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Stuart Smith

by John Kindred
Staff Writer

John: Currently you’re better known for your work with Heaven & Earth. Most people probably don’t know about the arduous journey that has taken you to release your first solo effort, Stuart Smith’s Heaven & Earth along with the second CD Windows to the World and, most recently, the EP A Taste of Heaven. Where did you gain such a strong determination to succeed?
Stuart: "Sheer stubbornness, I suppose. I was and still am hungry for anything this world has to offer, and I really never pay attention to the negative comments people make, which can sap your willpower if you let them. For as many positive people there are out there in the world, there are twice as many miserable people who do not want to see anyone doing better than they are and as the saying goes, ‘Misery loves company.’ I don’t really listen to anyone who tells me it can’t be done and axe those naysayers out of my life as soon as possible. As well as having a positive attitude, I tend to surround myself with positive people who would rather find a way to make something happen rather then say it can’t be done. I would have to say that going to boarding school, classical guitar lessons and studying Karate helped me develop a strong sense of personal discipline. Also the desire to prove everyone else wrong can be a great motivator, as Liz Taylor said, ‘Living well is the best revenge.’ It’s amazing how many people from my past who put me down years ago now send me e-mails telling me how they always knew I’d succeed. Also there’s nothing more I love than playing the guitar."

John: You are originally from England. Where did you grow up? Who played a key role in your early musical endeavors?
Stuart: "I sort of grew up everywhere. My father was posted to different locations every couple of years, but when I was 11 years old, I went to a boarding school in Burford, Oxfordshire until I was 15 years old, then went to college in Bedford, where my parents had settled after my father left the RAF (Royal Air Force). At 17, I went out into the world on my own and lived all over, not only England but also Japan as well for awhile.
There have been so many people who played a key role in my musical endeavors, ranging from the people I was influenced by to the people who supported me and gave me hope as well, as the people who were full of crap and gave me false hope. I feel that everyone who comes into your life affects you one way or the other; for good or bad."

John: Your father was a military pilot. What role did he play in your musical career? Had it not been for the fact of your color blindness, would you have followed the footsteps of your father into the military?
Stuart: "Growing up, my father was my hero as he led a very exciting life, and although I played the guitar and loved doing it, all I wanted to do at the time was fly at mach 2 and blast things out of the sky. My father was very supportive of my choice to be a musician."

"When I found out I was red/green colorblind and couldn’t fly, I was devastated and went on to work for Texas Instruments in England learning to build and design computers, but after three months, they decided to keep me on and asked me to take a medical [exam] where they found I was colorblind, which was a point I’d mentioned on my job application. They transferred me to building computer chips under a microscope on an assembly line. I felt that sucked the big one and quit the next day. About three months later, I decided I was going to play the guitar for a living and although it’s been tough going at times, I wouldn’t change it for the world."

John: Ritchie Blackmore took you under his wing early on your career. How did the two of you meet?
Stuart: "I first saw Ritchie play live when I was 14 and was blown away. It really was a life-altering experience that changed the way I thought about music. I later met Ritchie at a party and then again later on when he was in England with Rainbow. We had a lot in common and became friends pretty much right off."

John: How much of an impact has Ritchie Blackmore had on you as a musician and a person?
Stuart: "He’s had an incredible impact on me as a musician and as a person. As a musician, he obviously made me totally rethink the way I played and thought about the guitar. He taught me to break the rules. As a person, he is one of the most fascinating people I have met on this planet, and he has been a further inspiration for me to be determined to succeed. He is an incredibly self-disciplined person, which I admired, and he has always been a very good friend no matter where I was in life."

John: You moved from England to the United States to help further your career. Did you find it hard to make the move? Did you feel any kind of culture shock?
Stuart: "To be honest, the move to the States was a relatively easy one. The rock music scene in England during the ‘80s was very stagnant, so when I moved over to Long Island, New York in ’83, I walked into a very live and exciting time. There is still a lot I miss about England, but living now in Los Angeles certainly makes up for it. Even with the earthquakes, which I quite enjoy, and the rain we’ve had this month, I wouldn’t change it for the world."

John: You recently started your own record label, Black Star Records, and have signed on your first artist, Howard Leese, along with Heaven & Earth. Was there a particular motivation that led to the record company?
Stuart: "The motivation behind opening Black Star Records was that we felt that the financial distribution with most labels is very unfair towards the artist; it’s just the way things have always been, and we want to change that. We are a label run by musicians for musicians, so the artist will start receiving their royalties much sooner than with a regular label. I just got tired of starving in between recording albums and realized that the record company was really making a huge percentage compared to what I was. Originally, Black Star was opened just to release Heaven & Earth’s albums, but we signed Howard and now have quite a few other artists we’re looking at. We’ll be making some announcements very soon."

