Warren DeMartini

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DeMartini at a concert in London, 1986

Warren Justin DeMartini (born April 10, 1963 in Chicago , Illinois ), nicknamed Torch , is known for his work as the lead guitarist of Ratt , an American glam metal band.

Childhood and youth

DeMartini grew up in Chicago , Illinois, the youngest of six children. The family later moved to San Diego , California . He became interested in rock music through the influence of his brothers Bernard and James , as their band was rehearsing in the basement of the house. DeMartini's grandmother was also a professional musician and accompanied silent films on the piano in Preston , Minnesota .

DeMartini's mother bought him a guitar at his request when he was seven years old. When he tried to play the instrument he destroyed it out of frustration, as seen on The Who's Pete Townshend . His mother then refused to buy him a replacement. At the age of 15 he bought an electric guitar with his own money . He taught himself to play the guitar through recordings that he slowed down. He later founded the bands The Plague and Aircraft .

He met Robbin Crosby, who later became the second guitarist in Ratt, at La Jolla High School in San Diego. At this time he was developing into one of the most talented and most wanted young guitarists in the San Diego area. He graduated from high school in 1981 and began taking courses at local college . In his first semester, however, he was invited to Los Angeles to join the band Mickey Ratt , which would later celebrate its breakthrough under the name Ratt . He had already played in the opening act for Mickey Ratt as a member of the band Enforcer .

Rat

DeMartini replaced Jake E. Lee in the band in December 1981, who was poached by Ozzy Osbourne . DeMartini had once been a roommate of Lee, who was also from San Diego. In this way, the two had influenced each other musically.

DeMartini's guitar sound became one of Ratt's most important musical components, and he co-wrote some of the band's most important songs (including Round and Round , Lay It Down , Dance , and Way Cool Jr. ). Ratt was one of the best-selling and most popular glam metal acts of the 1980s, releasing four consecutive platinum albums and an EP before the band split up in February 1992.

Solo projects and reunion of Ratt

After Ratt broke up, DeMartini was briefly a member of Dokken before touring with hard rock band Whitesnake in 1994 . He then released the EP Surf's Up! (1995) and his only solo album to date, Crazy Enough To Sing To You (1996). In 1996 Ratt reformed and published Collage in July 1997 and Ratt in July 1999, which was poorly received by critics and audiences. In 2003 DeMartini was supposed to replace guitarist Doug Aldrich in the band Dio , but left the band after a few rehearsals because of artistic differences with Ronnie James Dio . Ratt got back together and went on tour in the summer of 2007. In 2010 the band released the album Infestation .

Influences

DeMartini names many legendary guitarists and other musicians, such as Jimi Hendrix , Pete Townshend , Robbin Crosby , Michael Schenker , Steve Lukather , Uli Jon Roth , Joe Walsh , Jake E. Lee , Joe Perry , Tommy Bolin , Miles Davis , Eddie Van Halen , George Lynch and Randy Rhoads as role models.

Play style

DeMartini was admired for his skills by, among others, Frank Zappa and Billy Gibbons. He is considered one of the most underrated guitarists of the Glam Metal era. His style also includes runs that he plays with four notes per string, which is quite unusual. The increased use of chromatic lines creates sounds that can also be found in the Fusion area.

DeMartini's special finger vibrato is remarkable , in which the string is not pulled , but the entire gripping hand is moved quickly along the string (comparable to the vibrato of a violinist ).

Equipment

In the 1980s, DeMartini played mostly superstrate brand Charvel . After Charvel was sold and the quality of the guitars deteriorated, DeMartini contacted the guitar makers at Performance Guitars through Frank Zappa , who built some models specially made for him. Today he plays again Custom signature models of Charvel brand that his original San Dimas- Strats are modeled from the 1980s. He owns old Marshall amplifiers, including a Marshall Plexi from the 1960s that was used on Invasion of Your Privacy and Dancing Undercover . DeMartini also plays a Diezel VH-4 and a Soldano SLO100.

Discography

Rat

solo

  • Surf's Up! (1995)
  • Crazy Enough to Sing to You (1996)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ allmusic.com
  2. ↑ guitarworld.com
  3. ↑ Guitar & Bass . The musicians' magazine, September 2008, p. 71.
  4. ↑ metalfanatix.com
  5. ↑ nytimes.com
  6. ↑ a b Gear Nerd: Ratt's Guitarist Warren DeMartini . ( Memento from December 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) roadrunnerrecords.com; accessed on November 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ charvel.com
  8. ↑ youtube.com
  9. ↑ hardrockhaven.net
  10. ↑ allmusic.com
  11. ↑ blabbermouth.net
  12. ↑ theaquarian.com
  13. ↑ xtrememusician.com ( Memento from October 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ^ Alan di Perna: Dynamo Frank . In: Guitar World , December 2003: "And this guy in Ratt, Warren DeMartini, he's pretty unbelievable too."
  15. ↑ Guitar & Bass . The musicians' magazine, September 2008, p. 71.
  16. ↑ vai.com
  17. ↑ Guitar & Bass . The musician trade magazine, September 2008, p. 73.
  18. ↑ iheartguitarblog.com
  19. ↑ charvel.com
  20. ↑ Guitar & Bass . The musicians' magazine, September 2008, p. 74.
  21. ↑ woodytone.com
personal data
SURNAME DeMartini, Warren
ALTERNATIVE NAMES DeMartini, Warren Justin (full name); Torch
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago , Illinois