Interview with Trey Azagthoth of Morbid Angel (August 2000)
by Luxi Lahtinen

from Metal-Rules

First of all, what are the biggest improvements from "Formulas..." to Gateways to Annihilation" as far as its songs and production are concerned; I mean, in which areas do you think you've progressed mostly?
I think one of the main things about this new album is that drums came across the best for their kind of groove - and heavy patterns, drum patterns as far as the groove because we had slow stuff in the past and lots of fast stuff. But this album, tho, the rolls and symbol work and the way snare comes across and all that is just really snappy and I think that's probably one of the main things on this album. Compared to "Formulas...", I think the vocals now have a little bit more diversity and Steve has got a lot of more experienced. As he came in, y´know, kind of a new to sing for "Formulas...", we really didn't do any shows or anything at that time. He was in a few bands before, but never did a record before - and never did any big tours. So it was kind of new to him. And, y´know, he sings a certain way on "Formulas..." - on the album - and he asked me tutor, he developed and started finding different ranges, so it's not always really low, but also low and maybe mid-ranged like that. And there's a lot of that on this new album. The changes and the voice... and very clear, still very heavy. You can understand the words, I think, but it's still very, y´know, lots of force in it.

Song writing... Well, it's really kind of hard to say... I mean, "Formulas..." had certain kind of sound to it and this new album sounds different. "Formulas..." had a lot of more speed and darker guitar sounds, ambients - more ambients like Black Metal kind of, a lot of that kind stuff on "Formulas...". This album has a little different guitar sounds, more presence. Even tho most every song on this new album is a 7-string -songs, so it's down-tuned A-sharp. On "Formulas..." there was like 4-5 songs that were 7-string -songs. This album has eight and one song that is a 6-string -tuned, y´know, more standard D-sharp, so that's a difference. So, most of all songs are really low. There's, however, some really fast stuff on this album that's got the fast drums and the fast guitar and all that - fast vocals, too. And then there's... most of the songs have fast kick drums, symbol and fast kickin´. But the movement is really catchy , more singing -type of rhythms; sharp and heavy rhythms. Catchy and ... (!) - I really cannot find the right words. Well, there's a lot of guitar parts that are very orchestrated where the two guitars do totally different things. They are not following the same thing. One guitar is doing one rhythm and one is doing another rhythm and the whole song is basically like that. Besides just being one part where they do variations, there's variations going on all the time. And there's poly-rhythms like in "Ageless, Still I Am", the second song on the album, is actually track three, but it's the second song. That has two rhythms that are just doing totally different things. And even the first track has two different rhythms - doing just totally different things at the same time and together making a big, y´know, kind of sound. So, I think that's really cool. There's not as much of that on "Formulas...", but it certainly has that, too - there's parts, but now we got like... well, almost a whole song is like that. They are not doubling up the same thing. And the vocals are... they have got more diversity and are really catchy, but not commercial, tho.

 

If I managed to read between the lines, you're saying that you have concentrated on creating a bit more "moody" stuff for "Gateways..." - at least more than you had on "Formulas...", correct?!
Definitely! Lots of mood! There's incredibly moody stuff on this album. There's also guitar-synthesizers stuff, but not a lot, however. On the next album probably even more. I didn't wanna like over-load and totally come into something strange - to where there's too different. But there are some moments where there's a guitar lead and there's a synthesizer which is a guitar, but with synthesizer's sound and they blend together really nice and very atmospheric and moody. And then there's also some solos where I do/ I did on "Formulas..." where I used weird sounds like a fan that blows air. And this fan will be in between the microphone and a cabinet and it will make a certain kind of a quivering sound to a guitar. And you can really hear that really, really good on this album. There are a couple of parts like like that. I think this album has got a lot of mood, a lot of feeling and it's just flying.  And some of it has some of the feeling kind of PINK FLOYD and THE GATHERING, but maybe little faster.

"Gateways..." has been produced by Jim Morris...
Yea... Jim Morris and the band.

