Interview with guitarist Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge

One of the greatest guitarists of our time, yet he’s only just getting started. Being part of two extremely successful bands by the time he is at the young age of thirty-seven, Mark Tremonti has accomplished things with his guitar that most musicians only dream of. The Alterbridge shredder has a passion for being the best, and enjoying every bit of life that is thrown at him. If you ask me, anyone who can be good with pinball machines is a master of a whole different kind. Hard Rock Reviews' Aaron Manogue talked to the ex-Creed, current Alterbridge guitarist to talk about his custom PRS Tremonti guitar, his passion for the bumpers and a possible Creed reunion next year.

Photo by: Ashley Maile 

Aaron Manogue: How did you get your start with music and what was the first guitar that you ever had?
Mark Tremonti: I started at eleven years old when a buddy of mine decided to upgrade his guitar and get rid of his old guitar. It was an imitation Les Paul, a Tara, and I bought it for ten bucks and then about a year later I sold it for a hundred bucks. I think I did pretty good on that deal.

Manogue: I was going to say, that’s pretty good business at an early age!
Tremonti: Hell yeah! I just started to try and figure it out on my own and copy what other people were doing.

Manogue: You’ talked before about how heavy metal bands were kind of a big influence on you growing up. Who was the most influential guitar player or band on you?
Tremonti: Well, it was kind of a combination of Metallica and Black Flag at the time. I remember as a kid, just picking up the guitar, those were my favorite bands. It was a combination of kind of that metal rhythm stuff but also that kind of lose punk, aggressive stuff. That type of guitar just had a lot of emotion to it.



Manogue: I’ve heard that you’re really into collecting pinball machines. How did something like that come about for you?
Tremonti: When I bought my first house I went out and bought a pinball machine. Just driving by places thinking it would be cool to have a pinball machine in the game room. It was a Stern South Bar machine and I fell in love with it. I sold that one because I realized there are so many better machines out there. It’s probably been about fourteen years now and ever since I’ve been a real big fan of pinball. So I got online and researched the best machines and went to a bunch of different shops. I have a friend of mine, Jack, who owns the biggest pinball distribution company in the U.S., called PinballSales.com, and I’ve got a bunch of machines from him. I just kind of fell in love with it because it’s kind of a like a musical instrument because you can master a machine like you can an instrument.

The Tremonti PRS Signature
Available HERE

Manogue: Tell me about your Tremonti PRS guitar. What’s it like to have your own custom guitar that you helped design and build?
Tremonti: I say this all the time but it’s probably the thing I’m most proud of is my signature guitar. It’s one of my biggest accomplishments I think. Looking back on my career, one of my best moments was opening that case to the first guitar that was actually my own. That was just amazing! To me, it’s the best guitar in the world because it has exactly what I need. I’m also a big fan of Fender Stratacasters and Telecasters and all kinds of guitars but the PRS single cut with my pickups in it just sounds amazing. I’m absolutely thrilled that so many other people love it too.

Manogue: A lot of people are talking about lately that the music industry is struggling and so when people go to write new music, they tend not to listen to other music that’s out there today. Is this true for you or do you keep up on the new music that’s out there today?
Tremonti: I’m still into the bands I was into when I was a kid. I think once you start doing music professionally you live in your own music bubble and if you’re listening to music, for me as a guitar player, I just study solos and riffs. As far as listening to music, I still listen to all the old stuff I grew up on. I rarely get into the new bands like I used to. There has only been a handful of bands that I really like as much as the old bands. I think it’s only because I haven’t given a lot of bands a chance because I haven’t had the time to really sit down and be a music fan. I’m working on my own stuff constantly.

Manogue: You’ve got a solo project coming out soon. Tell me about it.
Tremonti: As we speak, I’ll be tracking here today in a little bit on the vocal stages of the record today and tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get at least half of the vocals done before I leave (for tour) and then come back and finish after.

Manogue: Are you excited to be back out on tour with Alterbridge now that Myles is back from touring with Slash?
Tremonti: Hell yeah, absolutely. It’ going to be fun! It’s going to be basically a fun, easy tour. We only have an hour set every night so it’s just going to be fun.

Manogue: Who are you most excited to tour with again on the Carnival of Madness Tour?
Tremonti: We’ve done a lot of shows with Theory (of a Deadman) and Black Stone (Cherry). It’ll be the first time we tour with Adelita’s Way and Emphatic and it’s always fun to play with new bands. That’s really how I got access to new music is when I’m on tour. That’s when you get to really hear the music for real. It’s always good to be surrounded with familiar faces like the Theory guys and the Black Stone guys, they’re all good guys.

Manogue: Are the festival-type shows more of your style or do you like the up close and personal small venues?
Tremonti: I like to mix it up. I like the festivals. With a festival you never know what you’re going to get. Sometimes you get up there and nobody has any idea who you are and you have to get up there prove yourself. You kind of have to play the underdog.

Manogue: What is coming up for you after the tour?
Tremonti: The solo record will be coming out on Fret12.com. We aren’t going to be doing the usual release. Check out Fret12.com for my solo record next year. Next year we’ll be doing some Creed dates and hopefully get some new music out in the mid-year.