19.12.2003 / London Byron Nemeth Interview By Alexander Hay For European Rock Magazine POWER PLAY

Abbey Road is famous for two things. One, close links to four obscure scousers who sold a few albums in the sixties and went by the name of The Beatles. Two, a recording studio wherein said scallies did their thing. (Presumably while replacing Paul with an inferior clone.

The stature of the place was enough to attract one Byron Nemeth, an American multi-instrumentalist from Cleveland, Ohio. He was in London for two weeks in November to master his yet-to-be-released album, "100 Worlds", and it was during this time that Powerplay interviewed him in the cellar bar of a hotel near Paddington Station.

Now Byron is a very busy man. You can tell as he has three web addresses. One (www.byronnemeth.com) is for his own band and music. Another, Pacifica Studios (www.pacificastudios.com) is his own recording studio. And, just in case he’s got any spare time, he also does web design (www.pacificadesign.net).

He also received a good write up recently in Bruce Pollock's book "Working Musicians". This is a tome thick with first hand testimony from those in the music business. Byron got three pages to describe his experiences as a guitarist, producer and engineer, in a book that had everyone from Max Cavalera to Bruce Springsteen. All in all, pretty good exposure.

Byron's now sitting on a big leather couch in the bar. Alas it's not open so we start the interview straight away. He takes out his laptop and plugs it in - he's got something to show me later.

In the background is Maria. She's a friend of Byron's and has designed the covers of both his albums. (The second cover, like the second album, is still a work in progress but shaping up nicely.) She's also taking promotional pics today and from time to time moves around musician and hack, getting a good shot of us both.

Anyway, Mr. Nemeth, do introduce yourself:

BYRON: I'm an American guitarist, engineer and producer. My base of operations right now is Cleveland, Ohio. And that’s where I have Pacifica Studios, which is my professional business. I’ve been running it as a full time career now for the last six years. It's been a tremendous career, it really has. It has fuelled my artistic career as a guitar player and allowed me to meet some very nice people. Some clients have even become my friends. And the reason why I'm here in London is to finish mixing my second album, which is called '100 Worlds'. It features three other great player-instrumentalists too. I came to London to have the album mastered at Abbey Road Studios. It is to be mastered by a gentleman named Nick Webb, and Nick is one of the studio's premier engineers. He's done work for Queen, Iron Maiden, Kraftwerk...

Starting at the very beginning, you were born in Ecuador but grew up in Cleveland. Tell me more about your background.

BYRON: We moved to Ohio when I was twelve. A quick story here. My Father left Hungary in 1956 - he was one of the freedom fighters and a lot of men had to leave Hungary 'cos of the Soviet situation. So, many of them, and my Father, came to Cleveland, and that’s where he started his life again. He was a big fan of soccer and that's how he met my Mom, at a World Cup game in Mexico. He followed her back to Ecuador and that's where I happened.

That's similar to how the birth rate in Ireland shoots up every time there's a world cup. What was it like growing up in Ecuador?

BYRON: It was great. From what I can remember, when I was little, the weather was very hot and the people are very friendly.

Anything that sticks out?

BYRON: I grew up in Quito, which is the major metropolitan centre in Ecuador, like growing up in London.

What was it like living there?

BYRON: It's a very clean, beautiful city.

You also grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. It has a REALLY bad reputation, does it not?

BYRON: Really? When I first came to Cleveland it was an industrial city that was definitely on its way out. Now it's really come up as a city with the addition of some key locations. Places like the new Cleveland Brown Stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. The old jokes about the burning river have pretty much gone.

Sot it's improved as a city?

BYRON: Oh yeah, considerably. The suburbs surrounding the city have improved too. It’s now a great place to raise a family as it's very metropolitan but not too expensive, unlike New York and Miami, which can be very expensive. Please come and visit it.

You had a good time there?

BYRON: I have a lot of good school memories; a lot of good friendships were established. Did I fit in? Oh yes.

You mention Miami...

Byron: I was in Miami about two weeks ago at the Hit Factory in Criteria Studios. I was engineering a work of one of my clients called Steve Robbins - he’s in a band called "The Crossroads". His band cut a single at my place and we took it down there to have it remixed by Ron Taylor, who's Gloria Estefan's producer. He and I did the mix of it.

Ever get to spot Gloria Estefan?

Byron: No. But Ron told me he had just played and produced her new album. And he knows how to use those big-ass mixing boards like the back of his hand. He was very gracious in showing me how to use them and asking for my opinions on different things.

