“I believe that guitarists that follow the path of Zen should be taken seriously. By using the art of Zen teachings I am able to practise and teach in the way that is both useful for me and my students. By following the correct path I am able to discipline myself in ways that can send me different levels of consciousness when I play.”

-Robin Dymond

To find out more about this great guitarist keep reading…

1. For the readers who may be unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your music?

My music is certainly a mixture of styles. It is much like my moods, one minute I want to listen to Van Halen the next minute Mozart, Zappa, Todd Rundgren or Steve Vai.

My recent songs such as Tribal Dance, Sea of Dogs and Malaguena Diablo are all pieces that feature a Juxtaposing of many different aspects of electric guitar playing such as Flamenco, Thrash and tribal drumming.

I also try to use modes and scales to create a certain mood.

2. Who are your main influences?

Well, hmmm, I have many influences.

When most kids are at the age when music is appealing to them my sister and I didn’t listen to nursery rhymes, we listened to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, The Stranglers and Roxy Music.

At the age of nine my stepfather moved in to our house and played one track from each record in his collection to me. Thus I got into bands such as UFO, Kiss, Metallica, Megadeth, Moterhead, Faith No More, Slayer and Motley Crue.

On the way to martial arts lessons (from the age of 5), my father used to listen to Rossini’s William Tell Overture, Beethoven’s 9th and 5th, so we could get hyped up to handle a gruelling two hours of fighting.

I am also very fond of Eastern music and Flamenco guitar playing and I try to incorporate both in to my playing.

Using Zen teachings has also been quite an influential aspect, it has enabled me to break boundaries that I never thought I could.

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

I have always been a musical person, from the age of five I started playing recorder and from the age of 8 I started playing Violin. Then I was taught how to play Piano, my sister excelled as a piano player ( and she still does). I could play well, but it was never my instrument.

My uncle started teaching me how to play guitar from about the age of ten. I started with folk songs,from then on I couldn’t put the instrument down.

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

My girlfriend when I was 16 introduced me to Steve Vai’s Passion and Warfare album, I went and bought the sheet music to the album and I spent hours learning how to play all of the songs. I then went on to learn Yngwie Malmsteen licks, Satriani legato runs etc.

When I went to university I joined a Thrash metal band who had rigorous practise sessions (6 hours at a time), and anytime one of us made a mistake we started the song all over again. Thus my playing and timing moved forward by leaps and bounds.

5. How do you approach your song-writing?

This is quite a hard question to answer as I approach every song in a different way. Most of the time I usually start with a random idea such as a drum line, a melody, a riff or a vocal line.

Prayer of the Navajo started with the idea of mimicking the Native American fire dance with an aggressive guitar line, however, sea of Dogs started with a riff I wrote ages ago.

After I have the initial idea it then triggers other aspects such as modes, tricks on the guitar and drum lines etc.

6. What kind of gear are you using?

I use quite a few different guitars, for my metal band I use a Jackson Rhodes V with EMG pickups and a ESP Eclipse with EMG pickups. For teaching and rock gigs I use an Ibanez RG with Dimarzio pickups.

I use many effects pedals, for my distortion I use a digitech Metal master and a Boss MT-2, I use a boss DD-3 for my delay, a standard boss chorus pedal. I also use a Vox Wah and a digitech Whammy pedal, and they all go through 2 hundred watt Marshall Amplifiers

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

If I can I will play all day, it varies from about two hours a day up to (sometimes) 10 hours a day. I don’t really have a rigorous regime, I always warm up for about half an hour then I see how the mood takes me, sometimes I will practise tapping for an hour, sometimes chords or arpeggios.

It often depends if I am writing or gigging, If I am gigging I have a set daily warm up routine, If I am recording I try to find different ways of making the guitar speak.

I spend a lot of time replying to fans emails, I try to reply to everyone I can. In terms of networking I use Myspace as a tool and I try to stay in contact with all of my musician friends just to see if an opportunity arises.

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

With all of my students I try to make sure that they enjoy playing rather than using the guitar for competitive purposes. Practise your favourite songs as much as possible, learn new techniques as often as possible and most importantly don’t take notice of anyone who says shredding is for show-offs.

Gigging is very important, play with as many different bands as possible, it will improve your playing and increase your fanbase.

9. What are you most proud of musically?

That is a very hard question. Probably the piece of music called Malguena (Shred) Diablo, it and expansion of a traditional flamenco piece, it was a very hard to piece to play and write and It has some quite complex tapping runs and arpeggio lines.

The song Prayer of the Navajo, even though it is not as complex, it really captures the mood I was intending to put across with my playing.

10. Any other thoughts or words of inspiration?

Play, enjoy, gig as much as possible, be critical of your own playing, listen to as many styles of guitar playing as possible and never give up.

Stay Zen

Robin Dymond

www.myspace.com/robindymond

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