FAQ
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions to John Ferns:
Q) Who are your major guitar influences?
A) There are many of them, but some which really influenced my playing are Joe Satriani, Vinnie Moore, Kee Marcello, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Steve Morse, John Petrucci & Gary Moore.
Q) What are your all time favorite guitar albums?
A) 1) Joe Satriani- Flying In A Blue Dream
2) Vinnie Moore- Mind's Eye
3) Europe (Kee Marcello)- Out Of This World
4) Yngwie Malmsteen- Rising Force
5) Steve Morse- Stressfest
6) Steve Vai- Passion & WarfareQ) What kinds of music do you listen to?
A) I listen to all kinds of music, from rock, metal, blues to classical, jazz, pop etc.
Q) What are some of your favorite bands?
A) Some of my all-time favorites are Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Dream Theater, Firehouse, Europe, Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Whitelion, Whitesnake, Van Halen, Mr.Big, Alice In Chains etc. and the list goes on.
Q) When did you start playing guitar?
A) I started playing guitar at age 16. I took it up pretty late because before 16 I was kind of more interested in sports & adventure than music.
Q) How did you learn to play the guitar?
A) Though I did take some formal lessons to learn music theory, but where the guitar is concerned I am self taught.
Q) What was the first song you learned how to play?
A) The first song I learned to play was "Every rose has its thorn" by Poison. I loved to sit in my balcony and play that song.
Q) What’s your daily practice regimen? How many hours a day do you practice? What kind of warm up do you do?
A) I don't really have any fixed schedule or fixed number of hours per day. I usually warm up by doing a couple of chromatic exercises & playing some chords with complex shapes.
Q) What picks & gauge of strings do you use?
A) Jim Dunlop Jazz III picks & D'Addario XL .009-.042 gauge.
Q) Do you have any advice for beginners in guitar playing?
A) Yes, there are 3 things:
1) Practice
2) Learn basic music theory at least. A lot of beginners directly want to jump to playing cover songs without knowing the basic rudiments of music.
3) Also listen to players of other instruments like violin, keyboards, saxophone, drums & percussions etc. There is a lot to learn from the different solo styles of different instruments.
Q) What influences you to write songs?
A) A lot of things, it can be thoughts, moods, nature, surroundings, influences, crazy ideas etc. Sometimes a melody just pops in my head and I then take it from there. Progressions with interesting chord voicing also inspire me to write songs.
Q) Tell us something about the 'Axetacy' album?
A) This album/ep is an all out guitar instrumental rock CD. The style can be described as straightforward rock guitar instrumental with strong focus on melody. My idea of making guitar music is composing tunes which favors not only guitar players or musicians but also non-musicians. I aim to write strong and memorable guitar melodies that people can remember.
Q) Can you tell us a little about how the seeds for this album (Axetacy) were sown?
A) I was always interested in guitar instrumental music but never really though of composing my own instrumental songs because I was then busy writing metal songs for my band Brahma, though sometimes I did write a few guitar melodies but I never focused on them. I got really inspired to put out a cd after I saw Joe Satriani perform live here in India. I also got a chance to open for him with my band Brahma on his Indian tour.
Q) Why didn't you approach any record label to release Axetacy?
A) I released Axetacy independently because I preferred the more do-it-yourself approach. I handled the production, distribution & promotion by myself. Not many labels are really interested in promoting instrumental music. So you have to do it yourself if you need to get your music out there to people who dig your kind of music.
Q) What are your future plans?
A) My future plans are very simple, continue to write more songs, make more music and very importantly play live because I just love to be on stage.