ALEX SKOLNICK: I Am Rejecting The Idea That People Who Play In Metal Bands Can Only Play Metal

Mark Morton of Heavy Metal Examiner recently conducted an interview with TESTAMENT/ex-SAVATAGE guitarist and leader of ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO, Alex Skolnick. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Heavy Metal Examiner: I recall back when you started [ALEX SKOLNICK TRIO], the metal community immediately wrote it off as a novelty act. And yet you persisted.

Skolnick: I know, I'm still here, dammit! [Laughs] But you know, when I did it, it was not a novelty; it was a true reflection of what I was passionate for. And I am very passionate about sophisticated jazz guitar. I am also rejecting the notion that only people who limit themselves to that kind of music can do it. As well, I am rejecting the idea that people who play in metal bands can only play metal. It's been a battle my whole life, and it is finally starting to feel like I am proving it. It's taken a really long time, but honestly, the skills required to play metal or jazz take a long time to develop. In the case of metal, they were skills I was fortunate enough to develop at a young age. But ever since then, I've been refining my craft of jazz guitar. It has taken a long time, but like I said, it has given me purpose. I think the title of the album, the fact that it's an acoustic jazz album with different genres on it and the consistency that you mentioned is all a part of that.

Heavy Metal Examiner: Well, after hearing this, if you listen back to the progression of TESTAMENT's catalogue, you can hear the seeds being planted for how you were developing musically. And it wasn't really until you broke from them that you were able to bring it to fruition. And I think it's actually sad that you, as a person, have actually become this polarizing factor with people's enjoyment of those albums.

Skolnick: It's been a very interesting ride. Things did not come easy for me. You could say that I had success at a young age, but I never felt like I was had success. My band was always struggling. All the money that TESTAMENT ever made went right back into the band, and we always had to cut corners and save pennies to survive — through that whole period with the band. I never experienced this big success that some people do at a young age, and I think in some ways that drove me to focus on the art. I realized that the whole rock star thing was pretty much a fantasy, where it happens for some people but not for most. I think it might have happened on a bigger level had we been a million-seller, which we never were – but I think I still would have gotten disillusioned. And I think that the fact that I have become a polarizing figure has given purpose to the whole thing. In a sense, it has been really difficult for me in metal, and entering jazz, everyone thought I was crazy (in the jazz world and the metal world). But it felt right, and I'm still doing it, and it is starting to feel like there is some acceptance. And I think there are some artists where it takes years and years (sometimes after their lifetime) before they are appreciated. I'm not saying that is going to happen to me, and I'm not going to compare myself to someone like F. Scott Fitzgerald, where "The Great Gatsby" was a complete commercial failure and drove him into depression, and it wasn't until decades later when people woke up and finally took his work seriously. If you are a true artist, you will just do what feels right, and that is what I am doing with this music. Sure it would be nice to have big sales and success; but at least I can look at this album and say, "This album is real!"

Read the entire interview from Heavy Metal Examiner.