Guitar Player Magazine's Michael Molenda Talks about GH07

by Tom Watson.

On Friday, October 12, 2007, Guitar Player magazine presents the Guitar Hero 2007 (GH07) competition finals at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California. 2007 marks the third year of the international competition that is open to guitarists of any age and any style from anywhere in the world.

Modern Guitars spoke to Guitar Player's Editor in Chief, Michael Molenda, about GH07 on October 6. Molenda, who in addition to his responsibilities at the editorial helm of the magazine finds time to perform with this punk-pop group, The Trouble With Monkeys (photo), helped earn Guitar Player a Maggie Award for Best Music Magazine in 2003, the same year he was voted CMPi's Editor of the Year.

In an effort to carry the impact of Guitar Player beyond the two-dimensional realm of ink and paper, the magazine established the Guitar Hero contest in 2005 because, among other things, Molenda felt compelled to "...put in the forefront of the public's mind that there are these players who are viciously talented, both with respect to their fingers and how they envision music..." He also believed it was time for Guitar Player to give something back to the guitar community - something fun.

The finalists' road to San Francisco began in May of this year with the submission of an MP3 to the magazine via SonicBids.com. From the over two hundred entries, Guitar Player staff selected ten finalists to compete on Friday for a grand prize package that includes:

a Digidesign 003 Factory Pro Tools LE system (value: $2,495);
a Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate software package;
a Guitar Hero II XBox 360 bundle from Activision;
an Epiphone Elitist Tak Matsumoto Signature Guitar with hardshell case;
an Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500RCCE Acoustic Guitar with hard gig bag ;
choice of a Mesa/Boogie Stiletto or Lone Star amp;
a Jimi Hendrix Wah and MXR Distortion III guitar f/x pedal from Dunlop Manufacturing;
and a feature article in the February 2008 issue of Guitar Player (next year's NAMM issue).

All finalists receive an expenses paid trip to San Francisco where they will perform before a panel of judges consisting of Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Elliot Easton, Greg Howe, Shrapnel Records’ Mike Varney, and Nuno Bettencourt. The event is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $15 at either www.gamh.com or www.tickets.com, or by calling 1-800-225-2277. Ticket price at the door is $20.

In addition to the competition, this year's show includes a performance by Guitar Hero 2006 winner Trey Alexander, who will play the tune with which he won; a kiosk featuring a sneak preview of the upcoming (October 28) video game Guitar Hero III; and the "Rip Off" competition in which a Guitar Hero III expert will play licks on the video game against Trey Alexander who will perform with an actual guitar and amp.

A look back: Guitar Hero 2005 (GH05)

The first Guitar Player Guitar Hero competition was held on June 10, 2005, at Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the CMJ Rock Hall Music Fest. The ten finalists were Dominic Frasca (grand prize winner, who, among other prizes, won a Gibson Les Paul, inclusion on a CMJ New Music Sampler, and was featured in Guitar Player magazine), Rodney VerBrugge (first runner up), Marcus Deml (second runner up), Rob Burton, Juan Carlos Coronado (who is also a finalist in this year's event), Tony Gaglio, Ulf Högberg, Scott Jones, Sean Kelly, and Matt Rae. Judges were Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Trevor Lukather (Steve's son), Guitar Player's Jude Gold, and Cleveland radio station WMMS' DJ Munch.

The 2005 competition can viewed online at Cleveland.com.

Guitar Hero 2006 (GH06)

In 2006, the competition moved to its current home, San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. The backing band became Thud Factor, consisting of Keyboard magazine's Editor in Chief, Ernie Rideout, serving as music director and keyboardist, Guitar Player editor Jude Gold on guitar, Bass Player Senior Editor Jonathan Herrera on bass, and local drummer Deszon Claiborne. The finalists were Trey Alexander (grand prize winner, who, among other things, won a GH06 guitar from First Act, a Fender Stratocaster autographed by the judges and a feature story in Guitar Player magazine), David Powers (first runner up), Patrick Woods (second runner up), Joshua Karickhoff, Joe Cefalu, Nathan Hahn, Ed DeGenaro, Ron LoCurto, Sergei Roudzinski and Anton Tsygankov. Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather, Richie Kotzen, Rafael Moreira, Shredmistress Rynata, and Musician's Friend Head of A&R, Steve Read, served as judges.

