I recently had the opportunity to chat with Bill Lonero of the band LoNero. These guys are all amazing musicians and they rely on the music instead of vocals. They have even invented a new genre of music called Guitarcore. Check out the interview and listen to their songs here, then show your support and become their fan over at ReverbNation.com

Q1. Doing some research over at ReverbNation, I see your band is number 1 on the Rock charts for San Jose, California. That is awesome guys. Especially when you consider that you guys have went a different route with your music and created a new genre called Guitarcore. Can you tell our readers a little about what Guitarcore is?

Bill Lonero: Thank you! We appreciate this opportunity. Guitarcore is instrumental rock that focuses on groove, rhythm and melody. We want the average person that doesn’t normally like instrumental to listen to us. So we approach the songwriting from a vocal perspective. We write the songs as if a vocalist were going to sing over the top. The songs are constructed with intros, verses, choruses, bridges etc. Too many times, instrumental rock forgets the fact that there are listeners on the other end. And those listeners want to be taken somewhere. They don’t want to hear a twenty minute guitar solo. They don’t want to hear how fast you can play. All of that is so cliched and predictable in instrumental that people are surprised when we say we’re not about that. You can go on YouTube and type instrumental guitar and 9 times out of 10 you will get someone playing super fast and with a ton of arpeggios. But where is the song? Where’s the melody? The groove? So for us, song and listener are first. I had a conversation with Joe Satriani once and he said to me “you know, guitar players are a tough crowd to please.”. I said “I know. I want to reach everyone else”.

Q2. How long have you all been performing together and how long did it take before you started getting recognized?

Bill Lonero: This band started in 2004 and it didn’t take long actually. Our first show (which was a few months after we formed) was opening for Michael Schenker. Then we were invited to play on the Peavey stage at NAMM that same year. Mike McKaigg (bassist) joined right after those shows. We’ve had numerous rhythm guitar players and a few drummers since then. We have finally solidified with our new rhythm guitarist Brandon Hayes and drummer Marco Bicca. Both great players and we except great things from them. We had a lot of great things happen for us and being an instrumental band just proves that Guitarcore is a marketable genre.

Q3. LoNero has been endorsed by some major names in the industry, including Peavey, EMG and Hot Picks, fairly early on in your bands career. Can you tell our readers a little about the experience and if you feel it has impacted your music career today? What’s the secret to getting those big name endorsements?

Bill Lonero: Endorsements are a great thing. We’ve had the privilege of being endorsed by some fantastic companies. The bottom line is you have to show them that you will hold up your end of the bargain. It’s not all about you. The company is investing in you because they trust you will help promote them. We are not endorsement whores like some guitarists/bands out there. We will not endorse a product just because they give us free or discounted products. We don’t endorse clothing companies and crap like that We don’t care about that. For me it has to be quality product that I use. Right now I have everything I need and really don’t care about endorsing more stuff. And there isn’t a secret. It costs money to endorse a band. So put together a good press kit with a great quality recording and send it off. On the flip side though are the companies that will endorse anyone just to get their names out there. To me that’s ridiculous. I’d rather buy what I need then endorse a product I don’t use.

Q4. I am sure, like most successful bands, you have had times where the band was struggling just to pay the bills and get to the next show. Was it ever tempting to just walk away from the music business in the face of such obstacles?

Bill Lonero: Never! We play music because we love it. We’re musicians and we’re entertainers. I just watched the movie “Anvil: The Story of Anvil” and talk about dedication to your art. I recommend every band watch that movie to get a dose of reality and to see what true love of music is all about. These guys are dedicated and will never quit. It’s funny though, in the beginning of the movie Lars Ulrich (Metallica) Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Slash talk about what a huge influence Anvil was on them. Well here’s an idea guys, put your money where your mouth is and take Anvil on tour with you!

Music is passion. If you don’t have passion you don’t have music. All you have is people doing it because they want to get rich or get laid. They’re essentially painting by numbers. You have to love it. You have to breathe it.

It takes more than recording some songs at home on your computer and posting them on MySpace to make you a musician.

Q5. I noticed what sounded like a bit of Eddie Van Halen when I listened to your song, Loose. It’s an amazing instrumental piece by the way. Who influenced the bands musical style the most?

Bill Lonero: Thank you! We’re influenced by so many different bands and artists. It runs the gamut really. Personally for me it’s AC/DC. Angus Young has been my biggest influence as a guitar player. It’s not just his playing but his attitude and integrity. He has the “this is who I am and if you don’t like it kiss my ass” attitude. I don’t care to be the fastest guitarist because that’s a pretty lame goal in my opinion. All I want is people to enjoy our music. If they listen to a LoNero song and they can get into it that’s all that matters to me. I never write a song thinking “will guitar players like this?”. Guitar players are to competitive and I’m not about that. I really don’t care how fast you can play.

Q6. You are all very talented musicians, with your first debut CD, Relentless, receiving a whole month of promotion from Apple Computers and another album in the recording process now. I’m positive that you’re going to be catching a lot of attention in the music world. Do you all plan on staying independent or are you hoping to be signed by a commercial label?

Bill Lonero: Thank you! Of course we’d love to be signed to a major. We’d be stupid not to. Major’s can provide the promotion and tour support that most independent labels can’t. But on the flip side of that, independent labels will pay more attention to you because they usually have a smaller roster.

We just signed a worldwide distribution contract with Nightmare Records. We’re really excited about that because they are a great indie label. So this will enable us to get our CDs in stores worldwide.

Q7. I like to ask this question in every interview. At the MusicBizCenter.com Blog, we tend to think that independent music is the future of the music industry and that the commercial recording labels have forgotten what music is about in favor of making money. What do you think?

Bill Lonero: Well independent music has always been the future of music. When AC/DC made their first demo they were independent. When Metallica made “No life ’til leather” they were independent. The music industry is fed by independent music. But I do know what you mean. I think major labels still have a place (at least I hope so). Here’s the thing, independent labels can take more risks when they sign a band. There is less money invested and if the band fails it’s not that much of a loss. That’s good and bad. The good side is that the indies are there to give independent bands a shot. The bad side is that a lot of the music released on indies are utter crap. That’s about as brutally honest as I can be. Major labels offer some validity. You know, for the most part that when you buy an album that’s on a major label that the songwriting, production and musicianship will usually be to a certain standard. If it wasn’t, a major wouldn’t invest in it.

I think the majors need to change their industry model or else they won’t be able to keep up with the growing times. But I do think that majors always put money over musical substance. Just look at Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, any hip hop/rap album released in the last 10 years, pop country (which I absolutely despise) etc. It’s all about cashing in on the latest trend or in some cases creating the trend because they know if they say it’s good then millions of people will buy into that. That’s where a major uses it’s promotional powers to it’s advantage. Gone are the days when a label would grow an artist and develop them into legends (i.e. Aerosmith, Waylon Jennings, Queen, Rush, etc). Bands are like free agents now. They jump from one label to another and one endorsement company to another. All in the name of money. Integrity has been lost to the almighty dollar.

Q8. Is there any advice you could give our readers who are trying to be successful?

Bill Lonero: Never give up. This is your dream. Stick with it through thick and thin. If you love playing that’s all that matters. Don’t let anyone tell you to stop or give up. If you really have a passion for music you will get there. You will hit many dead ends but you have to be able to see the grand picture. You can either keep trying and know you gave it your best shot or you can throw in the towel and in 40 years say “what if?”. Choice is yours.

Q9. Is there anything I left out that you would like to mention?

Bill Lonero: We are currently recording our new album with producer Michael Rosen (Metallica, Testament, Joe Satriani, Santana, Tesla, etc) and hope to have it completed within the next two weeks. Then we’ll be out playing live and stomping the stages.

We want to thank everyone that took the time to read this and to all of our fans for sticking with us. We can’t thank you enough!!!