1. Please, tell us a little bit about your childhood and teens years back in Australia...

Did you start

to play guitar at the age of 7?

Yes, I started playing at the age of 7. I had 2 older brothers who were learning to play too and they
inspired me.

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2. Who were your main influences at that time? Did you listen lots of guitar music?

Hendrix, John Mayall and the Bluesbreaker, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Blind Faith,
Electric Flag, The Grateful Dead, stuff like that.

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3. Is it true that, when you were at age of 15, you almost gave up guitar to play keyboard? Because
you wanted to be the next Chick Corea!! By the way, I know that you are a very respectable
keyboard player.....

Yes, I discovered Corea when I was about 14 and I thought it was the best music for my tastes. I was
also frustrated with guitarists by that point because after about 7 years of playing I noticed that most
guitarists played the same three blues licks over and over again in every conceivable context. I was just
plain bored with guitar.

Corea and keyboardists and sax players just seemed light years more advanced harmonically speaking.
This prompted me to give up the guitar for 2 years. I was studying the Chick Corea Improvisations CDs
by ear and had quite a few pieces I could play by memory from those recording. I still love the piano
today, in fact I'm getting a grand piano very soon for my home. It's something I've wanted all my life
and I'm finally doing it. I want to get into it again.

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4. Do you think that it is important to a serious guitar player to know how to play a different
instrument??

I don't think you have to be able to play other instruments. I think it is important to understand what
other instruments can do if you write for these instruments. For me playing the piano inspires different
music to the music I write on guitar. In this sense I find it very useful. Every time I sit at a piano I write
something. I'm am very inspired by piano ( a real one that is ). I love my synthesizers too but nothing
compares to the sound of an 8 foot long string.

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5. You came to USA to study at GIT in 1983, when you were 23. What were your feelings at that
time?

I wanted to be where my favorite music was coming from. Everything I was listening to was recorded in
Hollywood and L.A. It was like a big magnet pulling me towards it. GIT was the only place I could go
to be able to stay in the US for a year. It was a bit of a culture shock for me. In Australia we don't have
cities with 20 area codes!!

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6. Tell us about your time at that school. If I'm right, you graduated with special honors,
"Student of the Year". Can you tell our readers what was your daily practice schedule and your
approach to studying guitar at that time?

I went crazy for the guitar. There were so many good players around in the school and in the clubs that I
was determined to be one of them. I routinely practiced 12 hour days. I had no life outside of guitar. I
was a sponge and absorbed as much as I could from DiOrio, Mock and Henderson, I even spent some
time with Joe Pass. It was a great time. I made some lifelong friends and I met people who I still work
with today. I spent a lot of time developing my sweep picking technique. I wrote the Speed Picking book
while I was still a student. When I graduated I was asked to teach ( which was great because I was
completely broke!) and went on to teach for 4 more years having the guitar in my hand for often 12 hour
days.

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7. How was it being invited to teach at M.I. right after finishing school? Can you tell us about the
teachers and people at that time?

I was very happy because I needed a job and to have a job playing and teaching was OK by me. Joe
DiOrio and Scott Henderson were teaching there and we used to spend many hours just jamming
together.

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8. Frank, about the gigs and sessions that you did when you came to US, did you feel any
difference in attitudes having come from Australia and did you plan to go back to Canberra
again?

I think that being from Australia at that time was an advantage because I had an accent that the
Americans found amusing and different. So even if they didn't remember my name they remember "the
Australian guy". Also at that time there was an Australian invasion of pop bands all doing extremely
well in the U.S. Bands such as Men At Work, AC/DC, Little River Band, Olivia Newton John, Midnight
Oil, INXS, just to name a few. Many Americans don't even realize that many of these bands are
Australian. I knew I would never go back to live in Canberra, although all my family is there, I knew I
was where I wanted to be.

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9. Before Chick Corea's gig, you were playing with Jean-Luc Ponty. How was the sound blend
between the violin and the guitar? Did you record with him??

Apart from Corea, Ponty was my equal favorite musician. I loved his sense of melody and clarity of
arrangements. I also loved the way his violin sounded. It was fatter and warmer sounding than anyone
else's violin. I think guitar and violin blend beautifully. I remember first hearing the album Aurora,
which is still on of my favorite albums. That's where I also discovered young Patrice Rushen's piano
playing ( I have been playing club gigs with her lately.. she's brilliant!). I also discovered Holdsworth
listening to Enigmatic Ocean which is another classic Ponty album. Incidentally, the drummer on
Enigmatic Ocean was Steve Smith (that was his first album ) who of course is the drummer in Vital
Information a group I have played and recorded with for 13 years. I worked with Ponty only for 3
months in the summer of 86. He was between record deals at the time. When the tour was over he said
he wouldn't be working for at least a year......that's OK for him, but I said I would love to play when you
do the next tour but in the meantime I need to work. It was during that year that I auditioned for Corea.