The 2006 competition can be viewed online via Guitar Player TV where, in addition to the ten finalists, you can watch performances by the event's emcee, Greg Kihn, and house band Thud Factor.

Back to the present: Guitar Hero 2007 (GH07)

GH07 returns to the Great American Music Hall on October 12 where these ten finalists will compete for the grand prize package:

Jamie Robinson (Toronto, Ontario) www.myspace.com/jamierobinson777
Juan Coronado (Whitby, Ontario) - also 2005 finalist - www.juancoronado.com
Tony Smotherman (Jacksonville, Florida) www.tonysmotherman.com
Taka Minamino (Hollywood, California ) www.takaminamino.com
Danny B. Harvey (Canyon County, California) www.dannybharvey.com
Curtis Fornadley (Playa Del Rey, California) www.curtisguitar.com
(Patrick) Casey Harshbarger (Indianapolis, Indiana) www.harshguitar.net
Ladd Smith (Nashville, Tennessee) www.laddsmith.com
Les Robot (real name: Cory Melnychuk) (Edmonton, Alberta) www.lesrobot.com
Chris Peters (Orlando, Florida) www.chrispeters.net/chrispeters.htm

Contestant bios are available on the Guitar Player website.

[Addendum, October 13, 2007: Modern Guitars correspondent Mike Shea covered last night's event and will file his story the week of October 15. Meanwhile, this year's winners were: Guitar Hero 2007 - Ladd Smith; First Runner Up - Danny B. Harvey; and Second Runner-up - Les Robot.]

Although Guitar Player planned to simulcast GH07 online, recent technical hitches have made that impossible. However, archived video will be available on Guitar Player TV within a few days following the competition.

Tom Watson: Let's start with the mechanics of the competition. The first round started with contestants submitting an entry through SonicBids.com, correct?

Michael Molenda: That's correct. The first year, 2005, we let anybody enter by mail and we ended up with like 3,000 entries and a pretty frustrated staff when I said, "OK, everybody take ten mail bins each." SonicBids kind of saved us in 2006. Since there was a small fee for submitting an entry through SonicBids, that cut down on the number of entries, plus, since all the submissions are posted on SonicBids web pages, that made it much easier for us to go through them.

Basically, the competition is open to anyone anywhere in the world. We listen to everything that's submitted. The staff each picks their favorites, then we all get together and we pick the final ten from those favorites.

Tom: What did the contestants have to submit - what were the SonicBids guidelines?

Michael: It was simple - they had to submit one MP3 of him or her playing instrumental guitar music.

Tom: Did it have to be an original or could it be a cover song?

Michael: We wanted originals because we film the finals and archive it and we didn't want to get into any licensing hassles.

Tom: Were a set of submission rules posted on SonicBids?

Michael: I believe there were. We wanted the song to be under five minutes long, but there weren't many hard and fast rules.

Tom: How many entries did you receive this year?

Michael: A few hundred, about the same level that the North American Rock Guitar Competition gets.

Tom: How many people at Guitar Player listened to the MP3s?

Michael: Six staff members plus me, so seven. What we did was, I assigned different pages of the SonicBids submissions to each editor. They picked their favorites and put them into a general "favorites" folder then we had a meeting in my office at which we all listened to each other's favorites and had a round-robin discussion about each of those submissions.

Tom: Was it fun?

Michael: It was fun to hear the different submissions. There were a couple of little friendly arguments. When you get a bunch of people in a room listening to different guitar players it's not hard and fast who's going to love what or a given that we'll all agree. There were some that were clearly finalists, and a few that weren't so clear and it got down to having to do a show of hands and going with the majority.

Tom: I watched the videos from the 2005 and 2006 Guitar Hero competitions and it looks like everyone had a great time.

Michael: It kind of erodes your stomach lining when you're in the process of it because there are so many balls to have in the air and I feel responsible, as does the staff, because we want to represent the magazine and make sure we're getting talent that's commensurate with our publication. We want to make sure the competition's fair, and there are things like who's going to do the sound, who's going to make sure the judges are in place. It's a challenge.

