TIAGO DELLA VEGA
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 15th April 2010.
Brazilian guitarist Tiago Della Vega is probably best known as the official fastest guitarist in the world. He has also recently released an instrumental album through SG Records of Italy.
We caught up with him for a quick chat.
What inspired you to take up the guitar in the first place?
Tiago: I started to play acoustic guitar when I was 5, and after 2 years I had my first electric guitar. The first memories I have from my childhood are about guitars. I never thought I could do something else.
Do you play any other instruments?
Tiago: Over the years, for a musician it is normal to play instruments other than yours. I play some of them to help me study harmony rhythm, but I never actually studied any instruments other than the guitar.
Who were your early heroes?
Tiago: No doubt, Eddie Van Halen when I was a child. After him I studied a little Steve Vai, Malmsteen and Jason Backer. I never listened too much to soloist guitarists. Now my musical tastes are changing and I’m starting to appreciate things that I never imagined I could like.
Do you come from a musical family?
Tiago: Not really. My mother was a dance teacher, so I listened to music 24 hours a day from when I was born. My father and my grandparents like music, but they also don’t play any instrument. In every corner of my house I could listen to different kind of music.
When did you realise you had a real skill for the instrument?
Tiago: When I realized that I could play everything; I didn’t find anything technically difficult. I spent 2 years playing and looking for something beyond my ability. At some point I started to write phrasing on the computer and competing with it in playing.
Have you had a lot of lessons over the years or are you completely self taught?
Tiago: Sure, I studied for over 13 years, and always hard. I had up to 4 teachers simultaneously.
You are obviously best known as being the official fastest guitarist in the world. Did you decide to be a fast guitarist and practice speed above all else, or did the speed come as part of your normal practicing?
Tiago: I dislike to be recognized only as a shredder. I think that a music where the speed comes first is extremely boring and harmonically weak. In my music speed is only a constituent, not the goal. I never studied to be the fastest guitarist in the world, speed was always natural for me, I just want to reach my limits.
Do you have to do any special exercises to stop yourself getting injuries from the repetitive nature of playing songs that quickly?
Tiago: No, during the years I acquired a posture that helped me. I only have to relax my muscles, and I help them to be relaxed with the cold, not with heat as you might think.
What advice would you give to someone else who wanted to play super fast?
Tiago: Study hard and gradually. Also playing acoustic guitar is a great help.
How did the Guinness World of Records become involved? Did you even know there was a record for fastest guitarist at the time?
Tiago: The Guinness World Record Organization contacted me after they watched my video “38bps”. They asked me to play “The flight of the Bumblebee” faster than 250bpm as that was the previous record. I was in the middle of a tour when they called me to break the record. I did it and I spent the rest of the day signing flyers and giving interviews. The sound wasn’t amazing, but in the and all was great.
Your official record is playing ‘Flight Of The Bumblebee’ at 320bpm, and you’ve since hit 370bpm on a Japanese TV show. Do you think you can go any faster?
Tiago: Sure! At the present I don’t know my limit because I’m not exercising specifically to play “The flight of the Bumblebee” or any other song faster than I can. But I’m sure I can play it faster than I did.
Do you know of anyone else out there who is thinking about having a go for the record?
Tiago: After I uploaded my video on YouTube and a million people watched it, many tried to play faster, but so far I haven’t known anyone who has broken the record.
Are there any other tracks you can play that quickly, or have you focused all efforts on the one song?
Tiago: The Guinness World Record chose “Flight Of The Bumblebee” for this record. I’m able to play a lot of songs very fast, but for the record their choice was “The Flight of the Bumblebee” so I focused on that.
Onto the new release, Hybrid – what inspired you to record an instrumental album? Were you tempted to do an album with vocals instead?
Tiago: Before recording Hybrid I recorded 2 albums with singing. The first with “Fermata”, a prog metal band, and the second with the power band “Burning in Hell”, one of the top 30 albums recorded in the last 20 years for Japanese critics.
Is the instrumental genre where you see yourself concentrating now, or do you think you’ll mix it up by playing with bands too?
Tiago: I’ll continue with my solo career, but I’ve a band for live shows. I think is more interesting to see a band playing live than a single musician playing over backing tracks.
Do you play many live dates, or do you find yourself making more appearances on TV shows than anything else?
Tiago: Both. I play live about 15 times at month and all the shows are televised. I love everything related to being a musician. I like recording albums, even if it does take many months. I like to give interviews and spent time with fans, I never find any of these things boring.
Do you have much of a guitar collection? What’s your favourite one?
Tiago: I’ve about 30 guitars, but I especially like those I’m playing now. Lately Dean guitars sent me some great guitars, very easy to play.
Do you have a signature model yet?
Tiago: I would like one!
Any question you love being asked that I’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
Tiago: We’re planning a European tour in 2010. I would like to play in as many countries as possible because I’ve been in Europe only once and I found the place great! I;d also like to invite everyone to visit my MySpace profile at http://www.myspace.com/officialdellavega and the SG Records website at http://www.sgrecords.it/
Hugs to all!
Thanks again to Tiago Della Vega for his time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of his latest album Hybrid by clicking here.
http://www.myspace.com/officialdellavega