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10. Ok, I have to ask you this...can you tell us how Chick Corea approached you....like, how you
were invited to the audition, the phone call, your feelings, and the day after you got the gig?

I was doing my first album recording in L.A. with Jeff Berlin. We were making an album called Pump
It. We were recording in Mad Hatter studios which is Corea's studio. I was in awe just being in the room
where many of my favorite Corea albums were recorded. On the walls hung lots of original artwork
from his album covers. It was a 2-storey building with the studio on top and below, all of Chick's offices,
manager, secretaries etc.

One day I was packing my gear into my car and I noticed a woman come from the office, I said hello
and gave her my card and said " If Chick ever needs a guitarist for anything please let me know". That
woman was Evelyn Brechtlein wife of the great drummer Tommy Brechtlein, and she was Ron Moss'
secretary. Ron Moss is Chick's manager. Anyway, a couple of months I received a call for an audition. I
couldn't stop jumping up and down with excitement.

I had been to a concert a year before of the new Elektric Band trio with Scott Henderson. We enjoyed
the group very much but thought it would sound better with a guitar player. Well within 2 years of
saying we had both been in the band.

The audition was great. I only played one song and Chick jumped up from the piano and shook my hand
and said that my amp would point across the stage at such and such an angle...I felt I already had the gig.
I think he knew I had listened to him with a passion for my entire life. I'm just glad I gave up the piano
and got back to the guitar, thanks to my brother Nunzio because one thing Corea doesn't need
is...another piano player!!

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11. How was the relationship with Chick, I mean, harmonically and solos, did he write every note
or were you free to improvise a lot on the albums?

Chick trusted my abilities. In one of the early rehearsals I asked him about a harmonic concept for a
passage of a song, and when I asked him he was deeply surrounded by keyboards and having some midi
complications...he said " Frank, if I didn't trust your musical abilities, you wouldn't be here...I leave all
the guitar decisions to you...I already have my hands full with the keyboard stuff!". That was cool. Corea
did write all the music, the arrangements were perfect, I wouldn't want to change a note. The solo
sections were all improvised of course.

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12. Why did you leave Chick's gig. You were in the group about 7 years, right?

I left because I wanted to play my music. That's it really. I played Chick some stuff from my latest
album at that time ( The Great Explorers ) and he was blown away, he just loved it. He actually
encouraged me to go out there and play my music. So that's what I did. He said that I was his favorite
guitarist and I said he was my favorite piano player. And that was it.

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13. What your opinion about the other guitar players that played with Chick Corea after you...

Well, after me as far as I know there was only Mike Miller. He was one of the four guitar players that
auditioned when I did, so he got his chance to play with the great CC. Mike's a fine player.

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14. You are a prolific and incredible composer. Your albums always are very unique pieces of
work, can you tell us a little bit about the composer side of Frank Gambale?

I love to write. It took a long time for me to like my own compositions. It's difficult to come to a point
where you feel comfortable with your own music when you've been listening all your life to the brilliant
works of some of your favorite musicians. You always compare yourself. Now I don't really do that
anymore. I write what I write and hope that people like it. The market for my music is small, and so I
know that those who do listen to my music expect a high standard and interesting chord changes and a
high level of soloing. That's what I do. I try to find strong melodies that can be sung, and then create
solo sections with interesting solo changes to play over. I don't like to write something that's like anyone
else or for commercial gain, I wish to be true to the music, art for art's sake. My music is difficult to
describe and record companies have a hard time selling it and the main radio stations won't play it, but
that's OK. I still won't deviate from making what I consider good music. It's not music for everybody,
but it's what I love to do. I won't compromise.

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15. And about the composition process from the new album "Coming To Your Senses, for me the
songs are the best that youíve ever written, and this is not easy! I particular love "Circular Quay",
"Salvador Once more" (nice title!) and "Land of the Leal". You must have been really inspired!!

