question 3) at Sale Custom guitars, plus an Ibanez Universe, a Schecter seven-string and a Takamine acoustic, I forget the model.

The amps were Marshall 1987X heads, the reissues of the old MK II 50 watt heads, going into a Marshall Handwired cab with Celestion Greenbacks. I also used a 100 watt Marshall JVM head for some rhythm stuff. In addition to those I had a distortion and a Morley Bad Horsie wah in front of the amp. Add a healthy dose of delay and voila, that’s it.

TGC:  You recently did a demo of Fractal Audio's Axe-FX for The Guitar Column -- thanks for that! What do you like about the Axe-FX?

EK:  No problem. It was fun. Firstly I like the fact that you have everything there, all the sounds you’ll ever need and then some. Secondly, it’s by far the closest thing to the real thing. So much so that when we did an A/B test at the studio, with the Fractal modelling the amps I use, it was really a really close thing.

I’ve been using the Roland Cubes for smaller gigs (and a Cube also features on the songs 'The Demise of a Karaoke Bar' and 'Tuire’s and Ville’s Wedding Waltz'), but the Axe-FX beats it by a country mile. It also reacts to dynamics really nicely.

TGC:  What do you think of some of the other amp modellers on the market?

EK: I must say that I’m not too familiar with some of the other products out there. I hear that the Line 6 stuff has got to a point where it’s quite good. Other than that, I can’t really say.

TGC:  Tell us about the Sale Custom guitars you are using.

EK:  Sasa, as was revealed earlier, was my guitar teacher back in my teens. He also builds guitars and has a brand called Sale Custom Guitars -- Sale being his nickname. He recently built me a Strat out of mahogany, and it sounds fantastic. It’s basically an Yngwie strat, but with a Wilkinson tremolo and a mahogany body. I also have a Jem copy(ish) thing with a Fernandes sustainer, and another Yngwie strat copy with a humbucker as the bridge pickup.

You can find his website here: http://www.kolumbus.fi/sale.custom/

TGC:  Do you use any unusual tunings?

EK:  The Schecter seven-string is tuned G-C-G-C-G-C-E, like Devin Townsend tunes his guitars. The Ibanez Universe is tuned normally, but with a drop A.

TGC:  Do you have a dream instrument that you would absolutely love to own eventually?

EK:  Probably a seven-string version of the Yngwie strat. I really like that low stuff, and I really like the sound of single coil pickups, or stacked humbuckers.

TGC:  What gear would you bring to a live gig? (Pedals, effects, amps)

EK:  It all depends on what kind of gig it is. Nowadays I’d just get my Fractal and the accompanying midi pedal, plus a wah. Earlier I used to use the Marshalls live as well, with a Rocktron Intellifex for delay, and as a power attenuator. You could get really good results by just turning the output down on the Intellifex, which brought down the volume, but kept the sound almost exactly the same.

TGC:  What kind of picks and strings do you use?

EK:  The picks I use are 1.5mm Dunlops. The strings are GHS Custom Light Boomers, .009-.046. On the seven strings the gauges are different of course, but I don’t remember them by heart. I think the low string -- yes, the low G-string for all of you who already had the thought -- on the Schecter is a .070 I think.

TGC:  Other than your solo work, what other projects are you involved in right now?

EK:  I’ve been in Deathlike Silence ( http://www.deathlikesilence.com, www.deathlikesilence.com ) for many years now, and we’ve slowly been contemplating the idea of returning from a slight hiatus. I also play in a band called Seagrave (www.seagraveband.com), and we’re just about to start recording our first record. It’s a more traditional band in the style of Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen, etc.

I’m also involved in a band called Conquest (conquestband.com). I’ve also played the leads for an upcoming album by the bass player from a band called Kilpi. The project is going by the name of Helena & Kalevi at the moment, but I’m not entirely sure if that will be the final name. You can find a few raw mixes of that stuff on YouTube. In addition to that I also play in an Eighties cover band.