Is there any particular reason there why you ended up choosing him to produce "Gateways..." ?
We just wanted to do something different and I really like kind of stuff he has done with some other bands before. And just wanted me to do and try out something different. So, this album definitely has a different sound. "Formulas..." is underground, has very underground sound which was on purpose. I wanted it to be totally brutal and sick - Death Metal and Black Metal kind of at the same time. And just really underground -sounding record. This album, "Gateways...", is a little bit more of... (?), I don't know the right word, but it's NOT commercial at all!  It's NOT mainstream either!! But it IS catchy and I think more people might like it. People that might not like really fast stuff, but like heavy stuff. Like stuff that's more clear; I think they will totally like this album. But still, MORBID ANGEL is still VERY SICK! The guitar parts are very evil and dark and all that. Crawling, creepy...

Do you think Jim Morris is the best guy around to produce a band like MORBID ANGEL?
HMMM... (!), I´m not sure. I really cannot say that. It was the 1st time we worked with him, y´know, so it's way too early to say...

Still, do you think he had all the understanding what kind of a sound you were after for?
Yea..., he did. I think he did really good job and I believe there are guys who'd like to be more open for certain kind of things as far as production is concerned. I really cannot say that I think, y´know, any particular person is the best from now on because that's little too rigid. And I don't like to be so rigid. So, you'll never know I may meet someone totally different guy next time that does rage out, too. It's kinda hard to compare any of the records and say what's better or worse because I think they are all good for certain things. Y´know, for me "Altars of Madness" is more "noisy", uprising - sounding record. But it has a vibe. It has feeling to it. And it´s really good at that department. Also, the time when it came out, was very, I guess new - different for the other stuff in -89. And then "Blessed Are the Sick" didn´t sound anything like "Altars...". It had a whole different sound, more cleaner sound and some slower stuff, whatever! The vocals sounded different, too. 

But when it came out, do you think it scared a lot of people due to its very different sound compared to "Altars..."?
When it first came out - yeah, it did, but later people started really dig it. And there´s also, y´know, different types of fans. We have some fans that think "Altars..." is our best record. And some fans that think "Domination" is our best record. And those are totally different sounding records. But it´s all MORBID ANGEL, so as long as they like something we are doing, then it´s all good, y´know.  That´s cool...

How have you shared a song writing process for "Gateways.."? Did you Trey write most of it as you did for "Formulas..."?
Yeah, like on "Formulas...", I wrote pretty much all the music and lyrics by myself. On this album ("Gateways..."), me and Steve co-wrote some songs.  Steve wrote one song entirely by himself, music and lyrics. I wrote a few songs entirely by myself as far as music. I wrote lyrics for one song and Steve wrote lyrics for all the other songs. Some of them, I worked to on them a little bit, not as much with the words, but the phrasing. I really wanted this album to be really catchy. To be really powerful... and brutal... and sick and all that stuff, but still catchy. Being like sharply, memorable, y´know, sing-along almost, but not wimpy or commercial.  There´s some bands out there that are really catchy and all of a sudden their sound is not as strong as it used to be. So I think what we did, was able to find a nice place where it´s catchy and strong, y´know what I mean - without loosing either one. This album has got both of those elements, being catchy and sounding strong.

When you started the whole song writing process for "Gateways...", what inspired you musically at that time? Or did you have any?
I have to say musically my main inspiration for this album is strange enough. It´s PINK FLOYD and THE GATHERING.

What ´bout non-musical stuff then that has been a source of inspiration for you during the time you were doing "Gateways..."?
Nature, the swamps where I live, Florida -wetlands. Just natural Florida -wetlands. Not the beach, not the softwater - but the freshwater, the lakes, the woods, the forests and the swamps like we were taking those pictures at for "Formulas...".  Stuff like that and also a big influence was videogames on the computer. I play this game called "Quake III Arena" and it´s very popular game today.  And I have a group of players - like a team and we are called "The Sailor Scouts". It´s kind of a team, it´s like a "Sailor Moon" which is a Japanese cartoon. And if you know more about Japanese cartoons, they have a certain style. Like with girls where they draw girls and where they do their thing, whatever! So, that´s been a big influence. That type of stuff, my group - my gaming team "The Sailor Scouts" and "Flamebat(!)" and watching it. A lot of stuff I´d watch just to spectate, just watch the game, watch my player´s playing while I´d be playing the guitar and watching the game. Some of the stuff came from that.