John: Black Star Records has re-released the first Heaven & Earth CD. Did you go back and remix the record? What was the experience for you like revisiting the songs in the studio? How did you choose the bonus tracks for the re-released records?
Stuart: "We didn’t remix the album, but we did re-master it once we’d recorded the bonus tracks. It really wasn’t a new experience putting the tracks together, as I’d heard them so many times, which is the way I feel every time I finish an album. But it certainly was a blast working on the new tracks."

“Life on the Line” was a song that Joe Lynn Turner and I wrote for the original Heaven & Earth sessions, and it was recorded back then but didn’t have any vocals, guitar solos or keyboards, so we brought in Bobby Kimball to sing and Arlan Schierbaum to add the Hammond organ, both of whom did an incredible job. I added the solo afterwards, which, for once, I was really happy with.

“Still Got The Blues” is a remake of the Gary Moore song that I have always loved and have played with various people over the years. Back in ’93, Joe Lynn Turner and I had a band called Midnight, and we did a show at the China Club in Chicago, which somebody bootlegged and a version we played of this song made the rounds. After Heaven & Earth came out, I had so many people e-mail me asking us to do a version of it, so we did. We recorded the tracks at our Wine Cellar Studios, here in Woodland Hills, where we’ve just installed the new Pro-Tools system and sent it to Joe Lynn on the East Coast, where he added the vocals. We’ve released this in the States as our single, and it seems to be getting some airplay.

John: Paul Shortino appears on the EP, but you have Kelly Hansen as the featured singer on the new CD. Why the change?
Stuart: "Paul Shortino was brought in to sing for us at a show we played in Woodland Hills to 40,000 people. It didn’t really work out for us working with Paul, so we decided to wait a while until we could find the right person, but then we had some awards shows to play at and Kelly, who was already working with us as part of the record label, stepped in and it all fitted together."

John: Does Kelly’s vocal style force you to change the way you write or does he fit right into the songs?
Stuart: "Kelly generally fits right in to the framework of the Heaven & Earth songs. We’ve worked together for so many years that we don’t have that period of adjustment that two new individuals would."

John: Does the switch in vocalist change the expected release date of the new CD?
Stuart: "No, not really. I don’t think things would have moved any faster if we hadn’t had a change. There really is an incredible amount of work to do when you run your own record company, but we’re getting to the stage where we can start taking on and training people to shoulder a lot of the everyday running of the label."

John: Are you a fan of Kelly’s solo work and his work with Hurricane?
Stuart: "The first time I heard Kelly was when I was driving down the freeway out here in L.A., and “I’m On To You” came on the radio. I was completely blown away by how good his voice was. A few years later, I was looking for a singer and called a friend of mine, Byron Hontas, who worked for Capital Records at the time, and he recommended I get in touch with Kelly and gave me his number. We met up and got along pretty much from the word go."

John: What can fans expect from the full-length CD compared to previous Heaven & Earth releases?
Stuart: "I would say that the new album will have a lot more cohesion than the previous albums and as we’ve got more of a permanent band thing going on now. Also we’ve done a complete update on our recording studio and gone to the latest Pro-Tools and having Dave Jenkins producing the overall sound will be a lot better."

John: Do you have an expected release date for the new record, Screaming for Redemption?
Stuart: "We’re in the process of writing and recording Screaming for Redemption now, and I really hope to have it finished and out on the streets by around June of this year, but with everything we’ve got going on, we don’t want to commit to a definite date yet."

John: Let’s talk guitar for a minute. What are the key pieces of equipment that you utilize to get your signature guitar tone?
Stuart: "For my electric guitars, I use the ‘70s model Stratocasters with the large headstocks, which I modify quite a bit. I replace the machine heads with locking Sperzals, and for the nut, I use an Earvana, which helps with the overall intonation. I have the fret board scalloped, which allows me more control of the actual note, and I use special pick-ups designed for me by Seymour Duncan, which give me the single coil sound but also have the classic Humbucker sustain. I remove the middle pick-up as it just gets in my way, and I have the three-way selector switch wired so that in the middle position, it’s both the neck and bridge pick-ups together, although I hardly use that sound. I also change the standard bridge with a ‘90s issue one that just has the two screws to help with keeping it in tune when I use the tremolo and replace the saddles with Graphtech, “Ferraglide” saddles, which also help with the tuning. For strings, I use Dean Markley Blue Steel strings."

