VOGG (Decapitated) – Sometimes you have to take some salad or pasta

Denne polske karen ble først oppdaget utenfor Polens grenser som gitarist i det purunge death metal bandet Decapitated, da deres debutskive "Winds of Creation" kom på markedet. Nå 9 år senere er han fortsatt i Decapitated, men han er også tatt inn i varmen til Peter og hans Vader. Vi i Eternal Terror har i flere år forsøkt å få Vogg i tale og det er først nå han velger å ta bladet fra munnen og her kan du lese hans bidrag til The G-String Series, og dette er kanskje det mest personlige G-String intervjuet så langt i historien.

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?

Hello everyone. I don't remember exactly but I think I was 12 or 13. My older brother was taking guitar lessons and sometimes he showed me how to play some stuff.

I remember that I was trying to play Metallica songs on one string. My favorite album those days was "Kill em All" and I was trying to learn all songs on one or two strings before I discovered how to use more strings to make it easier :).

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!

I think it depends on what you are looking for in music. Some dudes are spending hours on YouTube listening to guys like Rusty Cooley playing with light speed arpeggios and they are happy. Some people can listen to slower and more melodic players. I think good music is like connection technique and feelings in good proportions. You can be the fastest player in the world it will become boring as fuck and you want to listen to something different than speed. You know it's really simple. Like with food. You cannot eat just meat. Sometimes you have to take some salad or pasta 🙂

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

My first guitar was some Russian acoustic guitar with some pickups which name I don't remember now. My Father bought me this guitar and I fell in love with this instrument. I played with clean sound and connect guitar with gramophone :).

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

Equipment is really important and if somebody have good toys, that's great but it's all in the hands. Hands make sound good or shitty. I saw a lot of bands that use really nice stuff but they have a sound like shit because they don't know how to play music. Equipment can help you a lot but can't make your music better. You can use cheap stuff and have better sound than those with top gear. It's all about passion.

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?

Now I use Washburn and Gibson guitars with EMG pickups. All Decapitated albums were recorded with RAN guitars with EMG 81 and Ibanez universe (only 2 songs on "Organic").

I use the same guitars in studio and on tours.

There is different thing about amps. I use to play on Crate, Mesa, Marshall, Line 6., Randall, Krank and all these things what we have around hehehe.
Our first album "Winds of Creation" was recorded with Mesa Dual Rec.
Second album "Nihility" – Mese triple, Crate Excalibur and Marshall Valvestate
"Negation" – Mesa Triple, Sans amp
"Organic Hallucinosis" – Randall Warhead
Now I use polish amp Laboga Mr. Hector

I can say that I'm still looking for my own sound and that's why I was using so many different amps. But at the moment Laboga Mr. Hector gives me a really good sound and I will stay with this amp for a long time I think.

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

I have it already. Washburn – it looks like Dimes Dean with Emg 81 and Seumour Duncan with Floyd Rose Tremolo. I really don't need anything else.

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

Decapitated with Vitek and Covan was the band of my dreams. Those guys were the best musicians and friends in the world. They represented all what I was looking for since I started with metal.

Now I have new musicians and maybe in the future we can continue the band on the same level like before. I believe in this, because they all are really talented.

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?

I am the main composer in Decapitated. In Vader I'm a performer.
Vitek composed a couple of songs like "Day 69" and "Lying and Weak". 

If you are in some one else's band, you still can express yourself. You can show your style on your own songs or if you play someone's stuff. I play in Vader now and I don't have any problem with this that I play Vader songs. And every night I do show with them I express myself across my own style which I put into the Vader riffs. And also I play my own solos.

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

The worst thing about that was before the "Negation" album, because I started to do material like couple weeks before studio, so much stress. I was plying like crazy all days to try to make riffs. After many sessions I was so tired and I was hearing everything around me like a batJ

Sometimes if you don't have enough material you have to do it quickly in studio, but sometimes it's ok because then you can create something really good and spontaneous. For example I did the guitar parts for "Day 69" in a couple of hours, but this track is like one of the best in our carrier.

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

I have some endorsements for strings (Ernie Ball), guitars (Washburn), amps (Laboga) and cables (Laboga).
You know it's just cool to have some gear for free or when someone gives you stuff for a lower price.
For example, tomorrow I'm going on tour with Vader and there will be 70 shows in Europe and the USA. I have to change strings after every second show, to assure that I have a good sound every night. So you can imagine how much money I had to spend for strings without endorsement.

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!

I don't remember that something really wrong happened during a show. There was a couple things like I broke the string on first song or I was to drunk or sick so I didn't remember a couple of songs that we played 🙂 hmm. But usually that was always ok with gear and everything on stage.

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?

Popcorn – guitarist of polish metal band ACID DRINKERS

 

http://www.myspace.com/decapitated
http://www.myspace.com/vader