The Thai Experience

When i was offered the chance to go to Thailand and play with Marty Friedman i didnt even have to think about it. Marty has been a huge hero to me.It was one of the most amazing experiences i have ever had. People keep asking me about it and what Marty was like as a player and a person.I dont need to tell anyone what he is like as a player.It was February 10th that i set off for Thailand all on my lonesome.It was a nightmare of a trip.Had to fly from Dublin to Heathrow first and Heathrow is like a country in itself.The Terminals are flippin huge and i nearly missed my connecting flight.

But i made it to Bangkok after a 13 hour flight where i was met by Wut who was organising the whole event. I had been friendly with Wut through Email for years at this stage and it was great to finally meet him.Marty wasnt arriving until the next day so i was shown around bangkok that night.And the place was crazy.It was obvious straight away that i wasnt going to get on well with the food there.I tried some of the Thai dishes but nearly puked and found myself hunting down the closest K.F.C whenever i was hungry. The night life was simply amazing.Everybody was so friendly.And everything was so cheap

The first night i was introduced to some guy whos name i have forgotten but who used to be in a famous thai pop band'Dragon 5' Not many Thai people could speak english well.A lot of communication was through gestures and hand talk. Even some of the words we use have different meaning to the thai understanding of them.'Fun' for example is a word they use for sex.So when i used that word i got a lot of odd looks till someone kindly pointed it out to me.. I recorded an instruction video at that guys studio and got to play on a track on his album which was rocking.

Pop music in Thailand and Japan is more rock than our rock.This guy had sold millions of albums doing his thing. They were the westlife of Asia. The beer in thailand was amazing.Im not a big drinker and most girls could drink me under the table but i really enjoyed the beer there. But the first night out on the town i came across these stalls on the streets where they were selling all manners of insects.That was a litle hard to get used to.Poor little critters..

Next day i was brought to the airport to meet Marty.When i first met him it didnt really hit me for a while until travelling back to the city in the back of the taxi with him when i realised that MARTY fucking FRIEDMAN was sittin beside me.I guess when i spent so long idolising him i expected him to be some sort of GOD.But he was human alright.He was so down to earth it was great.He was a real nice guy and broke the mould from what you would expect from a metal hero. He was more interested in the local cuisines than the night life....

After the airport we went straight to the auditorium where the gig would be held the next day. Walking in we were greeted with the band that was provided, practising through some of marty's songs.They were playing 'Thunder March' when we walked in which again made it hit home who the guy beside me was. Marty got up and done his thing.And then i got a chance to get up and play with him at the check.We jammed through a number that we were gonna perform the next night.I was in heaven.I had a smile on my face that almost hurt it was so big.I think i still have the scar!!

Anyway all that stuff out of the way we went for dinner after that with some of the guitar company people and Thailands top guitarist 'POP' We got to chat a bit more then about becker etc.I hated talking about him as i felt he must be sick of it but he was more than willing and open to talking about him.He seems to have more respect for jason than anyone.I guess after working wth the man himself he truly knows his genius.We then went and enjoyed some of bangkoks night life.

The show the next day was great.It was a guitar contest. All these amazing guitarists battle it out for the title of thailands best guitarist.There were 12yr olds playing that were AMAZING for their age.The standard was mind boggling.The previous years winner was a girl.named'Nat'who was awesome.The whole thing was being broadcast on live t.v in front of millions i found out after the show.I noticed the cameras but just reckoned they were for some dvd or something.Three quarters the way through the show i went out to play some of my tunes.

It was a great feeling playing to so many people that seemed to appreciate and enjoy it..I finished playing and was greeted with a microphone to my face straight away and was asked a question i didnt understandand ,on live telly.That was so embarrassing.The woman asking the question could speak a little english but in a weird accent.And to the unknown question and after a long awkward silence i just answered with'thanks',lol .And for all i knew she could have said 'That was some of the worst guitar i have ever heard',lol..

 She asked more questions that thankfully i could understand.Then marty came on and done his thing and i got up to play with him and pop joined us too.It was awesome.But when my solo came in i hit my first note and my plectrum went flying mach 3 out of my hand.And that never happened to me before.Of all the fucking times it had to happen.So my first solo was finger style,lol.After it i was hunting the stage for my plec while trying to hold the rhythm for marty and not make it to obvious what an idiot i was for dropping my plec.I found it just before my 2nd solo..

After the show i spent what must have been nearly 2 hours signing albums,tshirts,guitars, flyers and anything which could be written upon.And soooooooo many photo's.And i hate photos!But for that short time i felt like all my hard work had payed off.The thai people really love their guitar.And there was none of the typical crap like you get here with 'why dont you have a singer'? Say that to BEETHOVEN! They appreciate every note that comes from the guitar and will ask you about every single last one of those notes afterward too,lol. Met some lovely people there.If only everyone was as genuine and thoughtful as a Thai.And as expected we hit the town again after the show and drank a lot of singha beer.

Next day we were shown around the tourist attractions in bangkok which were inspiring and marty showed his trigger happy finger on his camera.He has quicker fingers on a camera than he does on his guitar.We spent the day and night having a good time in Bangkok.Next day Marty had to fly to Japan,but i wasnt up to the drive to the airport so i stayed in bed for my first rest since i got there.I more or less said my farewell to an exhausted marty the night before.He was a great guy and i had a great time in Bangkok with him.

 Next day i began my journey with wut and co to do a clinic/gig in some place north in thailand.It was a gruelling drive but at the same time i enjoyed it.Got to see the nicer parts of thailand and its culture.Met some more lovely people.Lost my backing tracks though and had to play the gig with a band that didnt know any of my songs??

I still cant remember what i played.I just improvised for what felt like an eternity but i played well knowing after it i could just enjoy myself and no more guitar talk or anything related.Got to play the john petrucci signature model leant to me from a thai guitarist there. BEAUTIFUL guitar!That night i got up to play with a Thai band 'Pilot' that were playing at a club.That was great fun and i was well warmed up after the clinic so i let rip with everythin i had.On the screen behind us they had footage of the guitar contest that i had played at which was weird.Made loads more friends there and then moved on to a place called 'Pattaya'.

Lovely place but very seedy.At this stage i had just wanted to get home so i had an early night and prepared for the huge drive back to bangkok the next day.While driving the next night i awoke in the back of the bus and took a look in the drivers rear view mirror for some weird reason.I had woke from a weird dream i had which was freaky in itself. But when i looked in his rear view mirror i froze when i seen he was asleep.Looking back now its funny.But then it wasnt.We were traveling about 80 mile an hour on a BUSY highway.I roared at one of the guys sitting behind the driver to grab the wheel knowing that my shout could wake the driver in a panic and have him drive us head first into an oncoming vehicle.

Luckily the driver woke and took control again.It had started to veer slightly at this stage.After that i threw a diva fit and refused to travel any further till the driver was fed 200 cups of coffee.We were all tired but it was still his job to get us round safely . Anyway all that excitement out of the way i eventually got back to the airport and made my way home!! It was an amazing experience with too many stories to tell.Marty was an awesome guy and so too was my friend wut who i owe the whole thing to.He runs a guitar company in thailand'Virtuoso'.He has since had michelangelo and george lynch over.Wut is a rare person in this greedy world.A great guy from a great country!!