“The Cosmic Waltz”

Interview with the surprising multi-instrumentalist Greg Rapaport

By Sergio Vilar

Thank you for your time and for the interview for Nucleus. I would like to begin wondering how you began in the music. How were your beginnings?
First off I would like to say thanks for inviting me to do this interview. I appreciate your interest in my music.

I first became interested in music because of my father. Due to the fact that he owned two rock clubs, one in New York and the other in Connecticut, I was able to listen to and meet many great musicians including my guitar teacher.

Who are your favorite artists? To who admire for their music?
Growing up I was a very big Led Zeppelin fan.  I was also into many of the old school progressive rock bands like Yes, Kansas and Jethro Tull. Since I’ve gotten older I’ve branched out into progressive metal, fusion and jazz.  I’ll listen to Opeth then I’ll put on a Herbie Hancock disk and from there maybe Pat Martino, George Clinton or James Brown.

Do you consider some as your more notorious musical influence?
My biggest influences are Jimmy Page, Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson, Victor Wooten and Gary Willis.

In some measure, do you see yourself how continuator of a certain artistic proposal?
I don’t think I consciously try to preserve or carry a torch for progressive music. I think there are many more qualified musicians who can keep the genre alive. Bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Porcupine Tree and Andromeda are all amazing bands. They have a knack of naturally incorporating progressive ideas into their music.  My music is just what it is. I never really set out to make it progressive. Basically it’s just the musical expression of my influences and ideas. 

Would I like us to speak about “Azrael Block”. Could you give me a brief impression of each track of the album?
First off I want to say that this album was kind of a turning point for me. On previous disks my main concern was musicianship. This time around I wanted to really accentuate composition and production along with musicianship. I wanted to give the listener more than just an instrumental guitar album. I wanted to really try to convey a feeling or a concept through the music. In essence I wanted the listener to somehow connect with the songs. Here’s a quick synopsis of the song list.

“Azrael Block”: An “Azrael Block” is a method in which someone’s memory is re-programmed. Usually this is done through drugs and hypnosis. I got the concept from a book I read called “Strangers” by Dean Koontz. A lot of the imagery that I created for the artwork came from this concept.

“Sever”: “Sever” starts off with a clean descending minor pattern with some Middle Eastern percussion and flute. The next part then turns into a metalesque staccato march. It then morphs into a downtuned funk stomp complete with wacky wah solo.

“Tech Support”: This song is dedicated to those people on the other end of the line who have to deal with all the inane questions that the general population barrages them with. Just listen to the beginning of the song to feel the rage and frustration that takes place inside the minds of your everyday tech support staff.

“Interlude - A”: This tune is atypical as far as the rest of the music on the disk goes but I really enjoyed writing and recording it. It's a pretty mellow song making use of the acoustic guitar. Again I used some Middle Eastern tinged percussion and weird synth textures to create a dark and moody backdrop.

“Skitzophraniac”: I think this song is the weirdest on the disk, hence the title. The beginning is very jazzy with a 6/8 groove. I use a Rhodes piano sound to accent the clean solo lines with a weird underlying dissonance. Then it really starts to get odd.

“Uncle Knucklez”: Poor Uncle Knucklez is an old school hitman with a lot of car problems. Once he gets his groove on though he gets the job done. This tune is a hardcore metal funk tune that has a few progressive twists and turns. It starts off with a filthy slap-bass riff then the tune kicks into gear. This song has elements ranging from odd time accents with diminished arpeggios to semi traditional walking bass lines with jazz fills.

“Flatline”: This song is the longest on the disk clocking in at almost 10 minutes. This song basically is about someone dying in a hospital bed. They are continuously being pulled back and forth between life and death. The sounds in the beginning represent what someone might hear who is in and out of consciousness. When the tune kicks in their journey begins. The different parts of the tune stand for the struggle of this person and of his need to finally cross over.

“Interlude - B”: This song is pretty much a straight up fusion tune. The soloing is off the cuff so they're are a couple, ahem, "interesting" moments.  I wanted to keep it pretty raw. There is the obligatory wah on the bass and of course the Rhodes piano patch rears its head yet again. The guitar sound is very "stratty" and has some mild overdrive on it, which gives it a nasty edge.

