Blessed By A Broken Heart are one of those bands I can’t stop listening
too. I was introduced to "She Wolf" by my friend about six years ago and I was
heavily hooked onto Pedal to the Metal. A musical journey that has seen them
change genres from a deathcore sound to a glam rock approach, their whole
discography has been great to listen to and to witness the change of sound.
Sean Maier appeared on their last two albums and has since then got some solo
stuff to check out, so I thought I’d speak to him about his upcoming solo stuff
and also the adversity and heartbreak behind the fall of Blessed By A Broken
Heart.
~Matthew Clewley
Music Review Database: First of all, what happened to Blessed By A Broken Heart?
Sean Maier: I actually posted on my Facebook
account about this recently. Here's what
it said:
Hey everyone, I just felt compelled to let anyone interested in seeing
Blessed hit the road again, it's not going to be happening and I'm very sorry
about that. There was much leading up the eventual stop to this train. I'll
just be blunt, honest, and cut to the chase as best I can here yet tell the
story of what happened and why for those who care to know.
For "Pedal To The Metal" we were with Century Media Records.
Our management/attorney & label at that time got in quite the quarrel about
owning band rights. Unfortunately CM at that time used fear tactics to try to
get the job done. The kind where the president calls you guys on tour and tells
you to fire your whole management and attorney team and sign here or else
you'll be a "C" priority--basically shelved. Needless to say we had
trust issues on seeing eye to eye with the label after that and the
relationship tarnished.
In hindsight CM put the best deal of backing and money into the band and
knowing what I know now about how little musicians & bands make on there
recorded music… I think it may have been wiser to sign the publishing deal with
CM but one can never be sure… Oh the tyranny of what if! Having said that I
still think quite fondly of the past & present A&R branch over at CM in
USA & Europe. Those very good and honest hard working people you know who
you are thank you for all your efforts.
Blessed was to date some of the most amazing and fun times of my life.
I'll never forget from joining in 2005, eating banana egg rolls at Frank's
house with Tyler to eventually rocking 15,000 people at Loud Park in Japan and
everything in between… Far too many stories to tell but let me just say it's
really been something.
This leaves us at the second chapter, leaving CM and signing with Tooth
& Nail. After what I believe was like a year of back and forth lawyer
bicker & banter we did get 'er done. We signed a not so good but better
than some deal with T&N and were set to enter the studio for "Feel The
Power". We spent the better part of 2 years writing on and off and we
recorded a killer record that surpassed Pedal (in my opinion) and without a
doubt factual if you're talking about the music and lead guitar playing.
We were all set to go full force on the FTP record I was very excited to
perform the new songs live. We shot 2 new music videos and then our frontman
Tony leaves a week before the record drops. To be totally honest this is where
it ends but none of us 100% knew it yet. We figured we still had Sam
"Ryder" Robinson who to be honest (Tony would have no gripes to admit
this) is a better singer technically and sang almost all the harmonies and some
of the leads for the FTP record. At this point our new booking agent in Europe Xray drops us and Japan
becomes disinterested.
Unfortunately our label had pretty much washed their hands of us as well
as all legit booking agents the band had. I couldn't exactly blame them, the
label spent good money on the record and music videos with Tony's face and
vocals and now we're gonna tell them the guy up and left a week before the
release. We did do 1 tour (if it can even be considered that) last summer for
the only booking agency who would touch us. We along with the entire tour
package, "Write This Down" and "Children 18:3" could not
continue the tour due to the fact that through some sort of contract screw up
we were taking in less money at the shows than it cost on transport to get to
them.
By the end of 2 Weeks we had gone though our entire publishing advance,
losing thousands. It was at that point that I told the other guys that I no
longer could continue. We had exhausted all our contacts, support system and
money so there was really nothing left so to speak. I'm sorry it took so long
for an update, I know there have been some people wondering what is going on with
the band. I guess some of us were still waiting to see if by some miracle the
album would start selling a ton or some overseas offer would come in and we
would have the money from show guarantees to tour but none of that came true.
I just wanna end with thanking anyone who ever came out to a show,
bought a record or T-shirt, fed us, or put us up for a night or more all those
years Blessed was out on the road. Without you, this crazy ride would have
never been possible and I'm grateful for that. Please be sure to support the
members in our new musical projects and bands. Sam is now the singer for
"Close Your Eyes" so be sure to check them out to hear the amazing
talent that Sam is. I am currently doing a shred guitar project called Shred
Starz. Be sure to check that out and add us if you dig my playing. I'm also
taking on new projects so if anyone feels there's something that would fit my
style I'm now available and can be reached here.
How influential was your time with BBABH on your playing style, as
they have previously experimented with different sub genres of rock and
metal?
Blessed has had so much
influence on my life. The guys, the
times we shared, the whole experience.
As far as the band influencing my playing-- not very much. I mean, my playing has always been very much
influenced by iconic guitar heroes more so than the guys. Although a song that say Frank wrote on
"Pedal" or that Ian “Slater” wrote on "Feel The Power"
would influence different ideas that I may not have arrived at without their
musical contribution. Thank you for
that guys.
How did you meet James J LaRue and come up with the idea of Shred
Starz?
I came to know of James through his former band
Holy Grail. When James left Grail I was
asked to fill in for a tour. I ended up
passing the offer along to a dear friend who was in need of a gig, Ian
Scott. After listening to Grail with Ian
and coming to admire LaRue’s playing style.
I added him on Facebook and we began talking here and there. Our first face to face was at NAMM 2011 by
chance. The idea of Shred Starz came
from the mutual adoration of the classic “golden era” of shred we love so
much. The style, the attitude, the guitars,
the tones, the colors, THE ERA. We had
tossed names back and forth, then Shred Starz came to my mind. I remember
telling James. He loved it, I loved it,
and that was that.
How far are you willing to go with Shred Starz, have you performed
live with James J Larue?
I'd be willing to take Shred
Starz to da moon and back if I could. I love It! The reality of that happening is highly
unlikely. First off James is not a fan
of the touring life and its reality, meaning the hardships and struggle of
being a starter group on the road. Most
people who don’t tour don’t understand how hard or expensive it is. It is not simply just hit the road and play
the music. It's a lot of money and
sacrifice.
I love and miss performing live.
I don’t like 12 hour drives or sleeping in a van but I love performing
my music for people who enjoy listening to it.
Nothing compares other than maybe the joy of creating it and the
excitement of the musical idea coming to life.
The only way I see Shred Starz becoming more is maybe a Kickstarter
campaign. Even with that, I’m not sure
if we're large enough at this point to get proper funding for any sort of
tour. However, we are interested in
trying to fund our next video with Kickstarter and coming up with cool perks
for contributions.
Do Shred Starz plan on releasing an EP or an album?
We plan on releasing singles with rad/creative music videos. We have about 5 or 6 tunes that we started
almost 2 years ago. It's really tough to
release a video the way we try to do things.
We're trying to be more than just the average self-made guitar
video. Our thing is shred guitar music
with a real cool music video. Almost all
guitar music is pretty exclusive in videos as either instructional or
“play-thru videos” where it's not much more than dude+guitar+different angle. We try to be more than just the guitar in
videos by incorporating a creative fun music video theme.
How was the music video for Midnight Ladies Sonata created, and who
wrote the idea?
The idea for Lady was
born of the mutual adoration for 80’s era film and style. Patrick McDevitt produced it & Anthony
Carella assisted. The video features my
girlfriend, Lindsay Marie Deluca and her friend Maytal Angel as the
“babes”. My friend Derek is the bad guy
and George Papadimatos is the other shady character who deals drugs and babes
for a price… The video was shot at SVA
Studios on the lower east side of Manhattan.
It was super cool to have access to all that equipment.
You seem to be influenced by 80s glam metal, if so, who is the
guitarist you favorite the most from that era?
There's so many rad players from
that era it's tough to narrow it to just one guy. How about a list of dudes who are rad from
that era whose playing I really dig?