That´s a nice way to get some inspirations, I guess...?
Sure!!

When you were recording your new album, did you have to improvise some things in the studio concerning the songs on it, equipments for the actual recording situation and stuff like that?
I pretty much used the same guitar sound that I´ve always used. Just different cabinet, speaker - like my speaker´s got kinda old, so I got some new speakers. But still the same, mainly the same rig, equipments as any of the other albums. Drums... we planned on using what we used which was gonna be all tricky drums this time without acoustic drums. A little bit of an acoustic snare - we did improvise on the actual snare drum and rented a new one that we used and liked the best. When I do my guitar solos, I do them in my house as I have a little studio there.  And I improvise all my solos. Every solo that I played on the album, I really wanted to capture the feeling without it being thought-out. Almost closing the eyes and just playing and feeling the moment and record, y´know what I mean? As opposed to planning, there wasn´t a lot of planning on the solos.

 

When you´re practicing are you always taping all that what you´re playing?
Not always, but when I´m in my house, I try to write something - whatever! Sometimes just to have a record and I´ll be just playing. And if sooner or later something really cool comes out, I´ll rewind and figure out what it was and repeat it.

As for the title of your new album, "Gateways to Annihilation", do you mean sort of an Armageddon, the ultimate, last war and destruction of mankind by using such a title for the album - or does it mostly describe the content of the album, the brutality of the songs and such things?
Yeah, it´s the brutality of the songs and the power. But it also has a lot of to do with someone, having a realization that all the things he believed so long to be true that he was so rigid and his beliefs. Someone coming to the realization with all his beliefs where´s no more right than other people´s beliefs. And a perfect example I´ve used so much as it´s such a great example to use is Christianity.  Because in the past and maybe even today, some Christians have felt so strong that their view on life about right and wrong, was "W", "W ONLY WAY", y´know what I mean?! And they couldn´t accept somebody believing that the God of nature was a true God. And that they don´t need Jesus Christ to reach the paradise. The Christians were just like: "How can you do it that way? It´s only one way, it´s Jesus Christ and if you do any other way you´re gonna go to Hell...!!" - no matter if you´re happy or in love or what. It´s like those people coming to terms with the realization just realizing that: "Hey(!), these pagans are... well, I´m no better than them. The Christians are no better than the pagans". Love is love, peace is peace and good feelings are just good feelings. It doesn´t matter if it happens thru Jesus Christ or it happens thru the Goddess of nature, y´know what I mean? There´s no such thing as false God and that way. Tarot -cards, fortune telling, whatever -magic, creative visualization and things like that. It ain´t Devil´s work; It ain´t automatically the Devil´s work. It could be the Devil´s work because it depends on what you´re doing with it. When you´re doing it for good, good is good. There´s not... (!), let´s say it´s not like ´Jesus Christ- good´ is better than some other kind of good. Good is good. So it´s kind of like someone coming to terms with that - realizing that: "Hey(!), I was a little stupid and judged these people wrong...". And that´s stunning news! It´s someone finds that they were wrong in their beliefs.  And not that I´m saying that the Christians are wrong and believing in for themselves, but when they look at other people and say: "Those people are heathens and naive". And, y´know, the people that they are looking at are good people - loved, have families and take care of things and all that. But the Christians are so close-minded and say: "OH(!), they´re not believing in Jesus Christ, they´re evil!!". Y´know, so it´s kind of that. That´s really where I was on about.

What are your own favorite songs out of this new album? What makes them so special for you?
For me right now, I have to say my favorite song is track no. 3 which is the 2nd song on the album.  It´s called "Ageless, Still I Am" and I like it very much because the recording captured the feeling of the song so well and it´s such a new kind of song. But that doesn't mean that I like it a whole lot better than the other songs. I think all the songs are good. But there´s something about this one particular song where it has the drums so grooving and so much feeling and so cool. The guitars are so well being orchestrated with the vocals. It´s just really cool!  I love it!!

