Artist promotion is one of the central things that we tend to focus on and since Shipwreck Island has grown more and more with each passing day we've attracted quite the attention over the past year from both music fans and artists themselves. Now with all the success this site has had our emphasis has always been to make sure all the musicians that we support get the finest promotion while at the same time making sure that each artist featured gets an equal amount.

Independence seems what more established musicians are seeking now of days, the freedom to write, record, and release an album on their own dime without having constraints from a label such as having a hit single or putting out a disc where the record company decides what goes on it. Throughout his career Robert Valdes has been a striving artist trying to get ahead while at the same time adding his own contribution to the rock music community; now in 2005 Valdes has returned with Acoustic Journey - a CD that brings his talents as a masterful storyteller and musician full circle making this release quite simply one of the best of the year. 

Picture Courtesy Of www.acousticjourney.com

Island: With the release of Acoustic Journey it sees yourself expanding on musicianship and really brings a new dimension to your career. So for Robert Valdes how did the decision come about to record an acoustic album? Also it’s clear that this release pulls on the emotions as many of the tracks are you and the acoustic guitar as this is a bit of a departure from your hard rock background – was it difficult to go and record an acoustic album without having a dominant electric guitar presence or was this an album you’ve been wanting to record for quite a while now?

Robert: I recorded an acoustic track for an upcoming tribute album for one of the producer's I work with regularly. It was this track, FACE that got me excited about doing something acoustically. And because the vocal range of that song was not a norm for me, I really liked the sound of my voice in the lower ranges. Typically, the metal albums would find me singing soprano. I actually had to relearn how to sing tenor. With respect to the project itself, I thought it was going to be easy in that the first version of FACE was done on an electric thru an acoustic emulator. I thought, how cool and figured it would be a matter of weeks to do an album like this. It didn't take long to discover that this sound (the sound of an electric thru an acoustic emulator) would not work for an entire CD.

Island: Recording an acoustic album always involves a certain amount of risk. For example in 2003 Bon Jovi recorded an acoustic greatest hits and basically reworked some of their most famous songs into an album that left some questioning the band’s approach to recording the album (Jovi basically recorded the album in a few months). Now I’m not trying to pigeon hole Bon Jovi as they are a band that still has some great qualities but I tend to think that taking the time to put out a quality disc is a must. So from reading the news section of www.robertvaldes.com it took more then a year or two for Acoustic Journey to go from idea to having a CD of 12 amazing tracks. What was the writing and recording process like and how did you approach this project?

Robert: Bon Jovi and I do have this one thing in common. We can basically do whatever we want. With Bon Jovi, they are an industry standard. I remember when they first came out. I knew they were higher quality than all the other hair metal acts of that time. It was not surprising that they went on to sell millions and are one of the few remaining 80's acts that can still make money. When they released IT'S MY LIFE and made somewhat of a comeback they sealed their fate in the history books. Today, they can basically do whatever they want regardless of trends. They really don't have anything to lose at this point and after making the comeback that they made, I'm sure they are feeling pretty invincible. As for me, well let me put it to you this way. I had an on going joke with my wife with respect to going Acoustic, and the joke basically was, "I really hate to piss off all 12 of my fans". Get it? My listener base is such that I really don't have to worry. As a matter of fact, if anything, I'll pickup more listeners by appealing to a wider audience by going Acoustic. But since my re-entry into the music biz in the late 90's, the intent was to make music that pleases and fulfills my need to create. Not to cater to any particular genre. Bottom line, I just do whatever music comes from the heart and if people like it, great. If not, then I can still rest knowing I made music from my soul without having to stress about making a gold record.

Island: On this album fans get to hear you pay tribute to two of your favorite artists – Dave Meniketti (Y&T) and Winger. Now covering another musician’s work is a tough call because many listeners will love or hate another musician’s take on songs as powerful as Winds Of Change and Miles Away but that is one thing I noticed that your renditions are nearly spot on in both delivery and emotion as you have done a superb job of capturing both of these tracks. What was your frame of mind going into recording these songs and what are your thoughts on the final product?

