Quote/Unquote

ExperiMETAL Music Project

Metaaaaaallllllllll! Now it is no secret that I am a huge fan of the old school Rock N Roll. You know the days back when rock bands actually wrote their own music. I can remember growing up listening to what was called at the time “Heavy Metal” but is now commonly referred to as “Hair Metal” or “Glam Rock”. You remember the bands like Motley Crue, Great White, Van Halen, Warrant, etc…. Need I go on? I loved them all. Through the years I gradually either lost my CD collection of these bands or traded it out for newer music. However, through the beauty of the digital age, I have been reunited through services like iTunes with all that music that I grew up and looking back now, played a very important role in my life. I learned how to play guitar to all that music, went to college listening to that music, got grounded as a teenager and spent time in my room listening to that music. It’s what shaped the memories of my childhood.

Recently, I started thinking about all my guitars I had growing up, special thanks to Mom for providing the guitars as well as the lessons. How much I loved playing them. I can remember when I was sure I was going to be a rock guitarist. But reality set in, and I realized that’s not realistic. It was fun to dream though. As my life changed, I eventually got rid of the guitars, stupid thing to do on my part. I still miss those guitars.

Anyway, one day I was sitting in traffic and listening to my 80’s Hard Rock playlist on my iPod when I devised a plan. I wanted to see if there was some way I could get an autograph from all those “Guitar Gods” from back in the day, which was a Wednesday by the way, that I grew up listening to. I wanted to try an experiment.

The ExperiMETAL Music Project.

I figured these people are probably harassed everyday for an autograph of some sort. They have probably developed a type of “Tone Deafness” to all the fan letters they get asking for autographs. Why would they send me an autograph? I needed something that stood out, something to spark their interest into at least hearing my entire request before they threw the letter out. I came up with…A birthday request for my brother!

Before I go any further and actually describe my idea, I think it is important to clarify that I actually got this idea from something my step mother did for dad a few years back. My dad is probably the most devoted John Updike fan in the world. My step mother sent a letter and a birthday card to John Updike and asked him to sign it and return it to my father for his birthday. And it worked. Now, my father has actually had a lot of face time with John Updike, so it is possible that John did it out of courtesy because he knows how big a fan my father is.So I decided to send each of these guys a self addressed stamped envelope, a birthday card and a letter asking them to sign the birthday card to my brother, their biggest fan.

Now I didn’t want to flat out lie to these people. I mean, I am an actual fan of each and every one of them. I didn’t want to tell them that my brother was sick or dying, hell I don’t even have a brother. So how could I accomplish this? I mean after all this is an official scientific experiment, I need it to be on the “up and up”.I decided to send the letter using my first name, John, and stated that the autograph was for my brother, using my middle name Mark.

There, that’s not really a lie. Just a little schizophrenic.

Since this is now an official science experiment, I didn’t want to sway the results one way or the other so each guitarist was sent the same birthday card and the same form letter requesting their autograph on the card (an actual copy of the letter sent can me seen at the bottom of the page). They are each given the same time line to send back the card, May 6th, which is my actual birthday.So there it is, that’s the experiment.

Now all I need to do is pick my control group. To get a fair and accurate reading of which guitarists were actually “Fan Friendly” and which one’s were just “Pricks”, I need to survey at least 10. I needed to figure out which guitarists shaped the music of that era. Below is a list I have comprised of who I believe to be the best of the best.