How many songs did you actually write for "Gateways..."?
Me personally...?!

No, altogether!
Oh(!), there´s 9 songs and then there´s one instrumental...

And you used them all for "Gateways...", right?!
Yez...

So, you have no leftovers, whatsover...?!
No...

Do you personally consider "Gateways..." as that very best album of MORBID ANGEL´s whole existence in its own way?
I cannot say it´s the best, because I think all the records are really good what they are for different reasons. I think this is the best record as far as groove and that direction. This is the best MORBID ANGEL groove album. This is the album that really shows people that MORBID ANGEL can groove like anybody. And MORBID ANGEL aren´t limited just being one formula and just being Death Metal as far as like other Death Metal bands where it´s one certain kind of sound. That MORBID ANGEL can be really powerful and do other things and have groove. And when I say ´groove´, I mean stuff that´s moving the body comes down to it, y´know what I mean?! I think this album is the best in that direction...

The line-up which you had on "Gateways...", I was wondering whether you considered it as the best recording line-up you´ve had so far? Obviously you guys come along very well together when you´re on the road as well as outside of the road...?
Yeah, we come along great! But there was some great moments when Dave was in the band in the beginning, too. I can´t be so rigid and as say something as was so much better than something else. I really think all the stuff we have done is really cool and had its special thing to it.

When you´re on the road, is it easy to stay focused all the time and be aware of all those facts why you guys are actually doing this and showing your faces in different countries? I mean, do you find all this touring a very pleasant thing like it´s more of like a "holiday" for yourself than a damn serious job that just has to be done - no matter whether you´d like it or not?
Well, I have to say when I´m on tour and am on the road for a long time like two months without going home - without having a break, like having a day off is not break for me. I have to go home. And I´d like to go home and re-charge my batteries. I get burnt-out if it gets repetitious and it´s not just the band has anything life to me. When I´m into something, I do one thing a long time in a row, it gets just boring. It gets repetitious and I don´t like any things repetitious like that. I like things that change up. But I love touring. It´s just when I do it for a long period of time and no break going home and to be something totally different and be away from it, it gets a little repetitious. And when I do like for example Brazilian interviews it´s like, y´know, so many of them go great, but then as I go on, maybe 5th or 6th or 7th one in one day, it starts to become less passionate and more technical. And it´s not what I wanted to be like that - it just happens. I think it´s my personality.

What about playing in big festivals like Wacken, for example?
I think it´s really great. I think for this particular one, I´d rather have played a couple of clubs as a warm-up to this. Like, play here today, but yesterday and day before - whatever!. We would have played at a couple of clubs for warm-ups because we haven´t played a concert for over a year. So this is our first concert like in a year. So, it´s really kind of tough. You can practice all you want, but playing in the front of people is different. There´s something different about being on stage than practicing. When we practice, we are ready to play the show. But it wasn´t like as being warmed-up and already playing shows to lead up to them. Festivals are a big thing, y´know?! The sound is different, there´s no proper soundcheck - y´know, it´s rough, it´s kind of tough. And I´d really like to do a couple of warm-up shows. I think tonight´s concert would have been even better. I felt like it was really good; people enjoyed it and I had fun. So, it was cool.

Before you enter on a stage how you guys prepare yourselves either mentally or physically for a live situation beforehand? Do you have any, well, let´s say "rituals" you go thru together at a backstage before you conquer the stage?
Yeah - as for myself, I have to clear my mind from all the thoughts, not thinking about anything.  That´s really the way I performed on this album, too - clearing my mind from all the thoughts. When I did my guitar solos for this album, I wasn´t thinking about anything. I was just playing, trying to play with intuition, feeling. So, I´ll try to find that state.  And, y´know, when there´s always people around talking and all this chattering and stuff like that, my mind is like kind of in that, too. So, I´ll try to leave that place and go somewhere that´s just still.  Stillness and find that and get to that point and then come from that place when I play...

