February 27, 1999
An Interview with Chris Duarte

Chris Duarte is one hard working musician. I use the term musician because guitar player does not adequately describe the talent that this man (and his band) have and demonstrate every performance. Three hours shows are the norm, three and a half hour shows are common and sometimes even longer. Chris has released two CD's to date, "Texas Sugar, Strat Magic" and "Tailspin Headwhack" and while both are excellent, his live show is his forte. Unfortunately Chris's label (Silvertone) has dropped him and he is now shopping around for another label. As far as I am concerned, Chris Duarte has taken off where Stevie Ray Vaughan left off. I don't say this lightly, as the phrase is used WAY too much for too many players, most of much lesser talent and dedication. Chris's musical background includes a hodgepodge of styles from punk to jazz with stops at several styles in-between. These all combine into a musical stew where jazz mixes with blues, which mixes with Hendrix and Coletrane influenced leads. If this sounds like musical mayhem, and with lesser musicians it could be, I recommend that you check "The Chris Duarte Group" out when they are in your area. Both John Jordan (Bass) and Jimmy Way (Drums) compliment Chris and are excellent musicians in their own right.

This interview was supposed to take place at Chris’s hotel room, however, the band van wound up with a flat tire which needed to be repaired (on a Saturday afternoon) before the garage’s closed. My interview was delayed and conducted during the break between sets at the Sapphire Supper Club, located in Orlando Florida. The interview was conducted under the less than ideal conditions in the kitchen where Chris was changing his strings and answering questions while a cooking hood (which could not be turned off) roared in the background. Chris had just come off a monster set where the intensity level was off the scale and he was still pumped from the 1^st set.

Murf: What’s the latest word on possible recording contracts?

Chris Duarte: Well we just did a demo early February and we've mixed it down and it’s just to get interest in us. It’s straight middle of the road rockin Texas blues. Hopefully it will get us some label interest. As of now there’s no labels coming towards us.

Murf: What songs have your recorded?

Chris Duarte: We've recorded "Brand New Day", "Leave Her Be", "How Long" and uh…what was the last one….Oh yeah, "For The Rest Of My Life".

Murf: Given some of the contract limitations (involuntary servitude) some artists are going the independent route, selling their CD’s at their shows and on the internet, where they get $10-$12 a pop profit per CD. Have you considered that at all?

Chris Duarte: Yeah I have, but right now I just don’t have the capital and the resources to make a decent tape. You know I’d like to get in and spend at least ten to fifteen thousand dollars on the production. Right now, believe me, there’s a big difference between a fifteen thousand dollar production and a seventy five to eighty thousand dollar production. And that’s JUST a recording budget.

Murf: Have you looked at, or know anything about the MP3 audio that is starting to take off on the internet right now?

Chris Duarte: The MP3 audio…is that something like real player or something like that?

Murf: Yeah, but much higher fidelity for the file size. Quite a few artists are starting to distribute their music like that.

Chris Duarte: Nope…haven’t been up to it yet. Still too busy practicing for that.

Murf: On your CD "Tailspin Headwhack", there was a production credit for Gordie Johnson. Is this the Gordie Johnson from the band "Big Sugar"?

Chris Duarte: Yes that is.

Murf: How did you get hooked up Gordie?

Chris Duarte: Gordie and I…he used to be on Silvertone (Chris’s former label) as "Big Sugar" …ah…I can’t remember the name of it, but it was on Silvertone, and they did…we did tour together. I mean in the year of 1995 I believe in October. And then when we handed in the tapes to Tailspin Michael Tedesco who worked at Silvertone said "I got a few ideas for these three tracks, lets go up to Canada with Gordie as producer". That’s how it happened, it was a record company decision.

Murf: Since your live show is your forte, how much thought have you given to doing a live CD? Some of the "unofficial" recordings floating around are really killer.

Chris Duarte: Well if…if I could get an official backing ….it’s all…you know its all business and right now I think there’s enough bootlegging going on, not really in a bad sense, but enough people are recording shows to get the word out. I think there’s a wealth of material out there. Yes…an official live album, I’ve thought of it but it’s a question….a matter of money.

