Sevenstring.org Interview: Dino Cazares

Rick: Dino, we really appreciate you taking the time to do this. With you being my idol, it's a bit more special to me so, thanks again.

Dino Cazares: Thanks for having me. I think it's cool to answer questions people have for me.

Rick: Well, let's get started. How did you get started in music?

DC: I started getting into music when I was 14, 15 years old, I started playing acoustic guitar and playing typical stuff like AC/DC and Black Sabbath. When I got older around 15 or 16, I got an electric and started playing stuff like Metallica and Def Leppard and progressed from there; I started learning the downstrokes from Metallica and the triple picking from Slayer. Then when I was 17, I moved to Los Angeles and started playing with bands in LA. I met Raymond when I was 21, he was 17 and the rest is history.

Rick: What kind of approach do you have with songwriting?

DC: It depends. For instance, with my new band Divine Heresy, it's mostly me and our drummer Tim Yeung. He'll come up with a cool beat and I'll say, "that's pretty good" and I'll write something with that. Or we'll just use a killer riff to write something. Mostly, it starts with a riff but it all goes hand in hand. I personally prefer to use a live drummer to write as opposed to a drum machine because I can really feel it. But once in a while, I'll use the drum machine.

Rick: What's your favorite Asesino song to play live?

DC: The whole album. (laughs) It has really cool death metal and thrash metal riffs that I've compiled from the past and put all together. Just try to make it as extreme as possible. Somewhat simple, but fast.

Rick: What got you interested in the 8 string?

DC: Way back when I started, I was using a 6 string tuned to B. But when you tune down like that, it starts to sound muddy and you need thicker strings. So when Ibanez approached me with the 7 string, it was a natural progression for me. The string tension was better and it can handle the lower tunings. So when the 8 string came out, I was like "Perfect". I use the 8 string on the Asesino record "Cristo Satanico" and on the new Divine Heresy album as well. One of the cool things is that it handles the really low tunings. Also the necks are smaller so I can handle it because I have smaller hands.

Rick: Let's talk about gear for a little while. What's your setup looking like these days?

DC: I have a couple of old school Marshalls that I like a lot, I have a Peavey 5150, I use an Ibanez tubescreamer which helps give me a little extra bite, I have Mesa Boogie Triple Recitifer cabinets, I have Marshall 1960 reissue 25 watt greenback cabinets, I have Ibanez cabs and the Thermion head, I have lots of Line 6 stuff: the Flextone 1, Flextone 2, POD Pro, POD PRO XT; I have 2 Mesa Boogie power amps, I have 14 different Ibanez guitars, including 2 8 strings. No 6 strings at all.

Rick: Wow.

DC: I also have an old 10 string acoustic. A friend found it for me and I picked it up and I started using it; it'll be on the new record as well.

Rick: What's your live rig gonna look like?

DC: Good question. That's something that I'll have to build soon. When I started doing this record, I used the 5150 and a Marshall JCM800 so I don't know what it'll be but I'll have to have a whole new rack built because we'll be doing some shows in July and August. Before, I'd take out the Line 6 stuff because it would fit on the rack nicely but I want to change it up a little bit and flip flop between different sounds. On the Asesino record, it was all Marshall but for the Divine Heresy record, I've combined a bunch of stuff. I'll let you know what it'll be once I get in going.

Rick: Awesome! Well, speaking of the JCM800, I heard that Chevelle had their gear stolen in Dallas recently and I thought of when Fear Factory had their stuff stolen in 1999.

DC: Yeah, they stole our U-Haul truck. It was our stuff, System of a Down's stuff, and Spineshank's stuff. Over a million dollars in gear. The one thing that was priceless to me was the JCM800 that was modded. It was my tone and it wasn't gonna change. I shouldn't have brought it on the road, I should have just left in the studio. We had a few leads from investigators but nothing was ever recovered. They stole 6 of my 7 strings. The JCM being stolen was the main thing that really hurt. I've had to try so many different things to get my tone back.

Rick: What kind of mods were done to the JCM800?

DC: It was a pull knob that had some extra gain to it. It was sort of like an overdrive pedal. Not overly saturated, but enough to give it a real clean crunch and that's what I liked about it. I used it all the way up until Obsolete.

Rick: Then you switched to Line 6 for Digimortal.

DC: Yeah, it was kind of like a quick fix for me.

Rick: Can you talk about the Blackout pickup you're working on with Seymour Duncan?

DC: Yeah, there's gonna be two different 7 string versions. Phase 1 is the standard "Dimarzio" size pickup that will fit any guitar, no routing necessary. Now, for those people who bought the EMG and had to do the routing for the 707 pickup, Phase 2 will be for those EMG users. I know a lot of people who are gonna love it. They completely blow the 707 away. It gives me really nice tonality and I was able to use it on the Divine Heresy record in time. We will debut some music on our myspace page very soon, so go check out the site at MySpace.com - DIVINE HERESY (New CD in Stores Now) - Los Angeles/New York - Metal / Metal / Metal - www.myspace.com/divineheresyband.

Rick: I'm very proud to say that I was friend #92 for you guys.

DC: (laughs) Very cool! I've been searching for the perfect tone and I'm so proud of this pickup.

Rick: When will it be available?

DC: July/August. It'll also be available in a 6 string version.

Rick: Well, I don't really know any 6 string players.

DC: (laughs) Neither do I!

Rick: By any chance, will we ever see an Ibanez Dino Cazares signature edition? I'll be first in line to buy one!

DC: We've had discussions about it before, I'm just very happy to be with Ibanez. Unfortunately, you have to sell millions and millions and millions of records to get a signature series guitar. I've been offered by other companies to have a signature edition but no one else makes 7 strings like Ibanez. I'd rather be with a company that will give me full access to a custom shop than have a signature series.

Rick: Finally, last question for you. Can I have one of your guitars?

DC: (laughs) All of my guitars are LA Custom Shop guitars and it would be really hard for me to give one away. You can try and steal one but you might get shot.

Rick:That's okay, thanks anyway! Dino, thank you so much for doing this!

DC: Thank you for having me!