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Matt Aub
Model(s) Used:
XPT
Band:
Timelord
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Ibanez: Who were some of your early guitar influences?
Matt: Randy Rhoads, Wolf Hoffmann from Accept, George Lynch. In terms of technique, Paul Gilbert was a big one. I was lucky, because I had a friend of a friend who was a student of Paul's at GIT. So I learned a lot of those licks really quickly before anyone else knew what he was doing. James Hetfield was another one. I loved the Metallica stuff.
Ibanez: I know that you teach quite a bit now. Do you advocate taking lessons?
Matt: Starting out, yeah, I definitely advocate taking lessons. In my opinion, there are wrong things that you can do on guitar. There's students that come in, and they'll be holding the pick with their thumb and their pinky. So I just try to get their technique into good shape, so that they can do whatever they want on guitar. If you hold the pick with your pinky and thumb, you're not going to be able to do everything that you'll want to do in the future.
Ibanez: What were some of the things you practiced to develop your technique?
Matt: I practiced a lot of scales and whatnot, going through a lot of patterns like the Paul Gilbert stuff. I had a couple of sheets with all the Paul Gilbert picking exercises. So I did a lot of picking exercises, and back then the videos were really helpful. The first Vinnie Moore video was really good. Vinnie was using Ibanez at the time. Then Paul's video came out. Before the age of YouTube and everything, it was like, "How are these guys doing all this stuff?"
Ibanez: When did you start playing Ibanez guitars?
Matt: The one I play now is a 1987 RG550, which is pretty much stock except for DiMarzio pickups. So I pretty much started playing them in 1987. The first one I got was a white one with the weird triangle inlays. The only other person I've ever seen with one of those was Blues Saraceno. I sold that one to get a better Ibanez, which was the RG550.
Ibanez: Are there any specific things that drew you to the Xiphos?
Matt: The shape. I know that Ibanez is known for the metal guitars, but most of the guitars stick to the RG and S series shapes. Those are great and I love that body style, but I've always liked the more radical shapes like the V and Explorer type shapes. I hope that Ibanez brings back the Destroyer someday. That's one of my favorites. So far the Xiphos is great. The necks on Ibanez guitars are the big selling point. I've played other guitars, and my hands end up hurting after I play. The necks are too wide and thick most of the time.
Ibanez: What was the recording process like for "Regeneration"?
Matt: We were on a tight budget, so we did everything ourselves. My co-guitarist, Aaron Richert, went to school down in Nashville for audio engineering. So he engineered the whole album. Then, we took it to Assembly Line studios to mix it, and it turned out great. We¡Çre pretty happy with it.
Ibanez: What's coming up next for Timelord?
Matt: We've got some shows lined up at some local colleges around Northern Virginia, and we're looking to tour in early 2008. We're also already starting to record and write the next album.
Ibanez: Any words of advice for young musicians?
Matt: Find a good teacher in your area that's known for teaching the style of music that you like. Find the best teacher locally, and take lessons from them. Get a good guitar. There's no need to waste thousands of dollars on a guitar right away. The step up from the student model is usually a good place to start, and practice like crazy.
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