Legendary guitar shredder, Joe Stump, talks about his new album with Alcatrazz.

Born Innocent is heavy metal band ALCATRAZZ’s first return to the studio since going on hiatus in 1986.  Featuring thirteen high-octane tracks on the North American-based release, guest guitarists and excellent production, Born Innocent is for driving too fast or slinging steel plates in the gym.

Debuting on Born Innocent is the latest of the illustrious Alcatrazz guitarists to bring their extreme six-string talents to the band, with Boston-based Berklee College of Music Assistant Professor of Guitar, and one-man metal impresario Joe Stump.  Stump is known for his extreme Fender Stratocaster guitar technique, performing a style that reached a fever pitch in the 80’s and 90’s known as “shred“. Blending heavy metal idioms with Classical harmonies, melodies and impresario, shred guitar has long held an underground following of dedicated fans. Stump is watermark in the shred genre that many aspire too.

Alcatrazz keyboardist, Jimmy Waldo, remarks of Stump, “Joe is the best because there’s no ‘bad’ ego whatsoever with Joe. He’s a very aggressive guitar player and he knows exactly what he is and what he wants to do, but he’s also one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with.”

Joe Stump Interview – 7/18/20 – By: J.G. Bennet

Slickster Magazine: Is there anything about you, your career, your music….. that you want to set the record straight on, right here and now?

Joe Stump:  Yeah…  A lot of people are not really familiar with the full scope of what I do.  I’m mostly known for my solo records. But I’ve also had my band, Joe Stump’s Reign of Terror, and I played in Holy Hell in a period of five years and we made a record or two.   Then I did a record with the metal band Exorcism.  Then I played all of the solos on Ravenlord…. SO, I’ve done tons of different stuff and all different kinds of metal. 

A lot of people will hear my solo records and immediately I get pegged with, “All he does is sound like Yngwie (Malmsteen).”   You know, don’t get me wrong, I love Yngwie.  He is one of my heroes.  Anytime you play in that classically influenced style, if you play it well, you can’t help but give the nod to Yngwie!  You’re going to have some of that in there.   

Do all I do is play like Yngwie?  FUCK NO! (Laughs)  I have all kinds of things on my last solo record, like a bluesy Ritchie Blackmore meets Frank Merino kinda’ thing.  I had another track that was a black metal, thrash metal kinda’ thing.   The stuff that I write, in comparison, is much heavier and much darker, and much more metal.  

I would describe myself as an evil metal combination of both Yngwie and Ritchie Blackmore if I had too.  If I had to say, “What does Joe Stump sound like?”,  that would be an accurate description.  Some people would say, “All Joe Stump does is copy Yngwie. He’s just an Yngwie clone”.  

Most people hear someone play fast in that European way, with harmonic minor scales and diminished stuff, and they couldn’t tell the difference between somebody that is playing like Yngwie and somebody who isn’t.  It comes from people’s lack of education of the genre.  Everybody pigeonholes people.  It’s not good to make blanket assessments about music if you’re not fully educated on it.

Slickster Magazine: So, there is lot more to your playing and your music than meets the eye, and your catalog has richness of diversity.  Is that basically it?

Joe Stump: Absolutely!  And that obviously shows on the Alcatrazz record.  On the Japanese release there is 15 tracks and I’m playing guitar on ten off them. 

Slickster Magazine: Yeah, lets talk about that new Alcatrazz record. So, you have a new album coming out on July 31 in North America.  What can you tell us about Born Innocent?

Joe Stump: I think people who love Alcatrazz will really enjoy the record.  A lot of people’s favorite Alcatrazz music is the early stuff with Yngwie. Of course, that’s one of the reasons they got me to play with Alcatrazz.  “Hey we need somebody who can play like Yngwie and Ritchie Blackmore, who can we get?”  (LAUGHS)  You know what I mean?!  Big surprise, me!   Do I do that better than anybody? I would say so, yes! (laughs).  So people who are big fans of No Parole (Rocshire Records 1983), they immediately hear the Yngwie influence and they love it.

The new Alcatrazz is a bit meaner, a bit more aggressive…. has a bit more balls, because I’m much more metal.  There are also some other truly great guitar players who are guests on the record.  Chris Impellitteri… who is a friend of mine and great player…

Slickster Magazine:  Jeff Waters from Annihilator. 

Joe Stump:  Right. I don’t know Jeff personally, but I’ve heard he is an awesomely nice dude.  On Jeff’s song, Paper Flags, I played the first solo. 

I was recording that song in Jimmy’s (Waldo) place in California, and he’s like, “Me and Graham have this tune, but we need a solo section.”   So, I wrote the solo section right then and there while we were recording.  I figured out the key and the changes, and then I recorded the solo right after I wrote the solo section right on the spot.   Then we fixed two things, and that was the solo!

