Riffs, Rhythm and Grooves

After a hiatus to raise a family, eclectic musician MashNote is back with a stripped down, bareknuckle sound. "I've always admired those that don't rely on slick production and image. We've all heard those recordings where even with little-to-no production -- literally a mic hanging in the middle of the room -- they're able to deliver songs that touch people. If I could do something like that, it would be the high water mark in my own personal music journey."

"It's definitely doing it the hard way," he continues. "I know vocals aren't my strong point and my guitar playing is in constant need of improving, so using minimal effects and not much fixing the mistakes and wrong notes can be nervewracking when the recording light is on. I try to leave all those boo-boos in there. Even the stuff that's multi-tracked is usually a one-take. If I get lucky, they can really be a plus to the end result."

The key, he reveals, is practice. He says once a song is more or less written, he will practice it at different tempos, styles, chord variations and arrangements for a while before recording it. He likens it to 'curing' the song or better said: "I've noticed that with my homemade chili and salsa, it tastes better the next day, after it has a chance to settle in and meld into something more than a just list of ingredients mixed together."

A veteran of the San Diego/SoCal rock scene in the '90s, MashNote has played countless venues and regional tours. And while not practicing with the band, he was taking private lessons from such notables as Les Preston and Gordon Kahan (himself a student of Joe Satriani).