An Interview with Rusty Cooley

IC: I see you were at the ‘07 NAMM show in January to unveil your new signature Dean Guitars 7-string… what was that like? Did you have any other cool experiences while you were there?

Rusty: Yeah, it was great! I got to hang out with some of my friends that I don’t get to see very often, like Mark Tremonti and Jeff Loomis. You run into just about anyone you’ve ever wanted to meet while you're there. The debut of the guitar was awesome as well. Everyone seemed to love it! Chris Story from All Shall Perish is getting one.

IC: You also recently attended your first DOA (Dean Owners of America) event in Florida. What did you do while you were there?

Rusty: I played a couple tunes from my instrumental CD and a fusion track that’s fun to improvise over, to show off a little more of my Holdsworth influence.

IC: The wicked “Xenocide” graphic came as something of a shock to some people who previously thought your model was going to look boring! Did you have a hand in the graphic, or is it something Dean Guitars came up with on their own?

Rusty: Thanks! Man, it’s amazing how many people just didn’t get it. The red one was just the prototype, and was not meant to be the final product. When the guitar was done they asked me, “What color do you want this thing?”, and I was like, “Uhh... I don’t know.” So initially I came up with red after admiring the Hummer H1 Alpha, because the color really looks amazing on the H1. But the Xenocide graphic was a collaboration of mine with the artist Stephen Jensen. He’s the same guy that came up with most of Dime’s stuff. Anyway, I had a conversation on the phone with Stephen for about an hour, and based on our conversation he took care of the rest. So really all of the credit goes to Stephen.

IC: Obviously your new Dean is top of the line in terms of playability, but what about color? Are there any more color options planned for the future? [Laughs] For instance, could I get one in hot pink with a little Hello Kitty graphic on there like Fender offers now?

Rusty: Well, I don’t think the Hello Kitty model will be available any time soon, but we are going to do some traditional colors like black (just not on the first run).

IC: Aside from Dean, what products do you endorse, and what equipment do you use on a daily basis?

Rusty: The Rocktron Prophesy preamp (which comes with 6 Rusty Cooley settings, by the way), Diamond amps, VHT power amps which I use with the Prophesy, EMG pickups, Intellitouch tuners, Maxon, GHS Strings, Morley, etc… I pretty much use all of this stuff on a daily basis.

IC: You recently released a fantastic music video for your instrumental song, “Under the Influence”. Where did the idea come from to shoot a music video, and what lead you to choose that particular song?

(Cooley's signature Dean)

Rusty: Dean Guitars wanted a video of me to play on their monitors at NAMM, and I couldn’t do an Outworld tune because we didn’t have a singer there for the shoot. So I did “Under the Influence” because it’s one of the easiest tunes on my instrumental CD, and since I hadn’t played any of that stuff in years it was the quickest for me to relearn.

IC: Which 7-string guitarists do you like to listen to?

Rusty: Jeff Loomis and Fredrik Thorndendahl!

IC: How did you get into teaching, and what age were you at that time?

Rusty: I got into teaching because Randy Rhoads taught, and when I was a kid Randy was my favorite, so I pretty much was into anything Randy was. I was 17… I think it was my first semester of my senior year in high school.

IC: I’ve heard you say that back when you were in high school you used to practice for three to four hours a day after school, and obviously even more on the weekends and vacations. But what about after you graduated? How did your practicing change, and where were you at as a player?

Rusty: Well, after high school I pretty much played all day. I would get up, practice, go to lessons and teach, and then go to band rehearsal. So that pretty much would cover my days. To get a good idea of where my playing was at after I graduated, watch the Revolution video on my website. It’s pretty close… just probably not as polished.

IC: How long was it before you could really make a living as a professional musician / instructor?

Rusty: I’ve been doing it since high school, so I guess a pretty long time now. Things are obviously better these days.