I haven’t heard Jeff’s thing, but I play first and Jeff plays second, and then I come back in.  The version (of the album) I have is the Japanese version, which is just me all the way through, so I haven’t heard what Jeff did yet.

Slickster Magazine: As far as your status in Alcatrazz, are you now an official member or more of hired gun?

Joe Stump: I’m a full on member.  When we play live, I drive the bus, you know what I mean? I get as much room to do whatever it is I want to do.   I do all the Blackmore-esqe stuff, like rubbing my guitar against the monitor and the Marshalls, throwing it up in the air, kicking it with my foot… I throw it to the door manager after the show.  I play lengthy solos and get indulgent.

So, Graham lets me do my thing and gives me as much room to shred as I want.  I’m respectful of that, and don’t go stepping on his toes.  I don’t overplay during the vocal section, so it’s a cool thing.

I’ll be writing most of the second record, so a good portion of the second record is going to be mostly my tunes.

 Slickster Magazine: “The Wound is Open” is one of my favorite tracks on Born Innocent.  It features a great riff, huge drums and promotes an unconscious head banging.  

Joe Stump: That’s a Bob Kulick tune.  Sadly Bob died not too long ago.  Bob worked with Jimmy and Graham in a band called Blackthorne.  He wrote “The Wound Is Open” and “I am The King”. 

I was in California and they played me the tune. Bob had recorded some of the guitars but I don’t know if they were going to keep them, other than a couple small things that he did.  So, I listened to the tracks and then I recorded everything.  I learned the tune right there.

The guitar solo on The Wound is Open came out bad ass!  It’s kind of this Hendrix meets Gary Moore kinda’ thing.   People always think I play Yngwie, well then listen to the solo in that fucking tune!  You know what I mean?!

I really like the way the solo turned out on The Wound Is Open.  For me,  I like playing my tunes, but I also like playing on stuff I didn’t write, because I just do my take on what’s appropriate.

Slickster Magazine:  Well,  bro… I’m gonna go there.  You still have got insane chops!  How the hell do you keep them up?  Do you want to detail any exercise or practice routines that you use?

Joe Stump: I’m always playing all the time.  I have different things that I work on, like different arpeggios or picking things.  Usually when I’m working on stuff, I working towards stuff.  

Like, I’m shooting an new instructional video course next month with a bunch of excerpts from my last record. I’m not at liberty to talk in detail about it, but it will probably be out in the summer time.  Anyone who plays guitar will be fully aware of it.  I’ll be working with another guitarist who has his own guitar academy.

Some guys are playing more now because of the Coronavirus, but I’m pretty much locked in my workspace playing, because if I’m not touring, I’m at Berklee (College of Music).  I teaching remote from home now, and on my off days I do a few lessons too.  That pretty much makes all that I do. 

Now it’s kind of a drag, because normally I have live shows mixed in with all of that.   In addition to Alcatrazz, I have my solo project and a Deep Purple cover band that tours regionally in Northeast.  And I have a Rainbow tribute that I also play with,  so usually I’m playing live on a fairly frequent basis.

Slickster Magazine: Do you have any kind of set practice routine?  Do you warm up for ten minutes, then record yourself for ten minutes, and play back over it?

Joe Stump: I have a small Pandora PX4D, which is an amp simulator with built in bass and drum loops.  Usually what I do is just pick up the guitar and start playing random things.   Sometimes something comes to me, or whatever, or sometimes I have something I’m working on in the pipes, or I’m crafting a solo section, or just polishing stuff up.   I’ll practice various picking things too.  I might practice classical scales, or more picking fragments on multiple string sets.  I also play that “economy pick” nonsense where I go “down-up-down-up”, picking drills or licks in sequence.  And sometimes I just put the Pandora on, loop something and just start goin’ at it!

Here’s an example:  Yesterday I played three or four arpeggio sections for the upcoming instructional thing.  And then another thing was a section that is going to be in the new Alcatrazz album.  So, I always have plenty of stuff that is new, and in the pipes, that I can work on. 

Slickster Magazine: Can you talk about the importance of learning music by ear, aka transcribing?

Joe Stump: Players can have tons of music theory, fretboard knowledge, and technical skill, but the elements that really make you a great musician…. your feel, your sense of time, your ears…  Learning music by ear is very gratifying and extremely helpful.  In this day and age, there is so much information that is easily available to all players of all levels.  

The old school idea of learning a solo by one of your favorite players, then taking their ideas making them into ten of your own is kinda’ lost now, you know?  You can actually watch the actual artists playing it on Youtube, but then you can watch some kid in a controlled environment that has a better rendition of it!  So a lot of players aren’t even watching the original dude play it!

