1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a very artistic family with my dad being a professional photographer and my nan being a painter and my parents were both very passionate about music. I was fed with music from the 60s and 70s, The Beatles and Rolling Stones being the two bands my parents played the most. I used to sit and sway to The Beatles music as a one-year-old...only to The Beatles, no other group! The music I grew up with has played a huge part in my life and the groups and artists we used to listen to then are my most important influences...Joni Mitchell, The Hollies, The Beatles, John Lennon, The Eagles. I have my dad to thank for a lot of things. It was because of the music he introduced me to back then that made me pick up the guitar and start writing songs in the first place. I was classicly trained before I started playing guitar though. I played the flute for seven years and it was only when my little brother started taking guitar lessons that I started playing guitar and write songs....at the age of 15. So, my life has pretty much always been filled with music in one way or another, but it's only since I moved to the UK five years ago that I have started taking my music serioulsy and thought I should perhaps take a chance and see where I can take it...

2. Where there any events, people or catalyst(s) that were influential?

Well, first of all it was my parents encouragement and my dad's passion for music (he has a huge LP and CD collection!) and my nan also played an important role as she always said you should always follow your dreams and do whatever makes you happy. Others were perhaps less supportive and told me to keep my feet on the ground, but I've lived by it since I was a kid...and have always at least tried to achieve my dreams and goals. I've always been inspired by new music and watching live performances as well. If I've been to a concert I'll pretty much always come home and pick the guitar up and write a new song. Discovering new artists and songwriters has always been a great inspiration boost. The most important "event", which definitely was a catalyst, was the fact that I relocated to the UK in 2001 after having met my partner, who is a drummer in a touring band, in Stockholm where I used to live. He is the reason I'm doing this on this level and that I haven't given up during the tough times. His support, encouragement and belief in what I'm doing means everything.

3.  What is the feel of your new CD entitled On the Outside?

The whole CD started out as a bit of an experiment. My main genres are really Folk and Acoustic music, but I'm like a sponge when it comes to music and I was listening a lot to Blues, Jazz and R&B when I wrote the first few tracks for the CD, so you can clearly hear those influences. It's a selection of R&B, Pop and Rock tracks and the overall feel I think is quite uplifting. It's more mature than my previous CDs and the production and sound is more polished. Many of the songs are about starting over, hope and leaving bad things behind, so it's definitely a positive CD...maybe therapeutic even!...lol. Someone said about the CD that because there are so many different genres on it there is a song for every mood and that now they didn't have to ever change CDs to fit their current mood again...lol :-) That was nice to hear as I was a bit worried that people would react in a bad way or get confused because of the fact that there are so many different styles of songs on the CD.
 
4.  What inspired you to write the songs on the CD?
 
Most of all it was the music I was listening to at the time. Previously I had been mainly listening to Acoustic and Folk music....Eva Cassidy, Suzanne Vega, Damien Rice, John Mayer, Paul Simon and artists like that, but during the time I was writing songs for the CD I was listening more to artists like Amy Winehouse, Norah Jones, Jamie Cullum and legends like Dinah Washington, Janis Joplin and Nina Simone, so the songs naturally turned out different to my previous material. The songs on the CD are also very intimate and personal...it was like keeping a diary at the time and the songs reflect the situation and mood I was in back then.

5.  Where did you record On the Outside?

All the tracks are recorded in our project studio. We have a very basic studio setup with a Sony Vaio PC, a 4-track mixer desk, a Sennheiser mic and an electronic drum kit. We used Adobe Audition and Cubase SX to record the CD.

