BORISLAV MITIC – I usually have too many ideas

Sologitaristen Borislav Mitic er opprinnelig fra Serbia, men har emigrert til Canada og har i dag base der. Han har 3 soloalbum på samvittigheten der hans siste opus kalt "The Absolute" så dagens lys nå i 2009 via Lion Music. Borislav ble interessert i gitarspilling etter å ha hørt Ritchie Blackmore og gutta i Iron Maiden som elleveåring og her er hans bidrag i The G-String Series.

When did you start playing the guitar? In what age and which band was actually the one that made you wanting to grab a guitar and start playing?

I got interested in guitar around the age of 11. The bands that were most responsible for me grabing the guitar as a kid were Deep Purple with Ritchie Blackmore and Iron Maiden.

What actually makes a guitarist unique? Feeling or technique? Many people for example cannot stand Satriani…who is absolutely a master when it comes to technique!

Well, Joe Satriani is a very unique, wonderful guitarist and an excellent songwriter/composer too. People who can't stand such a talented guy probably have a very low IQ. Go ask Coldplay if you don't believe me. What makes a guitarist unique in my opinion is his taste for aesthetics. Feeling and technique are not key things regarding uniqueness. It is the sense of aesthetics that is the reflection of the guitarist's personality which will be imprinted into the song and leave an impression of uniqueness.  

What was your first guitar? Do you still have it?

My first guitar was a cheap, beat up, second hand copy of a Telecaster. I worked all summer long when I was 13 years old to save up money to buy it. When I got it I thought it was magic and couldn't put it down. I still have it stashed somewhere but I do not use it anymore.

Do you think that the guitarist is making the quality or maybe the equipment can do magic?

It is the guitarist who creates and forms the sound with his playing technique in the first place but quality equipment does help. You know, you can be a good driver but having a broken down van or a super fast sports car is not the same thing. Even proper use of equipment also requires some talent – not everybody can dial in a cool guitar tone. But nothing in this world will save a bad player from sounding bad even top equipment.

What kind of equipment do you use? Guitars…pick ups…amps…? Do you use different equipment in the studio and different while playing live? If yes then what is the reason?

On my new album "The Absolute" I mainly used an ESP V type guitar with a passive humbucker pickup and an Eclipse guitar with active pickups. In the studio I might use some little extra gadgets that wouldn't work well for live performances but sound good in the mix when recorded. Live I will mainly use a versatile guitar that can cover a lot of tonal options. Regarding the amps I often have to rent them for touring so I would use anything that has a good clean channel and then run a Maxon or Emma distortion pedal into it with some Guyatone pedals for modulation processing. I frequently follow this rule in the studio too. Otherwise my picks are "extra heavy" most of the time and I use 0.10 strings gauge. 

Construct the guitar of your dreams…brand, pick ups, strings..everything!

Well, I am right now talking with ESP Guitars about having them building me that kind of a "dream" custom guitar so I can't reveal too many details yet. Pickups will most likely be passive humbuckers. My guitars usually have some extra wiring options like "series/parallel mode" switch for pickups, and a capacitor on a Volume pot for treble bleed when I roll the volume pot down. This allows retaining the high end frequencies and dynamics providing a cool "semi – clean" tone when volume pot is rolled off a bit – so that will probably be on it as well. 

Now form the band of your dreams…with you participating of course…Which individuals you think would fit like a glove to your style?

Billy Sheehan on Bass, Alexi Laiho on second guitar, Scott Travis on drums, Bruce Dickinson on vocals and me on guitar of course. I think this would sound quite cool.

Are you participating in the composing of your bands material or you're just a performer? How important is it for an artist to be able to express himself? I mean, if for example you were in a band only for performing someone else's musical themes…would you handle it not participating..not being able to express yourself?

Since I am a solo artist I always compose all the music. That's what I did before on my Shrapnel Records album and I did the same thing for my new 2009 Lion Music album. In fact I went beyond that this time because I composed, played all the instruments, recorded and mixed the whole album by myself in my Montreal project studio. Self expression is the essence of art. It is the personal vision in the mind of an artist and emotions in his heart that are brought to the listeners in the form of music who then experience and interpret it however they want. If I was in a band where the music was not mine then it would be important for me to like and respect the music the band makes and to find some freedom within the given framework. When I was much younger I used to work as a studio session player so I learned how to adjust my playing to other people's music ideas and needs.

Have you ever run out of ideas while composing a new album? How did you fight it? What was the solution?

I usually have too many ideas so I have to think hard and filter out what I want and what I don't want to appear on an album. If some kind of writer's block appears it is usually best to give it a rest and try some new different approach and most importantly get the excitement back in your work.

Do you have endorsements? Do you think endorsements are important for an artist?

I endorse ESP Guitars, Maxon, Guyatone effects. They are important because they allow an artist to work with the company and set or modify their equipment exactly how they want them to sound. There is also less problems regarding extra backup gear when touring. Endorsements also give the artist and the company more credibility and visibility in the music industry which is very much needed these days. 

In all the years that you've been playing did something go totally wrong during a concert of yours? If yes, what was it? Please go ahead!

A very long time ago a battery died in some piece of equipment I was using in the middle of the song in front of 7. 000 people and my guitar sound just disappeared. The band had to finish the song without me until the tech figured out the problem. It was quite embarrassing.

Ok then…thank you for answering these questions. One last thing now! Who is the guitarist that you admire or that you would like to "punish" by have him answering these same questions?

Thanks again and good luck with your project(s).

I admire a lot of guitarists but I would perhaps like to "punish" Orianthi Panagaris by having her answer all these questions!

 

http://www.borislavmitic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/borislavmitic