What band/projects are you currently involved in?
I'm currently playing with The Endleaves and Sons Of The Soil. The Endleaves is a project that’s fronted by Shaneil Devaser(Crossing Boundries) whom I met when I had an online guitar retail business and he was one of my customers. Went to his house one day to drop off a Tele he had just purchased from me and after chatting with him, we discovered that we had a lot of common bands that we liked. So, we started jamming and writing music together…2 albums later, we’re still going strong. Although there have been a few lineup changes, the band is still intact and performing on a regular basis. We’re currently working on our 3rd album soon to be released.
Sons Of The Soil is a band that’s fronted by Brian Gomez(co-owner of Merdekarya). When I first met Brian, he was just an acoustic solo act. He would occasionally invite me to play and jam with him on Friday nights. We started out as a duo and eventually ended up as a full-on electric quartet. 3 years on and we’re still going strong. Our album is scheduled to be out sometime this year. You can catch us every Friday night at Merdekarya.
I do have my old US band “Big Mother Gig” that have reunited last year that I have recently recorded a 5 song EP with them. I’m just waiting for them to fly me to LA to do a show with them one of these days.
On a personal note, I’m planning to release an album of all my original songs soon. I used to front a power trio rock band called “3”. I’m planning to reincarnate that music again. Only time will tell.
Riz with The Endleaves
What/who are your main musical influences?
I’m an “ole skool” rocker guy. I was drawn to the blues(my roots) when I first started to learn to play the guitar. My influences includes BB King, Albert Collins, Freddie King, Jimmy Reed, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Hendrix, Zack Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Stevens, Prince, Eric Gales, Jesse Johnson, Jimi Hazel, Slash, Brian Setzer, Jimi Page, my beautiful wife and all my guitar instructors. I also love the blues rock/hard rock/old punk vibe such as Led Zep., ZZ Top, GnR, The Cult, The Stones, Black Crowes, AC DC, The Clash, Buckcherry, Aerosmith, 24-7 Spyz…too many to list. Anything that has a groove and crunchy guitars, I’ll check it out. My musical tastes ranges from Madonna to Hendrix and everything in between. I try not to have a narrow minded approach when it comes to music. If its good, and I like it…I’ll listen to it.
What are your weapons of choice?
I used to own more guitars than I needed. In the past years I’ve scaled down my collection quite a bit, although I do regret selling some of the guitars that I’ve owned. Currently, I have 2 Teles(Partscaster) custom made Rosewood 69’ style Tele and a blonde Maple 60’s style Tele. I have a 93’ Les Paul Classic Goldtop, a 96’ Les Paul Custom, Gretsch G6120SS Brian Setzer Nashville, Gretsch G6120SH Brian Setzer Hot Rod, Taylor 214E Acoustic and a Martin Sigma DR41 Acoustic. However, I’m always looking for new guitars!! Ha Ha!
As far as amps goes, I have 2 original (1980/1983) Marshall JCM800 Master Volume head(loaded with EL34 Russian Sovtex tubes) paired up with a 1960 4x12 Marshall B Cab and a Marshall 2x12 cab. The heads do not have channel switching, so to get a clean tone, I would lower the volume on my guitar or just use the rhythm/treble toggle switch from clean to dirty. My gain comes from overdriving the pre-amp(12AX7 tubes). There are no “gain” stage on these amps.
For pedals, I rely on my Vox V846 handwired wah, TS9 Tube Screamer, MXR EQ and TC Electronic Polytune tuner. These pedals are used to enhance my lead tone and to create texture only. They are not used as a main distortion signal. The main sound(clean/dirty) comes from the amp.
Riz with Sons Of The Soil
What are you currently listening to?
Current bands that I really dig…anything by The Darkness, Black Stone Cherry, Black Keys, Rival Sons just to name a few.
Message for young musicians:
Keep doing what you love…never stop playing. Play from your heart. Play for the music. Tone is god. Have patience and be humble. Practice, practice, practice and last but not least…ROCK HARD!
Endorsements:
Unfortunately I’m not famous enough to endorse anything…however I do endorse love, well being and the pursuit of happiness.
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