6. Who did the mixing, engineering and mastering?

I did all the mixing, engineering and mastering myself using various software. It's a long time ago now, but I went to media school in Stockholm for three years where I studied sound recording and after that I went to a specialist sound engineering school in Örebro...so I love to do it all myself and spend time in the studio mixing and putting the things I learnt back then into practice :-)

7. How did you record your guitar parts?

I played the rhythm guitar on most of the tracks...they are recorded with my electro-acoustic Crafter guitar...no effects, just plug and play!...it's a great guitar at a very affordable price and I use it for all my recordings. I played lead guitar parts on some of the songs, such as Miss Negative, using a Fender Squier. The lead guitar on Shoot Him Down was played by UK guitarist Ian Latimer and the guitars on I'd Be Damned was played by guitarist and Country songwriter Steve Blythin. 

 
8.  What types of microphones did you record with?
 
I always use a Sennheiser evolution e835 mic. It only costs £50, but it's absolutely brilliant!

9.  How many CDs have you released to date?

I have put out 3 self-produced CDs to date and they're all available through my website, but only the latest one, On The Outside, is available through the leading online music outlets, such as iTunes and Napster. The first one is called Morning Rain, released in 2003, and is a Folk/Pop CD where most of the songs are based on acoustic guitar. The second CD was also released in 2003 and is a totally acoustic/unplugged CD with a few live tracks.

10. Tell me about your role in the 2006 Women in Music Festival documentary.  Where is this documentary available?

I was asked to produced a 3 minute documentary for the festivals Visuals Section. It was broadcast during the festival on the 2nd and 3rd of June. I was asked to talk about my music and experiences within the music industry. It was the first time I've attempted to make a home-made documentary and I find it difficult to speak in front of a camera so I was blushing throughout most of it...lol. The documentary might become available through the Women In Music Festival website (www.womeninmusic.co.uk) and will also be added to my myspace page (www.myspace.com/jennybeck).
 
11.   Who does your booking? Are you under management?

I've so far handled all my own booking, releases and promotion, but I am in talks with a label and management company, so we'll see what happens in the future. I haven't done that many gigs so far as I've concentrated on writing and recording and getting as much material together as possible, but I'm looking forward to working with a management and session band and to do more gigs and perhaps even a little European tour! You never know...watch this space ;-)
 
12.   What does your live set up consist of?

When I've done gigs in the past it's been only me with my acoustic guitar and my drummer on a kit and percussion. On some songs I've used a backing track on MD, but in the future I will be gigging with a backing band, which I'm really looking forward to.
 
13.  What music organizations are you affiliated with?

The Guild Of International Songwriters and Composers.
 
14.  Do you play any other instruments?

Yeah, I play the flute, but it's been a while now, so I think I might be a bit "rusty" :-) I would like to incorporate it into my music more though, so might be using it during some live shows and on some recordings in the future.

15.  Do you own your own record and publishing companies?

I don't run a record company, but put out my records myself....self-release...I've only been able to release my CDs online so far, but the next album, which is really going to be the "official debut album", I'm hoping will be available in the shops. When it comes to publishing I'm in talks with a few publishing companies, but have so far handled all the publishing myself.
 
16.  What are your plans for 2006?

So far 2006 has been a great year and it looks like it could get even better...there are a few exciting projects on the horizon and I'm just about to start the production of my next CD. There's going to be a few collaborations with other songwriters and guitarists and I'm planning to do loads of gigs in Europe from September onwards, hopefully with a backing band, so at the moment I'm just writing and recording and will be rehearsing a lot this summer. I'm also going to spend some time with my family back home in Sweden

 

For more info on Jenny Beck visit

www.jennybeck.co.uk

or see the female folk category of the database.

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"You must have the score in your head, not your head in the score".

Hans von Bulow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"One of the street musicians was an old lady who played upon a hurdy-gurdy. She had been about the streets of London for upwards of forty years, and being blind, had had during that period four guides, and worn out three instruments".

Henry Mayhew

 

 

 

"Into the street the Piper stept, Smiling first a little smile, As if he knew what magic slept, In his quiet pipe the while".

Robert Browning

 

 

 

 

"The best music always results from ecstasies of logic".

Berg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"As to what happens when I compose, I really haven't the faintest idea".