Robert: Before I get into that, I must point out that FACE is one of my favorite Warrant songs and is the third cover on the CD. It's fairly unknown because it was released in the mid 90's. But it is a great song and one that I truly enjoyed covering. I must thank Brian at Sharkbite, not only for his continued patronage (of hiring me for tribute projects), but also for introducing me to this song. It is this song, and they way that my voice sounded singing it, that got me excited about doing the acoustic project. I have the original version on my website under the 'bonus' tracks section available to anyone who buys the cd. With respect to Y&T, Dave Meniketti is a living legend and has a profound impact on my career. Growing up in the Bay Area, I was fortunate enough to see the inception and emergence of this great act. I have fond memories of the "Old Waldorf Days", where my friends and I would watch Y&T from our 'dinner seats' at the club. A joke my friends and I had was that, we didn't have to shower before the show because we would get soaked from Dave's sweat anyway, so way bother.... One quick little story for you. Dave had this blistering solo piece where he would shred for about 15 minutes on his LES Paul. One time during a flurry of notes, I reached up and switched his toggle from lead to the rhythm pickup. And because he keeps the rhythm pickup on zero volume (because of this toggle effect he uses), it basically stopped him in his tracks. I can still hear the sound of the echoplex echoing the notes once the guitar was off. It took him a second to realize what happened. He smiled, switched back to the lead pickup and started jamming again. Anyway, back to your question. Winds of Change is one of my favorite songs of all time. So I made a conscience effort to cover the song from memory, not by listening to it again to refresh. So there are some words that are wrong because I didn't it from memory recall. Also, I added what I call, "Meniketti-isms" on the lead vocals purposely. Not to mock him so much as to honor his vocal style. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a comedian, so I practiced impersonations. I got really good at mimicking different voices. This experience has carried into my music when I attempt to sing like a particular person. For instance, the Winger song. My voice has some natural characteristics of Kip Winger, but for the cover, I added extra "Kip-ness" to the performance, the same as I did with the Y&T. For the Warrant tune, I did not try to sound like Jani Lane. But I did follow the basic melody he originally sang. Looking back, I am pleased with the outcome of all the cover tunes. I didn't do them to get out of writing new songs as some might think. I actually left some originals off the new CD to make room for the covers. I believe that they fit well on the disc and am sure listeners will agree.

Island: It seems that many guitarists started learning to play guitar on the acoustic first yourself included in this elite bunch. As I stated in my review for Acoustic Journey most ideas for a general structure of a song will mostly start out on the acoustic guitar. What is your preference - Acoustic or Electric?

Robert: In my case, my neighbor had an acoustic guitar that I took an interest in and began to play. This was just as I was losing interest in playing drums. Eventually, they gave me the guitar so I wouldn't have to go there all the time. The action was so high that I gained much of my strength at that time. When I finally got my first electric, the strings felt like butter and I had great dexterity. Thru the years, most my writing was done on acoustic because I would go outdoors and sit and play. With Out Of The Shadows, most of it was written on electric with the exception of a few songs that I already had in the library that was written on acoustic. Often times, whatever happens to be close by if I get inspired is the instrument the song is conceived on. I generally write music first. When the music is written, I already have the melody of the vocal. For Acoustic Journey, I struggled with lyrics because I can't sit down and write them. They have to come to me the same way the music does. So many times, I am just waiting for the inspiration and when it comes, I am ready to answer the call....

Island: A few weeks back John Waite was on Rockline and he quoted Bruce Springsteen in saying that if your songs don’t sound good acoustically then how can you expect to work a crowd? What are your thoughts on this philosophy?

Robert: I totally agree. Problem is, I didn't learn this until recently. You see, through out much of my career, I considered myself a lead guitar player. So much so that the song didn't really matter. The song was there so I could have a solo. Many shredders think like this. It wasn't until Acoustic Journey that I gave any thought to how a song builds to the chorus...the dynamics of the song, etc. With Metal, it doesn't matter. But for any other kind of music, dynamics are very important. The melody of the lyric, etc. So in that sense, if a song works in a stripped down acoustical situation, then you have a winner.

Island: On your previous solo effort: Out Of The Shadows you did practically everything from guitars to vocals to drums and also produced the album yourself and now on Acoustic Journey you are once again doing most of these duties all by yourself. Many artists now of days seem to producing an album or having a hand in the production process. Is it hard for you to play the role of producer and trying to make the best quality recording you can or is it easier because you have an idea of what you want sound wise as you are both the artist and producer?

Robert: Great question. I actually started this project at a major studio. This is where I met my mixer, James Ward. I did two days and came away with nothing I could use, both days. This was due to several reasons. First, with James at the console, I would ask for his opinion at varying times, and this would open a can of worms with respect to phrasing, delivery and structure. Second, having to watch the clock when you are attempting to create a masterpiece is impossible. Eventually, I made the decision to record at RV Records, in San Mateo. I hired James to come over as a consultant check the room for acoustic deficiencies, and to consult with him on any additional equipment I needed. It was at that time that I decided to hire him as the mixer, which meant that all I had to do was worry about getting the best performance possible( the role of the producer), while making sure the performance was recorded properly (the role of the engineer). I find it quite easy to record myself. If I have no one to bounce ideas off, then I automatically revert to whatever my original idea was. Which makes things very simple. If the truth be known, I'm somewhat of a control freak. So letting anyone else have a hand in my music was somewhat traumatizing. But I have matured and grown by leaps and bounds in the last ten years. So I am able to let people "do what they do". Take James for instance, he is one of the best mixers in the biz. I could not have gotten the record to sound like this. That's his expertise. So I'm fortunate that I have matured enough to let others in my world. It makes my art better! For the drums on "On This Day", originally the song had no drums. When I made the decision to make it a full-on power ballad, the song was all but completed. I took a crack at it, but was unable to 'gel' or 'vibe' to the existing tracks. It was at that time that I hired a session guy to come in and play to the existing track. I think he did a great job.

