With
a career that followed being born in the Mediterranean island of Ibiza
and then starting one of the first critically acclaimed rock bands
in Ibiza in the 80s, guitarist Max Goldston returned to the
U.S. and has since lead a intriguing musical career as an acoustic
guitar instrumentalist. Following a collection of guitar instrumentals
recorded between 1996 and 2005 entitled Western Age and a 2006
collaboration with Barcelona-based producer Antoni Colomar, Goldston
began working in the Vermont studio of Windham Hill Records founder
Will Ackerman. The results can be heard on Emancipation, Goldstons
2009 CD release. For anyone who doesnt know or remember, Will
Ackermans tenure as the head of Windham Hill yielded some of
the most meditative and atmospheric instrumental music of the mid
80s and early 90s and hes also the man who helped
craft the term New Age. Recording up at Ackermans Imaginary
Road studios, Goldston makes the most of the studios high tech
sound and comes out a winner with Emancipation. Few guitarists
today are as adept and proficient as Goldston when it comes to capturing
the Windham Hill guitar sound that Ackerman helped introduce with
his signings back then, including the late great Michael Hedges, Alex
DeGrassi and Ackerman himself. An essential spin for fans of the acoustic
guitar, Emancipation is a breezy acoustic guitar masterpiece
and will appeal to fans of the Windham Hill sound and beyond. Further
assisted by top sound engineer Corin Nelsen, Goldston makes
his Martin guitar ring out loud and clear on a solid CD that simultaneously
traces the legacy of the acoustic instrumental guitar sound while
bringing it forward into the future. One other point to mention is
the eye-catching artwork adorning the CD cover of of Emancipation,
to which Goldston comments, The cover design is a painting
called La Chica con Guitarra. The painter is Tom Provo,
an artist I met over in Ibiza years ago. He now resides in Blacksburg
Virginia and his many paintings are in some of the top art galleries
of the country. The design for the CD was done by graphic art designer
Angeles Diaz in Barcelona and the CD was manufactured by Discmakers.
www.MaxGoldston.com
MUSIC
WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents
Guitars Center Stage
Guitarists making waves in the music world, their new recordings and
gear!
an interview with MAX GOLDSTON
Musical Background
My
father was an author and my mother a classical pianist. In the 50s
they moved from New York to a small artist colony, an island in the
Mediterranean called Ibiza, where I was born. I grew up surrounded
by painters, dancers, actors, authors and musicians of all nationalities.
I started playing the drums at the age of 5 and the guitar at 11.
I was taught classical, blues, rock and jazz. I sat in at jam sessions
whenever possible with the adults and even performed with several
of them. When I came to the States, I formed an acoustic duo at Bard
College called Tim and Max, which had a large following. I went back
to Spain after college and formed an American/Spanish pop rock band
called Limites. We became very popular; by 1987 we were curtain-calling
the top bands in Spain. In 1991 I returned to the States and joined
back up with Tim and we started gigging all of the most important
venues in Atlanta and North Carolina. In '94 we opened up for Aztec2step
and also Acoustic Alchemy. When Tim and Max broke up (also known as
Bellows and Stone), I started to write my own instrumentals. Whistlin
was my first piece (written in 1997). It started me on the path to
discovering my own style and sound. Having listened extensively to
Will Ackerman and Michael Hedges, I started retuning my guitar more
and more. In 2005 I released my first homemade CD Western Age.
In 2006 I formed an internet collaboration called Aurum with Toni
Colomar in Barcelona which resulted in our 2007 release, Island
Lost.
New CD
In
2007 I sent a myspace friend invite to Will Ackerman. A few days later
when I checked my mail I had a reply from Will saying I heard
your stuff and enjoyed it very much. The doors to my studio are open
to you any time. During my meeting with Will, the CD was set
to be recorded late April at Imaginary Road Studios in Windham County
Vermont. It was engineered, mixed, and mastered by 2004 Grammy award
winning Corin Nelsen. It was recorded using Pro Tools HD at 24 bit/
96 kHz via Apogee converters. The mics were Klaus Heyne customized
Neumann KM 256s and U67s (4 mics) through Imaginary Roads custom
Hemingway mic preamps. I drove up to Vermont from Atlanta. The solitude
of a long trip and the isolation of the studio way up in the mountains
of Vermont were key to the whole experience. My first day at the studio
Corin put me at ease after my first hour of testing mikes and our
relationship of engineer / musician very quickly seemed as if it had
existed for years. Corin's advice was basically to get a great performance
with a live feel. Working with Corin was one of the most pleasant
musical experiences I have ever had. I felt like Corin and Will were
old friends I had known for years.
Favorite Guitars
A
few days before going up to record my CD at Will Ackermans I
had convinced myself that I should get a new guitar. With my limited
funds, I thought I would probably end up getting a new reasonably
priced, but somewhat reputable guitar. The model I had been really
chomping at the bit for was a Martin D16 GT but it was out of my price
range. I took a trip up to my local Guitar Center, strolled into the
acoustic guitar room and started checking out guitars. I tried a bunch
of them without much luck.
Eventually I went over to one of the private rooms they have at the
end of the gallery. As soon as I opened the door, hanging on the wall,
staring me in the face was a Martin D16 GT. And it was second hand
so it was well within my price range. I picked it up, examined it
and started playing it. After playing it for about half an hour and
loving it, I took it home with me, wondering all the way home who
at Guitar Center knew I was going up to record at Imaginary Road.
It just had to have been placed there for me on purpose! It is my
very favorite guitar and still to this day I cannot believe I bumped
into it right before my recording. It is a Martin D16 GT made in USA.
I use Martin Acoustic SP Light strings.
Musical Influences
My
strongest influences have been J.J. Cale and Michael Hedges but include
many other artists. My favorite albums amongst the many are J.J. Cale's
Naturally and Michael Hedges Strings of Steel.
After years of learning scales, theory, and music composition, that
all gets tossed aside when I compose. I retune my guitar to nonstandard
tunings so that my ear will be the one in charge. My tunings range
from DADGAD to AADF#AD.
Web Site
www.maxgoldston.com
www.myspace.com/maxgoldston