"Anyone who's into Nevermore will enjoy this album - the music is very much the same, just a little more focused on my guitar playing."

In the fall of 2008 Nevermore lead guitarist Jeff Loomis released his all-instrumental debut solo album, entitled "Zero Order Phase", which was a reason more than enough to get in touch with him and find out more about it...

Vassil Varbanov: Hey, Jeff, where are you at the moment?

Jeff Loomis: I'm at home, in Seattle, Washington.

V. V.: What is the weather like up there?

J. L.: Today it's actually sunny and beautiful - it's not raining as usual.

V. V.: How do you feel about releasing your first ever solo album, "Zero Order Phase"?

J. L.: It feels great! This is project I've wanted to do for a very long time. The opportunity came up when I had the free time to do it, as Nevermore is taking a little time off right now... So this was the perfect opportunity for me to do a record like this. By the way, we're starting working on the next Nevermore in a few weeks.

V. V.: Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane strongly recommended your solo CD to us a few weeks ago. Do you like his solo record?

J. L.: I like it very, very much. I think it shows a different side of Warrel, the music is a little bit different than Nevermore, but it's a solo record, so I think that's ok. He can do whatever he wants. So yes, I do enjoy the record. Besides, I played a solo on one song on it - "Messenger".

V. V.: You also have some guest guitarists on your record, like Ron Jarzombek of Watchtower and Pat O'Brien of Cannibal Corpse doing solos on two songs. Why? You yourself are a great guitarist...

J. L.: It was just an opportunity for me to work with a couple of musicians that I wanted to. I really enjoyed their guitar playing. As you know, Pat uses to be in Nevermore back in the mid-90's, and after he joined Cannibal Corpse we still stayed friends and I think he's a great player. As for Ron, I'm a fan of his since his early days, when he was in Watchtower, so I'm happy these guys agreed to play a couple of small solos on my record.

V. V.: If you had to form a 3G of extreme rock and metal, which guitarists would you choose?

J. L.: Oh, that's a tough question... If I manage to take this out on the road in the near future, it would be great to take the original musicians - Mark Arrington on drums, Ron would be great to join me on guitar, and as far as bass players go... I'm not sure yet.

V. V.: Ok, but I meant 3G - three guitarists.

J. L.: Oh, let's see... Me, Ron Jarzombek and... How about Marty Friedman?

V. V.: As far as I know, it was you who introduced Marty Friedman to Megadeth some 20 years ago...

J. L.: You remember his old band, Cacophony? I wanted to see them perform in Chicago. After their set I told them that I had just gotten back from California to audition for Megadeth myself, and Marty's eyes lit up and he said, "Wow, really?" He wasn't aware that Megadeth were looking for a guitar player, so I just let him know what was going on - I didn't have the responsibility of getting him in the band.

V. V.: A lot of people find instrumental albums boring. Where, according to you, an instrumental metal album starts to be interesting?

J. L.: I think the whole objective with the whole thing is to keep it exciting. Obviously there is no singing on this record at all, but this is something I wanted to do - to challenge myself if I can do something like this... I guest I'm just a really big fan of instrumental music - I have been one since I was a little kid and... Like I said, I think anyone who's into Nevermore will enjoy this album - the music is very much in the same realm, just a little more focused on my guitar playing.

V. V.: What's the best instrumental record of all time?

J. L.: I'd definitely name Jason Becker's "Perpetual Burn". Also Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force".

V. V.: We can hear that the producer of your solo CD, Neil Kernon, plays fretless guitar on the song "Cashmere Shiv". It reminds me a bit of Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects record...

J. L.: Wow... I own this one... Nobody has told me this so far... I take it as a compliment, because I'm a very big fan of Fredrik's playing.

V. V.: Finally, tell us something more about the forthcoming Nevermore album.

J. L.: We don't ever make plans about how our next record is going to be. We just sit down at a band practice and see what comes up.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock