Ex-HEART Guitarist HOWARD LEESE On New Solo Album - "It Is Art, Free Of Commerce. I Wasn’t Trying To Make A Hit Record"
July 4, 2009, 14 years ago
Ex-HEART guitarist Howard Leese recently spoke with Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright about his new solo album, Secret Weapon. An excerpt is available below.
Jeb: You have made a very interesting guitar record. You have a lot of different styles, as well as guest vocalists and some instrumentals.
Howard: "It is not some big chops showcase like the shred guys, where every song is showing off. I tried not to show off and show how fast I could play, instead, I tried to play what was appropriate to the music. The other thing that was fun for me is that I am playing everything but the drums. I got to express myself on a number of different instruments. It is not just a guitar record because I am doing the orchestration and all instruments, besides drums. Mark Schulman, who did an amazing job, played the drums. Mark has toured with Billy Joel, Pink, Cher and a ton of others. He is a very talented drummer."
Jeb: This is not music that you wrote with commercial intent.
Howard: "It is art, free of commerce. I wasn’t trying to make a hit record. I just wanted to make good music that I was proud of. I have had hit records and # 1 records and platinum and gold records, and that is all fine and dandy, but most of these songs are too long to be on the radio. I just wanted to do what I thought was good."
Go to this location for the complete interview.
