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Who are your biggest influences?

John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Slash, Dave Mustaine and James Hetfield

When did you start playing guitar?

I started when I was 11 or 12 years old. I was always into music but it was when I first saw Slash on a G n’ R video that I knew I wanted to learn to play the guitar.

How did you learn to play guitar?

I took classical guitar lessons for a little over a year. I then got my first electric guitar and started learning on my own mostly by playing by ear and learning songs. After a couple of years of that I sold my first electric and bought my purple Ibanez that I still play to this day. I got into private lessons for 3 months until I had to quit as I was failing a couple of subjects in high school. From that point forward I just kept on learning by myself.

Do you practice daily? What do you recommend?

I don’t have a practice schedule anymore although I try to play the guitar every day mostly to write new music or learn a songs for my cover bands. In the past I used to practice for hours and hours every day. I would grab a scale and practice it for hours using different techniques (i.e: practice it with alternative picking, legato, at different speeds, etc etc) I recommend the use of a metronome. Some people just don’t like it. I hated it but it paid off when I started recording. Always start slow, build your speed gradually. Don’t expect change to happen overnight.

How did you learn to play the keyboard?

As a kid, before playing the guitar I used to have a keyboard but I was never able to play it properly. In Fall 2008 an opportunity came and I got a keyboard for free. After playing and making music for so many years, playing the keyboard was almost natural, so I learned intuitively and by ear. I would grab my acoustic guitar and by ear find the notes to different chords. Then by muscle memory I would remember these chords and started writing a song right away. "While you were gone"; was written as I figured out how to play the keys.

How did you record your album?

I record everything you hear in my basic home studio. I use the Guitar Port and Pod X3 Live guitar processors from Line 6, connected via USB to my desktop. I used Cubase SX3 as my DAW to record and mix. I do this for all instruments (Guitar, Bass. Keys) To create the drums I use EZDrummer which is a VST Instrument Plug-in that works with Cubase. I open a midi drum map and input click-by-click every drum beat you hear.

How do you record/edit videos for YouTube?

I use a simple webcam to capture the video. The audio comes from the Pod X3 Live or Guitar Port from Line 6, connected via USB. When these devises are connected via USB to the computer they become your soundcard. Therefore, any signal you send through them will be recorded digitally, thus obtaining a really good sound quality, which is something difficult to do if you attempt to mic an amp to record a video in your bedroom (you’ll be capturing outside noises, guitar pick noises etc, decreasing the overall quality of your video)

After recording the video with Windows Movie Maker (standard in any PC) I edit the video with Sony Vegas. Sony Vegas is a multi track video editing software and it will allow you to sync video and audio (if your PC delays the audio from the video) as well as sync your video and audio with a track if you are attempting to do a cover.

To do the picture in picture effect that I do in my videos look for the feature called Track Motion. It will basically allow you to shrink the videos so that more than 1 can fit in the screen.

How do you get your tone with the Pod X3/Guitar Port?

This is what you have to do to have my main tone:
Line 6 Spinal Puppet Amp
4x12 2001 Line 6 Cab
Gate on
Screamer Stomp Box
Bass boost with the EQ pedal
A touch of Chorus, Reverb and Delay

Where do you find the tabs for your covers?

I don’t use tabs.

Bullshit, no way you don’t use tabs!!

No really, I don’t use tabs. Just look at the dates of some of my covers and the date the artist I covered released the songs. There were simply no tabs on the internet for those songs. Examples are: the Forsaken cover by Dream Theater, Sleepwalker by Megadeth, The Day that Never Comes and My Apocalypse by Metallica. (free tip: if you want to get a lot of views for your videos, make covers of songs that are new and/or more difficult)

You are so selfish, why don’t you write tabs for the covers?

It takes a lot of time to write an accurate tab and this is time I could invest in writing music or making videos, sorry.

How do you learn songs if you don’t use tabs?

It is all by ear. Naturally I try to help my ear as much as I can. I listen to the song with headphones and try to detect all the nuances and notes. Since I play through Line 6 gear I can hear my guitar and the track I want to learn at the same time through my headphones. I use Windows Media Player (standard to any PC) and decrease the speed of the track without lowering the pitch. This helps me learn the song by ear note-by-note. After I know WHAT notes to play on my fret board I worry about HOW to play then, so I increase the speed a little and determine the phrasing that is required. I then increase a little more the speed and try to put it all together until I feel comfortable enough to play it at regular speed. The exact same principle applies with the solos.

How does it feel being recognized by Lars Ulrich?

Being named by Lars Ulrich in his YouTube video along with other awesome YouTubers was a very proud moment and totally unexpected. I am eternally grateful as his message gave me a lot of exposure and a lot of confidence.



How does it feel to have won Shred The Web?

Eternally grateful to all those who voted and spread the word. It felt really good as the first entry was an original song, the second entry was a Pantera cover I chose from the list they had and it felt great playing a solo from Dimebag. Being recognized for that and receiving the prizes was surreal and encouraging.



What’s your gear, how many guitars you have, string gauges?

MY GEAR:

-Guitar Port from Line 6 for home practicing
-POD X3 Live pedal board from Line 6
-Roland JC 77 amplifier
-Randall KH-120 Stack Amplifier
-Yamaha YPT310 Keyboard
My GUITARS/String gauges and tunings
-Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci 7 BFR (.09 to .42, .56 on the 7th) Standard tuning
-Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci 2007 LE (.09 to .42) Standard tuning
-Epiphone Flying V Korina 1958 reissued (.11 to .52) D standard and Drop C
-Ibanez RG 570 (.09 to .42) Standard tuning
-ESP LTD EC-1000 (.09 to .46) Standard tuning and drop D
-Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro (.10 to .46) E flat tuning
-Gibson Les Paul Standard Blonde Beauty (.10 to .46) E flat tuning
-Ovation Celebrity electro-acoustic (.11 to .52) Standard Tuning
-Ibanez Electro-Classical guitar (Light Nylon Strings)
-Ibanez GSR205 5-String Bass

Why don’t you have a band?

I felt that I had something to prove when I decided to write music for a solo project. So I just started to work by myself and felt really comfortable with the fact that I didn’t have to tell anyone what to do and everything felt natural, plus I learned tons regarding the recording and mixing process.

Before that I was in a Spanish pop/rock band called Carmina, we put an album out called "Entre Huellas", and while it was a good experience to do some gigs with them, write a song for them and do the guitar work in their record, it never felt like something I would do and that it would satisfy my creative needs.

Other than that I am currently involved in 2 cover bands (one is Metal oriented, the other is Rock oriented)

Years before all this I had played in your typical high-school and college bands

Would you consider collaborating in projects for other people?

Definitely, I would enjoy very much being a session player and/or providing guitar work to any other artist

Is music your full-time job?

No it is not. I went to college and got a degree and maintain a full-time job but I kept my passion for music alive by constantly playing and learning more about my craft. Nevertheless, today I am more musically active than ever.

My question is not answered, can I message you?

Certainly, I will always get back to you (message me through MySpace or YouTube)