ALTER BRIDGE's MYLES KENNEDY: 'I Regret Not Having More Faith In Myself Early On'

Mark Dean of AntiHero Magazine recently conducted an interview with Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE, SLASH). A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

AntiHero Magazine: Do you have to adopt a different mindset in terms of writing and creating music [in ALTER BRIDGE] compared with what you did in THE CONSPIRATORS with Slash?

Myles: "Yeah, it's definitely different. It's a different feel. It's a different from a lyrical standpoint and subject matter, which is a little more… I don't know how to describe it, but it's usually a little more touching on certain emotions that I wouldn't touch on so much with Slash. It's good for me as a writer because I get to basically express myself in two different categories. It doesn't get redundant for me as a writer jumping between those two bands, so that I can kind of stretch myself in different directions. It's enjoyable."

AntiHero Magazine: Looking back, would you have any regrets or has everything just been a step forward in life's great path?

Myles: "No, I mean, I'm sure I have regrets. I think one of the things I regret was not having more faith in myself early on. There was always a fair amount of trepidation and I guess a fair amount of really, for lack of better word, certain insecurities that I had to kind of overcome and struggle with. It just, I'm kind of frustrated with that side of, or I would get frustrated with that side of me and trying to have to deal with that and overcome it would get in the way, a lot of times, of creating and expressing myself musically. That's probably my biggest regret, is just not having more confidence out of the gate as a youngster in particular."

AntiHero Magazine: What in life would you be most proud of? Would it be something maybe musically that you created or maybe something personal?

Myles: "Oh man, I think what I'm probably most proud of isn't necessarily something that I've created, but I think it kind of touches on what we were talking about earlier with regrets. I think I'm most proud of the fact that I was able to overcome the insecurities that were going to keep me from living my dream which was just learning to turn off those little voices in your head that tell you you're not capable of doing something. I think the fact that I could keep those demons down eventually and have success to some degree. In spite of that, it's probably one of the things I'm most happy with in terms of how life's turned out."

AntiHero Magazine: Would you still have unfulfilled ambitions, hopes, and dreams?

Myles: "You know what, I still do, yeah. There are things I think with all the luck that I've had and how things have turned out in life, I'm trying to just make sure that I pay some of that forward. I'm just trying to help young people who have the same dreams achieve their goals and be a good role model. My wife and I are involved with certain work here in my hometown to help inspire that sort of thing and see some of that come to fruition. I think that's my goal as time goes on, is to just try and pay it forward."

Read the entire interview at AntiHero Magazine.