On July 10th, ALTER BRIDGE and CREED guitarist/songwriter Mark Tremonti will release his debut solo disc, All I Was, under the moniker TREMONTI. Following is an excerpt from an interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com featuring discussion on the album:

UG: Why did you decide it was now the right time to release All I Was?

Tremonti: "It was just a perfect opportunity for me to get all those ideas that didn’t necessarily fit the other two bands. I had a three-month window where Myles was out with SLASH and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get those things taken care of and get those songs out there."

UG: So these songs were never meant in any form or fashion for Alter Bridge or Creed?

Tremonti: "The way I write is I write parts. I’ve got just a ton of parts and when the time comes to write an album, I’ll throw all the parts at the guys and we’ll choose our favorites and put ‘em together. It’s a musical puzzle. With this all my favorite parts that I had continuously played for the guys and just never turned into a real song, I decided to take all my favorites and use ‘em on this album."

UG: Why do you think the other bands didn’t want to use these songs?

Tremonti: "I think a lot of ‘em didn’t work because some of it was a little bit more metal-based because that’s what my roots really were. I really wanted to get that stuff out on this record because some of my favorite parts have always had my roots in it. But at the same time melodies are the most important thing to me as a songwriter. So to try and pack the record and trying to get my favorite melodies as well as my favorite kind of riffage and musical ideas out there as well."

UG: All I Was is heavier than Creed or Alter Bridge. Do you feel more comfortable in this style?

Tremonti: "Well, since I was a kid I’ve always joked about wanting to be in a speed metal band. That’s what I was listening to when I was growing up but at the same time I spend most of my time writing melodies and not the speed metal thing. So I think this band was just an attempt to kind of incorporate both of those things in the same project. And just get that all out of my system or just work on it for the future. I think this initially was just gonna be this little fun side project to release without a record label and just on the side on the Internet. But as it started forming we were very happy with it and decided to really make a go of it."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

The tracklisting for All I Was is as follows:

'Leave It Alone'

'So You’re Afraid'

'Wish You Well'

'Brains'

'The Things I’ve Seen'

'You Waste Your Time'

'New Way Out'

'Giving Up'

'Proof'

'All I Was'

'Doesn’t Matter'

'Decay'

A preview of 'Brains' can be heard below: