Someone you really should get to know: 20 questions with guitarist Alen Brentini.
Mark: Hi Alen, thank you for Talking with theRockpit.net For those that may not have heard of you before tell us a little about yourself?
Alen: Hi Mark, it’s my pleasure to talk with you. Well, I’m guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Not “poser”…hahahaha…just composer!
I started playing and learning about music when I was a 9 year old kid and I’m still doing the same thing.
Always touring around, recording stuff in studios and other things. Anyways, I’m rocker with a lot of passion and feeling for music. This is all I have ever done and I’m grateful to all people around the world who have made it possible.
Mark: Rock in Europe has always been strong, how is the Rock scene back home in Croatia?
Alen: You know, Croatia is a lot like other countries in Europe. There are a lot of good bands and artists. A lot of people go out to concerts and it’s good, but this is small country and I need more. It’s difficult to be professional musician anywhere, especially a rocker.
I live in Rijeka. It’s on the North-West part of Croatia and it’s really beautiful. You have to visit someday. The city is beautiful and we have a great culture.
Mark: What Projects do you have on the go at the moment?
Alen: Now I’m recording my 3rd album under the working title: “Ride your Dreams” along with Michael T. Ross on keyboards (Lita Ford, Hardline, Angel, Accomplice), Atma Anur on drums (Jason Becker, Greg Howe, Tony MacAlpine), Piero Trevisan on bass (La Famiglia Superstar) and Marko Duvnjak on drums (Alen Brentini band). At this time vocals will be in English; as for the sound: it’s very hard and melodic. I like it!
I’m happy more than ever before and can’t wait to present our new stuff all around the world and hit so many stages on the planet with my band…finally, my dreams come true!
Some of my new songs are on YouTube such as “Make you happy”, “Voice like an Angel” and the title track “Ride your Dreams”. Check them out! I hope you like it.
In April 2010 I finished my last record: “Behind the Walls of Silence”. It was an instrumental album with 13 tracks and also available on the internet. The album was written, performed and produced by me, except the song “Main theme from Missing” by Vangelis.
Mark: That sounds really cool! You are undertaking a European tour in November with our good friend Michael T. Ross. How did you meet Michael?
Alen: Well, I saw his pages on the internet (thank you Lord)…hahaha… He had joined the band Hardline at that time; they are one of my favourite melodic rock bands. So I decided to write to him about being my special guest musician on my first record called “Treca dimenzija” (or “3rd Dimension” in English). Then we did the instrumental track called “Transexpress” and this was our beginning. I love his style of playing, it’s different to any other keyboard player I ever heard. I’ll never forget one night we’re played at small club Rock Caffe Pula in Croatia and Michael came up with the intro of Mr.Crowley by Ozzy Osbourne…man, it blew me away…hahahah…can you imagine an acoustic show with a lot of great rock ballads and then your keyboardist comes up with something like that! Scary and dark?…hahahah…this is my bro Michael T. Ross…it was fantastic…a lot of nice memories!
Now we are very good friends and he is my keyboardist. For me, one of the top 3 in the world! We had a very successful tour in May 2010 in Croatia and now we are going on European tour in November with Piero Trevisan on bass and Marko Duvnjak on drums. We will perform a lot of stuff from my albums including the new songs and some great rock covers by Whitesnake, Gary Moore, Jimi Hendrix and more.
Mark: He is a pretty cool guy I like to think of him as taking a real lead guitarist approach to the keyboards! What can people who attend expect from the shows?
Alen: We are high energy rock band and we want to make our shows the best we can. We want to give out good vibrations to our fans and make them happy…maybe at the end of the show, smash some instruments, it depends on them! …hahaha…that’s only rock n’ roll but we like it.
Mark: That sounds like the sort of show I love to see! Have you been out on the road with any interesting bands recently? If so do you have a story for us?
Alen: Yes, I’ve played and opened for many great musicians such as Kee Marcello (Europe), Richie Kotzen (Mr.Big, Poison), Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy) and many more. We had a great time and I have a lot of funny stories but let’s talk about this next time…hahaha.
Mark: I can’t wait for that! What inspired you to pick up the guitar for the first time? Do you come from a musical background? All of my Croatian friends tell me they were forced to learn accordion at home!
Alen: Yes, my father is guitar player too. When I was a little kid he taught me a couple of simple chords on his guitar then I started learning other things. At that time I was practicing more than 8 hours per day, for the other 8 I was learning through listening to bands and artists, and then I’d go to sleep and next day start with the same things! It was crazy but I loved that. Actually, I’m self taught musician.
A lot of friends told me that I’m not normal but they are working some very boring jobs these days and I’m still playing around and living the rock n’ roll life style.
Mark: What other guitarists or musicians do you admire?
Alen: Oh yes, there are a lot of great musicians I admire such as Neal Schon, David Coverdale, Ian Gillan, Robert Plant, Carl Verheyen, Tommy Emmanuel, Stevie Ray Vaughan (my all time favourite blues player), Orianthi, Ivan Mihaljevic (Croatian guitar player/singer), Scott Henderson and much more. They all have a unique style which is very important for musicians.
Mark: How would you describe your sound?
Alen: I have pretty warm sound, my guitars sing very well with a lot of sustain and less FX…I don’t know, if you have good feeling and taste for guitar then you have a good sound…it’s not important to buy some expensive equipment and stuff…just hear yourself and play right from your heart…that’s what I’m doing.
I need to tell you that I have endorsement of Ibanez electric guitars and play some of the RG Prestige models. Very nice guitars with cool sound! I highly recommend them to everyone.
Mark: What sort of music are you listening to at the moment?
Alen: Well, I don’t listen to so much now, I’m making music…only in my car sometimes…I like some old stuff from the 80’s; 70’s and older…classic rock albums. I like heavy metal also ’cause I grew up on bands from that era. I think that music today going in so many different directions. There are not too many bands that still follow the straight or classic styles of music. Everyone can make a record at their home studio; a lot of software is available on the internet. People are using the beat boxes and trying to find some new style, mixed with different elements of music. I don’t like it! I want to be what I am, without following the latest trend. People can hear me or leave me. I don’t need to compromise.
Mark: A friend of mine told me that he saw you play in Australia once with Aki Rahimovski, who I understand is quite a well-know Croatian artist: tell us a little about that tour and the memories you have of Australia?
Alen: That’s right! We were on tour in Australia in 2007 It was great, all those shows were sold out, all the crowds were fantastic. Australia is beautiful to me. You have wonderful nature, coast, sea, koalas, and kangaroos…a lot of different than any other place in the world. You know, I’m on the road all the time but I never seen a place like Australia. I was in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and on Gold Coast/Surfer’s Paradise and it was great experience to me. We had a great time there and can’t wait to go back again someday with my band. All I can say about Aki is: he is the best singer in Croatia I have ever worked with!
Mark: You have also supported some well-know names in Europe who was your favourite and why?
Alen: Yeah! Kee Marcello is my all time favourite guitar player! He is nice person also. I will never forget our shows. This guy has a incredible feeling, melody and tone. He knows what he doing!
I’m also on the latest solo release by Croatian singer Aki Rahimovski with many great musicians such as Scott Henderson, Renato Neto (Prince), Joey Heredia and others. It was nice to work with all of them.
Mark: What is the most memorable live show you have played to date?
Alen: I don’t know, I’m lucky to have played a ton of great shows! Some of them were for 30-40 thousand wild souls! Very big shows! But sometimes I really enjoy in small clubs for a 100-200 people. It’s so nice when you feel them and they can feel you…I’m living for those moments, and when they happen I can’t stop, I want to sing and play all night long…it’s a great feeling! But sometimes things go wrong and when it’s over I go back to my hotel and can’t sleep, just thinking what happened, what went wrong…anyways, that’s life…up and down all the time…
Mark: What inspires you to do what you do?
Alen: Life, some people, sounds…actually I’m obsessed with the colours of sounds.
Mark: What is the biggest challenge for a musician in the industry today?
Alen: My biggest challenge is write the more great songs, play the big shows and make my fans happy.
Mark: What are your plans for the next year? The next five year? Where would you like to achieve during those periods?
Alen: Well, now we are going on our European tour in November. After that we’ll take a short break and finish the new album and then go on another tour to California (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco and more) to promote our new material and hopefully we will play the Namm show 2011 in Anaheim. In the meantime I have to work on some different Croatian projects as a special guest musician…
I never plan my future, now I’m here and we’ll see what tomorrow brings! I don’t wanna be disappointed, so that’s the reason I never make big plans for my career.
Mark: Do you have any other special talents or people who have been important to you that you would like to tell us about?
Alen: Yes, Naim Ayra the producer, songwriter and singer from Croatia. I learned a lot of him especially about making the studio production.
Mark: What is the best way for people to check out your music or get in touch with you?
Alen: Through the internet and my pages. People can find me on You Tube, My Space, Facebook and Reverb Nation. You only have to type my name there and they can find me. Check out my videos, music, pictures and much more importantly leave me a message or comment. Also the other guys in my band: Michael T. Ross, Piero Trevisan and Marko Duvnjak are all out there on the internet.
Mark: If you could have been involved in the creation of any piece of music at any point in time what would it have been and why?
Alen: I would like to do some recording and live sessions with some of my favourite musicians. If I get the chance I will do that for sure with a lot of respect.
Mark: What is the meaning of life?
Alen: Peace & Love.
Mark: That’s nice, short and sweet. Take care my friend. I hope we catch up some day. Look after Michael for us on the road! (and yourself of course!)
Check out Alen Brentini on YouTube and then hit him up on Facebook and let him know what you think of his music.
Catch Alen, Michael T. Ross and the guys out on the road in November in Europe. Check out the news page for up to date news. The confirmed dates are currently:
– Nov,05.2010. – Rock Caffe- Pula/Croatia
– Nov,06.2010. – Club Pepe Rosso- Rijeka/Croatia
– Nov,11.2010. – Club Bluesiana- Velden/Austria
– Nov,12.2010. – Club Risto Birreria Accademia – Porto Guaro/Venezia/Italy
– Nov,17.2010. – Club Sax – Zagreb/Croatia
– Nov,18.2010. – Club Boogaloo w/Richie Kotzen – Zagreb/Croatia
– Nov,20.2010. – Club Rock City – Zurich/Switzerland
– Nov,27.2010. – Belgrade/Serbia TBA
– Nov,28.2010. – TBA ?