“Deceiving The Industry”: Another bizarre concept tune. Pretty cliched idea but I like it anyway. The typical big brother - technical - computer monstrosity - taking over the world ploy. And of course we have the meek organic faction trying to fight its way to freedom and defeat the mechanical empire. You can definitely hear the delineation of the two sides throughout the tune.

“Difunckt”: This tune starts with a chord sequence in fourths played as arpeggios underneath two guys desperately trying to communicate with eachother.  After the intro the tune goes into a low D diminished riff that will scare the shit out of your cat. I also incorporated some '70s analog synth sounds in the break down that eventually runs in unison with the guitar. There is also some slap-bass chicanery thrown on top of the pile as well.

“Dinner And Dancing”: The beginning sequence represents a typical date with Hannibal Lechter. We enter the scene, as his date is walking through a very seedy neighborhood, in the rain no less. Then she enters an old rundown warehouse (Hannibal is between living quarters right now due to dining on his previous landlord). She catches her "date" having an appetizer then unfortunately she becomes the main course. After our hero's appetite has been properly satiated he then goes out on the town to do a little dancing. Maybe he'll take a look at the dessert tray as well.
This tune has a bit of an old school funk vibe to it which was a lot fun to play over.

“No Solace”: This tune is without a doubt the heaviest on the disk. I like to describe this tune as the bastard son of a Nevermore and Opeth tune.

It opens with a fast thrashy riff then it hits upon the main theme. After winding its way thought some fairly odd time signatures and melodious guitar wankery the tune goes into “Damnation” mode.

How were you inspired to write them?
I try to develop my songs around a theme. One of my songs, “Uncle Knucklez”, is basically about an old school hit man that is down on his luck.  In order to help visualize the “hit” I use sound effects and weird synth textures to build tension as he approaches and kills his target.  On another track called “Skitzophraniac” I use contrasting musical ideas to portray someone’s battle with a multiple personality disorder.  In general I like to twist around conventional aspects of music like time signatures, rhythms or melody to push music into interesting directions.

Musically, the disk is of a great wealth. How long did it take you to carry out it?
It took just about two years, start to finish.

How do you think that your music will evolve in next years?
I’m hoping that my music will become more polished and mature. I’m still very enthusiastic about learning about music and practicing so I hope to incorporate that into my music as time goes on. 

We change for a topic moment. Which is your opinion about the Progressive Rock and of today's Progressive Metal in day?
I think progressive music has a very strong underground base. I also think that a progressive influence is starting to make its way to mainstream music and while I think that that may be a good thing it can also have negative repercussions. Generally in the music industry what happens is an underground genre of music will become popular as soon as the industry sees that it can make them money. Then when that type of music breaks into the mainstream the airwaves are saturated with copycat bands and eventually a watered down version of the original genre.  So in a way I hope progressive rock/metal enjoys a long reign underground.

What bands are you listening at the present time?
I listen to a huge range of stuff and it changes from day to day. Some stuff I have in my MP3 player includes:  Led Zeppelin, Tribal Tech, Jethro Tull, Kansas, Spiral Architect, Spastic Ink, Symphony X, James Brown, Tower Of Power, Steve Morse, Tool, Pat Martino, Greg Howe, Meshuggah, Nevermore, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Al DiMeola, Herbie Hancock, Pink Floyd, Opeth, Psychotic Waltz, etc, etc.

Well. Is it premature to speak of a new disk? Does new clever material already exist?
It’s not premature at all.  As of now I have about eight tunes in the works.  I’m going to keep writing and recording to try to put together a really decent pool of material to choose from.

Do you think that you have achieved a personal and own sound?
I like to think I’ve achieved a personal sound but when you finally think you have it you want to change it because you get bored with it.

Thank you another time Greg. Do you have some final message?
I want to say thanks again for giving me this opportunity to spread the word about my music. I also want to say thanks for supporting independent musicians like myself.  There is a wealth of great music out there and I’m excited to see what the future brings. If any of your readers want to find out more about my music stop by  www.gregrapaport.com and have a look around.

Nucleus interview: 07/01/05