Barber

 

 

 

 

 

"Tonality is a natural force, like gravity".

Paul Hindemith

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cage

 

 

 

 

 

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Berstein

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Dissonances are only the more remote consonances".

Arnold Schoenberg

 

 

 

"The best way to get to knowing a bunch of people is to go and listen to their music."

Woodie Guthrie

 

 

"Tell me where you live, and I will tell you how you compose".

Robert Schumann

 

1 Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured.

I was quite young when my parents sent me for the obligatory piano lessons shortly after we emigrated to Canada from the UK. I didn’t find the instrument very inspiring. It was definitely the arrival of the Beatles that kicked in my music aspirations and I immediately fell in love with the electric guitar. Sensing my interest, my folks picked me up an acoustic guitar, but it was made of plastic and pretty bogus so they took it back and gave me the money to get something else. I wanted to rock out, so I went to Hall & Fairfield Music here in Victoria with my brother and bought this cheap electric plank (Zenon) that I brought home and plugged into the back of the console stereo. It was pretty sad, so my parents suggested I take it back and get a proper acoustic to learn on, which I did. I stuck with trying to learn to play for a couple of years so my parents eventually let me order an electric guitar from the Sears catalogue, a Kent semi-hollow body with 3 pickups, which showed up several weeks later. It was the most exciting day of my life!

2. Where there any events, people or catalyst(s) that were musically influential?

Well, as mentioned, the Beatles were my first influence. From there, I started picking up on some of the “heavier” bands who had started coming out of the UK -Cream, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Led Zep, The Who, etc. As for guitar playing, I loved Clapton’s early stuff with John Mayall and Cream and thought (and still think) that his early stuff was his best playing, both tonally and dynamically.

Another early guitar influence was Johnny Winter, who really got me interested in blues playing. I remember bringing his second album (which also featured a very young Tommy Shannon on bass) to school with me and playing “Be Careful with a Fool” over and over during my lunch break. It was the fastest guitar playing I had ever heard! Of course, I also really dug Jimi Hendrix and still do. He was a huge influence!

However, the event that really turned me around was when I went to see Rory Gallagher play in 1975. Rory was an absolute powerhouse performer and I still recall the shivers that went up and down my spine during his set. It was the most powerful and honest performance I have ever seen and I have always attempted to try and touch on that spirit whenever I perform.

I must also mention that there were a couple of local (BC) guitarists that also really influenced me when I was first starting, Norm MacPherson, who played in a band called Blues X Five, was definitely one of my favorites, as was Bill Henderson from The Collectors (and later in Chilliwack). Both guys had very different styles, but did some very cool things on guitar that were quite influential to me when I was a “fledgling” player. I have always loved the guitar intro to “Rain” that Bill plays. Actually, I have gotten to know Bill on a more personal level over the last year or so-great guy and he still rocks out on guitar!

3. What is the feel of the new Boz Roz song Traveller, featuring Uriah Heep's vocalist, Bernie Shaw?

I wrote Traveller particularly with Bernie’s vocal stylings in mind. Bernie has been a good mate of mine for a long time (Victoria is his home town) and I wanted to record something with him that was somewhat reminiscent of Heep’s style. However, Traveller is really a “one off” as it is quite a different style to most of the stuff that I write. However, it was the most ambitious musical project that I have undertaken to date and the feedback I have received from fellow musicians and listeners with regards to Traveller has been really encouraging!

4. How did you record your guitar parts, as well as the bass and drums?

We initially laid down a bed track of rhythm guitar, bass and drums and then everything else was laid down over the top-classical guitar, double bass, keyboards, the 7-piece choir, all the lead guitar work and, of course, the lead vocals. The guitar sound was mic’d “dry” directly from my amp’s speaker and effects were added during the production cycle.