What ´bout the other guys, then? Do they have usually anything going on before the actual gig?
I think that they pretty much do the same thing, but their own way. And then there´s stretching. Stretching is important. Stretching, y´know, your hands, legs, neck - whatever!, so you're not tense.

Dan Seagrave did the artwork for this new album and as we all remember you also used him for your legendary "Altars of Madness" album. What made you choose his artwork for "Gateways...", too? As far as his artworks are concerned, he´s an excellent artist and many bands used his works for their album covers in the 90´s, but I was wondering whether there´s still something even more attractive and special in this guy´s works that made you choose him and his artwork again... ?
Well, we liked what he did for "Altars of Madness". I really didn´t have any premeditation about having him do this album´s cover. It just so happened that our management was asking around as there wasn´t anything happened yet at that time. They were looking and what he sent, we really liked. So, that we decided to go with them.

What matters to you mostly when you´re composing a new MORBID ANGEL song? In other words, what elements your song should contain in order that you could say THIS IS a REAL MORBID ANGEL song if anything else?
It´s all about feeling. It´s all about the feeling. That´s all music is. It doesn´t matter about anything else. It doesn´t matter if it´s really technical or it´s simple. That´s not how I judge it; I judge it by the feeling. What it´s feel like when I play it and how this one part feels going into the other part, y´know?! Changes, rhythm changes and arrangements... It´s really all about the feeling and I don´t care if it´s a lot of notes or one note. It doesn´t matter if it´s tuned-down or a standard tune or fast or slow. It´s not based on that at all; It´s all based on that what it feels like. If it´s feel good, you´ll try to get moved by it. That´s why I really love THE GATHERING. Because I really get moved by their music. And I think that´s what music is supposed to do. There´s a movement, y´know, we all have our different interpretations and opinions about what is moving and how we wanna be moving. I might not be moved by one band that other people are. And that doesn´t mean that anybody´s right or wrong. I just mean people are coming from different places.  They have different life experiences. Y´know, I really believe a lot what we like is determined by our experiences of life and the things that we have liked in the past. And, y´know, our path, our path in the life. Things we have done in the past like - in the other words, you might hear a certain thing and it makes you remember something in the past. Or, you´ve experienced something today and you´ve something in the past that gives it support, the meaning. And then another person might not have that, so they listen to something and maybe they don´t get that out at all, y´know what I mean?! So, experiences - past experiences, what you have in your subconscious, really determines your beliefs and things like that.  And then of course there´s the case of just naturally liking something more than something else. Where it´s like, HA! Someone liking Coca Cola and then someone else thinking Coca Cola tastes terrible and they are like: "I like 7 UP..." or something else, right?!  Whatever all he/she has over here... Can´t really look at that and say: "Well, that´s because you did this when you were a little kid...". This is like someone today, trying Coke for the very first time and decide whether they like this better than something else. Now of course if you were a little kid, you might have have said something like: "Oh yea..., I was trying Coke and I´ve been drinking it for twenty years... Oh WOW! I drink Coke and I love it...!!".  Y´know, maybe that´s because it makes you remember when you were a little kid and you drank Coke and had some fun and, y´know, whatever really! You started to have associations to it. There´s that. But there´s also just as a natural thing where just somehow it just moves you a certain way and you just like it, y´know what I mean?! And there´s really nothing in the past that´s coming up. It´s just today, it´s just a natural like or dislike. I don´t know how to explain that. It just that people are different because people have... (?), well, different colour of hairs; people have different colour of eyes, y´know, people have different sizes of bodys... People are born in different times of the year. And people have different kind of voices and, y´know, whatever! So, why is that? It´s just the way it is. It just happens that way. It´s controversity, it´s life, y´know. Some people just naturally like something more than something else. Who knows why - it just is that way.

