Here is a short little Q&A with our founding father, Mr. Alan Kelly.
1. What put you on the road that led to what became Seven
Hard Years?
Alan - After Shy had run its course I moved to Cornwall,
England in 2000. I continued to write a lot of my own material and after a
while I decided that I should do something with it. So I set out to try and get
a record deal to release my own CD. Enter Roy Davis (ex-Shy, himself) and
Lynchburg Music.
2. Prior to Seven Hard Years, you gained notoriety as a
drummer. When did you start playing keyboards and guitar?
Alan - Even while I was in Shy I dabbled on keyboards and
guitar and had my own recording set up at home. Although I didn’t really know
what I was doing with the musical instruments, I knew what I wanted and just
messed around until it sounded right. It wasn’t until I moved to Cornwall and I
took up guitar that my writing really began to improve. I got to the stage
where I could write, play and record all my own instruments without having to
rely on anyone else’s help or influence.
3. How did you meet Shawn Pelata (vocalist)?
Alan - We got in contact via Myspace if I recall. I listened
to some of the songs he was doing with Line Of Fire and really liked the sound
of his voice and I thought this is the voice I would like to have as lead
vocals on my own material. I realized that even though I could do passable lead
vocals and passable lead guitar if I seriously wanted to compete with other
rock albums that were being released I needed to up my game and enlist the help
of some genuine talent so I tapped up Shawn for some vocals.
4. When you write songs, do you get lyrics or music first?
Alan - Mostly I get the music first. Messing around on the
guitar I will come up with a riff or two, record it and then put some rough
lyric / melody idea over it and see how it works. I will usually mess around
back and forward like that until I have a complete song. On the odd occasion
lyric / melody ideas just come to me in
the middle of the night and I have get up and write them down so I don’t forget. Sometimes I’ll get a musical idea when I’m out
somewhere and I have to hum it into my phone recorder until I can get the chance
to record it properly.
5. What are your three favorite bands?
Alan – It’s a weird thing that I really don’t listen to that
much music these days as I’m nearly always recording some project or other and
I tend to listen to that. In my youth I used to listen to whatever was the
latest thing to come out and I was heavy influenced by bands like UFO, MSG,
Journey, Bryan Adams etc. My tastes have changed a little over the years and
now I like bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Alter Bridge and even The Used. I
love their approach to song writing and the fantastic production. If it’s
powerful has a decent melody and production then I’m pretty much going to like
it.
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