Anything that helps players get better, I’m for.  Transcribing is a pain in the ass… I’m not talking about learning by ear, I mean learning the track and then writing the whole thing out.  Which I still do from time to time with my favorite players. 

Slickster Magazine: Thanks for going into more detail on the nerdy metal music stuff!

Joe Stump: (LAUGHS) Oh yeah! That’s what I do!  No one has to twist my arm on that.  I one of those dudes that just loves the guitar.   I’m not one of those guys who says, “all is listen to is Classical”.  No!  I listen to metal and hard rock guitar too.  If I’m riding around in one of my cars, it’s not like I’m blasting Vivaldi! 

Slickster Magazine:  Of some of the newer guitar gods, are there a few that really grab your ear?

Joe Stump:  With all of the modern players, I mostly know about them through my students.  I don’t know much about the music that they create, but it’s very much it’s own thing.   Like the djent-type of thing, is very much it’s own thing.  Like my students will send me a video and say, “I’m thinking about doing this for my final performance.” 

I appreciate it, but I don’t really listen to it.  The young guys are really into it, and it really motivates them to play, so I think that is awesome.  But for myself, I’m listening to the stuff I love, like early Yngwie or Rainbow Rising, or the six CD set of three live concerts in Germany from the (Ronnie James) Dio ear of Rainbow.  That kind of stuff.  The last bunch of Accept records.

I’m kinda settled into my niche.  I don’t watch new guys and say, “I need to incorporate that into my playing.”  A lot of the old school shred guitar techniques have been replaced with the next generation techniques.  The new players are using more things that are jazz and jazz-fusion influenced.  So, I’m not a jazz fusion dude at all.

Slickster Magazine:  Can we talk about one guitarist in particular, so that he will never be forgotten… Let’s talk about the late legendary guitarist Shawn Lane.  Did you know Shawn, ever work with him?

Joe Stump: He was a legend.  Many years ago, when he was very young and he played in Black Oak Arkansas.  He was one of the first underground guitar guys where it was a big stir, you know what I mean? It was like, people had very rare video footage of Shawn destroying the guitar at a very young age.   It’s sad that for all of his legendary status and monster technical skills that he never created a huge catalog of material.  He only made one solo record and a few fusion projects with Jonas Hellborg.  I remember he did an instructional video on VHS too.  

But, he was a monstrous player with monstrous technique.  He wasn’t an influence on me, but of course he was influential on many, many other players.   They cite Shawn Lane as a big influence.  he was one of the original extreme guitar technicians.  He was right there at the beginning of it.  

Slickster Magazine: Thanks Joe, that was a great nod to Shawn.  He was kindred spirit.  Speaking of famous musicians, two Berklee College of Music bros are getting back together for a new album, John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy.  Any thoughts on that?

Joe Stump:  Those guys are extremely talented and they are from the same part of New York as me.  I think they are both from King’s Park and I grew up on the Smith’s Town – King’s Park line. 

Slickster Magazine: You’re a Long Island guy too!?

Joe Stump: Yes, that’s where they breed all of us guitar players! 

Slickster Magazine: Apparently so! And Micheal Romeo (Symphony X) too, right?

Joe Stump: Mike is from Jersey. But from the Northeast, we got a lot of dudes… My mother’s from Brooklyn, that’s why my New York accent is so heavy.  But I was born in Queens, where my dad’s from.  So, like everybody your parent’s are from one of the boroughs.  So, you live in the boroughs when you’re little then you move out to “The Island”, as they call it. 

Yeah, so I grew up in Smithtown predominately.  In fact, a guy who used to go fishing with my father… my father had a boat and they used to go out fishing in Long Island Sound… He used to live across the street from Portnoy, I think, in King’s Park. 

I’m not a big prog guy, but you know, Dream Theater is legendary, epic band. They are all epic musicians, and Mike Portnoy doesn’t play with the band anymore, so that’s awesome that him and John have reunited for the album.  So, it’s an awesome thing for both of those guys to be back playing together and great for the fans of both of them to have them playing together.

Slickster Magazine:  Joe, thanks for talking with Slickster Magazine about the new Alcatrazz record and your music and career.  Let’s open up the floor.  Is there anything you’d like to talk that is important to you that we didn’t get to or mention?  Do you have any message for the world during 2020?

Joe Stump: Yeah, you know.. .For anyone who hasn’t checked out my solo material, and you like metal guitar, my last two records, Symphonic Onslaught and The Dark Lord Rises, are fierce slabs of guitar-driven metal.   My instrumental stuff is crossover, if someone is a guitar enthusiast, would dig these records.  There’s cool melodies and bad-ass riffs, and all of that technical guitar nonsense played a million miles an hour.