MGS - We are here with Al Estrada guitarist with the countries premiere Roth
era Van Halen tribute band. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Al ,
I was floored when I watched the videos on your site www.eruptiononline.com
AE – Cool, glad you liked the videos. We are editing some new footage right
now that includes our new singer, we hope to have some new clips up within
the next week or two. The audio and video clips are just a small
representation of what the band is like, the sound is much better when
you’re there in person.
MGS - How did you first get into music? When did VH come into the picture?
AE – I started playing guitar around 1977 and of course VH came on to the
scene around 1978 with the 1st album so it was a no brainer that Eddie would
be a big influence on myself growing up as well as every other rock guitar
player at the time. I was lucky enough to see VH on their 1st tour and to
this day it was one of the greatest concerts of all time for me.
MGS - I grew up a huge van of VH also. Was it tough to find other members
that had the same goal as you?
AE – Not really, I’ve been friends with the guys in the current lineup for a
long time and we all have a lot of the same influences and the same favorite
bands in common with VH being thee favorite. Eric Smith is the bass player
who also plays guitar himself so Eddie and Van Halen music has been one of
his favorites. Michael Thompson, the drummer has played with me in various
cover bands and we’ve always included VH in our setlists so it was a perfect
match to have him on board. Our new singer Brad Mcguire is a big VH and Dave
fan also, how could you not be a fan of the David Lee Roth the greatest
frontman of all time. It makes it easy when you love the band that you’re
paying tribute to.
MGS - Has it always been Van Halen or did you have other influences? I gotta
tell you, your technique, tone and look are VERY close to the real thing
back in the day. I hate to say it but compared to now you do Eddie better
than Eddie.
AE - Well besides listening to all of the Roth Era studio albums I’ve
listened to many audio and video bootlegs of the band. Live is where Eddie’s
playing really shined so I do my best to try to capture the live feel that
he had back in the early days. Besides Van Halen my other guitar influences
include Gary Moore back when he was doing the “rock” thing not so much his
blues era, loved his tone and aggressive style. Uli Roth the early Scorpions
guitarist was also one of my favorites, killer vibrato and great feel, I had
the pleasure of meeting him this year after one of his shows and I even
covered one of his Scorpion’s era songs “Sun in My Hand” on my solo
instrumental CD “Riffage”. I’m also a big Allan Holdsworth fan, the guy is
just incredible I can see where EVH was also influenced by him especially
around the 1984 era with the wide intervals and legato technique. Besides
those guys I love other players like Schenker, Dimeola, Lukather, Satriani,
Lynch….
MGS - Can you explain what you are doing at the beginning of Atomic Punk
effects wise and technique wise?
AE – It’s the magic of the MXR Phase 90! Just rubbing the strings with the
palm side of my right hand while muting the strings with the left hand and
setting the Phase 90 at a slow speed. The Phase 90 was a huge part of
Eddie’s tone for the early era stuff, that and occassional step of the MXR
Flanger.
MGS - Can you give us a complete breakdown of your live gear including all
effects, amps, and the parts used on the VH guitars?
AE – The guitar rig is pretty simple, the guitar plugs into my pedal board
which includes a Reissue MXR Phase 90, Reissue MXR Flanger and a Fulltone
tape echo then straight into a 100 watt SPLAWN Quick Rod
(www.Splawnguitars.com) then out to 2 4x12 cabs loaded with 2 EVM12L’s in
each cab, I’m currently experimenting with some different celestion and
eminence speakers, I usually run a cab on each side of the stage and play
very loud!. I’ve recently ditched my TC 2290 delay for the Fulltone tape
echo, the Fulltone is the modern day version of the Maestro Echoplex which
Eddie used in the early days.
The main guitar I use is a replica of Eddie’s red guitar with the black and
white stripes. It’s a hard ash body and maple neck both made by Warmoth
(www.warmoth.com) it has a original Floyd Rose with the D-tuna and the
pickup is a Seymour Duncan custom shop EVH model (www.seymourduncan.com)
This guitar was given to me as a birthday gift by the guys in ERUPTION and
painted by Eric, the bass player, he did a great job and got every little
detail of Eddie’s original guitar. I also have a 2nd EVH replica of Eddie’s
white guitar with the black stripes, this one has the same specs as above
except that the body is swamp ash instead of hard ash. I also have a 3rd
guitar in the works which is the replica of Eddie’s bumble bee strat guitar,
black with the yellow stripes, it is currently being built by John Suhr and
Suhr Guitars (www.suhrguitars.com) can’t wait for this one!
