Meet Brev Sullivan, a Florida resident guitar ace whose guitar instrumentals have the reckless vibe of Zappa meets Van Halen meets Steve Morse with some shades of Vintage Vai. That’s one tasty combo. You can definitely hear it in his playing.

Passionate and dedicated, Brev Sullivan is destined to be on the covers of guitar magazines everywhere. Keep reading to delve into the mind of a guitar great…

Who are your main influences?

Joe Diorio,Wes Mongomery, Eric Johnson, Van Halen, Shawn Lane, Ira Sullivan, John Williams (The Composer)

2. So how did you get started playing the guitar?

I actually started on Trumpet cause of my Father, Ira Sullivan. I also studied piano. Eventually I discovered my sisters guitar which was just sitting in a closet. It was a nylon string classical guitar. The first song I learned on guitar was “Greensleeves”

3. What is one influential event that helped shape your playing style, or take it to the next level?

I’d have to say recently. I was writing standard commercial rock that sounded like everything else on the radio that’s current. Although writing commercial music is a great exercise and enhances your marketing skills, it’s also hard to break into the market. I had submitted some music to an A& R rep for review which didn’t go over well. Also, frustration over some former band members lack of commitment to a project led to a very abrupt decision to work on my own and finally do what I love and do best, play instrumental guitar music and play it to the best of my potential.

The song ‘Analog Trainwreck’ on my site is the result of some of this pent up frustration and creativity. I would have to say that piece
is pure and inspired creativity from the right side of the brain, the intuitive side. That piece of music was written with no rules , no boundaries and set a standard for the rest of my compositions to be crazier, freakier, and to push myself and my abilities to release the music I heard in my head.

4. How do you approach your song-writing?

I write similar to how composers write a score for a movie or a TV show. A TV/movie composer is told by the producer to write for a film and to capture the essence of the emotional weight of the scene with thematic music. Later when you hear the music without seeing the visual, you think of the characters in the film.

This is no picnic for the composer either. With TV you have sometimes only a few days to write and complete the mix. I love that method.
It’s forces me to constantly come up with new material. It’s not unlike meditating. Your in a state of creativity that just doesn’t happen when you’re at band practice.

I write so you feel an emotional response to my songs regardless of how many notes are being played. If you hear my songs and laugh or feel like your on a ride or just plain get irritated, that’s the general idea. Another integral part of writing is that today’s computer recording software recording also allows me the freedom to get my ideas out and recorded the instant I hear them in my head. With programs like Nuendo and Logic, I can play and capture spontaneous ideas which turn into songs. I’m very careful not to overdo edits either. I try to treat Modern computer recording like digital tape as if you’ve got limited studio time like the days of Analog tape!

When I’m trying to blaze out a solo, the spontaneity has to be caught. The listener can hear and feel the live vibe of a live solo. The best tracks are when I don’t know what I’m going to play exactly. What I’m doing essentially is practicing, writing a song and recording a guitar track all at once.

5. What kind of gear are you using?

I use an SG standard and an SG 90 double as my main recording guitars. For jazz, I use an Ibanez George Benson. through a Blackface Fender Princeton Reverb circa ‘68. The amp Originally belonged to Joe Diorio. I inherited it from him some time ago. For shred and rock my Amps are usually a combination of a Bogner XTC through a Marshall 4X12 cabinet w 30 watt celestions or a Hughes and Ketner Metal Shredder preamp direct.

I don’t use many effects on my sound but I do have a Yamaha UD stomp for delays and slight pitch shifting. It’s unique in that
it has very authentic tape delay type emulation which is important in giving your overall sound a warmer tone. I consider My recording software an essential tool in my guitar rig.

6. Describe a normal day for you. How much time do you spend practicing and playing, talking to fans, networking, etc.?

Well, I actually train in the gym for an hour a day. This is essential to be in top shape because I am on the go constantly. Between gigs, writing recording, playing, I need to think clearly and always be at my optimum for creativity It’s the most important part of my day.
I usually practice guitar for a 2 hours and certainly there are days where I may spend up to 4 hours or more reading and working on motor skills.

But much of my practice is a by- product of recording on the computer which can be up to 12 hours if I have an immediate deadline.
Rehearsals with various groups are an hour average. Sheet music is essential to speed up song learning. I try to network a least an hour or so a day, but I always have my laptop on and check my site while taking rests in between recording. I take full advantage of
current technology of laptops, I-phones, texting. With wirelss everywhere it seems that networking is as normal and essential as breathing.

7. Do you have any advice for aspiring young guitarists who want to pursue a career in music or just better themselves as players?

I think young players should try and get as much experience as possible playing with different bands or musicians. Having your own band group is great but, you can’t become great or grow into the player you want to be unless you play with other musicians who are better than you.

Also, it’s essential that any musician today become fairly proficient on a computer recording software. The future of music is here and artists have a better chance of selling their music independently so you should know how to record yourself, mix your own songs and it will help your songwriting immensely. Learn as many tunes as you can from all eras. If you don’t like learning some tunes from the 50’s cause they sound old and are not cool enough, rock them out in your own way and make them cool. Musicians who know tons of songs will always get paid to play on gigs.

Guitarist Felica Collins of the David Letterman show has over 1,000,000 tunes in her repotoire and she gets paid very well and works every night of the week doing what she loves.

8. What are you most proud of musically?

My latest instrumentals.

9. Any other thoughts or words of inspiration?

I feel that as a guitarist, you have the coolest job and everyone envys you. The guitar is essentially a beacon to the world of average joes who don’t play it but would like to. Guitar players were the original reality TV stars long before reality TV existed. if you had a guitar and you could play, you were cool. You didn’t have to be a hollywood celebrity. A guy would go buy a suit, a new sportscar and along comes a guy with a guitar on foot that get’s more attention from the ladies than the guy with the new sportscar.

Music and guitars are pure magic. No instrument has been played in such a diverse manner. Never has an instrument sounded so different from so many different people. The guitar is a wildly unique personal portable extension of the individual playing it. That’s not to say other instruments don’t have that magic quality. Indeed there are tremendous artists out there on all instruments making headlines.

The guitar has been the shot heard around the world more than once. Look at what Wes, Jaco, Hendrix, Page,Halen, etc. did and how many lives they affected. Anyone who picks up a guitar and learns what to do with it has a shot at changing the world if you work hard enough at it.
Guitar is such a mystery to people and they want to play it so bad and be a real rock star, they will buy a video game that makes them feel like one.

That’s powerful.

Check out Brev’s Myspace @ www.myspace.com/brevsullivan

Brev also will be performing at NAMM tomorrow so if you are out there, stop by to say hi! He’s performing with this company: www.myspace.com/squaredrumcompany

And be sure to stop by and leave some love for Brev’s group, Featured on Fridays!

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