Hard Rock House was thrilled to catch up with Lion Music artist Edward Box to discuss his two solo albums “Plectrumhead” (Lion Music LMC2213 2) and his latest release “Moonfudge” (Lion Music LMC184). Edward also gave us a scoop preview of his latest work in progress “Vendetta” that is a vocal project with a dual guitar attack and scorching solo’s which we are sure will see Edward gaining critical acclaim from the hard rock community. 

Edward Box

For the readers of HardRockHouse could you introduce yourself?

My name is Edward Box and I’m a 35-year-old Newcastle based guitar instrumentalist.

At what age did you pick up the guitar and are you self-taught?

I’m self-taught .I first picked up the guitar at the age of nine but quit after a couple of years because I was too young and got sidetracked. I started afresh just after my fourteenth birthday and haven't looked back since. Well actually I have and there have been times when I’ve deeply regretted it. 

In your early years whilst learning your craft which guitarists and bands made an impression on you? Was there a particular moment when you thought “that's what I want to do”?

The first bands and guitarists I got into were around the time of NWOBHM.I loved Michael Schenker, Frank Marino, Uli Roth, Angus, Tipton and Downing, Mathias Jabs and John Sykes. As for bands I loved Priest, Saxon, Scorpions, Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, UFO, MSG and Maiden. Later on when I picked the guitar up again I got into Dokken, Queesryche, TNT and Dream Theater. As for players the list is endless but George Lynch, Warren De Martini, Yngwie, Doug Aldrich, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani are some of the names that spring to mind from that period. Hearing “Unchained” by Van Halen made me want to pick up the guitar again and my road to Damascus moment was seeing Jake E Lee on TV (September 1985!) with Ozzy on the “Bark At The Moon” tour. I learnt more about technique and stagecraft then than at any other time in my life by wearing out that videotape. I think that sowed the seeds of wanting to be a professional guitarist, not that I ever got to be rock star which is what every kid wants, but playing guitar for a living. 

Before we talk about your solo releases could you tell us a little bit about your earlier projects (XLR8R & Arch Stanton). XLR8R was critically acclaimed by Guitarist magazine and Radio 1and didn’t you get some high profile live appearances.

XLR8R were very popular on the local live scene in Newcastle in the early 90’s and we played traditional metal with a progressive edge. We did a session for the Friday Rock Show and were voted one of the best-unsigned bands in the Kerrang readers poll on two separate occasions. As for gigs we supported a number of signed bands including Thunder, Skin, To Die For and Roadhouse. In the end though we ran out of road due to “Grunge” and then “Nu-metal”. The media wasn’t interested in bands that could play their instruments anymore! As for Arch Stanton that was a change of tack into more poppy waters. We came, we saw and promptly disappeared and it was at that point I dropped out of the live scene in Newcastle and the UK. 

I was saddened when XLR8R finally came to end. I truly believed, as did a lot of your fans that the band could go all the way. At the same time I always believed that we hadn’t seen the last of Ed Box and I felt some justice had been restored when you finally got your first album “Plectrumhead” out .You must have wondered at times if you would ever be in the right place at the right time?

I’ve never been in the right place at the right time! The thing with music is that eventually you come to make a choice and you either do it or you don’t and you just try to soldier on as best you can and find different ways of making a living. When you're young you think if you sign a major record deal it will solve all your problems, the dole, the girl, the house etc but in actual fact it will create new problems and you might not solve any of those problems anyway! It's best to take a long term view of your career. I've seen far too many good musicians’ retreat back to their bedroom because Warner Brothers didn’t sign them. You have to change your philosophy to survive. 

Your two solo releases “Plectrumhead” (2002) and Moonfudge (2006) have both been released by Lion Music, could you tell us how you linked up with the label?

I was beginning yet another stint on the dole and had just discovered the Internet! Basically I sent demo versions of “Plectrumhead” to around a dozen labels and Lion Music was the only one who came back to me. They said if I could record the material to a higher aural standard they would put it out. Beggars can’t be choosers so I bit the bullet and re-recorded everything. In all truth the playing on the demos is better! You can’t beat the demo as I have found out to my eternal cost. 

“Plectrumhead” still sounds as fresh now as it did when it was first released. The title track gets regular airplay on my car stereo and the house hi-fi. How long did the writing for the “Plectrumhead” album take? Did you have ideas stockpiled or did the songs come thick and fast?

The song “Reflections” had been kicking around since 1990 but the rest of the material was written between early 2000 and the summer of 2001.The last track to be written was “Five Knuckle Shuffle” which I completed shortly before recording took place in April 2002. A few ideas were stock piled like “Agassi” and “103R” but the other stuff was written in sequence. 

There are tracks on “Plectrumhead” like “Closer”, “Blue Skies Above” and “So Glad” where the melody is king. Do you come up with chord progressions first or do you have melodies which you then put backing to? In a recent interview I did with Lelio Padovani I asked the same question and his answer was that he comes up with the melodies first and then finds an accompaniment. He felt that by approaching it this way he could avoid cliched chord moves and find fresh musical ground to tread.

I write the progressions and riffs first and them improvise over demos and find the melody that way. Incidentally most of the lead on “Blue Skies Above” was derived from one take I did at home just improvising. I then learnt it and revised the whole recording! The only time I have come up with a melody line and then added chords is on the last track on “Moonfudge” called “Big Screen Love Theme”. Come to think of it that idea has been lying around since 1997 I think. 

The track “Requiem” on your debut album is a particularly haunting track .It sounds so delicate that one could imagine it blowing away in the wind. It shows us a different side to your playing. Have you taken any classical guitar lessons and where did the inspiration for this song come from?