You studied jazz and classical guitar at Cleveland State University. What was that like? Did you take it to degree level?

Byron: No. I went to school specifically because I wanted to study with three guitar player/teachers who taught me a lot. That's why I went, and then I quit! I wanted to get the technical guitar education and I told them that was my goal from the start. I then worked at a music store for about five years. In September 1997 I decided to quit overnight and start Pacifica Studios. So what I did was take out ten credit cards, maxed them out and bought all the gear I needed of top of the stuff I already had. Then I launched Pacifica and started hunting down clients.

What's it like setting up a studio?

Byron: The main thing needed was the will and desire to do it. To not let anything get in the way. I think, that's so key to understanding how to launch an entrepreneurial business, like my heroes: Richard Branson, Walt Disney... People like that. People who have a vision and created something from nothing. And that's a concept that was important for me to understand when I was jumping into this. I didn't follow a specific business model, just the general one - if you really want something, then be a man and pursue it. The biggest hurdle in a situation like that is that you don't start with any clients. You have to hunt them down. You have to talk to people at clubs and other studios. Talk to bands and businesses that need audio work. And talk to lots of people about what you're doing and how you're a good reason for them to come to you. And that was the hardest thing to do in the first couple of years, because that was the building stage of the customer base. Now it's different. I get a large number of people ringing me up for studio and web design work because I'm established, I've got a track record and I know what I'm doing.

How is the work shared out at Pacifica, in regards to, say, the website design?

BYRON: There are no employees. It's just me! Website design is a way of getting work, but also a way of expressing myself in a digital art form, 'cos I've always loved art. And I love computers, especially the Mac platform. It's just a cool, non-musical thing for me to do.

So, let's discuss "100 Worlds" itself. What's the concept?

BYRON: The vision of four great players and writers, to put out quality rock music. The other players are tremendous and must really be given credit to. The keyboard player's called Jimm Motyka. Bass is Brian Glodde and the drummer's name is Jeff Curenton. The focus is to play great quality instrumental music. We're all into Dream Theatre and very much like the album, and that's a path we're looking for. And the goal here is to put out "100 Worlds", market it as much as possible, try and get some label support if we can and proceed on with the next album, which will have a singer on it. We're actively looking for a singer now and we're going to use "100 Worlds" as a sort of resume to attract a good singer. It's very hard to find a good singer in the style that we do because, frankly, while there's some pretty good singers, this style demands REALLY good singers. So that's our goal with the album.

So this album will be self-released?

BYRON: Yes, on my 'Pacifica Studios' Label.

Who would your dream singer be, if he or she were to walk through the door one day?

BYRON: It COULD be 'she' also - sure! I think the singer would probably be a cross between James Labrie from Dream Theatre, certainly Geoff Tate from Queensryche and Ronnie James Dio. It'd be someone who could really put all that together and have a fundamental understanding that, like in a Dream Theatre situation the singer doesn't always come first. Y'know, in almost ALL popular music it's the singer first, then the band - the song's are written for him or her. Now, there's nothing wrong that - don't misunderstand what I'm saying. But with our style of music it's the singer WITH the band. We'd play long instrumental jams in songs that would also have some vocals too. But some singers, with their extreme egos, just wouldn't like that. So for us, a good singer would be someone who can understand our perspective. And we'd have to understand his, as we'd be writing parts in the songs for him.

As for the album itself, does it have a particular theme?

BYRON: Just musical emotion tied in with technical playing… But the important thing in instrumental music is not to 'overkill', and just do endless soloing for no sake at all. Yngwie Malmsteen's later albums were just endless soloing, and it just felt like he was repeating himself. We are clearly wanting, since we're only doing instrumentals at the moment, to focus on composition as a way of leading the direction of the songs, their structures, emotions and feel. Really, it’s like composing in the way classical composers do, only we do it with rock instruments.

I assume the jazz training helps too?

BYRON: Sure. And classical influences. Not just for me, but for the other guys in the band, as they're classical and jazz heads also. (And rock heads too, of course!)

Are there any standout tracks on "100 Worlds"?

BYRON: Two standout tracks for sure are track number two "Lightning’s Touch" and track number seven, "Russian Winter", which features a guest violin solo from a friend of mine called Joe Deninzon.

Is he a classical musician?

BYRON: He's a jazz guy who plays classical and rock too. He was from Cleveland - but now works in New York.

(Byron loads up a few tracks from "100 Worlds" on his laptop and we listen to them. He looks deep in thought. He speaks from time to time, but otherwise seems distant and utterly focussed on the music coming out the speakers.)