Murf: Speaking of live recordings, you allow taping at your shows while a lot of artists don’t. How do you feel about tapers and people trading your shows. I haven’t seen any bootlegs of your show for sale, but there’s a hardcore group of people around the world that trade your live shows. Do you have any comments or feelings on that?

Chris Duarte: I…I don’t have any qualms about it. I know people are out there making money off it. Some people are…unscrupulous people….but hey you know, that’s just the way it is. As far as I see, the bottom line is exposure and I’m getting the word out.

Murf: You have a worldwide internet fan base, with people all over the US, Europe, England, Australia and Japan. They meet once a week on the internet to discuss "all things Duarte" and pass on comments on recent show and also to trade recordings of your shows. You have even shown up occasionally. Do you have any comments on the internet and how it will affect music and the ability of artists to get their music out there?

Chris Duarte: Ah…I think the internet is just beginning. You know who knows what’s its gonna be like five, ten years from now. It’s gonna be an amazing thing. I couldn’t even possibly predict where the future is going. Twenty years ago you would never have been able to predict what computers can do now. I think it’s going to be a great thing.

Murf: Your "official" site does not have anyway to send information or photos to it. Will that be corrected at some point?

Chris Duarte: Yes…I’ve actually put in a suggestion to him because when he had a personnel e-mail site, he said it took a long time for all the e-mails to load in. So I told him to do something through Yahoo or Hotmail or HMTL or whatever it is. I told him to do that so he can have that box full without his personal box being full. Cause he thought a lot of them were "delete", "delete", a lot of junk coming in besides the e-mail from fans. Maybe we’ll do that pretty soon. I’m going to see him at the Eureka show.

Murf: Do you have any kind of set list or is every show kind of free form depending on how you feel?

Chris Duarte: Oh yes…that’s exactly how it goes. My guys have no idea what I’m going to play next.

Murf: How does the band know what song your going to be doing. Your up there…your doing like the catchers….

Chris Duarte: Right the baseball signals!

Murf: Yeah the baseball signals.

Chris Duarte: That’s….my longtime fans know what I’m doing…..What it is…when the back of the hand is towards you, that’s me showing the key signature of the song. When the fingers are pointing up, that’s sharps and when my fingers are pointing down, that’s flats. If I turn my palm around to face him, like I’m going stop or something, that’s starting on the one, the four, or the five or it’s got a two five turnaround, it’s showing the key of the song and John (Jordan - bass) usually knows what it is. The drummer…Jimmy’s (Way – drummer) the only one I have to tell what kind of rhythm it is. I’ll turn around, tell John the key and tell Jimmy if it’s a shuffle, boo-ga-loo or whatever.

Murf: Yeah Jimmy Way has added a lot to the band. He’s almost as intense as you are on stage. Your using a lot a sampling. Is that something that came pretty quick or has it just evolved over the last year?

Chris Duarte: It’s evolved…literally from the second album. I like it! I like fusing all these modern elements to blues….and I think blues is always going to evolve…and I want to evolve with everything.

Murf: The series you did last night where you did "The Thrill Is Gone" from jazz to straight blues to "Hendrix space guitar" and bouncing between the different styles and finally resolving into "32 Blues" was quite a journey. Are things like that worked out at all, even loosely or do they "just happen"?

Chris Duarte: No…they happen…..all of us kind of keep our ears peaked…and that’s the whole trip about this band is that we’re riding all the dynamic waves. They have to pay attention…we all have to pay attention…it’s all an improvisational format. And that’s what it is…just paying attention and following the dynamics.

Murf: When you play, it’s always with such emotion. What drives you to get on stage and play like that, night after night? It would seem that you could play like that only once in a while.

Chris Duarte: It’s cause I’m playing….I’m challenging myself…and I’m going against myself. I’ve always said that when I go out, I’m trying to play better than the night before. That’s what I’m doing and here is my lovely beautiful girl Patricia. [Chris’s girlfriend enters the room]

Murf: You let Ivan Martin (local 14 year old guitar player from Venice Florida) sit in with you last night. That was very gracious of you, considering that you had never met him before and knew nothing about him. It's nice to see musicians on stage who respect each other rather than the "gunfighter…I can play better than you" mentality. It looked like you were really having fun up on stage while Ivan was playing.