IC: There are probably some guitarists out there who have practiced around as much as you have, but who never achieved your level of speed and technicality.  Do you attribute anything in particular to your success? A well designed practice schedule perhaps? [Laughs] Shawn Lane used to say that he just had a hyperactive nervous system!

Rusty: You know, I really don’t have a good answer to that. I do know that when I was getting started there was nothing I wanted to do more than play guitar. I really lived the statement, “Live, eat, sleep, and breathe guitar”. I was always a fast runner and very limber… I don’t know if that has anything to do with it!

IC: When you heard some of the classic shred albums when you were younger, did you ever think that you’d never be able to play that fast?

Rusty: No, I never had that attitude. It just made me work harder so I could get there sooner. I knew it was just a matter of time, and no one ever told me that I couldn’t. Another thing was that when I was learning everybody could shred, so it was very normal and wasn’t looked at as unachievable.

(Filmed and edited by Dave B.)

IC: Did you have any favorite instructional books, cassettes, or VHS’s?

Rusty: Yeah, all of the Metal Method stuff (Doug Marks is really my only guitar teacher), and Paul Gilbert’s first instructional video is what took my playing over the top. Then later on in the mid-90’s I reinvented my playing, and Derek Taylor’s instructional stuff came out, and of course Lane’s REH videos. I’m also a big fan of Don Mock’s and Frank Gambale’s books and videos.

IC: Many technically accomplished guitarists still struggle with the theory side of things. Who or what helped you learn music theory?

Rusty: Some of the stuff I just listed helped me with my theory, and I also took classes on it in high school and college. But most of all it was just me reading and then applying what I’d learned.

IC: I know that you were never much of one for learning other people’s songs, instead choosing to improvise your own solos alongside your favorite music.  But learning songs via tabs is becoming more and more popular and accessible for young guitarists these days. Do you feel like this is having a negative impact on this generation of players, seeing as many of them choose tabs as opposed to figuring things out by ear and developing their own style of playing that way?

Rusty: No, I don’t think so at all. I pretty much learned everything from tabs, because I hated sitting and trying to learn from records and cassettes. As a matter of fact, that’s how I figured out I could write my own music, and quit trying to play other people’s. I would sit down and try to learn something, and after about ten minutes I would have come up with around five to ten of my own riffs! So I said, “Forget that, I’m going to write my own songs!” Nowadays, learning other people’s music is like pulling teeth to me. I would rather create my own instead of copying. But I recently I had a conversation with a guitarist of the opposite opinion. He said that he loved learning how to play other people’s music, and that it helped him learn how to write. I personally think you can get the same thing by simply listening to music by other artists. You can hear song structure just by listening - you don’t have to copy it note for note to grasp it. Not copying other people has helped me be more original.

IC: How did you get started creating instructional material? It must be strange knowing that right now there are people practicing your exercises all around the world… many of them doing it everyday for months!

Rusty: It’s something that I always wanted to do. All of my favorite guitarists have done it, so I couldn’t wait until it was my turn! I think it’s very cool that I can help others learn about music and reach their goals as musicians.

IC: So, you released “Basic Training” last year… do you hope to do another this year?

Rusty: Yeah, I have plenty of stuff I want to release, but it’s all based on having free time.

IC: You assume a somewhat unique “shred position” (as Batio calls it), with the guitar resting on your left leg as opposed to the right, and your left foot propped up on a footrest. When did you start playing this way? Was it inspired by seeing classical guitarists seated in a similar way?

Rusty: I really don’t know how it started, but I was doing it as far back as I can remember.

IC: Speaking of classical musicians, I know that Niccolò Paganini is one of your favorites... have you ever attempted to adapt any of his pieces to the electric guitar?

Rusty: Yeah, I was doing Bach and Paganini pieces back in college!

IC: Okay, I think most of your fans are aware of your biggest influences such as Rhodes, Yngwie, Gilbert, Becker, Lane, etc… but which other instrumental guitarists did you get into over time? Any instrumental album recommendations for the readers?