"As far as cords go, which are really important as a cheap cable will screw up your sound every time, I use something well built like Monster Cables. I run the guitar through a Seymour Duncan Pick-Up Booster for that extra bite when playing lead solos and a Chandler Digital Echo unit, which has the same sound as the old tape echo's but without all the breakdowns, and I control it with a Morley Switching Pedal."

"My amplifiers are exclusively Marshall. I split the signal from the guitar and run one into an old Marshall Major, which I overdrive using a Morley Jerry Donahue JD10. The other signal I send to a red Marshall 50-Watt Lee Jackson mod, which Howard Leese gave me. Occasionally if I’m playing a small show, I’ll just use a Marshall DSL 2000 50-watt."

"For my acoustic guitars, I use Taylor Guitars. I have a Leo Kotke 12-String and a new Taylor Classical, and again I use Dean Markley strings."

John: Being a friend and a fan of Ritchie Blackmore, did you utilize his use of amps and Fender guitars to build your sound?
Stuart: "I started playing a Strat and using Marshall amps originally because I liked the sound that Ritchie had, which just goes to show how well endorsement programs work, as I haven’t really changed my set up since. Although I made some modifications to both guitars and amps to make a more distinct sound for myself."

John: How did learning classical guitar benefit you in your journey to play, write and record rock music?
Stuart: "I would have to say that classical training was an incredibly important beginning to my career. It taught me discipline and how to hold the instrument properly as well as ear training."

John: When listening to new bands and guitar players, what do you see as their primary failures and what new ideas do you hear being brought to the table?
Stuart: "I don’t feel there are any players out there right now that blow me away with their musicianship the way that Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Paul Kossoff and Jimmy Page did. I feel the new players spend more time concentrating on their image as opposed to the music. Also today’s music doesn’t lend itself to guitar solos, so I don’t really know what they capable of. "

John: Have you heard any of the music done by Ritchie’s son J.R. Blackmore? What is your opinion on his musicianship?
Stuart: "I haven’t heard Jurgen play, but I met him when I was over in Hamburg with Ritchie, he’s a nice guy."

John: Over the course of your career, you have rubbed elbows with many well-known musicians. What encounter has left a lasting impact on you as a musician and personally?
Stuart: "There has been so many musicians that I have come in contact with that it’s hard to single out one person, but apart from Ritchie Blackmore, I’d say Keith Emerson, who challenged me to rise to an incredible level; Jeff Beck, who shared some amazing knowledge with me; Richie Sambora, who amazed me by being the complete guitarist/singer; my business partner and drummer Richie Onori for his business sense, ethics, friendship and loyalty; and Kelly Hansen for being an incredibly intelligent human being and kick ass singer.".

John: Can you give any words of advice to the up and coming guitarists out there?
Stuart: "Pick up the guitar at every available opportunity and play it, even if it’s only for 15 minutes, as it will keep your fingers loose. Get some proper training to start with so you’re utilizing all your fingers. Don’t hold the guitar down by your knees when you play because, apart from looking like a dork, you’re going to have major skeletal problems later in life. Concentrate on making the electric guitar sound good without an amp or with a clean sound, as it will improve your clarity of notes. Play and write songs on an acoustic guitar. If they sound good on an acoustic, they’ll sound great with a band. Listen to guitarists that are better than you and try to work out the key to their playing. When you’re watching the television, play along with the soundtrack or commercials, it will improve your ear."

John: Stuart, what can we expect from Heaven & Earth and Black Star Records in 2005?
Stuart: "Besides Howard Leese’s solo album and the next Heaven & Earth album, we will have quite a few other things happening. We can’t really talk about them just yet, but we are committed to bringing good quality rock & roll back to the forefront of music in the States. We are supporting all our releases with a full-time publicist, a full-time radio promoter, advertising and listening stations in Tower, Borders and all the independent stores."

John: Anything you would like to add that I may not have asked?
Stuart: "I think you’ve covered it all."

John: Thanks for taking the time to talk with Hardrock Haven. It has been a real pleasure. Please keep HRH in the loop on all your upcoming activities. We would love to hear back from you any time.
Stuart: "Thanks for the interesting questions John, and please let everybody out there know we look forward to seeing them on the road later this year."