Coming to Your Senses is probably the most relaxed I have been writing and recording an album. I guess
I have reached a point where I am confident in my abilities as a writer and player. The music flowed
freely and the musicians were enthusiastic. It's interesting the diverse opinions out there when it comes
to music. On my website (www.frankgambale.com) I have a bulletin board for people to comment. Not
long ago I had somebody who thought the song "Circular Quay" was the worst thing they had ever
heard...boring etc. and at the same time you think it's one of your favorites. This all leads me to believe
that I must be strong in myself. I must follow my own thinking and not be distracted by what other
people think. If I think a song is good, then I trust my own judgment. That's all anyone can do. Whether
people like it or not doesn't matter, it's something I will do anyway. It's the same as watching television,
if you don't like a program, you switch channels. I don't force people to listen to my music, they listen if
they want to. I am very proud of this latest album.

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16. How was it working with different drummers on the new album? You have Mark Schumman,
Ray Brinker, Joel Taylor and Enzo Todesco playing thru the CD!!!!

It's important to try to use the right people for the right song. I chose those drummers on their strengths
in a particular style. Ray is a great jazz drummer, and Mark is a great groove drummer. That's not to say
they can't play other styles, they can, but that's where their strength is.

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17. Can you tell us about how IBANEZ approached you to develop the first FG model??

Ibanez had designed a new guitar that they needed to have someone endorse. I had just started with
Corea. I saw the guitar and I liked it. I thought it could use some improvements and that's what
eventually became my model. The standard S-guitar with changes to my taste.

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18. Why did you leave IBANEZ after so many years???

They were doing some things I considered unethical, especially after 13 years of loyal service. I walked
out on the contract and as far as I'm concerned, I am now happier and way better off at Yamaha.

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19. About your new home, YAMAHA, is it the new guitar ready? We are very excited about it.

The great thing about the new Yamaha guitar is that I designed the shape of this guitar. We started from
nothing. I believe we have created a fantastic guitar. Yamaha allowed me to do anything I wanted
( within reason ) and I have been able to do things that Ibanez wouldn't do because they didn't want to
pay to have the factory change stuff. I am very much into detail and every detail on the new Yamaha is
to my liking. It will be released at the Summer NAMM show in Nashville in July. I'm still waiting for
own one. All the prototypes I have seen had to be sent to Japan. I have played them and made comments
and had to part with it each time. I'm very excited. Guitar players will know how good this instrument is
as soon as they play it. There's also a new tuning system on it called Fretwave. The first 2 frets are
modified to compensate the tuning of the instrument. It is so much more in tune than standard
instruments.

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20. You are one of the most business-wise expert guitar players in the world, can you tell our
young guitar players what is your vision of this side of a career in music? I mean, you have
experience with contracts, fees, percentages, etc, tell us of the importance of all these things.

I have signed my share of bad contracts. It's something I have learned from experience. It has been my
experience that most record companies, publishers, video companies will all try and do everything they
can to exploit you and in a lot of cases flat out rip you off. What musicians tend to forget is that record
companies are NOTHING without artists. So maybe you sign a contract for one record after which, if
things go great, you can change percentages etc. It's pretty scary signing a 7 album deal if you don't
understand the fine print. I've started my own record company called Wombat Records. It's small, but I
can do whatever I want, musically, and I don't need to beg a record company to put it out. I'm releasing a
double-live CD this year and a duet record I did with a fine Italian Classical guitarist called Maurizio
Colonna. I have plans for many more project albums for Wombat Records.

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21. Let's talk about equipment, can you tell us your current set-up? Do you have one set-up for
studio and one for live gigs, or is it the same?

I usually use similar gear in the studio as I do live. If it sounds good live it usually sounds good in the
studio too. I have used the TC Electronic G-Force for a while and it is fantastic. A JMP-1 Marshall
preamp, a Stewart power amp and Marshall 4x12 with vintage Celestion speakers. Lately I've been
using the new Yamaha DG130 amps, they sound terrific. I'm trying to get them to make a preamp
version of the DG130 head because I prefer using P.A. amplifiers for big headroom. I've tried some
power amps made for guitar and they're just a joke to me. If it's less than 250 watts a side, you may as
well use a combo guitar amp because you won't gain any headroom that way. If you use an amp that was
designed for a P.A. system, you run it on about 1/2 for excellent results. That way you can have loud and
clear, or distortion or whatever you want.

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22. What kind of guitars , amplifiers, effects did you use to record "Coming to your Sensesî?. The
guitar sounds and variety/colors of tones is pretty amazing.

A lot of my tone has to do with my engineer Bob Biles. He brings his Nieve mic pre's to all the
recording session. He has tube compressors also that add to the tone. Guitar-wise I used my FGM-400
for most of the album, on Land of the Leal and Salvador Once More I used a Parker Fly, and some of the
acoustic guitars were my Takamine classical and a Yamaha Compass for the steel string stuff. I used a
Carvin Legacy amp on Mirage Mystery but most of the album was done using the G-Force, JMP-1 and
Stewart set up.

