He started playing guitar at age 10. He has studied classical guitar, modern guitar techniques and musical theory. Scott's influences vary from the classic rock guitar of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to the works of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. With a nod to these founding fathers of rock and roll Scott Loose has come up with his own unique style of playing and music. The band Brave has a sound that can be measured against no one. With the release of Monuments, Brave has shown that they are ready to take their musical vision to another level.
Recently, Sea of Tranquility Staff Writer Scott Ward had the pleasure of talking with Brave guitarist Scott Loose and finding out what is going on with the band and where they are heading to from here.
SoT: Scott, tell me about the new Brave album Monuments?
Scott: It's funny how our release worked with "Monuments". "We released it in May of 2008, my sister had her first child in April. So we have not been able to do many shows to promote it. We are now setting up more shows and doing interviews and reviews, anything to get the word out!
SoT: The band seems to have a wide variety of musical influences and different backgrounds.
Scott: Everybody in the band has a vast array of influences and music that we grew up listening to. I think what is really common to everybody is metal, but I think our influences would range from even extreme metal, like death metal to classical and new age. Our drummer Trevor is into jazz and fusion. It's a huge spectrum of influences with what everyone is listening to. I guess the bottom line is that everyone just really loves music!
SoT: When reviewing the album, I used Kansas and Renaissance as references to your music.
Scott: We have had the Renaissance reference a couple of times now; I am going to have to check them out. Any recommendation?
SoT: I like the album Scheherazade. That must go back 30 years though.
Scott: In my opinion that was when a lot of the better music was written anyway.
SoT: So you are a fan of that period of music?
Scott: Yeah, definitely. Probably my influences are a little more mainstream like Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, but I also listened to a lot of progressive stuff like Jane and Camel. It's good stuff! More experimental and interesting. Actually it's more comparable to what's going on these days.
SoT: You mentioned Pink Floyd, I noticed some David Gilmour in your sound.
Scott: Yeah, a lot of bends, pentatonic stuff…
SoT: Is that you or Matt? (Matt Kozar the other guitarist in Brave)
Scott: As to both Matt and myself he (Gilmour) is one of our favorite players. It could be either one of us. But it may be more on Matt's side. He leans a little more toward the pentatonic stuff. He also has a really good sense of melody that kind of reminds me of how Gilmour's solos are kind of memorable. I tend to be more technical. Which isn't a good or bad thing, it's just different. It offers something totally unique for an album to have different styles of solos.
SoT: There is a difference. On the album there is a heavy side and a melodic side that sounds like two different guitarists or like you two trade off.
Scott: We do. Like on the instrumental "To Remain Unseen", I did the solo on that one. The song "Hurt", I do the first solo, the shorter one. Matt does the more extended solo toward the end. He did the solo in "Forgiveness". The last song "Stronger" which really has the Floyd influence, it was me doing the first one. Then Suvo (Suvo Sur/violin) does a violin solo, then Matt did a solo.
SoT: Something else I noticed. You are the only band that I know of with five keyboardist listed.
Scott: Yeah, if you hit a note twice you get credited. Actually, it is my sister Michelle and Suvo who plays most of them. I think they split it about half and half. Michelle plays when Suvo is on violin.
SoT: What is Suvo's background? Does he come from a classical background?
Scott: Yeah, he was trained classical and studied it through most of his schooling. But like the rest of us, he was really into metal when he was growing up. He is a unique person to find, someone who can play violin but still into heavier music. One of the first bands that we got into that mixed the violin in with heavier stuff is old My Dying Bride. They were a big influence on us, especially their earlier stuff.
SoT: I mentioned the group Kansas in the review of "Monuments".
Scott: It's funny you said that, the song we did called "Without You", our working title for that song was "Kansas." We thought the riff or vibe of that song really sounded like Kansas. It's kind of like, we like bands that came later than those older ones but we still get their influence.
SoT: Kind of the grandfather rule.
Scott: Exactly!
SoT: So what are your touring plans now?
Scott: We are setting up gigs in our own area now. Then we will be looking to do some mini tours like we have done before. The eastern states and we have been to Chicago and Indianapolis and would like to do some Midwest dates. Possibly set something up in Europe. We are trying to work that out now. That is our goal to set up some mini tours either here or in Europe.
SoT: What would you suggest to someone as a reason to buy "Monuments" that doesn't know you? What does Brave offer that is different or unique?
Scott: For us we never set out to be any particular "type" of band. We didn't try to pick out a type of audience or anything like that. We just wrote music with integrity. We wrote what we felt, what we liked. It's honest, not pretentious. It's hard for me to say that, but we have no alternative motive. We write what we feel and it's enjoyable to us. I think certain bands have an agenda, whether it is to make a lot of money or sound like this band or be this kind of band, we have always used music as a kind of form of expression.
SoT: Who writes most of the music?
Scott: As far as the music, I probably initiate the majority of it on guitar, but then everybody contributes and starts adding their parts. It all really starts to come together then. As far as the lyrics, I have written some, my sister writes the majority of them. We had some outside people, people not in the band that contributed to the lyrics too.
SoT: I noticed that on "Without You" Dena Wiser is credited.
Scott: Yeah, she had a unique story. Her husband was in Iraq. I am not sure how it happened because it went through Michelle but she sent in either lyrics, or letters or poems. It was an interesting concept about separation. I think we pulled some of the letters or poems into the song, which is kind of cool.
SoT: I mentioned in the review, the lyrics are intelligent, have depth.
Scott: Some of them are our personal past but not always. They can be influenced by what is going on in the world that doesn't directly involve us. Like I was saying with that song (Without You) we had an idea about a song where the husband goes off to war or is separated somehow. We try to write something that has a little more depth and meaning to it instead of just a simple statement.
SoT: How did you get started on guitar?
Scott: I guess I got started as a kid in elementary school. I would play with friends. Then I took some lessons. I have been playing in bands a long time, since the 9th grade with Trevor and my sister. We grew up in the same neighborhood and have been pretty close for a long time.
Sot: So what parting words would you have for the readers?
Scott: I hope that they think of the album objectively, without comparing it to something else.
SoT: I want to thank you Scott for your time.
Scott: Thank you!
Scott Ward
(Click here to read our review of Monuments)
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