5. Where did you record? Who engineered, mixed and mastered it?

We recorded the song at Willow Creek Studios (http://www.members.shaw.ca/zuropak1/willow-creek.htm), which belongs to a good friend (and awesome guitarist) friend of mine, Tim Zurowski. I record everything there. As a guitarist, Tim has a real good feel for getting the recorded sound that I want from my guitar and I have always been really satisfied with the work he produces. As for production, I usually let Tim do an initial rough mix by himself and then we’ll sit down and work on the specific sound that I want to get on each song. However, Tim is so good at what he does that the amount of “tweeking” required is usually minimal.

6. How did the opportunity to meet and record with Bernie Shaw present itself?

As I mentioned before, Bernie is a good mate of mine. I probably first met him when I sold him an old Gibson SG almost 30 years back, before he ended up leaving for the UK and joining up with Uriah Heep. We rekindled our friendship about 10 years ago during one of his yearly visits back home.

7. How is the song being received in Europe and North America?

I have been getting a lot of excellent feedback from Europe, where I have been selling the song as a downloadable MP3 for .99 Euro - I used a software program called 1-2-3 Music Store to set up that transaction and I also set up a special website with translations in German and Russian (http://www.bozroz.com/traveller/). Mick Box (guitarist with Heep) gave the go ahead which allowed me to post a banner on the main Uriah Heep website for over a month so I could advertise the song, so I got a fair amount of downloads from that, thanks to Mick!

If Indieguitarist readers are interested, here is the link to listen/download the whole song for free - http://www.bozroz.com/downld/traveller.mp3 - any and all feedback would be welcome.

8. In May 2005 you formed a new band with Joyce "The Voice".  How did this union occur?

Joyce sang in a local 7-piece band (horn section, keys, etc) called Soul Station for about 8 years. I had always admired her vocal power and prowess. She just called me up one day and said she was interested in doing some harder edge blues/rock material and would I be interested in trying to set something up. I was definitely interested and told her that I would try and line up a rhythm section. I checked out our local online music source, LiveVictoria.com, and found a number of drummers who sounded interesting. The one that I was most interested in turned out to be the only one who replied to my email, so that was fortunate. Jeff Germain toured for many years with the Queen City Kids out of Saskatchewan and he is a great drummer. Bassist Gord Grand was recommended to us by Jeff, so we had a band! I suggested we call it The Voyce, a combination of Joyce’s moniker, Joyce “The Voice” and the spelling of her first name. The band has become very popular around town. We have already done a live promotional DVD and will be going into the studio next year to record our first CD.

9. What does your live set up consist of?

For many years, I would use nothing but tube amps-Marshall, Hi-Watt, Fender, Peavey Classic, etc. However, when the original Line 6 Flextone came out, I picked one up (Flextone Plus) as I was, at the time, also playing in the Nancy Ruth Band, which required that I get a number of different textures and effects on the guitar-something that the Flextone already had built in, so I didn’t have to buy half a dozen pedals! However, after using the Flextone for some time and doing a few mods (speaker change, etc.), I became sold on the tonal characteristics as well. For some ridiculous reason I got rid of that original one and subsequently kicked myself as I found I couldn’t get the same tonal qualities I wanted from any other amp (tube or otherwise) that I tried. Luckily, the “amp Gods” were looking down on me in my frustration and I ended up finding another one exactly the same in pristine condition for an absolute bargain price a couple of years ago and I just think it is awesome. I only use one of the amp models available on the Flextone-the black face Deluxe Reverb with a touch of delay and compression thrown in. In addition to the amp, I have the Line 6 Floorboard (same deal), which I mainly like for the Vox-voiced Wah-Wah. I also have just started using an Electro-Harmonix English Muff, which is a great tube overdrive pedal with pre and post overdrive stages. I also have been using German Nobels pedals which are a bargain and sound great. I’m not real big on pedals, so try to keep them to an absolute minimum (2 at most).