Those are the things that are really happening. Then there’s the stuff that’s in the planning stages, like a progressive metal band. We have the tunes for an album, and we have the band. We even have a name: Insomaniac. Then there’s the as yet unnamed quartet that is meant to be playing my solo stuff, but we had to put that on hold because of the lack of time.

TGC:  What is a typical day like in the life of Elmo Karjalainen?

EK:  It mainly consists of diapers nowadays, due to the fact that I became a father nine months ago. Other than the diapers and the sometimes less than well slept nights it’s been nice so far. I’m waiting for her to become a teenager. That should be fun. I also have a few guitar students and I do some substitute teaching occasionally. I’m also working on my master’s thesis in philosophy at Åbo Akademi University.

TGC:  Thanks so much for doing this interview with us, Elmo -- All the Best!

www.elmojk.com

Axe-FX Demo | Elmo Karjalainen

Rising shredder Elmo Karjalainen was kind enough to put together this demo of Fractal Audio's Axe-FX guitar processor for The Guitar Column recently. And man, does he put the device through its paces while showcasing his impressive vocabulary of musical styles!

Elmo's recent release, Unintelligent Designs features the Axe-FX extensively. If you're into melodic shred, this album is definitely worth checking out.

I think Elmo is deserving of an Axe-FX II endorsement. Fractal Audio, are you listening?

www.elmojk.com

An Interview With Rex Goh

Born and raised in Singapore, Rex Goh is a true journeyman musician.

Rex Goh

Rex migrated to Australia in 1972 and then moved to Sydney in 1976 to a burgeoning music scene.  A few months after his arrival in Sydney, he auditioned for and joined a then-relatively new band called Air Supply.

By 1980, with multi-platinum albums and a string of Billboard hits, Air Supply had become a pop supergroup who were touring the world.

For his friends in Singapore, Rex's success with Air Supply came as no surprise. He was already known for his good ear and natural ability when he started playing in bands at the local British Royal Air Force bases while still in his teens. Many Singaporean musicians of that era whom I have spoken to still recount those days of the RAF bases fondly. And they still testify to Rex's precocious talent then.

Today, Rex is an in-demand guitarist in Sydney, dividing his time between recording sessions and Australian tours.

The Guitar Column:  Thanks for taking time out to do this interview Rex!

Rex Goh:  It’s my pleasure.

TGC:  When did you start playing and who were your earliest influences?

RG:  I suppose growing up in Singapore in the 60’s, it would have been The Shadows, The Ventures and also early local bands like The Quests and The Checkmates who were my early influences. Then came The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Animals.

My taste changed when I heard the John Mayall and The Blues Breakers album with Eric Clapton, Cream, Jimi Hendrix and also Terry Kath, the guitarist with Chicago. All this time I learned how to play by ear..

TGC: We actually have a lot of mutual friends and many of them describe your playing back in the days of the RAF bases as simply stunning! How old were you when you started playing at the bases?

RG:   I had just finished high school when I joined the band called Group 123. We had a manager, Jimmy Loh, who very kindly helped me acquire my black 1969 Gibson Les Paul which I still own.

TGC:  How did you get your playing together at such an early age?

RG:  When I was 10 years old, I was fortunate to live two doors away from Benny Chan, the guitarist with The Checkmates. My mum had just given me a ukulele and lucky for me, the ukulele was quite a good one and it played in tune. About twice a week, I would go to Benny's place and he would teach me simple Elvis tunes to start with.and then later jazz standards like 'All Of Me' and 'It's A Sin To Lie'. 

I suppose I would have spent about 3 or 4 years learning chords and playing rhythm for Benny on the uke.  Later on I graduated to playing the guitar and I started to form band with kids from school or from the Aljunied estate where I was living.

TGC:  Do you have any memorable gig stories from this time?

