Alex Lifeson Distortion

Fox On The Rocks wrote: That's just phenomenal! You are so lucky Tony.  That project you were referring to, are you still working on it or is it something of the past? Also, I read somewhere that John Wetton was a member of Wishbone Ash for sometime.

Lucky? yes sometimes, sometimes not! Another nice little story for you is my current band In For The Kill (Budgie tribute) decided to do a gig for Budgie fans (called Bando Bash after the fan forum website and budgie cd Bandolier). We invited a band called Anubis to open for us. This was to be their very first gig. Anubis are a band formed by ex-Budgie guitarist Simon Lees, he played on their last studio album. We asked Simon if he would like to join us on stage after our set which he duly did! So we got to jam with him which was very cool . He sang and played the solo to a song called "I Turned To Stone" We did not rehearse it, it was the first time (and last) we had met, but it was great fun! It is on Youtube somewhere.

Yes I started doing my own recording project, writing and playing my own material. It's rock, not prog, it's kind of Budgie, "riff" based 70's classic rock in style I guess. It's unfinished as it needs vocals, backing vocals and in some cases....some lyrics! because i'm not happy with some of them. Rob Hewins ex-MTWA drummer is an excellent engineer so I hope he will re-mix it and make it listenable if I can persuade him,   I've done it on a laptop using Cubase recording software and very simple equipment, as i've never recorded anything before. It really needs some work, I dunno if i'll ever get it done. I have had a friend do a cd cover for it (he has done 3 Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash cd covers) and I have thought up a title for it. I'll reveal all IF I ever get it done.

John Wetton did join Wishbone Ash yes, he's on the Number The Brave album, he came in after Martin Turner left, but he did not last long.

Yeah that's the video with Simon Lees playing. The sound is ok I can't understand why you can't hear it? Simon is a mega guitar player playing in Anubis and solo projects. He's also a guitar teacher, there's lots of video's of him playing his "one man show" stuff on the web.

John Shaw, the drummer in that video was one of the guitar players in what became Phoenix Rising (Wishbone Ash tribute) I met him in 2005. He had came to my place to buy some gear I was selling. It was he who asked me to go for a jam. They needed a bass player so I borrowed John's bass for the jam because I hadn't got one and I had only played a VERY limited amount of bass up until this point, because I was a 6 string rhythm player, playing in the home for fun They had been playing just a couple of WA tracks for months! We just jammed the WA track Blind Eye and  I was asked to join instantly! with no bass, and no knowledge on how to play the bl**dy stuff! It was my idea to form a WA tribute band because we all liked them and we didn't think there were any WA tributes around at that time but there turned out to be 4! I then went and bought my Rickenbacker bass from the States. I had never played any WA stuff on bass before although i've been a fan for years, so I had to learn very quickly! It turned out both guitarists had the talent to play WA stuff.

John had only been playing drums for about 8 months prior to that video, he had no lessons either, he's an amazing talent really and quite an accomplished guitarist as well. Unfortunately he left In For The kill in the summer last year after he lost his dad to an heart attack and it affected John quite badly. He has since resumed playing guitar again, playing in a local covers band. He was replaced by James Baxter who also plays in Russ's Black Sabbath tribute band (Sack sabbath). and teaches drums, mainly to youngsters.
Russell Saxton i've known only since he joined us in 2008. Another great little story there! John was going to be the guitarist in IFTK. We couldn't find a drummer so he decided he would do it (he said he'd always wanted to have a go at drumming anyway) and we would try to find a guitarist because good drummers are hard to find and there seemed to be more guitar players around. On the very day he bought his kit, Russ was teaching in the very same shop upstairs. John knew of Russ because he lived locally, and he asked him if he would like to play guitar for us. Russ is in a Black Sabbath tribute so he said he didn't have much time, but he asked John what music we were playing and he said Budgie. Russ said YES!! I LOVE Budgie, he's been a big Budgie fan for years, so he came to rehearsals the following day and joined straight away. We were gigging about 6 months later. Russ plays in Sack Sabbath, IFTK and an acoustic duo playing Led Zep stuff, he's also a guitar teacher, a busy man then!

Thanks for your comments regarding my vocals, however I hate the sound of my voice which is the main reason why i've not finished my recording project!

Your friends Rush tribute band are awesome! They are such a difficult band to copy.

May I humbly suggest that you continue with some lessons. I am self taught but that makes me somewhat limited. Good luck!



Edited by clarkpegasus4001 - April 07 2012 at 15:10

Fox On The Rocks wrote: Thanks Tony Hope you have a great time at the WA show, and if you already went, I hope you had a good time. Have you guys ever considered covering Rush? Or is it only, strictly Budgie and Wishbone Ash?

Thanks!   I will go and see Martin Turner's Wishbone Ash on 21st April which is the day after our next gig in my home city, Nottingham (should be fun)! The last time we played there, George Lynch from the band Dokken (now Lynch Mob) walked in and spoke to me, I didn't even recognise him! His band were playing at Rock City, a large venue nearby, the following day after our gig. His band Lynch Mob was headlining "Firefest" which Rock City have every year with loads of bands on. Mind you he has changed a lot in appearance since I saw Dokken support AC/DC in the mid 1980's.

It's been a while since i've watched MTWA so no doubt i'll have a good chat with him (and the band).

In For The kill is strictly a BUDGIE tribute band so no we won't play any covers...not even Rush! That said i've been thinking of doing a second band playing covers but that's just a thought and not yet reality.
I've been listening to some Q107 radio yesterday and today, you are right it is a good station.   too many adverts though! By the way you have a PM so please check your messages.


Edited by clarkpegasus4001 - April 08 2012 at 14:40

Here you are guy's, not Alex but a couple of nice Geddy Lee interviews that I found this morning on the Basschat forum that i'm on talking about his bass tone:

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/173867-geddy-lee-on-his-tone-and-playing/

I love the Grace Under Pressure sounds. But when I think of Lifeson's tone from that era, I think a lot more of his use of chorus/flange and reverb than I do his distortion. Then again, I tend to attribute that sort of tonal control to picking hand dynamics and technique, rather than gear. Give Alex Lifeson any random guitar, amp, distortion, and chorus/reverb, and he'll sound EXACTLY like Alex Lifeson.