Michael Romeo:

"I started playing piano when I was about 10 years old. My parents had one at the house and I took lesson for a while, I also played clarinet. Around that time, I got my first Kiss album ( I think it was Alive I ). I remember hearing Ace Frehely doing this 'cool sound' on the guitar ( it was actually a pick-slide ) - I was like " I gotta learn how to do that ! " So I bought a cheap acoustic guitar at a garage sale - and noodled with it for a bit.and soon after, at about 12, I got my first electric guitar ( a no-name brand with a small practice amp.) At this time I was getting into bands like Zeppelin, AC/DC and Black Sabbath. I had taken some basic lessons and could play some songs and riffs, but it wasn't until I heard Ozzy's " Blizzard of Ozz" and " Diary of a Madman" albums, that I became more serious about guitar. Randy Rhoads had an extremely big influence on me. I loved how he incorporated classical influences into his playing. I started to practice alot, I also started taking piano lessons again, as well as some classical guitar lessons."

"Along with Ozzy's "Blizzard " and "Diary", there were other albums from the early 1980s that had a big impact on me - early Judas Priest and Iron Maiden albums - Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" - Rush's " Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures" are just a few... I spent many a late night sitting by my tape player, learning and jamming along with these albums.. Not long after, I discovered two other guitarists that would have a really big influence on me - Uli Jon Roth and Al DiMeola. The solo on 'Sails of Charon' ( from Scorpion's "Taken by Force" ) by Uli is still one of my all time favorites - and DiMeola's picking technique was just incredible. Then there was the 'Alcatrazz' album with Yngwie Malmsteen. To me, he had a classical influence similar to Rhoads, the style and vibrato like Uli Roth and the speed and articulation of DiMeola. That first 'Rising Force' album was another big influence on me. Although I was familiar with some classical music ( Bach, Beethoven and Mozart ) due to my piano playing, Rhoads and Malmsteen led me to investigate applying classical music to the guitar in a rock/metal context. These players, along with bands like Rush, Sabbath and Priest, all had a big influence on me from the begining."

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