RG:  Although I started out as a lead guitarist, I became a bass player when I joined a band called Tani's Titans. We were kids and were also lucky enough to appear on Singapore TV's variety show playing country music. When I first joined Group 123, I was the bass guitarist but switched to lead fairly soon when the lead guitarist Dave Tam left.

TGC:  You migrated from Singapore to Australia in 1972. What made you decide to take this huge step?

RG:  When I was working in clubs in Singapore I used to admire quite a few overseas bands like 'Tenderness' from Perth, 'Pieces Of Peace' from Chicago who were an incredible soul and funk band, and also 'Peter Nelson and The Renaissance' from New Zealand. Their arrangements of Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago songs were stunning. I wanted to play in bands like these.

TGC:  What gigs did you take on when you first arrived in Australia? Was it difficult breaking into the music scene?

RG:  I was living in Adelaide when I first arrived and one day I answered an ad in the local paper for a lead guitarist. Soon I graduated to a Yes cover band that played about half Yes songs and half originals. We had quite a following and also had a residency at The Tivoli Hotel in the city on Tuesday night. I then moved to Melbourne before going to Sydney in about 1976.

TGC:  Air Supply was positively huge in the late 70's and early 80's. How did you come to hook up with one of the biggest pop groups of that era?

RG:  A few months after I had arrived in Sydney, I heard that Air Supply needed a guitarist so I went for an audition. They had just released their first hit in Australia called 'Love and Other Bruises'. They were a new band on the scene and I was fortunate to join them.

TGC:  Was The One That You Love album your first record with Air Supply?

RG:  No, my first album with them was The Whole Thing's Started. There were no hit singles on the album but it was the start of my recording career.

TGC:  You're credited with co-writing 'I Want To Give It All' with Graham Russell.

RG:  Yes, I wrote the music during an early tour of the US and played it to Graham. He liked it, so he wrote the lyrics to the song. We also wrote 'She Never Heard Me Call', 'What Kind Of Girl' and 'Late Again'.

TGC:  Air Supply must have been an amazing experience. Care to share a few memorable gigs or road stories from your time with Air Supply?

RG:  Those were days that I will cherish forever. I remember when we were opening for Rod Stewart on big stages like Madison Square Garden which holds around 80,000 people and all we saw was about the first 50 rows. But you could hear the roar all around you which was just thundering.

I got the chance to meet many famous people like Aretha Franklin, Gino Vannelli and played with Glenn Campbell in his show. Once I had a police escort for my boots from the hotel to The Greek Theater where we were performing so they would arrive in time for my performance!

TGC:  Did you turn exclusively to session work after Air Supply?

RG:  No, I formed a band with singer Jenny Morris called Q.E.D. We made it to the charts in Australia with a song 'Everywhere I Go'. We also made an album titled Animal Magic.

TGC:  You're credited with recordings and performances with Savage Garden, Randy Crawford, Tom Jones, The Supremes and The Temptations amongst many others.

RG:  I played on Savage Garden's first album that included 'To The Moon And Back' and 'Truly Madly Deeply', two of their biggest hits, but did not tour with them. I was fortunate enough to work with Randy Crawford and Tom Jones on The Midday Show, a live TV show in Australia on which I was part of the orchestra performing with local and international artistes five days a week.

I also toured and recorded with Tommy Emmanuel and I was in his band for about three years when he played mostly electric. Another big international album I played on was with a Canadian group called Soul Decision that went platinum in many countries.

TGC:  Who have you been recording and touring with most recently?

RG:  Lately I've been touring and recording with Graeme Connors, a well-known country artist in Australia and Glenn Cardier who is more a blues and roots artist. Glenn has just released a new album titled Stranger Than Fiction. My latest project was recording an album with Darren Percival who came second in the TV show The Voice Australia.

TGC:  This interview wouldn't be complete without the typical guitar and gear questions. You're credited with being one of Australia's most heard guitarists, having played on numerous sessions. What guitars, effects and amps would you bring with you to a recording session?