But, you're right. When all the logistics are in place and everything's working, it's just a blast. The last two years have been amazing. The players have been very supportive of each other, they've been extremely enthusiastic about doing it and it's been a pleasure to be around them. For me, at least, one of the reasons I got involved in music in the first place, besides getting girls, was that camaraderie, that contagious burning that takes place when people are in that space where they're über-creative. There's a competitive edge too, but they're still supportive of each other. They realize they're all in the same foxhole, so to speak, and it's very inspiring to be a part of that.

Tom: Guitar Player will fly the ten finalists to San Francisco. When do they arrive?

Michael: They arrive Thursday [October 11]. They're staying at the rock 'n' roll hotel in San Francisco, The Phoenix. We'll have a little get together that evening so they can meet each other and I can say hi to everybody. We've got little goodie bags for them. At noon on Friday, the soundchecks and rehearsals begin at the Great American Music Hall.

Tom: Each finalist gets five minutes to play at the finals?

Michael: That's right. They each get one song to wow the judges and we want to keep it to five minutes to be fair to everybody.

Tom: How does the backup band learn the tunes?

Michael: We have the contestants send an MP3 of the song that they're going to do to Ernie Rideout, who's our music director and the Editor in Chief of Keyboard magazine. He assembles the backup band [Thud Factor], that has Jude Gold, who's a Guitar Player editor, on guitar, Jonathan Herrera, who's a Senior Editor for Bass Player magazine, on bass and we hire a local drummer - this year it's John Mader. We ask the contestants to send a chord chart or whatever they've got, and Ernie runs the band through the arrangements. If you see the video from last year's contest, the band's kickin'.

Tom: I saw the video on Guitar Player TV of the number that Thud Factor played last year. Jude Gold's an incredible player.

Michael: Jude's probably one of the better guitar players I've ever heard, even compared to the greats. He's one of those guys that can do just about anything. It's kind of frightening, actually, how good he is.

Tom: Has Thud Factor started rehearsing?

Michael: Oh yeah, they've had a couple of rehearsals. They're all schooled musicians and they can all read music and charts and I think Ernie charts everything out. Last year, with one of the Russian contestants who had a song with like 16 changes every bar, we had a few problems at rehearsal because there was a language barrier, things like that come up. But, for the most part, they pretty much nail everything so when the contestants get on the stage it's kind of funny to see their mouths drop open because I think they're expecting a train wreck or that the band won't know the song and it's there, it's done, all they have to do is their part on top of it.

Tom: How do you determine the performance order at the finals?

Michael: It's simply putting their names on a slip of paper, putting the slips inside a box, giving the box a shake, and pulling them out.

Tom: Do you do this right before the show?

Michael: Typically, we did that, but this year we did it early because I wanted to put the performance order in the program and we let the contestants know in advance. We're trying to get better at this every year. For some contestants it might be nerve-racking, but for some it's good to know ahead of time you're going to be third, fourth, or whatever, and who's going on before and after you. But, we'll see. If everybody gets too nervous, next year we won't tell them until they step on stage.

Tom: What will the audience at this year's finals see in addition to the competition?

Michael: Last year's winner, Trey Alexander, will come on first and perform the song he won with, then we'll go with five of this year's contestants. Next is a break during which Nuno Bettencourt will shred, blow everybody's mind, and demo Digidesign's new guitar software program - he'll play through a laptop using the software, no amp. Then the last five contestants will perform.

After that, while the judges go off and decide who is going to win, we'll have Trey go up against a Guitar Hero III expert on either "Cliffs of Dover" or "Welcome to the Jungle." The Guitar Hero III game comes out on October 28, and they're one of our sponsors as well, so I thought it would be fun to have the video game guy play a version through the game then have Trey Alexander see if he could cop the same licks playing it through an amp for real and let the crowd decide which version they prefer.

Tom: That's the "Rip Off"?

Michael: That's the Rip Off, yes. After that, the judges will come on and we'll announce the winners.

Tom: Did your selection of this year's judges have anything to do with the style of music the contestants will be playing?

Michael: No, not really. We don't want to put any limits on what kind of music the contestants play. Guitar Player is the most diverse guitar magazine in the world with respect to the styles it covers so we always felt it was appropriate to have a number of different styles represented at the finals. We've been really lucky that the submissions haven't been all shred or blues or rock or jazz. We've had a pretty big pool of people from which to select. Although the needle tends to veer toward the shred style of the world, we have had enough other styles in the contest to make it a really good show and this year's no different.

