DJ Interviews: UVtraveler SFBand

Hey there guys, DJ Dizzy here & I took the time to interview a band named,  UVtraveler SFBand who shared with me their humble beginnings & success.

How'd you get started in music? 

My father was a vocalist-songwriter and  had a lot of projects going on all the time.  I think in 8th-grade I decided I wanted to have my own band too, so I started learning how to play guitar and write music. 

Who are your inspirations or influences?

There are a lot of musicians and guitarists that influenced and inspired me.  As a guitarist, my top inspiration is probably Pat Metheny.  Although, I don't really play much jazz or sound a lot like him -- you can hear a lot of his influence in the harmonies in my music.  As a rock guitarist,  I really love Michael Schenker's  lead guitar work with UFO, and Alex Lifeson's chord progressions from any 1970s Rush album had a huge influence on me.  Rush was the first band to do prog rock without keyboards in a big way, and Schenker has this beautiful combination of classical music phrasing with straight-ahead rock and roll bluesy stuff.   I could go on forever, but from a songwriting influence I think Jean-Luc Ponty and Jimmy Page (and again early Rush) were two of my biggest influences. 

What advice would offer aspiring performers?

First,  you have to understand UVTraveler is a labor  of love for me.  I don't do it for money.  The quality of the music is everything.  My goal is just to have as many people hear it as possible and hopefully enjoy listening to it nearly as much as I enjoy making it. If you're looking for advice on "how to make it big,"  I'm not your guy.   My advice to any aspiring performer is to do work  that gives you pride.  The last thing you want to do is write music to make it big and have it not be you. Because if you don't make it big -- you have very little.  If you write and play quality -- it always has value.   Also, Learn as much about your craft as possible, so you have the widest palette to choose from in how to express your ideas.  Finally,  make sure you are having fun with it. 

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?

I think the fusion of different styles and genres on the records is relatively unique.  I think there is an identifiable "UVTraveler"  sound from this combination of prog rock,  metal, classical, and jazz influences.   I think that the accessibility of the music, despite its complexity, is not very common either.  I'm always trying to write stuff that has hooks but also a lot of deeper levels of music.  I think that comes across to the listener. 

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

Well,  since we have all been stuck inside quite a bit these days -- I ended up writing another full record worth of rough guitar  tracks.  So the fourth record should be out at the end of this year.  Right now though,  we should have a few new videos this year that I'm spending a lot of time on.  The first one for "Trapped"  will be out on July 27th and I have a new version of "Seasure"  in the works for a  2nd video I'm targeting for September.   Also -- I'm working on 2-person live show with Vince, one of the 2 drummers on the 3rd record.  The show will have video and tape elements as well.

Special thanks for them for this interview & lots of luck to them for their music. So until then I'll catch you on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!