A self taught guitarist Sean Michael Clegg had always dreamed of one day becoming a bona fide rock and roll star. At eight, Sean taught himself how to play guitar. By the time he was fifteen he was so good that he was giving guitar lessons. When he turned eighteen years old he was already playing in own rock band. A multi-instrumentalist and Sean was also a sought-after session player, not only can he play acoustic and electric guitars, but also bass guitar, piano/keys, mandolin, dulcimer and banjo, just to name a few! The band he formed is called, Accomplice. The band released 3 albums on Adrenaline Records, all of which received rave reviews in Japan and Europe. Accomplice has also opened for the likes of Van Halen, Rush and King's X. Just recently this past August they opened up for Deep Purple. Okay so here's the thing. Why isn't Accomplice a household name yet here in America? Well folks, that is all about to change. The band latest release, 'She's On Fire', is making quite an impact on the rock music scene. Not only in the overseas market, but here in America as well.
The Rocker and I had a chance to talk with the multi-talented Sean Clegg about the band's new release, 'She's On Fire' and his band Accomplice. Always happy to talk about music, a very amiable and humble here is what Sean shared with us...
AAM: First off, thanks taking the time to talk with us. Your latest CD, 'She's On Fire', is amazing!
Sean Clegg: Thanks guys. It's my pleasure guys. I really appreciate the interest.
AAM: How is the new record different from your debut release? How long did you guys spend in the studio recording?
SG: Our first record was home spun in a local studio in Long Beach. It was a real learning process for us. The new record was home spun as well, but this time around with had pro cats backing us up. It took us a really long time to record the drum tracks which we did in a week. The rest of the record took a year.
AAM: Johnny Gioeli from Hardline/Axel Rudi Pell sings on the CD, how did you hook up him?
SG: How that came about was through our keyboard player, Michael T. Ross, who played keyboards in Hardline. Through him is how we hooked up with Johnny. He's was that kind of singer we were looking for. He has that appeal and commercial song to his voice. At the same time his voice has the rock edge. He had everything we were looking for in a singer. When I heard his vocals on, "Everywhere", there were tears literally coming from my eyes.
AAM: Are you satisfied with the response you been receiving so far? Has the band line-up changed since the release of the CD?
SG: We actually have two new members now. Terry Illous from XYZ, who will be singing on our next record. Then we have Rigo Amezecua on drums. We hired Terry on to do a couple of shows with us to support, 'She's On Fire', one of those shows was opening up for Deep Purple. All those shows worked out tremendous for us. The feedback with received was all positive. Johnny Gioeli is a great singer, but Terry is the singer of my dreams! I've always loved what he did in XYZ, "Inside Out" and "Off To Sun", just great music and Terry's powerful voice. "Off To The Sun", I just love that song and when I asked Terry if we could do that live, he said, "Man, I love that song!", it was just one of those bonding moments we had. We do pretty long sets and we will at least do two XYZ songs. That is my way of paying homage to Terry.
AAM: Who produced the new album?
SG: On the new record we had Simon Phillips and Derek Sherinian help out on the production. That really taught us a lot and took us to the next level as far as production goes.
AAM: What was it like working with Simon and Derek?
SG: Working with Derek and Simon was a dream come true. Since I was a kid I was a huge Simon Phillips fan. I've watched him play with guys like Jeff Beck and The Who. It was a real honor working with Simon. We recorded all the drum tracks at his studio. The same studio where Toto records. As for working with Derek, it was awesome. I am a big fan of his work in Dream Theater as well as his solo material. We recorded the guitar, bass and keyboards at his studio.
AAM: As a guitar player, who were some of your influences?
SG: I've always love listening to guys like, Rik Emmett and Randy Rhoads. All my guitar heroes were all well rounded players.
AAM: Have you been approached by any of the major recording labels?
SG: We are romancing a couple labels right now. There is Japanese label that we could be working with. There are a lot of possibilities for us.
AAM: Johnny Gioeli, Chaz West and now Terry Illous. What happened to the original singer of the band?
SG: It was an odd situation, I have to be honest with you guys. We had to split with our original singer due to musical differences. He had that high voice kind of like, Geoff Tate. He wanted to go into a more progressive direction musically. We were over that genre as a band and wanted to take our sound to the next level. We wanted a singer with a manly voice versus one that sounded like a girl. Plus we were not happy with the material his was writing. We went through a lot of singers. There was Chas West from Bonham. Then there was Johnny Goelli, he blew me away. Now we have Terry Illous, who will be singing on the new record. We are very pleased with how it all turned out.
AAM: What is your goal as a band?
SG: As a band, we want to be like Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin. A band that has longevity. The kind of band that appeals to the masses. It's been a long road guys. A lot of studying, a lot playing and paying the dues. Things are going are way right now and I want to keep it going. Keeping everything on a positive note.
AAM: You guys recently opened up for Deep Purple, how was that?
SG: It was truly an honor opening up for Deep Purple. It was a dream come true for as a band.
AAM: In your opinion how as the internet affected the music industry?
SG: The industry is so crazy now. Its run by the corporate machine as we know. The internet can be a blessing but it has its demons as well. It is the death of the old school music industry. It's just whole different game now.
AAM: What can we expect from Accomplice on the new album?
SG: This will be my third album with Accomplice. I feel like I've come into my own as a guitar player. Getting bigger and better production. I think the big thing that will be different on the next album will be the production. Musically, we will never lose that progressive stripe, but we will keep it in the mainstream.
The Rocker and I along with All Access Magazine would like to Sean Michael Clegg for sharing his time with us. We had a blast brother!
For more info, please checkout: www.accomplicemusic.com