You're certainly happy with those two tracks, and the others too...

BYRON: Oh yeah - I'm happy with all of them - they all came out pretty well. I spent a year recording and mixing them, as I wanted them to be precise. And now they're ready for the mastering.

Were you pacing yourself then?

BYRON: Exactly right. Don't burn yourself out, especially during the mix period of the album where you need a lot of time to step back and reflect on where the mix is - 'cos you just can't speed-mix, especially with this kind of material. Some bands try but - y'know - it's not good to try and mix two songs in one day.

As for the songs themselves, how do you write them? Do you compose everything before you record or do you make it up as you go along?

BYRON: There was defiantly a lot of time spent writing during the initial rehearsals. And, having finished the compositions, we knew we knew where to start and finish when we started recording the album.

Of course, you want "100 Worlds to be your calling card, but what are you going to do with the album initially? What do you hope to achieve this time?

BYRON: Greater visibility… Hopefully contacts with labels that would be willing to take a chance on us… Or maybe even a singer who'd want to join us on our next album. To take it onto the next level. This kind of music sells well in Europe, so maybe we'll do some touring and festivals.

So, moving on, what sort of work do you do at Pacifica?

BYRON: It depends on what the act is. When I’m producing or engineering, I have to lend myself to the style they’re playing in. So, if a punk band comes in, y’know it’s going to be a fast recording and there’s not going to be too much time spent on the mixing. You can literally do an album in three to four days! They let a lot fly. If it sounds buzzy or hissy it’s OK with them. Then on the flipside I’ve recorded some very polished country music where there’s a lot of attention to detail, and to the vocals. They have to be as smooth as possible for the radio. A lot of mixes too… Country is, in terms of the style of recording, a lot like what I’m doing. There’s the same attention to detail. It’s a different type of music though… Then there’s hip-hop – a lot of studios do that.

So have you ever recorded hip-hop?

BYRON: I’ve done just about every kind of music you can think of. There’s one hip-hop act that brings in Moet et Chandon (champagne) into the studio and spends all day drinking it! They have a good time and so do I. There’s always a lot of attention to bass in hip-hop. It’s always got to be very prevalent in the mix.

So your style’s a bit chameleonic then? You seem to adapt to whatever act is in the studio…

BYRON: Absolutely. For me to have a Phil Spector type of philosophy where you dictate everything, I’d have to be a label to do that. Clients have their own visions and ideas of what the music should be. And I just try to pull that out of them and help them achieve that. If I start telling them that I have a specific view of what their music should be like, the chances are they may not want to record. You have to accommodate their feelings and, especially, their budget. A lot of them don’t understand how I would want to spend a year recording the album. When I explain they understand. But they’re much more comfortable working in a much smaller time frame and with a smaller budget.

You’re also marketing and releasing your own work right now. How does this fit in with the present woes of the music industry: falling album sales, MP3, piracy and so on?

BYRON: It’s only going to get worse for them. I read in a paper here in London that they may get rid of CDs altogether in five years. If that’s so, then everything will have to be downloaded into your computer, an I-Pod or even straight into your car instead. So by that point the product that the labels have depended on for so long will be gone. My position on copying is that people are going to do it anyway. You can’t stop it. The labels think they can stop it by suing and scaring people, but they can’t. The software is getting cheaper and copying is going to increase a hundredfold. We are, I hope, gearing up for a whole new business model. The industry needs to figure out a way to profit from downloads, and I don’t quite know how they will. But, and I’m taking a guess here, they’re going to become more like advertising agencies for artists than record labels per se. That’s because it’s going to be about what artists they believe in and that they want to finance. They will have to – as they won’t be able to control all the downloading! They’ll have to find out how to make money in another way. I would think, they’d focus on tour support and merchandising. And then if the label wants to finance studio costs, they could do that too. But even production costs are going down! A lot of artists have their own little studios and don’t want to get socked with this gigantic bill by the label for going to a big fancy studio. If they don’t they may not even have enough control over their music, the label spends huge amounts of money on them and then if the album doesn’t sell they get dropped! I think that whole cycle is changing now in favour of the artist, and that’s a great thing.

Any last words?

BYRON: Yes. I'd like to say thank you to the following. I'm endorsed by three companies right now: Bitheadz (www.bitheadz.com); Carl Cobb and Ladd Temple of PV Corporation and Frank Basile of Smartloops (www.smartloops.com). I'd also like to thank Bruce Pollock (www.workingmusiciansbook.com) and everyone in the band.