Rusty: Man, I have so many it would be impossible to mention them all here. To name a few… Holdsworth, Di Meola, and just about anyone who has ever recorded on Shrapnel records. I also highly recommend Guthrie Govan’s new CD. He’s great!

(Rusty and the RC7G at NAMM 2007)

IC: How did you first hear Shawn Lane? Did you ever get a chance to meet him?

Rusty: I remember hearing about Shawn in the early 80’s, but I didn’t finally hear his music until Powers of Ten came out, and then his REH videos. I did get to meet him about six months before he passed.

IC: This is a instrumental fansite, but I think we have to make an exception for your vocal progressive metal band, “OUTWORLD”. I heard that the band’s new singer, Carlos Zema, recently arrived in the US. Congratulations! Have you guys started writing and rehearsing with him yet?

Rusty: Thanks! And yeah, we are working on the next CD and hope to be recording by this summer.

IC: Having a new singer changes the group’s sound a bit. Do you feel like the band has already evolved a lot since the debut CD was written and recorded?

Rusty: The new singer really isn’t going to change the sound of the band much, because Carlos and Kelly are very similar sounding singers. The main difference between the next album and our first is that my writing is a lot heavier and less influenced by power metal and classical.

IC: Is Carlos writing the vocal melodies for the new album, or does the band do that together?

Rusty: Carlos does the vocals melodies. That’s the singer’s job as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t want the singer writing my guitar parts you know!

IC: Are you aiming for a new release this year, or are you going to try to do some performances to promote the debut album first?

Rusty: We will be doing a couple of performances, but the main objective is to get a new CD out this year so we can really get things rolling.

IC: As far as vocal metal goes… what are your favorite bands, albums, or songs?

Rusty: Well… no particular songs, but here’s a few of my favorite bands: Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Meshuggah, Lamb of God, Unearth, Soilwork, and Killswitch Engage.

IC: Okay, back to the guitar-nerd questions… I’ve seen both of your Chops From Hell clinics / performance DVD’s. Do you hope to do clinics again in the future? Maybe while you're out on tour with Outworld later down the line?

Rusty: Yeah, I think Dean is going to set up some clinics for me.

IC: I did an interview with Troy Grady last month, and he told me that you were the first person he went to when it came time to film for his shred-documentary, “Cracking the Code”. In fact, in many ways you inspired the project because Troy couldn’t capture your playing for analysis, due to the fact that most movie cameras simply can’t film at a high enough frames-per-second to clearly see what’s going on with your picking! Troy had to go out and buy a $2,500 dollar scientific camera to film with! So once Troy worked out the major kinks with the ShredCam and the software, did you get a chance to see some of your picking in slow motion? If so, did you discover anything new about your technique that you hadn’t known before?

Rusty: I did see a little, but not much, so I really haven’t got much out of it yet. But I’m sure I will once I get to see the documentary. I think Troy is a really brilliant guy and a great player too. We did debunk one of my licks while he was here using the slow mo cam. It was something that I was picking a few notes of and then hammering on a couple, and I could never tell exactly what I was doing because when I would slow down the lick I’d play it differently than how I would fast.

IC: Have you heard of fellow super-shredder and “Cracking the Code” co-star Conrad Simon? Aside from you, he’s one of the most devastating pickers I’ve ever heard!

Rusty: Yeah, I have.  He’s got some killer picking.

IC: How about young Spanish guitarist Paco Hernández? I know he’s a big fan of yours. You should hear his new piece called “Faustian Nightmare”. It’s really intense.

Rusty: I‘ll have to check him out!

IC: Before we finish is there anything else you’d like to tell your fans, Rusty?

Rusty: I would just like to tell everyone thanks for the support, and thank you for the interview, I enjoyed it!

Essential Rusty Cooley links:

www.rustycooley.com

www.myspace.com/rustycooley

www.outworldband.com

... and don't forget to buy Outworld's debut CD!

-- Dave B.