Tom Scholz
Boston
Everyone forgot about Boston until they released the Third Stage album in 1986. Eight years later, the 4th Boston album (Walk On) was released this month. Boston has become a legend for releasing an album only every 8 years. So who knows, maybe the next album won t be out till the year 2002! Even if it s sooner, Boston still only has 4 albums out in 18 years. That makes them the slowest band in rock history. But any way you cut it, a true fan can take any part of this album and say, "Yep, that s Boston." But, Tom Scholz s guitar work is much more aggressive than on earlier albums, with a veteran guitarist feel. As on the Third Stage album, Tom uses his Rockman technology in the studio to get that perfect tone. This point should appeal to those young listeners hearing Boston for the 1st time.
"I ve been working on the development of the Rockman
for the past 8 years."
Young Guitar: I m sure the Walk On album as a whole carries a specific concept but, where did the title come from?
Tom Scholz: The title and concept came from the "Walk On Medley". Through this album I m expressing emotions based on real peoples experiences. Anyone who can understand the lyrics can understand the emotions behind it. It may difficult for children but the average Boston fan shouldn t have any problem understanding this. Therefore, from the listener I d like them to listen to the album from start to finish in sequence. There s a lot of meaning in this particular song order.
YG: What kind of message are you trying to share through the "Walk On Medley"?
TS: Each song has a double meaning. It may be a significant or insignificant meaning. It s a song of praise to those people who fight for righteousness. As human beings we ve come to this Earth and no matter what happens, we must continue looking forward and walk on.
YG: In the 8 years since Third Stage through everything that s gone on, I m sure there s been many changes in and around you.
TS: Yes. I went through a divorced and moved to a new house. But now I m glad that the album is finally done. I ve never been this happy that I finished an album before. I m well know for not listening to music on an everyday basis but for the 1st time in my life I had a car stereo installed. I brought in the Toyota I ve been driving for the past 8 years to the dealer and asked them to install an original car stereo. The dealer almost went into a panic looking all over America for an original stereo for my car which had over 100,000 miles on it. [laughing]. Listening to "Walk On" in the car is the best!! I ve known that for as long as I ve been making albums but this is the 1st time I feel I ve gotten it right.
YG: I m sure everyone s been asking you this but, what have you been doing for the past 8 years?
TS: I ve been working on the new Rockmans. Right now I ve only got 2 prototypes. One s in the recording studio, the other is in the rehearsal studio. At first my concept was to just take the Rockman one step further but as I developed it, I was never satisfied with "just one step further." Then I decided to make and finish the ultimate recording processor. We ended up making something totally different from the original Rockman so we thought up a different name for it. We still haven t decided yet but we ll probably call it the "Ultimatum Preamp". As a company we are hurrying to make a footpedal and rackmount version but it s a big project so it ll take awhile before it s available in stores. I used it on most of the new album.
YG: What s the difference between the Rockman and the Ultimatum preamp?
TS: I started by modifying the Rockman to include ebony porn
better compression and equalization but as it came together I started thinking that it may be able to become the Ultimate Rockman. Then I started to think about how I should redesign it for mass production.
YG: Your recording studio is different than the one you used for Third Stage isn t it.
TS: Yes. The old studio was too small so I started looking for a larger one. The new studio is all brand new technology utilizing a preset system. Simply put, any instrument I want to record is completely setup for the presets I like. For example, compression, equalization, etc. can all be assigned to any channel and activated by pressing a button. All I have to do is plug in the guitar and it goes into recording mode. Of course I can change the sounds too. For acoustic guitar, all I have to do is play in front of the mike and the necessary compressor and equalizer effects are all preset. The whole studio is setup like that for all the instruments I like to use giving it various merits