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YouTube is a wonderful thing, to think that only a few years ago video on the web was pretty scarce, now there are millions of videos of young shredders strutting their stuff and giving us a peek at the future of guitar. One such young shredmeister is 18 year old Aussie Casey Jones, not only does Casey have the chops, hair and attitude of 80’s rock guitarists from a time before he was even born but Casey also has a collection of iconic 80’s guitars to match. Not only does Casey have a collection of Kramer guitars, he is now an Endorsee and he’s not even out of Uni yet! Just check out his cover of Mr Scary above to see what I’m talking about, then check out a few more tracks on his YouTube channel such as his cover of Reb Beach’s Black Magic. I was so impressed I wanted to know more so I approached him for an interview and he was happy to oblige.

GN: So first up to give Guitar Noize readers a bit of background, when did you first pick up the guitar?
CJ: ooo, i’d say i would have been around 15… It was the start of grade 10 when i picked guitar up so i think i was 15. I had actually started guitar lessons for about 2 weeks when i was about 8 years old, but then quit and my father had to get the lessons instead of me, because we had already paid for 10. 

GN: What was your first guitar?
CJ: My 1st guitar which i still have today, is a 1984 vintage Ibanez Acoustic. I forget what model but its got a super thin neck. Paul gilbert signed it a few months back, its a killer guitar.

GN: How many guitars do you have now?
CJ: Ummm…. well 4 kramers, a gibson explorer, Southeast Guitars prowler, 2 acoustics another 2 electrics… and a banjo haha.. so i’d say about 12. Theres a lot but they’re all beautiful, except my throw around guitar which i take to university thats barely working at the moment haha… I gotta find a new guitar to take to uni.

GN. What attracts you to 80’s rock music?
CJ: I guess it was the whole fun attitude and sound to it all. Plus I was looking for something that could rival Van Halen. So thats what got me onto the whole Glam metal scene. Plus these days there aren’t a lot of musically interesting songs on the radio., not here in Brisbane anyways… so I searched for something, and this is what I found.

GN: How did the Kramer Guitars endorsement happen?
CJ: I’m not sure… I had been talking with a few of the guys from kramer for a while, some from the factory and some from the management side of things and they had asked me to do a video or two promoting them and in return they would upload it onto their gibson/kramer website. A few months later I hadn’t really heard anything from them, then out of the blue i received an email asking me if i would want to play their guitars and be an endorsee. That was a really tough decision… not. It was a real honour!!

GN: Who are your favourite guitarists past and present and who has influenced you the most?
CJ: Favorite guitarists would have to be, George Lynch, Reb Beach, Jason Becker, Warren Demartini, Edward Van Halen and Vinnie Moore. Definately George Lynch, Reb Beach and Edward Van Halen have influenced me most. I really look up to these guys!! i just wished they would come out here and do clinics!

GN: What is next for Casey Jones after University? Are you going to spearhead an 80’s rock revival in Australia?
CJ: Haha, one can only hope. I think i’ll just take it as it comes, i’ve had a few offers for bands and session work. But the latest offer is from a tribute band that covers, led zeppellin, deep purple, Guns’n'roses and a few other bands..  they gig around australia and did V8 supercars the other month. So might be a lot of fun. But i’ve been waiting along time and will continue to wait for an original band that i can either join or put together. That would be my ultimate goal in the near future! It’s just sooo hard to find the right people.

Thank you to Casey for taking the time out for the interview and I’m sure it won’t be long until he does find the right people!

Casey on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/sticktrix1
Casey on MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/CaseyJonesAustralia

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