Tuesday, February 14, 2017

5 Questions w/ Alan Kelly

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. 

OR you can read it on FACEBOOK if you like.

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