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23. Do you always record with Bob Biles?

I have been working with Bob since my 2nd album. He's a brilliant engineer and a good friend. I can't
imagine recording with anyone else. I would wait till he is available to work with him. He has recorded
everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Earth, Wind and Fire.

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24. Andre Martins is a young guitar player who is now back to Brazil, collaborating with us in the
magazine. We know that he worked as an assistant for you after he graduate LAMA, and worked
for you in the sessions for "Coming To Your Senses. How was it working with a young Brazilian
guitar player having someone from a different culture working close to you? (for our readers, an
opportunity like this is really like a dream...)

Andre was one of my students at the L.A.Music Academy. After a year with him I found him to be very
devoted to his instrument and very honest and hard-working. So I hired him to help me with errands and
busy work, mostly driving around town and mailing and general stuff. He was great. I don't care where
someone comes from, if you're a nice person, you're a nice person, no matter where you're from. As far
as opportunity goes, I feel the same way about that. You have to place yourself within reach of an
opportunity. I would never have played with Ponty and Corea if I had never gone to the U.S.A. It was
the best thing I ever did.

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25. You are the first one to sign with FAVORED NATIONS, the new Steve Vai label. How do you
feel leaving a huge company like JVC to go to smaller, but more specialized label? Do you still
have worldwide distribution???

I have got to know Steve Vai over the last year or so. He is fine human being, very sincere and honest
and friendly. I like his label. For one thing I don't have to convince him that I can play. I also don't have
to convince him that my music is good...he listens to my album in his car, he said he rarely does that.
The label is new but I believe in it. They have distribution throughout the U.S. and Europe with plans to
cover other places too such as Brazil.

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26. What do you think about all the MP-3 stuff? Lots of artists are going to the web to sell music
online...Do you intend to do the same??

I am curious about MP-3. It seems to me that people who like MP-3 want music for free. People don't
seem to like to pay for music much anymore. The artist needs to see some return and so do record
companies otherwise music doesn't get produced.

I may add a few MP-3 files to my website soon to see how they go, but they won't be free. Short clips
may be free just to get the idea. I think it's important not to get left behind with new formats. Me
personally, I still like to hold the cover in my hand and have something tangible.

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27. I know that you recently negotiated the rights to the Legato Catalog, to return your early
albums to the market on your own record label WOMBAT RECORDS. Whatís it like having
your own label?

I purchased the rights back for my first 3 records Brave New Guitar, A Present For The Future and Live.
I wasn't able to do that with the JVC albums which have been licensed to a new company, I'm not sure
who they are. I'm a little worried about the fate of my JVC work because I don't know if this new
company will re-release all the five titles.

Having my own label is fantastic because the product that comes out on that label will be owned by me
and no record company will play God with my music. I want my music to be available and in print at all
times, that's my aim. Also, I can put out anything I want, when I want, budget permitting.

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28. Will Wombat Records record/distribute other projects, other guitar players albums? Do you
have an address for guitar players from Brazil send material to you???

That's something I'll think about in the future. Right now, Wombat Records was set up to be a vehicle for
my own musical projects.

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29. Why didnít you release "Coming To Your Senses" on Wombat ?

I wanted Vai's label to have that album because they have bigger budget, marketing and distribution than
I have for Wombat. Wombat will begin as a small label with me and my wife Tanya running it. It may
grow in the future but for now, it's just for me to realize any project that I dream of.

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30. Let1s talk about your technique. You are recognized worldwide to be an incredible guitar
player, fast and accurate, but still have all the melodic/harmonically phrasing... in others words,
you know how to play the right note on the right time. What was the importance of technique in
the past and is it still important today to you?

I always tell people that I never practice technique. If you practice only technique, then that is all you
will have in the end. Practicing music is what's important. The technique is secondary to music. Now
that's not to say that a musical idea is not difficult to play. A two octave arpeggio is hard to play to
sounds good. So work on things that sound interesting and musical that are also technically challenging.

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31. Can you talk a little about sweeping? Lots of people associate you with this technique, where
did you get the idea to incorporate this technique into your playing or who did you listen to to get
the idea. Was it something that just appeared in your mind?