1) Paul Gilbert — Anything by Racer X and ‘Mr. Big’
2) Nuno Bettencourt — w/ Extreme: ‘Extreme’ and ‘Pornograffiti’
3) Greg Howe — ‘Introspection’
4) Richie Kotzen — ‘Electric Joy’
5) Guthrie Govan — ‘Erotic Cakes’
6) Steve Vai — solo: ‘Passion and Warfare’ and w/ DLR: ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile’
7) Michael Lee Firkins — ‘Michael Lee Firkins’
8) Yngwie Malmsteen — ‘Rising Force’
9) Chris Impellitteri — ‘Screaming Symphony’
10) Jason Becker — ‘Perpetual Burn’
11) Marty Freidman — w/ Megadeth: ‘Rust in Peace’ and solo: ‘Dragon
Kiss’
12) Reb Beach — w/ Winger: ‘Winger’
13) John Sykes — w/ Blue Murder: ‘Blue Murder’
14) Akira Takasaki — w/ Loudness: ‘Dissilution’
15) John Petrucci — w/ Dream Theater: ‘Awake’ and ‘Scenes From A Memory’
16) George Lynch — w/ Dokken: ‘Under Lock & Key’ and ‘Back For The
Attack’ and w/ Lynch Mob: ‘Wicked Sensation’
17) Michael Romeo — w/ Symphony X: ‘Odyssey’
18) Vinnie Moore — ‘Meltdown’ and ‘Defying Gravity’
19) Tony MacAlpine — ‘Chromacity’ and ‘Evolution’
20) Randy Rhoads — w/ Ozzy Osbourne: ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ and ‘Diary Of A
Madman’
21) Blues Saraceno — ‘Hairpick’
22) Shawn Lane — ‘Powers Of 10′
23) Frank Gambale — ‘Passages’
24) Alex Skolnick — w/ Testament: ‘The New Order’ and ‘Practice What You
Preach’
25) Jeff Loomis — w/ Nevermore: ‘This Godless Endeavor’ and solo: ‘Zero
Phase Order’
26) Dimebag Darrell — w/ Pantera: ‘Cowboys From Hell’
27) Ron Thal, a.k.a. Bumblefoot — ’911′
28) Allan Holdsworth — ‘Against The Clock’
29) Kiko Loureiro – w/ Angra: ‘Temple Of Shadows’
30) Vito Bratta — w/ White Lion: ‘Pride’
How was the writing experience working with James J LaRue?
Working with James has been one of the best decisions I have ever
made. He has taught me so much in the
ways of recording and work ethic. He
puts 100% into everything he does and follows through even if it takes a long
time and he always does killer work.
Shred Starz would not sound the way it does if not for his creativity,
hard work, and know how of sound and recording. When I flew him out to NY to write with me
for the first time I really wasn’t very good at tracking my own guitars. He researched a good interface that we both
ended up getting and got me familiar with the recording program Reaper and some
plugins to get my guitar tone good enough using software. If it wasn’t for James helping me along with
recording and my rig I don’t know where I'd be now. In a way, he made all the “Shred Sean” videos
and content I put out over this past year or so possible. He showed me how to be more precise about my
playing. Thanks James.
How many bands and musicians have you collaborated with since you
started being a guitarist, besides from BBABH and Shred Starz, what other bands
helped you with your playing style?
I really haven’t played
with that many bands. The first song I
performed was “Crazy Train” with a group of high school buddies I believe we
called ourselves “Minds Of Malice”.
Other than that really just high school buddies and even performing with
my middle school teacher on drums for “Mr Crowley” and my guitar teacher Jaf on
bass.
Do you think the music industry could be saved from piracy in terms
of profit for musicians?
I don't think piracy
and be prevented. This train is going
one way and it ain't coming back. That
being said, I do think there are some new cool ways that bands/artists are
funding the creation of their work. The
whole crowd funding thing is great! Ask
fans and people who care to help and provide perks for that, the more personal
the better.
And finally, have you got
enough material for a full solo album? Would you want to release something like
that?
I have a good stockpile of ideas for songs. I find I work best and am most inspired
bouncing ideas off other musicians in a shared writing situation. I'm not sure how interested I am in writing a
full-length currently. My interest now
is more collaborating with different guitar players and musicians and releasing
singles or a few tracks at a time maybe a video. If it's an established act that
has a working tour engine (booking agent/agents, fans in every city attending
shows, tour transport, bus or fly in dates etc) happens to loose a guitar
player and are in need of say me… Fuck
yea let's quit the current day job and put everything into writing/touring. If those cards get dealt to me
fantastic! I might not wanna hold my
breath though…