It goes without saying that MORBID ANGEL is truly one of the most carrying and dominating bands in the Death Metal genre; you´ve been a major influence for many young, up´n´coming bands for over ten years really.  How exactly do you feel personally for being in the very frontline of the Death Metal genre nowadays? Do you ever feel any flattered for being in that position where you are these days?
I feel quite happy that have felt an impact for our music. That´s the opposite like making music and no one cares and goes like: "Who´s that?!". So, it´s like having people picked up on identify with an enjoy. I think it´s great. I really enjoy it.  Yea... And if people wanna sound something like us, then I look at that as a compliment. Because, y´know, I´m influenced by things myself. Like I´m influenced by PINK FLOYD and THE GATHERING, any VAN HALEN, BLACK SABBATH and all different stuff. I´m influenced by all that. So, it´s kind of like, y´know, other people being influenced by what we do as me being influenced by these other bands.

Bands like NILE, KRISIUN, REBAELLIUN, HATE ETERNAL and some other new Death Metal are pretty much following  paths MORBID ANGEL has once created, churning out as brutal and violent shit as possible - and proving that today´s Death Metal is doing extremely well. What do you think of the future of Death Metal and what´s your personal opinion about the bands I just mentioned earlier here?
I think they are all doing great job. I think they have all been able to take whatever! -influences into their sound regarding our band and do something their own with it - to still be themselves, y´know what I mean?! Like myself, I was influenced by Eddie Van Halen, but I don´t think that I play like him. I don´t play his notes. I kind of maybe have a feeling something like him, but I don´t copy him. I´m not copying or ripping him off and whatever like that!  There still are, however, some bands that sound just like another band and I don´t think that´s so ´hot´ or ´exciting´. So, when you come influenced by something and not copy it - but building from it - building your own thing from this influence, this passion or this movement or something, I think that´s great. I think that´s the way things should be ´coz I think everybody is influenced by something. 

Do you consider yourself as a perfectionist as far as everything involved with MORBID ANGEL is concerned?
I can´t say I do things perfect ´coz I don´t. I make mistakes and I fall short sometimes or whatever.  But I want things to be perfect; I really do. And it´s hard. It makes everything really tough because there´s some people that can like make things, y´know, pretty good and then they can say, y´know: "It´s fine, I´m not going to worry about it. I still let it go.  I´ll go and drink some beers and I´ll get to it next time...".

As for myself, it´s like I would want to be great, y´know, I´m just going to work on it. Y´know, there´s a lot of passion there, there´s a lot like pain that goes with it. Because this pain - and in the idea accepting something that I don´t think is quite as good as it should be... this pain. So, it pushes and pressures to keep going with it. And there´s also sadness that goes with it, too. But, yeah, I´m a perfectionist. I tend to over-analyze things. I can´t say it´s the best or easiest way to live or the happiest way to live ´coz there´s a lot of pain in it. But it´s the way I am. I only know that I can change...

So, are you saying that you´re kind of your own worst enemy when trying to work for MORBID ANGEL...?!
Yeah, I am... I really am.  And I can´t say it´s the best way to live, but I think people like Mozart was the same way.  He was driven to do things.  It´s like when you like that, you get disappointed a lot. And you get bored a lot, too.  It´s just so hard to be pleased sometimes, so it takes a lot more than that. But, y´know, it´ll take all the energy to produce something that might be a product of all this energy and that´s the thing to be like maybe really great because of all this effort.  But man, there´s a lot of sacrifices that go with it.

Back in -91/-92 "Abominations of Desolation", your unreleased first album, was released by a Japanese SATANIC RECORDS for the very first time as a vinyl. Was it released by some of your permission or was it entirely a rip-off thing?
That was completely a rip-off thing.  EARACHE did release it officially in -91.  So, the one from Japan was a rip-off, yez...

What do you think all these other MORBID ANGEL bootlegs that are floating to the metal markets all the time?
I think it´s criminal...

So, you think some people are just trying to make some easy money by releasing them... ?
Yes, I think so.  It´s just stealing...

But still, I think there´s the other side to that, too.  As you may know, many so-called hardcore fans think it´s still cool to buy and have these bootlegs...
Yeah, I understand that - there´s a good thing to it, but it´s still stealing, criminal.  I just can´t see beyond that.  I work really very hard for this band and when I´m thinking someone is making money on me and putting out stuff that maybe I wouldn´t wanna put out because I maybe didn´t think it was the best concert or something - someone had recorded and selling it - and I might not wanted it to be so because I think that the other concert was better or something.  I just don´t think it´s right... 