MGS - What is the setting on your delay?
AE – It’s roughly around 320 milliseconds, the Fulltone tape echo doesn’t
give a readout so you have to approximate it by ear. It’s just a slap with
maybe 2 repeats and very little echo volume.
For “Cathedral” I crank the echo volume so it’s even with the dry signal.
MGS - Did you build the guitars you use?
AE – Bodies and necks bought from Warmoth then I usually have Joel Grant of
Grant Guitars assemble and set up the guitar, I’ll do little tweaks like
swapping out pickups, action and neck adjustments myself.
MGS - What the in funniest and coolest thing that has ever happened to you
guys live?
AE – Well the funniest would have to be at a show with our previous singer.
He wore a wig and was rocking out next to our bass player, all of a sudden
the headstock of the bass ripped his wig right off! It was classic, you
couldn’t help but not laugh and without missing a beat he picks it up off
the floor and continued on with the show -now that’s rock and roll!! As far
as cool things well it doesn’t get much cooler than just playing the
greatest rock songs and guitar riffs of the greatest band of all time, other
than that having half-naked women come up and dance on stage with the band
is pretty cool! It sure doesn’t suck, it’s a tough job but someone’s gotta
do it -ha, ha….
MGS - Do you find it harder to book a tribute act or is it easier than a
regular cover band?
AE- Booking a tribute act is a little tougher, only because the venues are
somewhat limited especially locally, a regular cover band can pretty much
play anywhere where as a our tribute band prefers to play venues with good
size stages, decent p.a. and lighting this way we can put on the best show
possible and not come off as a lounge act. On the other hand a tribute band
can be a little more viable as far as booking shows out of state, the demand
for tributes has increased and it makes it possible for a band like us to
travel outside of California.
MGS - What do you enjoy doing at home when not gigging?
AE – When not gigging, musically I spend my time writing and recording my
original instrumental music, you can check it out at www.AlEstrada.com I’ve
just released my 3rd CD this year called “Riffage” it was released on a
independent label called GrooveYard Records. In my free time I’ll catch up
on some movies or watch some tv, I’ll ocassionally catch a concert if anyone
good is in town. I also enjoy running and working out, I like to keep
healthy.
MGS - You guys just picked up a new singer?
AE – Yes Brad Mcguire, the guy has got some pipes!! He has the Dave look and
personality which made him a perfect fit for the band. He has a lot of vocal
experience and is also a guitar player so he understands music, rhythm and
harmony. He has previously been in a few original signed acts including
Bedwild and Sycoman.
MGS - Any Eddie songs that still baffle you how to play? Im guessing no but
I thought I would ask.
AE – No not really, I would have to say that the song “Top Jimmy” was one of
the last songs that I learned and is a little tricky to play only because of
the weird alternate tuning it uses. We actually played it a few times with
ERUPTION at shows and it’s a lot of fun, the only bummer is that it requires
a extra guitar specifically tuned for that song. I think it was one of the
only songs that Van Halen never played live.
MGS - Any close encounters with any VH guys?
AE – I got to meet Eddie very briefly once, it was at a TOTO show at the
Whisky in Hollywood around ’91 or ’92? I just shook his hand and told him
that I played guitar and that he was a big influence on my playing. He was
there with his wife and I know he’s buddies with Steve Lukather who I’m also
a fan of. I also got to meet Jeff Beck that same night, Jeff was very cool,
a little more approachable. I’ve seen Michael Anthony around town at a
restaurant having dinner with his wife and kids but I didn’t want to bother
him, he lives in the city of Glendora I believe, not too far from where I
live. Our bass player Eric has hung out with Michael Anthony a little at the
river near Lake Havasu he seems like a very down to earth guy.
MGS - In wrapping up and cool stories from the road you’d like to share or
any shout outs?
AE – Just like to invite everyone out to the shows. If you’re a fan of Dave
era Van Halen music come and check us out and say hi. We’ve got some big
shows coming up in Vegas and a casino near Phoenix and we’re usually playing
in the Los Angeles area a few times a month, check out our schedule page on
our website at www.EruptionOnline.com , we hope to see everyone there.
MGS - Thanks again Al we really appreciate your time and insight.
AE – Anytime, it was my pleasure.
