Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow - 6/22/15

[Keith Merrow]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Question for YOU guys. Would you be interested in a 7-string version of the Alpha/Omega set?

I've been running some prototypes in my main guitars and I think they sound really killer for the stuff I like to play. Here's one video with the 7-string versions-

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

What genres could you see the Alpha/Omega set being able to tackle outside of metal and rock? How are its mid-gain tones?

They're pretty versatile actually. We spent a lot of time dialing in mid-gain tones and making sure every position had a purpose for different tones.

 

[Scott Olson]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Keith, any new albums in the works?

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

This is both Mark and Keith. How has video and YouTube in particular, influenced the way emerging artists get exposure to new audiences?

 

[oneblackened]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Question for YOU guys. Would you be interested in a 7-string version of the Alpha/Omega set?

I've been running some prototypes in my main guitars and I think they sound really killer for the stuff I like to play. Here's one video with the 7-string versions-

I certainly would be. Especially in active mounts.

Keith, what would you say your favorite guitar you've ever played is?

Mark, do you think there's any chance at all of an SE version of your SIG?

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Mark, what amp models did you test the pickups through on your AxeFx?

Many! As I said earlier, the ultimate goal was to create something that sounded consistently good on a myriad of different tones, not just 1 or 2. Priority went to my favorite live and studio tones, which are tone-matched from the Juggernaut sessions' amp setup, but we cycled through an amount of different amps that I can't even recall.

 

[Keith Merrow]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Keith, any new albums in the works?

Yessir, I'm working on a few projects at the moment. The main album I'm working on right now is with Wes Hauch, called Alluvial. Extremely dark and heavy stuff. I love it!

I'm also continuing to write for Conquering Dystopia, another solo album, and some stuff with my old school death metal project called "Demisery".

 

[JOLLY]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Did you play and mess around with any certain Seymour Duncan pickups (that kind of took your ear and playing style) and led you into the making/changing/designing of your Alpha/Omega set, or did you just come in raw in the designing process with Keith, and others at Seymour Duncan? If so, what were the pickups that yall changed and altered to come up with your own personal set? Thanks!!

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Question for YOU guys. Would you be interested in a 7-string version of the Alpha/Omega set?

I've been running some prototypes in my main guitars and I think they sound really killer for the stuff I like to play. Here's one video with the 7-string versions-

Dude. yes. I've been using that prototype set live and they're ridiculous.

 

[Scott Olson]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Mark, was there a particular moment where you had one of those surreal realizations that you "made it?" Or at least stood in awe of your job.

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

This is both Mark and Keith. How has video and YouTube in particular, influenced the way emerging artists get exposure to new audiences?

It's kinda crazy. Lately, I've discovered some of the most freakishly talented guitarists, drummers and artists through INSTAGRAM. Not even YouTube, haha. What does that say about how to get discovered these days? Any of these social media platforms serve as a springboard into potentially getting people to notice you. Granted, there is no special path to take or recipe for success to get discovered this way, but if your goal is to at least be seen and/or heard, it isn't near as hard as it used to be, given you've got some talented AND (sometimes equally importantly) some social-networking savvy.

 

[Keith Merrow]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

This is both Mark and Keith. How has video and YouTube in particular, influenced the way emerging artists get exposure to new audiences?

Well, it was the starting point for me. If it weren't for YouTube, I wouldn't even be sitting here right now. While YouTube isn't my primary focus these days (it kinda can't be), it is extremely important to me and every other artist out there. If you're not using video to help promote yourself and your music, you're not doing it right! Videos are such a huge part of reaching a broad audience. You never know what could happen if you just go for it and start uploading music and videos. I mean, it changed my entire life.

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Did you play and mess around with any certain Seymour Duncan pickups (that kind of took your ear and playing style) and led you into the making/changing/designing of your Alpha/Omega set, or did you just come in raw in the designing process with Keith, and others at Seymour Duncan? If so, what were the pickups that yall changed and altered to come up with your own personal set? Thanks!!

I used to own a SD 59 set back in the day that I loved, and I thought the Nazgul/Sentient set that Keith designed a couple years back ruled. But the design process of for these pickups was, at it's core, just to get in a room with a friend, whose ears and opinion I trust deeply, and make the best set of pickups possible. Duncan is iconic in this industry and I knew they've have the resources and talent to get exactly what we were aiming for.

 

[Petie]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Hey guys! Mark, what can you tell us about new Haunted Shores? \m/

 

[PushedCrayon]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Mark, does your playing style change when using different pickups? And if so, how does it change? Thanks!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Mark, was there a particular moment where you had one of those surreal realizations that you "made it?" Or at least stood in awe of your job.

Yo Scott! Nah I never think that kind of thing to myself. Music, like most other things in life, is so much of a hustle that there really is no suitable opportunity to contemplate the idea of making it. With that being said, I'm always in awe of my job. I love what I do in every way and I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[Keith Merrow]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

I used to own a SD 59 set back in the day that I loved, and I thought the Nazgul/Sentient set that Keith designed a couple years back ruled. But the design process of for these pickups was, at it's core, just to get in a room with a friend, whose ears and opinion I trust deeply, and make the best set of pickups possible. Duncan is iconic in this industry and I knew they've have the resources and talent to get exactly what we were aiming for.

We also figured out that fermented soy bean sushi is real shot. So, the whole trip was a success.

 

[Ludo95]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Hey, is there a particular exercise do you guys do to train your right hand picking technique? Is there an exercise you tend to focus on?

 

[Petie]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Question for YOU guys. Would you be interested in a 7-string version of the Alpha/Omega set?

I would use the hell out of a 7-string set.

 

[Mark Holcomb]

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Re: **Live Q&A with Mark Holcomb and Keith Merrow -- Here and Now!!******

Hey guys! Mark, what can you tell us about new Haunted Shores? \m/

Mr. Hodgson! It's looking like it'll be an EP, and I wanna have it out in the next couple months. Misha and I have written everything, we just have to finish recording it at this point. Stylistically-speaking, it's really pissed off. It's way more negative than older HS and worlds faster and darker than Periphery. It's kind of our take on extreme metal. I've been aching to finish up these songs for a long time now.