As for guitars, my #1 is an original maple neck candy-apple red Tokai Lawsuit Strat from the 80’s, outfitted with Seymour Duncan pickups (L’il 59 in the bridge and Duckbuckers in middle and neck). I also have a couple of fairly rare instruments, a Yamaha Image (also called an MSG, Martyn Solid Guitar) was designed by British guitar designer/tech Martyn Booth. It’s got dual, tapped humbuckers (also designed by Martyn) and looks like a cross between a small Gibson ES-355 and a PRS. I named the guitar, Emma after the Avenger’s Emma Peel, ballsy and beautiful! My latest acquisition is a Godin Artisan ST-beautiful guitar and, after checking out the guitar forums, I decided to install some GFS pickups into the Godin as I read that they were great and, best of all, cheap! I got a calibrated set of L’’il Killer double-rail pickups (similar to Barden’s) for US$60 and they sound absolutely fantastic! I’m really impressed and highly recommend them!

10. Do you own your own label & publishing company?

I have been releasing my CD’s under my little promotional company, WAM Productions. As for publishing, I have been meaning to set that that up, but haven’t gotten around to it quite yet. However, for my 4th CD I will definitely be doing that as I am intending that the CD reach a much broader audience.

11. How many CDs have you released to date as a solo artist and with a band?

I have released three CDs-Shadow of the Thunderbird, Look Into My Eyes and Sonic Mnemonics (a “best of” compilation of the first 2).

12. Have you had the chance to meet and play with some of the guitarists who you admire?

I had always hoped to meet (and maybe jam with) Rory Gallagher, but he passed away in 1995. I was shattered when I heard the news. He was such a great performer and was so down to earth. I was involved in an international tribute album that was released after he passed away and I still perform Rory’s music live and intend to record at least 2 of his songs for my next CD. I have been in contact with Rory’s brother and ex-manager, Donal, and hope to play some of the Rory tribute festivals in Europe in 2007.

One of my favorite guitarists for the last decade or so has been Jimmy Thackery (who I brought to Victoria and opened for in 2001), and just last year we finally got together and Jimmy recorded guitar tracks on one of my songs “FOG Blues“ which will be featured on my new CD. He is an amazing blues/rock player who spends most of the year on the road. I think he’s one of the best around.

13. What has been the highs and lows of your career so far?

I really can’t recall many lows, except for the occasional dog gig. I actually feel really blessed in that I have always managed to find people to play with who are really great musicians, great human beings and like my music as well!

14. Do you play at a regular venue?

There are actually several venues that we play at on a regular basis.

15. Name some of your favourite venues.

Probably the best room in town (Victoria, BC) for PA/Lighting/Stage is Central Bar & Grill. One of the most popular venues that we have been playing on a regular basis is Swans, which always has a good, appreciative audience.

16. Do you have a manager and booking agent?

Presently, I am my own manager. As for a booking agent, I have recently been working with Mario Brox at Concept Entertainment out of Vancouver. Mario is a great guy and very honest. His specialty is European tours, so I am hoping that we will be able to come up with a short (4-6 week) tour of Europe in 2007 in support of my new CD.

17. What are your future musical plans/aspirations?

The most important thing on my mind right now is to get everything in place so that when it comes time to record the rest of my new CD, I will hopefully be able to complete the recording within a two week period. As I hope to have a number of guest musicians playing on the CD, it’s going to take a bit of co-ordination. With Thackery, I had to find a studio in Vancouver that would take us after midnight because Jimmy wanted to record right after his gig at The Yale, so that was an interesting challenge! However, as luck would have it, I was extremely fortunate to find Rick Welin and his Clark Street Studios. Rick not only opened his doors that late for us, but his fee was very reasonable and he did a great job. Hopefully I won’t have any more challenges of that sort for the rest of the recording process! 

For the near future, I just want to get this CD out, distribute it as far and wide as I can and tour in support of it and see what happens, if I end up getting a call from Joe Satriani asking me to join a G3 tour, then I’ll know I’m on the right track. LOL!!

For more info on Boz Roz visit

www.bozroz.com

or see the male blues category of the database.

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