Session Notes: M.A.R.S. - “Project: Driver”

The Project: Driver session was an opportunity that came about for me when the original guitarist Craig Goldy had departed the outfit to join forces with Ronnie James Dio. The band featured Tommy Aldridge on drums, Rudy Sarzo on bass and the vocals of Rob Rock. After a series of late phone calls from Rudy to my place in San Rafael, I decided to venture down to Los Angeles and try out for the band. Well the day finally came about and I went down and got the gig… whew! I relocated for quite a while to Rudy’s mansion in the Hills overlooking Mullholland Drive, where we would write music from the morning until well into the night - and I mean well into the night. After some time we moved the operation to Mates Rehearsal Studios in North Hollywood and began the task of auditioning singers one after another. Rob Rock became the singer, and coincidentally he is a friend of mine from the same area where I am from. But you know Tommy and Rudy were passing out no favors so it was a tough road for him - but he finally got the gig and we got the ball rolling.

We found ourselves again in Northern California at the the peaceful Prairie Sun Recording Studios rehearsing and recording what would become the Project: Driver release. It was at this time that I was introduced to the great late Bernie Rico who made me some of the best guitars I ever played over the years. Through my association with B.C. Rich guitars which he owned, I was introduced to Larry DiMarzio whose product I also endorsed and subsequently led to me outfitting all my guitars with the Super Distortion pickups. The previous year I had met Hartley Peavey and Len McRae so I already had a very good understanding of the Peavey Classic Combos that I had made into small heads. It made for a very unique tone that I really felt I could push to the limits. It was still a one dimensional sound for me when compared to where things would ultimately go, but still one of my favorite rigs.

We recorded the tracks in very typical rock‘n’roll fashion, which was to cut the drums first and then overdub guitars, bass and vocals last. I still enjoy listening to some of the songs we did today, like the ballad “You and I” and I also noticed that I was really beginning to embrace the actual recording process and let things come to me instead of being completely terrified of it like I was just a year earlier. I think this was due to the fact that I realized the impact that everything I did in the studio would have some meaning to those who actually brought and listened to these records. What happens is that when you work with other players in a combined effort of writing and recording material, you tend to open your ears more and rely more on the group feeling as opposed to a solo artist’s point of view. So rather than become overly concerned with notes and what I might think was not good enough at the moment of playing those notes, I learned to relax and become part of the whole group experience. I enjoyed receiving comments from Mike Varney (good and bad..haha) who produced many of those early recordings, who if it was not for, I would have perhaps found myself taking a completely different route to achieve the music goals that I had set for myself in the beginning. It was also our second effort together so there was this knowledge that we were building something that we all could call our own and we all had the freedom to communicate like friends at most times making the creative process a natural one.

In the end I will say it was a release I was very happy with at the time, but also one which made me long to return to the vision I had clearly seen a year earlier - and that would be to continue with Instrumental music. This choice was made easier when Mike Varney introduced me to Cliff Bernstein from Q-Prime Management and owner of Squawk Records. After Rudy and Tommy where asked to join Whitesnake and I was clearly planning to return to writing more instrumental music, the road to the next Edge of Insanity album was paved!

There was such a growth spurt for me from the Project: Driver release to the next which was named Maximum Security - one I owe very much to this learning curve and wonderful opportunity of music making with Rudy Tommy and Rob.

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