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7 questions with Myles Kennedy
I caught up with Spokane native and Alter Bridge frontman and guitarist Myles Kennedy to chat about his band’s new album, his contribution to the songwriting, and rumors of a Creed reunion.
IJ: Is there still any lingering pressure from fans or the media comparing Alter Bridge to Creed?
MK: After the first records we decided people are going to say what they are going to say, we just wanted to make music that’s going to make us happy. We spent a lot of time developing our sound and we sort of lived in a bubble.
IJ: I understand much of the first album was finished even before you joined the band. How were you involved with the songwriting for the new album?
MK: I got involved so late we only had four months to put the first album together. On this album, lyrically is my job to sing about something I’m really passionate about. Mark Morse of Mark’s Guitar Shop passed away. I wrote a tribute to him. He sold me my first guitar when Music World was still downtown. So there’s an element of home on this one.
IJ: You also stepped your role on guitar on the new album.
MK: I’m playing guitar on the whole record. It was a thing for me to sing in a band and not play guitar. To stand on stage and not have that there was difficult. I really never felt comfortable. I’m known as a singer and a songwriter but I was a guitarist first.
IJ: How is it working with Mark Tremonti?
MK: I was quiet about playing guitar. I have tremendous respect for Mark and I didn’t want to step on toes. He knows you have to do what’s best for the song. As established as he is you’d think he’d be more territorial but he’s always pushing me.
IJ: How is your tinnitus?
MK: What?
IJ: Your TINNITUS? How is it?
MK: I try to keep it in check. I keep the volumes low on stage so it doesn’t get worse. There are so many artists that have it. I have the standard amount of hearing loss for someone who has been doing it as long as I have.
IJ: What are you listening to these days?
MK: I went through a major blues phase during a lot of the writing of the album – blues and a lot of pre-war music, Delta blues, Robert Johnson. I’m schizophrenic with my musical tastes… Amy Winehouse, Def Cab for Cutie’s “Transatlanticism” – I love that album, especially the title track…
IJ: A while back I was hearing rumors about a Creed reunion. Is that in the cards?
MK: At this point probably not. Most of those rumors were started by Scott Stapp. We get word of it in interviews. There are no plans of a reunion. We’re content with how things are so I wouldn’t hold my breath.
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