	Eddie Van Halen / Van Halen I think Eddie is best known in the guitar community for his solo “Eruption” on the first Van Halen cd, although he continually explored and broke into new territory and playing styles. Eddie can be attributed as the “inventor” of the fingerboard playing style, rapid tapping and pulling on the fretboard. Which can be seen in the picture to the left. Guitars: Krammer ,Ernie Ball
	Steve Vai / Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Whitesnake Steve Vai is probably the best guitarist of our time. He was always kind of a “Gun for Hire.” and played in many different bands. About the most amazing thing I think of when I think of Vai, is the fact that once the 6 string guitar got too boring for him, he invented his own series of 7 string guitars. He is also able to play both left and right handed. Guitars: Ibanez
	Slash / Guns N Roses Although Slash has worked on numerous projects throughout the rock music community, he is best know for his work with Guns N Roses. In the late 80’s / early 90’s, Guns N Roses was probably one of the most well known bands in the world. Guitars: Les Paul
	Nuno Bettencourt / Extreme Probably one of the fastest, cleanist and most methodical players I have ever heard. For someone to be that fast and never make a mistake is just amazing to me.
	George Lynch / Dokken George is equally as fast as Nuno (above) and just as methodical a player. He is commonly know for his “Open Handed” playing style. I think the thing I find pretty amazing about George is that he left his band because the music they were playing wasnt challenging enough. Guitars: ESP
	Warren DeMartini / Ratt This guy had a snake skin covered guitar. C’mon, that just screams 80’s “Rock God”. I was just a big fan of Ratt. Thats all I can say. Guitars: Krammer
	Marty Friedman / Megadeth Marty is known for alot of contributions to the rock world, but I think his best work was on Megadeth’s “Countdown to Extinction” albumn. Marty was another kind of “Gun for Hire” guitarist. But man is a great player. Guitars: Jackson
	Joe Satriani / Joe Satriani Joe Satriani is one of those players that can make you sit there and say “Wow.” Joe came on to the scene with his solo album “Surfing with the Alien.” Which was a amazing all by itself, but another interesting fact about Joe is that was a guitar teacher before his popularity. Some of his students included Steve Vai (above) and Kirk Hammet (Metallica). Guitars: Ibanez
	Danny Spitz / Anthrax I just like this guy. Guitars: Jackson “Flying V”
	Michael Wilton / Queensryche Whenever anyone hears the words “Seattle Music Scene” the first thing they probably think of is Pearl Jam or Nirvana. When in fact Queensryche came out of Seattle 10 years prior and sold out arenas long before those others were even around. I just like Michael Wilton. He is a great player and a nice guy. I met him in Atlanta in 1989, I was lucky enough to get back stage passes to their show here. Guitars: ESP

After days of research, I was able to track down the contact information (be it true or false, I have no idea) of each one of these guitarists and/or their management company. All letters will be mailed with the intention of arriving at their destinations by February 06, 2006. Giving each guitarist a full three months to respond. During this time I will keep this website updated with the results, if any.

—————Form Letter Sent to ExperiMETAL Participants —————-

John Patton
4180 Summit Gate Dr.
Suwanee, Ga 30024

Eddie Van Halen
P.O. Box 192
Lagunitas, Ca. 94938

Dear Mr. Van Halen,

I am writing you today on behalf of my brother Mark Patton. Now, before I go any further, this is not a sympathy letter and my brother is not sick or dying. My brother is simply a huge fan of you and your work. He has been since his teenage years. In his younger years he bought your tapes which gradually were replaced with compact discs, which even today have been replaced with music purchased from sources such as iTunes for his iPod. He has followed your career for as long as I can remember. He has bought replica guitars of the ones you play on stage, learned the tablature music to all of your songs that he could from the popular guitar player magazines. He has even gone to great lengths to try and learn your exact playing style.

I know you are a very busy musician so I will get to the point. Today my brother is a 33 year old computer programmer living in Atlanta, Georgia and still holds your music in the highest regard. He has a wife and 2 year old daughter, but still enjoys listening to your music. It is because of this reason I am writing you today. My brother is set to turn 34 years old this year, May 6th to be exact. I want to give him what I believe to be one of the most cherished birthday gifts I think he will ever receive. I would like to give my brother a Happy Birthday card signed by his favorite guitarist.

Enclosed please find a birthday card and a self addressed postage paid return envelope. If you could please find time within the next 3 months, I would greatly appreciate it if you could simply sign this card and return it to me so that I may have it framed and present it to my brother on his birthday. I know it will become his most cherished possession as well as make for a very memorable birthday on his 34th. If you do not have the time or feel uncomfortable about signing it, I understand and please accept my apologies for bothering you. I appreciate your time and consideration in reading this letter and would like to extend my thanks to you ahead of time.

Thank You

John Patton