MusicRadar

Guitarist Alex Skolnick first came to prominence as a member of the thrash metal pioneers Testament. The Bay Area-born, Joe Satriani-school musician made a number of groundbreaking albums with that band during the late '80s and early '90s before splitting in 1993.

What did Skolnick do next? He studied jazz, of course, at the New School in Manhattan (he's been a New York City resident for the past several years). Eventually, he hooked up with fellow New School students Matt Zebroski (drums) and John Davis (bass) to form the Alex Skolnick Trio. "A total dream come true," says Skolnick. "I was finally playing music that I could adore 100 percent. Not that I don't love metal. But jazz speaks to me on a much different level."

Bassist Nathan Peck soon replaced John Davis (who left to pursue a career in indie rock), and with that the Alex Skolnick Trio went about releasing a string of critically and commercially successful jazz albums, the bulk of which featured inventive reworkings of popular hard rock and heavy metal songs. During this time, Skolnick also became a featured guitarist in the massively popular touring rock opera Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

And metal fans had reason to rejoice when Skolnick, who did a one-off with Testament in 2001, rejoined the band as a full-time member in 2005. "It's been an insanely busy ride the past...oh, 20 years!" the guitarist jokes. "But it's good to be working, good to be in demand. I'll take it."

MusicRadar sat down with Skolnick recently to talk about Veritas, the brilliant new album from the Alex Skolnick Trio. We also discussed how the guitarist switches gears creatively, going from jazz to metal to the symphonic rock of TSO.

Do you have to get into a different headspace to play with Testament than in the Alex Skolnick Trio?

"Yes, I do. Depending on what I'm doing, I can become two different people or two different musicians. A lot of things go into each situation - how you think, how you hold the guitar, the intensity of the muscles that you use, the artists that influence you...

"In both cases, though, I do try to shut everything off and let the music happen. I think there's a lot of people out there who listen to just one genre of music, which is fine, I guess - it's their choice. But to play more than one genre, it's…it's almost as though it's unaccepted, and I'm trying to change that."

Jazz vs metal...or does it?

One can easily talk about the differences in heavy metal versus jazz, but do you see any similarities?

"Sonically? No! [laughs] No way. We're talkin' night and day. Sociologically, they both are driven by true dedication and a love of music. There's no chasing of trends. Both genres, to a large degree, never really had a big payoff. It's been a challenge for me to make a name for myself in both metal and jazz. Although I don't run Testament, I do run the Trio, so I'm always aware of the risks I'm taking and the challenges I face. It doesn't make it easier, but it does make any success I have sweeter."

You quit Testament for a time to study jazz guitar. During your first tenure in Testament, were you a closet jazz fan?

Around the web: