6. How many different tunings do you have to use live?

Richard : Lol…well, um…all of them I think. No we use whatever tuning the songs are in, from standard tuning all the way down to Drop Ab. Would you believe we use 10 freaking tunings now for the complete new show? It’s really the only way to convince the wives that we need more guitars lol.

Jeff : Right now I play in 10 different tunings, but there's always the possibility for more.


9. Who are your major influences ?

Jeff  - Dave Mustaine

Richard – Andy Timmons, Joe Satriani, David Gilmore, Joel Gregoire, Tommy Vetterli.

Zack – Haah?

Justin – Guns n Roses, Metallica, Pantera, Slipknot, Korn, Devil Driver.

Greg - A.I.C , Godsmack / Sully ( Pretty good guess for the quite guy)

10.Who do you like that gets no respect ?

Jeff - Nickelback

Richard – I believe that would have to be the band Coroner. Underrated for sure!

Zack – Me…just joking. No seriously……me…

Justin – Axle Rose

11.Guilty Pleasures ? Bands that your mates or people wouldn't guess you really like ?

Jeff - Brad Paisley and John Mayer

Richard – Tangerine Dream and other New Age type music, a little Techno.

Zack – Man I grew up on Hip Hop, Justin gives me shit all the time.

12. Have you ever taken Music lessons - if so who had influence on you ?

  Jeff - Wow, cornet, piano, vocal...and everything Richard and I have taught each other these last 5 years.

  Richard – I started out pretty much learning on my own in the mid 80’s until a few years later I took lessons from Lex Cochran from Houston TX. Then in the early 90’s I found Joel Gregoire formerly of the Houston progressive rock band Stride. You can check out his new solo CD here http://www.reverbnation.com/joelgregoire

Zach – Not for drums

Justin – Self taught

13. Best Live Show you have ever seen ?

Jeff - 1991 Suicidal Tendencies opening for Queensryche

Richard – Man...I’d have to say the Pink Floyd-Pulse Tour, and the Testament-Practice What You Preach Tour.

Justin – G&R & Metallica 1995

Zach – Told you I grew up on Hip Hop. Camp Lo opened for De La Soul in Ames and blew the roof off. Seriously cool show. Don’t judge me.

14. Any - I once met a"Rock Star" Moments ?

Richard – Had a guitar lesson from Rex Carroll at the hotel we were staying at for the IAROCFEST 2011. We met for breakfast & coffee then we did the lesson. I dubbed it “Breakfast & Arpeggios with Rex Carroll”

Zack – Haah?

Justin – Family and friends in Slipknot. Met everyone on any Ozzfest or bill with Slipknot.

Jeff - met the lead singer of Goldfinger, and he was the coolest humble down to earth guy.

 15. Local Bands/Musicians / Event that got your attention / respect? ?

 We have a mutual respect for all of them. We’re all working towards a common goal, and that’s to promote live music and have fun doing what we love.

Jeff - I love Alchemist, and Can of Worms!


16. When you guys write - how does it all come together?

  We just have cocktails until we come up with something cool lol. Then take that the next day and seriously working on developing a riff. Then we kind of go with whatever stirs the most interest between us I think. We each take the idea home and jam with it, then come back to practice with some ideas. Then, more cocktails. lol

Jeff- Someone usually has an idea, or a concept. Then we just keep adding stuff to that concept as a group until we have a product we're proud of.

17. Can we be looking for some new originals - or is the new show focused on covering some great tunes and producing a good show?

  Richard - We have a bunch of new covers, some more challenging than ever, and we’ll be adding some new original as well.

  Jeff : We have some new originals in the works. We have one already done, and have two more that we are currently growing, so to speak. But at the core, we're still a cover band, trying to play the kickass songs people dig.

 
  18. What tools do you use to work on covers - there are a lot of ways to figure things out .. what works best for you?

  Richard – For me, the Powertab software has been a great learning tool. It is the guitar tabs with standard notation and also has a player which plays through the notes. Shows the different guitar tracks, and what tuning is being used. But you have to keep in mind that these songs have been transcribed by many different people so they are not always accurate.

Also I use backing tracks to practice along with. Some have the vocals, some don’t, but they all have the guitar part missing. You just fill in the blanks. This is helpful in that you don’t have the original guitar part to fall back on and it makes it feel like a real practice.

  Jeff - I tend to work on things by ear, and Richard works from tab. Between the two of us I think we check and balance each others "interpretations"

19. Who will win the Super Bowl in 2014 ?
Who would you like to see win it?

Greg – Well I’d like to see the Dolphins in it but that’s not happening this year.
Richard – Texans all the way!
Zack – Not the Redskins
Jeff - Go Ravens!
Justin – Atlanta, Tampa Bay... you know you got to rock it baby!! 

20. In terms of "the team" you guys seem to focus on having a team of people for production and not trying/ or having to do it all - who are those crazy peoples that are part of Siktiket beyond the stage?.

Jeff - Well we have our band manager and trailer sponsor, Craig Stillman of Motocyclepartsinc.com, Rick Davenport is my guitar tech/band light guy. Bill Pech was doing sound for us, but he has retired. Chad Cahoon is a general helper/life saver. Much love to our old light guy and my long time friend, Rick Marvin. We miss him dearly.

 
21. Whats the Best & Worst Part of being an Iowa Band?

  The winters suck when you have to gig in that crap!
Loading out after a show, minus 9, 2 in the morning….um…yeah..

The best is being a fish in a small pond, the worst is the small pond.

22. What did we forget to ask ?

What would you like to plug ?
I would like to plug motocyclepartsinc.com We hope we didn't break up the band ...you guys Rock - and the scene needs ya !

Giant Irish Leprachauns  & Green Beer
Siktiket & Alchemist
@ Sudsuckers March 16th

Rockin Row Adventures in June 29 , 2013

Thanks to Siktiket For the 2013 Interview !