The basic idea for sweeping has been around for many years it's just that nobody did anything with that
idea. Most guitarists thought that sweeping was impossible. Especially playing it in time. Well, I never
believe that anything is impossible, it's really hard, but not impossible. I developed it because I loved
how logical it was. Why pick 33 times when you can play the same thing but pick only 15 times?? It
seemed obvious to me. I took the idea to the moon and blew open the flood gates and now everyone has
accepted sweeping as a legitimate way to play guitar. Before me, that wasn't true of sweeping. It is all
well documented in my Speed Picking book and Monster Licks and Sweep Picking video.
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32. Frank, you are a very unique kind of guitar player. You have gained fans all over the world by
playing a very high quality music. People who like jazz and fusion love you, and also people who
like more rock and fast playing oriented music. How you see yourself in this field with these mix
of styles?

I think a lot of rock players like my playing too because it's interesting to them, especially the sweeping.
I am definitely a mixture of rock and jazz which results in the word fusion. I like the power of the rock
sound with the intellect of jazz. Just because I play jazz doesn't mean it has to be wimpy, or if someone
plays rock, it doesn't have to lack cool changes and interesting harmony! That's what I try to mix.

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33. You are preparing to record the 2nd Vital Information album, tell us a little about this project.

It's not the 2nd V.I. album. I have recorded at least 10 albums with those guys ( Steve Smith drums, Tom
Coster organ, and Baron Browne bass ). The last album we did called "Where We Come From" won
Jazz Album of 1998 by the Indie Association in the U.S. It's widely regarded as the Independent
Grammy. We have just finished a follow up studio album called "Show 'Em Where You Live" which will
be out later this year. We also have a double live album out in about 2 months recorded around the world
last year. Great music and a great band, that's why we've been playing together over 13 years now.

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34. And about your trio with Steve Smith and Stu Hamm??? I think that the "Show me what you
can do" album is one of the most unbelievable guitar /instrumental albums of the century! How
was it making that album? Did you have time to rehearse much?

Thanks. Again some people love that album, some don't. Personally I think it's some of the best playing
I've ever recorded. The whole album was written and recorded in 9 days. We started with a few scraps
for ideas and each day we wrote, rehearsed and recorded a tune. It was an incredible burst of creativity
and I'm very proud of that. We have also just finished a follow up to that which will be out soon on Tone
Center Records called "The Light Beyond". It's a little different to the first one, but equally ferocious.

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35. Can you tell us about LAMA and your guitar curriculum? Is LAMA the GIT that doesnít exist
anymore???

L.A. Music Academy ( LAMA ) is a new school, we have been open almost four years. I always wanted
to open a school because I have very strong views about education in music and wanted to have a place
to teach music with that view. I didn't have the time to start a school. I met Han-Peter Bercker, who is a
PIT graduate. He disliked the way GIT was being run and thought he could do it better. He went back to
his native Germany and now has about 20 small schools in Germany. His dream was to have a great
school in Los Angeles and that's when he contacted me to be head of the guitar dept. and to write the
curriculum. It was a big job. I wrote a one year course for Harmony and Theory, Composition,
Technique and Improvisation. I love the atmosphere at our school. It is still small and the students really
learn a lot because we care very much about the students understanding of music.

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36. Frank, you are very recognized here in Brazil by your educational side. Your books and videos
are reference for almost every guitar player here. Do you think that those who can teach well will
be a better guitar player?
I think it's important for the teacher to really understand before teaching someone else. Also, the teachers
attitude is also a big part of a student learning. I'm happy that the guitar players in Brazil have and are
using my books. There are many books and videos on the market. Unfortunately a lot of the material out
there does more harm than good. I've always tried to maintain a high standard whether it's music or
music education.

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37. What are the subjects (reading, theory, technique, improvisation,....) that you think that are
most important for a younger guitar player to practice?? Can you make a simple practice
schedule for our readers??

I think it's important to always be learning. If you don't know what to play on an E7#9 chord, then that's
what you should practice. Find the scale, harmonize it, learn it's arpeggios, it's pentatonics and play with
the notes. Sometimes if you sit for 10 minutes without the guitar just to decide what you are going to
learn in your practice time, that's good. If you can play over an Emin7 chord, move on, it will still be
there when you get back. The bottom line is Quality time is more important the Quantity time.

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38. Frank, thanks so much for the interview. We are very excited about it. You are one of the most
loved guitar players here in Brazil. Do you have some final words that you might want to say to
your fans, plans to play in Brazil, workshops, seminars?

I just want to say that I love Brazil. I love many of the traditional music forms in Brazil that lately seem
to be invaded by American pop and rap idioms. Samba is still one of my favorite forms of music. Some
of the Brazilian harmony is some of the best and most interesting I've ever heard, I hope this tradition
continues. I hope to come to Brazil around January next year to play. I can't wait. I love the audiences in
Brazil, so warm and appreciative.

Peace and love,

Frank G