The btimm Interview

Yeah man. Electric and acoustic. They're about the cheapest on the market and they sound great and play great and from my experience are invincible. :D I used to use Martin acoustics too.

Have you ever frozen a cup of coffee with canned air?

Duncans or DiMarzios?

How did you come across this AMAZING guitar forum? :D

If you could choose one song for your family, which one would you say best defines you all? (as a family)

Would you take the blue or the red pill?

What was the most complicated song you learned and why?

Btimm,
I'm curious. What is your favorite song to play? And what makes that song so enjoyable? The level of difficulty, chords, the mood or the pride you get from playing it well all the way through? Maybe some other reason?
Phip

1: I was googling guitar chord shapes and stumbled upon this nice little community. I had to ask some questions and appreciated the friendly atmosphere. So I stuck around and now you are all stuck with me! :p

2: ... need to think about it!

3: blue

4: Eesh, tough questions. All songs are challenging because I still suck! lol I'd say maybe "Stone the Crow" by Down. It took me a while to learn it because I was even more of a beginner then than I am now!

I'd say "Mayonnaise" by the Smashing Pumpkins. Just because it is my favorite song ever and I think it is such a beautiful song. If any of you have never heard it, do yourselves a favor and give it a listen.

i really like playing "today"... for starters, it's easier to learn!

who do you prefer?as a songwriter?

billy corgan

james iha?

john lennon or paul mcartney?

same question .....pickle or turd

Corgan, McCartney, pickle?

If your leaning stagnates, how do you break out?

Do you learn songs from tabs or just listening or what, eh?

Do you like hockey?

I am still new enough where my learning has yet to stagnate. I do notice though that I feel like my playing improves sometimes after a few days off, which seems kinda odd. That works with sports for some people too though, so maybe it isn't too odd.

And yes, I LOVE hockey. I grew up in Michigan. :o)

GOOD!!! You're ok in Jazzy's books :)

You like hockey Jazzy? I didn't know that. The doesn't seem too common with any of my friends in the UK. You rock extra now!! :o)

It's amazing :D Best sport ever, then Basketball, then baseball. :)

What would be one of your favourite countries to perform?

Well, I would love to play in England, since I have friends there. Plus I just finished a book called "Grunge is Dead". Pretty good book. But it was pretty evident in reading that and the Soundgarden autobiography as well that England was in the know about the Seattle scene before most of America was, so their fans are likely to be pretty awesome!

I'd also love to play Mexico City, because I think the atmosphere would just be insane.

And some other places I'd like to visit for other reasons would be Sydney, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and maybe somewhere in Italy.

Philly-Wings, Philly-Vancuver or Washington-Western.

Philly-Wings!

btw, I am almost at the point where I hate *tsburgh more than I like the Wings. ugh I think we have that in common Lanny.

I hate Boston and Washington just as much. But yea, East and West can share somethings! :)

Is there anything in your life that you didn't do and you now really regret it?

What is your favourite food?

What is the furthest you have ever been away from home?

I think everyone has songs that take them back to a time or place or person. They might hate or love the songs but they are forever linked to the memories the songs represent. Give us three of those songs that when you hear them you are instantly transported to a strong memory. And you might add if they are songs you love or hate.
Thanks,
Phip

Not related to guitar but...

Who inspires you to achieve/be the best you can be?

Recently I missed a Killswitch Engage show here in Charlotte, because I had no one to go with me. I also missed Minus the Bear for the same reason, plus I was pissed about some drywall issues. At that point, I decided I was never going to miss something I wanted to see without an extremely valid reason. I had a trip to Chicago for business last fall and went to Wrigley solo to make sure I saw the stadium and got into the game. Greatest decision ever (although the red line was kinda scary that late at night, lol). So that regret has lead to some situations already where I no longer made any regrettable decisions. So that's good. I guess if that is my biggest regret in life, I am doing okay for myself. :o)

Pizza and it's not close.

I suppose 1,000 miles? Not very far.

"Melissa" by Allman Brothers always makes me think of college. My friends and I would sit outside many fall and spring nights and play guitar and sing songs and of course drink some fine alcoholic beverages. I would mostly sing and drink since I didn't know (still don't?) how to play the guitar. But it was great anyways, and those guys are still close friends of mine to this day. Great times.

"Free Ride" by the Edgar Winter Group always reminds me of high school. The marching band did a halftime show with all songs from the 70s. It just kinda reminds me of that time in my life. Good times. :o)

I guess a darker one is any song from the first album from Stone Sour. I listened to that album a lot when I was going through a really rough time in my life. I had just lost my girlfriend due to a car accident. I know she had brake issues, even though she had just got them worked on and I kept harping on her to get them looked at again, but she kept refusing for some reason. Ultimately she died because of it when her car wouldn't stop and she got broadsided by a truck. It was brutally tough, because we were talking about getting married. I put a lot of blame on myself for that and it was a dark time in my life. I am not saying this for sympathy or anything, as I am now a happily married man with two great kids. I am saying it partly to answer the question and partly so people can see that even when life gets rough, you can pull through with the help of family and loved ones. And God for me, but I know not everyone believes, and I am not trying to convince anyone to change their beliefs or start that topic, just know that you can get through anything. This album kinda was in line with the anger portion of my grieving. Interestingly enough, I can listen to it now, and while it reminds me of that time, it doesn't have a negative impact anymore. Weird.

My wife definitely helps me to become a better person. She is almost an opposite of me. She is kinda and sincere and always thinks the best of people, whereas I am significantly more cynical than her. She helps me see the goodness in people. When I am around her, I want to be better and nicer and just "good".

Also, I remember a quote from the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi: "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." I find that to be so true. The only way you can achieve greatness is by setting goals you cannot reach and constantly striving to reach them. Never settle.

the AV Club (www.avclub.com, a sister publication of the onion) has a multi-part series about the '90s grunge scene. i read the first 3 installments when they came out, and then my work got all lame about internet by blocking every website that exists in the universe except from 11am to 12pm. so in that limited internet time i haven't gotten to read any of the follow ups.

but the parts that i did read were really interesting and nostaligiac. speaking of which, MTV2 is going to start airing 120 Minutes (with matt pinfield!!!) sometime in the near future!!! alternative rock isn't what it was in 1992 but still... pretty cool!