Chris Duarte: What its all about, you have to play for the music, you can’t play for your ego. Because if you play for your ego, the music loses out. And when he’s up there playing lead….I’m trying to give him the best rhythm possible. I’m listening to his solo and hearing what to play…deciding what to play underneath him. I’m not gonna play just any old rhythm and try and step all over him. That’s not what its all about. We’re gonna be much stronger if we get up there and we play together and we bond together, than us trying to beat heads together. That’s just not playing for the music.

Murf: It’s kinda nice and sometimes unusual to see that respect between musicians.

Chris Duarte: I will always be humble because there’s always…you know that kid could have gotten up and simply mopped me up off the floor. You never know what’s somebody's gonna be like….and you know, he was a real nice gracious kid and I like that. And I was trying to impart some wisdom…to try and be nice…and be humble and try to play for the music.

Murf: There’s rumors of an acoustic set for the Eureka Springs show?

Chris Duarte: That’s right, we are going to do an acoustic set.

Murf: Guaranteed?

Chris Duarte: Guaranteed…Yes.

Murf: And I’m gonna miss it!

Chris Duarte: Maybe someone will be there to tape it…I’m sure it will be out there somewhere.

Murf: I know there’s going to be some tapers there. I see you got your number one strat back. It looks like you got some of bridge repaired.

Chris Duarte: Yeah…that was cause I was breaking so many strings. My friends know that cause I recite Shakespeare when I break strings. I’m trying some of these graphite nuts, I mean graphite bridge saddles so I won’t break strings…and it looks like it’s working. Maybe they’re be less Shakespeare…I hate to say it …but I need to practice my Shakespeare.

Murf: I got one tape of you doing Shakespeare….Actually we got a little bit of that last night. I see you are using one of the DanElectro DanEcho pedals now instead of your Echoplex’s. What do you think of them?

Chris Duarte: Actually…I like it. My sweetie here got it for my birthday, cause I tried it in the studio. And I’m still trying it out…still getting used to it…but it’s working fine and uh…it’s got a high cut on it which puts a little warmth on the signal like a…an Echoplex does.

Murf: I heard Eric Johnson was using one instead of the Echoplex because they are much more reliable.

Chris Duarte: It wasn’t cause of Eric…..But Eric….you notice I’ve got one of Eric’s pedals up there, that really bright colored one.

Murf: Oh yeah..what is that?

Chris Duarte: Eric and I both got one of those…it’s like a Univibe, it’s called a Monkey Dance Glo Vibe, and the guy from Japan sent me one and he sent Eric one…any mine broke and I asked Eric if I could use his….and he practically gave it to me, but he told me to use it until I got mine back…it has his name on it and everything.

Murf: On your Epiphone Les Paul, where and why did you pick that up and is it all stock?

Chris Duarte: It’s got Gibson pickups in it, and the rest is all stock….and I picked it…they gave me a silver one first and I gave that one away to a good friend of mine who helped me get that endorsement. I told them to get me a green one cause greens my favorite color….so that’s why I have a green one. A fine guitar too…personally I do want a real Gibson Les Paul….just because it says Gibson up there but that thing is every bit as good as a Gibson Les Paul.

Murf: Epiphones generally have a better neck than the real Gibsons.

Chris Duarte: Yeah it does, it’s got a very good neck….I like it….I really really like that guitar and it’s gonna be a long time before I get a Les Paul unless Gibson gives me one or someone's got one for five hundred bucks.

Murf: I have been watching you for a number of years and you don’t play chords, I mean you play chords but you play a very percussive type of rhythm, generally not plain chords but a chord and then a couple three strums muted or various inversions.

Chris Duarte: It really depends on the song. Some songs I do play chords, but it’s just the voicings, I mix up the voicings and the inversions and stuff. It’s because I …..I basically know how chords can move around, and how their built, and I’m just mixing it up and like that.

Murf: Is that style developed from someplace in particular?

Chris Duarte: It’s probably jazz….just jazz man.

Murf: It’s very interesting.

Chris Duarte: I would hope so. It’s interesting for me.

The interview concluded at this point so Chris could get ready for the next set.