Joe Satriani and Steve Lukather have been very supportive, and, of course, they can play anything. I met Elliot Easton at the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp this year and he expressed a desire to do it and I thought that would be cool, a pop-oriented player who's adept at taking other styles and putting them into his playing. Nuno [Bettencourt] became available through Digidesign. Mike Varney, of course, used to write a column for us and as owner of Shrapnel Records he has really, really great ears. I think what he has to say to the contestants should be very interesting. Greg Howe did a Master Class with Jude and Jude said we should ask him to participate since he's such an amazing player.

I guess the bottom line is it's fairly casual. We don't think, "Let's have one guy that plays jazz and one that plays blues," and so on.

Tom: What are the judging criteria at the finals?

Michael: Obviously, technique - you have to have confidence in your fingers and your heart and head to really attack the guitar and not flub. But, also, we're looking for stage charisma because it's the "Guitar Hero" thing so your ability to get the crowd up and interested in what you're doing is part of the voting as well. And then, creativity - are they blowing the same licks as everybody else or are they actually doing something new and unique, or at least a hybrid of styles, something that isn't just the same old, same old? Melodicism is a factor too. You don't want to hear guys blowing scales right and left, you want to hear some melody as well. These are the main points the judges have been considering.

Tom: Are the judges given score sheets on which they assign the contestant a certain number of points for each criterion?

Michael: You know, the Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival does that and Jude's been a judge there, but Jude felt there was that "x factor" that's hard to translate into a specific criterion and number. He was also concerned that if one judge gives somebody a 100 and another judge gives them a 10, the numbers can get skewed. It hasn't been a problem to-date. We give them a pen and some note paper and just let them take notes. They don't have to assign any numbers or anything. We tell them, "Here's what we're voting on: technique, creativity, charisma, melodicism, and whatever else you think should be considered." Then, when the judges deliberate, they discuss who they think are the top three and who, among those three, they think is the top one. It's interesting to hear the debate go back and forth, and I think it results in the judges really articulating why they think a particular person should be the champion.

Tom: That's an interesting approach. For example, a player could be extremely creative, but a little soft in some area of technique compared to some of the other contestants, but still, so creative that you were blown away by the performance. If you used a rigid number-scoring method maybe he wouldn't fare too well.

Michael: And, for example, Joe Satriani could say to Greg Howe, this guy had the most mind-blowingly creative performance of all of them even though maybe he wasn't as charismatic or whatever, and Greg could say, no, I'm still holding firm, he's not the guy, or, he could go, you know what, you're right, I've got to hand it you, he really did come off with a mind-blowing performance and I'll cut back on the charisma thing. I think it's good to have that dialog and flexibility.

Tom: What prompted Guitar Player to organize this competition?

Michael: There were a couple of reasons. In part, I was disappointed in things like reality TV shows and programs like American Idol. They're fine, for what they are, but they don't really involve the actual musician community, especially the guitar community. I wanted to promote real, heavy guitar playing somehow. I wanted to put in the forefront of the public's mind that there are these players who are viciously talented, both with respect to their fingers and how they envision music and harmony, and things like that. It's not like we're the only contest that does that, but I wanted Guitar Player magazine to get behind this to show what guitar playing is about, to show what we write about and why we write about these guys, and why we support them and why it's worthwhile to develop your playing to this level.

The other side of the coin was to give something fun back to the guitar community. Our readers have given us so much, so many ideas, so much support. Guitar Player is 40 years old this year. The guitar community has allowed us to flourish, and stay in business [laughs], and I thought it was time for us to start giving back. The Guitar Hero competition was one thing. We're going to start doing more as we get ramped up. We're not really in the business of presenting events like this, so have to learn how to do it.

It's kind of a long answer, but I felt that the public needed to know what fiery guitar playing is all about, that Guitar Player magazine should be a part of that, and that we have an obligation to give something back to the guitar community by saying, "Hey, if you work hard, if you practice, if you follow all the tenants of the artist tips and lessons that we present in the magazine, you can reach this level, you can get in this contest and we will do everything we can to help promote your career."

Related Links
GH07 on Guitar Player
Guitar Player TV

More articles by Tom Watson

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