I used to have classical lessons when I was very young but the inspiration came from watching the end of the film “The Elephant Man”. I felt really moved and the chords just came from that emotion. The piece is in quite an unusual key, Ab minor which opened up some unique chord voicings .I think it may be tuned down a fret on the recording. I actually tried to record it around the time of the XLR8R album “Inner Oceans”. 

There are moments in your playing where one feels the influence of Joe Satriani, not in the way you play but in the manner that you lead from the front with great melodies. I know recently you met Joe whilst he was in Newcastle on his “Super Colossal” tour. How big is Joe as an influence and did he pass on any good musical tips?

Joe satriani is a very big influence in terms of composition and melody. He is one of my all time favourites for sure. As for advice he didn't have any but said he liked the song titles! 

Your latest release “Moonfudge” is now out and I see you have the same band behind you as on “Plectrumhead” of Neil Lough on bass and Michael Robson on drums. Can you tell us a little about them?

I have known Neil and Mick for about 15years.Mick used to be the drummer in Arch Stanton but he’s more into Sting and Phil Collins so I have to drag him kicking and screaming to play metal! He and Neil are working with their old band who are now called “300-Foot Gorilla". Neil is well into his knob twiddling and is becoming quiet an accomplished sound engineer. 

The first thing I noticed about “Moonfudge” was the sound is tighter. Where was the album recorded?

A12 The album was recorded at Neil's house. We used his garage for the drums and the bottom of the stairs for the guitars! The sound is tighter even though there are still FX patches for delays and reverb. They are just subtler than on “Plectrumhead”. I used my trusty Peavey Special fro the rhythms. It has a very tight sound. 

The album is chock full of melodic playing. I gather some of the songs had been in your arsenal for some time.

As I mentioned earlier “Big Screen Love Theme” has been around since 1997 and I also reworked an Arch Stanton song called “Where Are You?” into “Stantons Stomp". The riff to “Trailblazer” had been around since 1992.That one was written during my “Images And Words” phase. That album was probably one of the last hurrahs for good music in the 90’s.

The tracks on this album are really well crafted and there is a real verse and chorus feel and also some great build ups to the solos. Was this a conscious approach?

I always try to compose instrumental songs as if they were vocal compositions. I'm a big ABBA fan you know! 

You have said that this album has taken a while to be released as you had been short on inspiration. Could you tell us what you meant by this?

I’m not a huge fan of instrumental music so it’s hard for me to get up for it at times. I find it a drag to write 50-guitar solos! I think this will be my last instrumental release. I'm a vocal man all the way from now on! 

You have the knack for writing punchy hard rock with melody but you also write great heavy metal with attitude. I recently read an interview with Paul Gilbert where he commented that he loves to listen to Saxon. I don’t mind saying that for me Saxon are possibly one of the most underrated heavy metal bands and if things had been different they should have been as big as Judas Priest and Iron Miaden. Your songs have really strong riffs at their heart I wonder if, like Paul Gilbert you also have a love of the early British metal bands?

This is definitely the case. Saxon had all the attributes but their big problem was that they never found a Martin Birch or Tom Allom, someone who could focus their sound and produce it to an international standard that was right for the American market. Having said that “Lionheart” is one of the best sounding metal albums I have heard in ages and it’s great to hear Saxon making superb music again. I Love Priest, Sabbath and still enjoy Maiden. Brit Metal rules! 

Has your equipment changed much from the “Plectrumhead” release to “Moonfudge”?

I still use the same old shit! Fender Strat, the aforementioned amp, Cry-Baby Wah, MXR Phase 90 and a Simon Patrick acoustic. 

In between your solo albums you also featured on a Jimmy Hendrix tribute album. Could you tell us a little about this project?

I was asked if I wanted to do a track so elected to do “Foxy Lady”, which was a mistake because I can’t sing like that, but the solo was pretty explosive. I think Ritchie Kotzen, Greg Howe and Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal also appeared so they must have been pissed as well when they agreed! 

You are currently working on a vocal project called “Vendetta” and you kindly sent me a taster of how things are coming together. I have to say it has some of the most exciting playing you have recorded so far .The tracks I have listened to have glorious traditional heavy rock riffs at their heart that should have people turning their heads your way. Are you able to tell us a bit about this project?

At the moment we don’t have a permanent drummer so if anyone out there is interested drop me a line. If we can’t find one I’m not sure what format the project will take but watch this space. The material is very song orientated but is heavy in a Priest kind of way with blistering dual lead trade offs. It could be the best thing I have ever done. Let’s just wait and see! 

Now some fun questions. If you had the chance to form a band using any musicians from past or present who would you choose?

Drums: Neil Peart, Bass: Billy Sheehan, Guitar: Doug Aldrich, Guitar: Me (if they would allow it!!) and finally Vocals: Rob Halford. 

For budding guitar players out there could you recommend five albums that they should own and why?

Van Halen 1 - the first and the best! One of the reasons everyone plays guitar. Its legacy will live on for centuries.

British Steel by Judas Priest - the definitive Brit Metal album. This is how Marshall's on 10 are supposed to sound.

Lights Out by UFO - if you want to find God you will find him on this album and his name is Michael Schenker!

Trilogy by Yngwie Malmsteen - for a period in 1986/87 Yngwie was unquestionably the best rock player in the world and this album shows us why.

Under Lock And Key by Dokken - the master of vibrato and tone. Ladies and gentlemen I give you George Lynch. This album contains the best solo ever recorded on a track called “The Hunter” 

Finally is there anything you would like to say to the readers and visitors of hard Rock House?

Always keep the faith with metal. They will try to break us, take us and destroy the thing we love but they will never defeat us. NEVER!

Many thanks to Ed for taking the time to speak with HardRockHouse.com. For more information on Ed then you can visit his website at www.edwardbox.com.