SEEKING
Band to Join, Vocalist - Alto, Keyboard, Drums, Bass Guitar, Vocalist - Soprano.ABOUT
I began playing guitar in December 1989 at the age of 13, and from that point forward began my lifelong obsession with the guitar. Initially, I didn’t have any specific influences or guitarist that inspired me to pick up the instrument, I was just always drawn to the guitar and have always had a natural love of music. It wasn’t until about a year later, after watching a documentary on TV that I received my first shot of inspiration from a specific guitarist, on the 20th anniversary of his death: Jimi Hendrix. From there, I went through a very heavy Hendrix period, whom I still listen to today and draw inspiration from. But that “inspiration” didn’t stop there. It wasn’t until my 15th birthday that I discovered the guitarist whom would have the biggest impact on my playing, and whom I’d draw my greatest influence. That guitarist is Yngwie J. Malmsteen, and the CD in question, his first solo album “Rising Force.” His amazing technical ability, coupled with the heavy classical influences completely blew me away. After picking my jaw off the floor, I picked up the guitar and began the journey of developing the technical command and passion that I heard from Yngwie and many other Neoclassical Shred and Progressive hard rock guitarists over the years. Dream Theater has been another huge inspiration for me as well, and I'm glad to see the success that those guys have achieved despite being ignored by mainstream media for the most part, and no radio play. The power of the internet and the fanbase speaks for itself! Also it was through Yngwie that I also got turned on to classical music discovering violinist Niccolo Paganini and baroque composer J.S. Bach. I would play for 5 hours plus a day for many years, particularly throughout my high school days and beyond. I feel extremely fortunate that I found a style of playing that I loved very early in my musical development, as opposed to many kids who bounce around with no specific influences or direction, and they end up losing interest as a result. What’s even more ironic is that I was engrossed in all of this over the top guitar playing at a time in music when actually knowing how to play guitar was frowned upon by the mainstream music scene, during the dark period of the Grunge era in the early and mid 90’s. I’m glad that era, like all hyped trends, is long gone and we’re back to a period where many kids are interested in developing articulated ability on the instrument.
Over the years, I’ve been involved in various projects, majority of them instrumental. My ultimate goal is forming a progressive power metal/shred project with vocals, in the vein of Dream Theater, Symphony X, Joe Stump’s Reign of Terror, and of course, Yngwie. This has not been an easy task, especially in Connecticut, where the local music scene has become a very stagnate environment in recent years. It's overrun with cover bands, party bands, whatever you want to call them, and I’ve been offered slots in a few of them in the past (although I'm not sure why they'd want a speed guitarist in a band like that.) I’ve always turned them down because I’ve always felt my style of playing is too over the top for bands playing Dave Matthews, AC/DC and Staind covers, and isn’t going to contribute to what the band is trying to do in that kind of environment. While I understand the reason local bands do this, lets be honest here, all the clubs around here want cover bands, they are not as interested in original bands because they don't play songs people would know (obviously). I‘ve had those conversations on the phone with some of the club owners and been asked that question..."Are you in a cover band?" No I play originals "Oh, no thank you" LOL Frustrating to be sure, however I’m far too dedicated to my craft and what I love to play and write, that I simply wouldn’t enjoy playing music that I have no emotional connection to. Its just not my cup of tea, but more power to you guys in the local bands who enjoy what you do! If I was to play in a cover band, I would want to play stuff from Iron Maiden, Dio, Yngwie, Hendrix, Dokken, Queensryche etc mixed in with a healthy dose of original material. In November 2001, I had an instrumental guitar track that was selected out of over 800 submissions and put on a compilation CD that was distributed to over 200 radio stations and record labels all over the country by a company called Kid Antrim Music. Not much came of it, however I would receive the occasional email from someone who complimented my playing, or liked my submission. The internet has enabled many artists to promote themselves globally without interference from radio and record labels, and my goal is make contacts with people in the Tri State area and beyond looking to start an original project.
See my Artist Page: ://./pages/Jeff-Langevin-Neoclassical-Progressive-Shred-Guitarist/154972997879626?sk=wall
- Screen name:
- JeffLangevin
- Member since:
- Apr 20 2011
- Active within 1 week
- Level of commitment:
- Very Committed
- Years playing music:
- 20
- Gigs played:
- 10 to 50
- Tend to practice:
- More than 3 times per week
- Available to gig:
- 2-3 nights a week
- Most available:
- Nights
Influences
Guitarist and Classical Influences: Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, John Petrucci, Chris Impellitteri, Joe Stump, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Michael Angelo Batio, Matthew Mills, Joey Tafolla, Michael Romeo, Neal Schoen, Steve Vai, Jani Liimatainen, Timo Tolkki, Niccolo Paganini, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Liszt…and of course, Jimi Hendrix.
Bands: Dream Theater, Yngwie Malmsteen, Symphony X, Impellitteri, Sonata Arctica, Journey, Racer X, Jeff Scott Soto, Dio, Queensryche, Fates Warning.
EQUIPMENT
Fender American Standard Stratocaster (Arctic White), Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Guitars (Pearl Redburst & Carbon Blue)
Digitech RP-10 Effects Board
Mesa Boogie F-30 Amplifier
