ALEX SKOLNICK On His Collaboration With ARDESHIR FARAH: 'We Both Brought These Different Influences And Different Patterns'

TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick and STRUNZ & FARAH guitarist Ardeshir Farah recently collaborated on two jazz-rock tracks, "Eddie's Madness" and "171 Mph". Farah is known for his genre-blending, acoustic world sounds with Grammy-nominated duo STRUNZ & FARAH, and he and Skolnick had discussed playing together for years. It finally happened last fall, with Farah playing electric for the first time in 45 years.

"Alex has a reputation for being a great rock player and also having interest in other styles of music," Farah told journalist Bryan Reesman when they spoke recently. "That's what was interesting. When we met at the Baked Potato [in L.A.] several times, when he played with Stu Hamm, I felt like there was chemistry. We talked a lot, and I loved his playing. I thought the two tunes with me playing electric guitar would be great if I could have somebody like Alex join me. He was very kind to accept. It would be very different if I just did it by myself, coming out of nowhere playing electric after 45 years of acoustic guitars. It would not have the same impact as having somebody like Alex join me."

"I'll just add that the Baked Potato shows where I play with Stu Hamm is a real musician scene," added Skolnick. "It's a lot of fun. Arde's been coming to these shows. We've had great players. One time Chuck Rainey, the bassist for STEELY DAN, was there. I've met Rhonda Smith. Obviously, Stu gets a lot of bass players. As far as guitar players, it's a wide variety. Tracii Guns has been to these shows, and one time I had to play with Steve Vai sitting in the corner which was a little bit nerve wracking. But I got through it."

Skolnick noted that on his collaborations with Farah, which were recorded in just two hours, "we both brought these different influences and different patterns. Some guitar players have a lot of patterns that are very common. If this was, say, Zakk Wylde and Kirk Hammett together, with all due respect, there would be a lot of these certain types of pentatonic licks and they would have a lot of overlap. I always think it's more interesting to hear people play together when they have different patterns."

He also said that "a lot of the electric guitar playing that I do is inspired by good acoustic playing — [John] McLaughlin, [Al] Di Meola, their guitar trio with Paco de Lucia, and of course, STRUNZ & FARAH is a part of that. So in a way, it's a natural transition to me. I've always developed a lot of my electric ideas on acoustic."

When asked if he might do a second PLANETARY COALITION album where he explored his interest in world music, an arena where Farah easily fits in, Skolnick replied, "I would love to. I've thought about it for a long time. It's just a big undertaking, you know? I was just barely able to squeeze out this [latest ALEX SKOLNICK] TRIO album, 'Prove You're Not A Robot'. But maybe now that that's done, maybe I can look at a PLANETARY COALITION album. I also want to do a more scaled down acoustic album. So I might do that — just instead of 24 plus guest musicians, maybe just a half a dozen or so duets."

Some fans of STRUNZ & FARAH might be surprised to know that Farah appreciates modern metal playing. He recalls watching four death metal bands open up for Marty Friedman at the Whisky A Go Go a few years ago.

"Every one of the bands did a full set, and the guitar players in all the bands were pretty amazing," Farah recalled. "They had a lot of the styles down on electric guitar. Even though the music may not have been my favorite type of music, the drumming, bass playing, and the guitar playing was very impressive. They had really good guitar players [with] the picking technique [done] extremely well."

Farah and Skolnick are hoping to record again in the near future.