Island: Now not only is Robert Valdes a very gifted musician but your running a very successful production company – RV Productions. As well as having the successful: Axiom Photography. How does this affect your career as a musician? How are you able to maintain a balance between being a musician and running a thriving business?

Robert: I'm not going to lie to you, the music biz for me is pretty much an 'unpaid' career at this point. When I make a cd, I'll be lucky to break even. This makes it all the more interesting for me. This is hindered by the fact that I can't launch a national tour and leave for months on end. If I could, then I could no doubt make some money. But it wouldn't be near the money I'm making now. I keep in contact with some of the guys that made money in the 80's. Some bought houses and did well. Others are working at fast food, or worst dead. The ones that are making a living are doing so by playing live. This is where most of the revenue comes from. The tough part for me is that I love to perform. With Out Of The Shadows, my attempt to make the band after the record was done failed. So I wasn't able to do one single gig which not only killed the record, but was very depressing.

Island: From the information up on www.acousticjourney.com it looks like there are plans in the works to do some live shows to help promote the album. What can fans expect from these live gigs? From the description this looks to take place in very intimate settings… will the shows that are being booked take place in clubs throughout California or are you looking to tour elsewhere? Finally any idea of what the songs will be included in the set list?

Robert: With Acoustic Journey, I have plans to do a nice little coffee house tour, along with some County Fairs and what-not. I can do this without interfering with my current business responsibilities. This will more than likely be a regional thing. Definitely Nor Cal. Maybe some So Cal dates. I doubt if I will travel far for any of them. The shows will be me and my guitar player Dave O., sitting and/or standing and playing songs 1 thru 12 of the cd, in order. Nothing Fancy.

Island: This is one of our favorite questions to ask here at The Island (www.shipwreckislandstudios.com) but now of days what are you listening to? What albums would fans find in Robert Valdes’ CD player? Are there any up and coming artists that you like?

Robert: Interesting question. The artists I listen to nowadays are the ones that work with my favorite producers/mixers. For instance, one of my favorite producers is John Feldman and his latest acts were Mest and Story of the Year. Both Punk/Pop acts. I also love John Shanks who has become the go to Producer of choice in the recent female pop/rock phase. Michelle Branch is one of my favorite artists who works with John Shanks. So she is also in my cd rotation along with Seal & Ryan Cabrera. When I listen to 80's rock, it's usually Rush, old Van Halen, early Y&T or Meniketti's second solo cd, TNT's my religion is a great new CD that harks back to the old days. This is a tough question, I could go on and on. Did I mention Jude Cole?

Island: What lies on the horizon next for Robert Valdes? What projects are you currently working on and any ideas what the next Robert Valdes album will be like? Acoustic? Electric? Or a mix of both?

Robert: My original idea for this project was to do a double CD entitled, Robert Valdes, Project: Gemini - Acoustic Colors/Electric Fire. The idea being that I am a Gemini and these are two areas that I have yet to explore with respect to my discography. The cd would essentially be two EP's with one side being what is now Acoustic Journey, albeit with less tracks, and Electric Fire would be a guitar instrumental shred fest a la Satriani and Vai. As you can see, the project strayed somewhat. And because the acoustic project became such a journey, hence the title Acoustic Journey. I do plan on doing Electric Fire next. I have already written the songs. I'm probably about a year and a half out from the completion of that project. After that I plan on releasing an album of melodic rock. Also in the works are possible re-releases of the old Enforcer recordings and the Regime CD with Rick Hunter on guitar on myself on vocals.

Island: Well as we reach the end of this interview I’d personally like to thank Robert Valdes for getting in touch with me at the beginning of this year and all the great support you’ve given www.shipwreckislandstudios.com are there any final thoughts you’d like to share and anything you would like to say to our readers and your fans?

Robert: The pre-release sale of Acoustic Journey went well. But I still need your support in the grass roots effort to make my cd a success. So please go to www.acousticjourney.com and pick up your copy today. Not only will you be buying a quality product, but you will be helping to further the indie efforts of this struggling musician. Thank you and God Bless.

    
Pictures Courtesy Of www.robertvaldes.com

Robert Valdes: Acoustic Journey is out now and available at www.acousticjourney.com  

Audio samples from Acoustic Journey are also available at the link above.

Also make sure to check out www.robertvaldes.com