RG:  Typical gear I would bring to a recording session would be two amps, my 1965 Fender Deluxe and my 50-watt 1970 Marshall JMP with two 12" Celestion Greenbacks.

For guitars, I would always bring my favorite Fender Telecaster - a late 80's issue of the '52 Tele. I used this guitar on many of the Savage Garden tracks. My brown Warmoth Strat which was given to me by a good friend in Adelaide and my black 1969 Gibson Les Paul which I bought at Swee Lee in Singapore back in the Group 123 days. The Les Paul was featured on many of the Air Supply and Savage Garden tracks.

Lately, I've been using a 1997 PRS which I purchased on eBay. It has quite a different sound from the Les Paul. I would also throw in a Rickenbacker electric 12-string just in case.

I use mostly stompboxes in the studio like TC Electronics delay and chorus pedals, and the AC booster and the RC Booster by Xotic. I have been experimenting with the old Germanium transistor fuzz box which Hendrix and The Rolling Stones used in the old days. For tours when I have to program sounds for certain songs, I would use my Boss GT6 and a Mesa/Boogie V-Twin for my distortion. My days of effects racks that stood about 4 foot high and running in stereo are well gone.

TGC:  What is your favorite acoustic steel-string for session work?

RG:  For acoustics I'm fond of my Gibson J45 and Maton Tommy Emmanuel model. I would also bring my Maton 12-string acoustic.

TGC:  You were also endorsed by Ibanez guitars for awhile. I've seen videos of you playing a nice blonde Ibanez 335-style guitar.

RG:  Yes, that guitar was especially built for me by Ibanez. It has a smaller body than the regular ES33 and told Ibanez that would prefer a smaller body 335 so they came up with the one you saw. David Moyse (Ed. note: Rex's co-guitarist in Air Supply) also had one but his was sunburst I think. David and I were given many guitars by Ibanez but we left them in the States and I don’t know where they are now. I love my blonde Ibanez -- it’s getting better with age. I have not modified anything.


TGC:  Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe I've also seen you playing an early Roland GR guitar synth on a few of your appearances with Air Supply. Were you into guitar synthesizers at the time?

RG:  I don’t remember playing a Roland guitar synth but I used Casio guitar synth model PG 380 which had the sound built into the guitar. That was way past Air Supply days but was fun for awhile. The guitar was great by itself and was my main guitar for quite a few years during the late 80’s and early 90’s.

TGC:  The Classic Albums Live tour is an interesting concept where audiences get to hear their favorite albums performed live. You were the musical director for the Brothers In Arms tour. Can you tell us a bit more about this project?

RG:  I was approached by the promoter Phil Bathols whom I met during a tour called The Beatles White Album Tour on which I was the guitarist. He told me that Brothers In Arms was one of his all time favourite albums and would I like to put band together to do national tour as a concept show. For the first half we would play the whole album exactly from start to finish and the second half would be the best of Dire Straits. I was lucky enough to use drummer Chris Whitten who actually toured with Dire Straits during the 90’s. He now lives near Sydney. I have since done Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s and Abbey Road albums

TGC: I, for one,would love to hear a Rex Goh solo album. Can we look forward to one in the forseeable future?

RG:  I love playing in a band situation and never regard myself as a virtuoso guitarist since I always like to play with singers. It might happen someday maybe with lots of guest singers.

TGC: Do you have any parting words of advice for young guitar players looking to get in to the music industry?

RG:  My advice is that you need the desire and the passion for whatever you do. To hang in there when times are tough and never lose sight of your goal. Success does not come overnight. You might get lucky but more often it’s hard work. The industry is very different now than in the old days when usually the focus for kids growing up was music whatever kind it may be.

When I was growing up in Singapore, it was either marbles or playing the guitar, thankfully I chose the latter.


TGC:  Thanks so much for doing this interview with us, Rex-­- here's wishing you All the Best in your future endeavours!

RG:  It’s my pleasure to be of any help to you, all the best. Cheers!

(Pic Source: www.classicalbumslive.com.au)