DarksomeOrigin
Active Member
Well, its pretty cold and frostbitten outside right now anyway 
My name is Matt. I've been playing guitar since I was 13 (I'm 30 now). My main influences are progressive rock bands from the 70s like Genesis, King Crimson, and Rush, and into tons of metal, of course. Some of my favorite bands are Symphony X, Edge of Sanity, Nevermore, Opeth, King Diamond, Carcass, Death, etc. Guitar playing-wise, I'm really inspired by guitarists like Michael Romeo, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Allan Holdsworth, and Jeff Loomis, as well as some of the newer youtube dudes like Tom Quayle and Rick Graham.
I played ESP and Schecter for a long time, but I'm a proud Vigier endorser now, and I'm currently rocking two Supra 7's. For about 9 years, I headed up the songwriting, lead guitar, and death growls for the progressive/power metal band, Dark Empire. I've since disbanded Dark Empire and am concentrating on demoing a new project right now that is more in the progressive/melodic death metal realm, akin to Edge of Sanity, Opeth, and various other Stockholm Swedish death bands.
I also teach guitar for a living and really hope to contribute my knowledge in that area to the forum
In case anyone is curious, here is some video of myself playing:
More current:
"Hey bro, you sure do tap a lot."
I know. Over the years I developed a condition known as focal dystonia that makes it extremely difficult for me to use my 2nd finger in faster or more technical passages. I already predominantly favored the legato sound as it was, so it wasn't a weird transition for me to start relying on right hand tapping to execute 90% of technical/fast/shred passages. Actually, it allowed me to stop struggling against things I could no longer do and instead allowed me to be even less concerned with my technique. I don't like to make a big deal about this since its just simply a part of who I am as a player these days, but I am posting on a guitar forum and I am well aware how guitarists scrutinize other players, so I figured I'd just get that out there right away
Wow, I hope I didn't write too much here, but thanks to anyone who bothered to read all of that. I look forward to contributing to this forum!
My name is Matt. I've been playing guitar since I was 13 (I'm 30 now). My main influences are progressive rock bands from the 70s like Genesis, King Crimson, and Rush, and into tons of metal, of course. Some of my favorite bands are Symphony X, Edge of Sanity, Nevermore, Opeth, King Diamond, Carcass, Death, etc. Guitar playing-wise, I'm really inspired by guitarists like Michael Romeo, Yngwie Malmsteen, Jason Becker, Allan Holdsworth, and Jeff Loomis, as well as some of the newer youtube dudes like Tom Quayle and Rick Graham.
I played ESP and Schecter for a long time, but I'm a proud Vigier endorser now, and I'm currently rocking two Supra 7's. For about 9 years, I headed up the songwriting, lead guitar, and death growls for the progressive/power metal band, Dark Empire. I've since disbanded Dark Empire and am concentrating on demoing a new project right now that is more in the progressive/melodic death metal realm, akin to Edge of Sanity, Opeth, and various other Stockholm Swedish death bands.
I also teach guitar for a living and really hope to contribute my knowledge in that area to the forum
In case anyone is curious, here is some video of myself playing:
More current:
"Hey bro, you sure do tap a lot."
I know. Over the years I developed a condition known as focal dystonia that makes it extremely difficult for me to use my 2nd finger in faster or more technical passages. I already predominantly favored the legato sound as it was, so it wasn't a weird transition for me to start relying on right hand tapping to execute 90% of technical/fast/shred passages. Actually, it allowed me to stop struggling against things I could no longer do and instead allowed me to be even less concerned with my technique. I don't like to make a big deal about this since its just simply a part of who I am as a player these days, but I am posting on a guitar forum and I am well aware how guitarists scrutinize other players, so I figured I'd just get that out there right away
Wow, I hope I didn't write too much here, but thanks to anyone who bothered to read all of that. I look forward to contributing to this forum!