Also, modern technology has given its helping hand for a new kind of stealing; there´s now the Internet thing, too...
Yeah, it is because it kind of steals from the artist.  So, it´s bad enough when some bands get completely ripped off by their management or their record label.  I don´t feel that we´ll do, but there´s always that in the music business.  So, to get ripped off also by bootleggers, it´s just a big rip off!  I´m not too excited about it.

Making your 1st ever demo or album is always a huge challenge for anyone.  Can you remember how you actually felt when you got "Thy Kingdom Come" demo done back in -87?  Did you have any clue at that time that demo could bring Heavy Metal into more extreme level - and the Heavy Metal scene could never be the same any longer from that day on?
Well, I have to be honest with you.  I´ve always believed that this band was gonna do something.  And that´s just new believing that things were special. Some people would say that´s arrogant or whatever, but myself, I just... (?) - I had a lot of passion about it and a drive - and I was determined that I was gonna come out and make some kind of an impact.  And I really did.  I had no, like a plan that "Altars of Madness" would make quite an impact as it did ´coz it did quite a lot of impact when it came out.  There was a lot of a great timing, it came out the right time. But also I always felt MORBID ANGEL was going to cause an impact and it was going to be something special because the kind of feeling we were getting across, the type of music.  I felt it was different at that time.  I thought it was a different approach and I thought myself I was very different individual than a lot of people because of the way that I raised myself and the way I modeled myself and allowed to be influenced by some things and shun other things. Y´know, I really was in control of my upbringing - myself.  I spent a lot of time with myself, day-dreaming, etc.  Other people spent time going to parties and drinking beer - going to bars and lived like that, but I didn´t.  I spent time playing guitar and listening to music and day-dreaming about doing something special with the music.  And I loved music. And I think some bands are into music more because they want to be cool.  They don´t really have the connection to music, the way like I do or some other people do.  I think there´s something about really feeling music on a really deep level - and then people who just kind of think "it´s cool", y´know what I mean?!  A little more shallow, there are definitely people have bands that are very shallow.  It´s no mystery.  The are the bands that find a trend and say: "We´re gonna be a part of that trend and cash in on it...".  Be cool and have girlfriends and all that, whatever!  I never cared about that.  I wanted to do something that was ´big´ and had energy; has a special energy and magic to this to express.  That was my approach, it was a little different...

But I don´t think I was the only one.  I think people like Eddie Van Halen was the same type of person, too.  When he came out, he wanted to take a guitar and throw it to people´s faces and say: "This is the new way of playing guitar, man!  This is the way to play - this is new, y´know.  This is exciting, check this shit out as bad ass, y´know?!".  He was driven to do that.  He was about to just trying fit in to the genre.  He was gonna come out and be his genre, his own style.  And other people, too, like Mozart, I think was the same way.  People has told stuff about his music he did; tunes, notes - whatever like that are too different or too complex or something else. He just wanted to express this energy and it had to come out and it had to be a certain way.  And no one was gonna buying.  No one was going to convince him to change it.  Me, I just feel that I have got a higher quality to answer than any individual on this planet, y´know what I mean?!  A little higher purpose in what I do.  I wanna make sure what I mean...  I answered to a higher voice than an opinion of any human being on this planet.  That´s what I mean.  I don´t mean that I think that I´m a higher musician than anybody else - I don´t mean that.  I just mean that when I decide what I´m gonna do, it´s not based on what any individual thinks.  It´s what I think and what I feel.  And if people don´t like it, I don´t care.  I do share with them, but most of our fans would not want me to go ask them what the hell they want me to play.  They want me to play what I feel and then give it to them - let them check it out!  That´s how I am and will most definitely be in the future as well...

Thanx very much Trey for this great opportunity to have a talk with you.  It was a real pleasure to do it and like a dream-come-true for me to meet you face-to-face and talk about things.  Thank you very much again!!
Well, then I´m sharing a mutual feeling -thank you!!