Patrick Vega
Products used: Patrick uses Clayton USA guitar picks and slides. The guitar picks are used for playing and promotional products (featuring autograph and various album artwork). Vega’s main pick for playing purposes is the Acetal 1.0mm. You can see the collection of Patrick Vega Signature pictures here: http://www.patrickvega.com/guitarpicks.html
Glasslides used are various sizes of the glass slide and also socket slides (made of heavy chrome) for different tones
“Clayton…’cause there’s so much you can do with it!”
WHAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO KNOW ABOUT ME?
I’ve come a pretty long way both musically and personally. I took the step of moving to the USA from Austria about a decade ago, to play the guitar. Something I wanted to do since the age of 9. Why? Because music told me to. I never had a choice. All I ever did, all I ever really cared about was, is and always will be the electric guitar and music. For I am hopelessly in love, romantically cursed and enslaved by wire&wood for as long as I may walk this earth (And if they don’t have Strats in Heaven or Hell, I’m coming back).
I AM AN INSTRUMENTAL ARTIST
I am coming from instrumental music, that is how I started out; playing guitar by myself. I remember my brother (who I actually make responsible for introducing me to rock music but who was more of a Jazz and Pop music than Rock music fan), always said: “This (rock, metal) music is great until the singing kicks in”. I don’t know maybe that left an impression (probably not as I like that singing^^). Anyway right after I finally got an electric guitar & an amp for my 14th birthday I practiced the world famous amount of “8 hours a day” and beyond.
I was mostly listening to Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Metallica, Scorpions, Megadeth, stuff like that. Then someone gave me a copy of Vai’s Passion & Warfare and so I discovered Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen and Frank Gambale. Those 4 are a big influence on my guitar playing.
As far as bands and songwriting goes, my favorite bands are the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Van Halen.
Early on I started to write instrumental music, took an occasional private lesson and participated at music seminars back in Austria (featuring a top notch New York “New School” based teaching faculty). Where others mostly played standards and covers, I was more interested in playing and recording my own original music. Among the jazz crowd -I of course- always was “the weird rock guy” 🙂 Generally…in my teens, school, dating, partying….all was part of an outside world that had nothing to do with guitar or music, so it just didn’t interest me a whole lot. I truly was a young ninja guitar freak!
After graduating from European grammar school I saved and saved and saved until I had enough money together (along with 2 scholarships, due to some high level performances in Austria and recommendation letters from the clinic staff) and enrolled at GIT Los Angeles. Receiving a “Honorable Mention” for “Finalist in the Instrumental Category” of the “Northern Californian Songcontest” that same year, with my song “For The Art & Somebody Else” gave me hope and strenghtened my belief that I am on the right track pursuing a musical career.
As soon as I graduated from GIT I started doing auditions, which turned my schooled way of learning and playing music upside down. I transformed from a schooled player to a schooled but street wise player. I lived Rock ‘n Roll in the city of angels, came close to hit the big time a couple of times, met some really cool and some really strange people, had my share of living the dream and the time of my life.
During this time I have auditioned, played, worked, recorded, performed and toured with quite a few bands. I am lucky enough to have recorded music at such legendary studios such as Henson (formerly A&M Recording Studios), Paramount, Elementree/Korn, Matrix Studios, etc, performed at the Vans Warped Tour alongside bands such as SUM41, The Used, Pennywise, Rancid etc and performed at most L.A. concert venues.
In 2007 I recorded my first full blown solo record (Freefall Faith Firestorm, 2007 FFF Music). I have since then recorded and released three albums on my own US based label FFF Music: Freefall Faith Firestorm (2007), 8 Bullets (2009), ANIMA (2010) and a few singles the latest being Song Of Ease (2011) and Essay in Light (2011).
I play LIVE as much as I can, which really is not that easy being DIY and on your own label, but I even made it all the way to Rome, Italy to do a couple of my “Where The Guitars Are The Vocals” guitar clinics and some LIVE shows; which was GREAT, and I really wish that I could do that more often…so please, support me by buying my music! ^^
I take care of a lot of stuff myself, as I also play bass and keyboards and program drums on my albums, engineer them and now even do basic editing. You may call me a “control freak”; which I am not by choice. That’s just DIY to the max a la 2012. Hey when there’s almost no money coming in you take care of a lot of things yourself!
Most people nowadays want free music but unfortunately making it ain’t.
So, if you like what I do please buy my music!
Links:
Website: www.patrickvega.com
Bandcamp: http://patrickvega.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/616465vega
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/616465vega
YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/616465vega
