Interview with Chris Poland ( www.lionmusic.com   ) by Johnny C of www.loudmetal.com 

Please talk a little bit about the reissue of your solo album Return to Metalopolis 2002...

the lion reissue of    "Return to Metalopolis"     has two bonus tracks that i
really like,  " thirty days due" features  brother Mark Poland on drums and
sampler with Dave Randi on bass. it was the second time we ever played that
song together, it's recorded straight to dat, fulltone pedals on that one.
the second bonus track  "heavy guitar jam" is OHM featuring
Robertino Pagliari on bass with David Eagle on drums and percussion also
recorded live to two track dat. we have a lot of these jams recorded, we
always roll tape.Now we also know how self-indulgent they are... but if your
a Cream fan you may like it, it has a lot of great moments.

and your new band OHM:

OHM formed about 4 years ago. KoKo Bermeho was the original drummer he was
replaced by David Eagle about 2-1/2 years after we strated.KoKo was truly a
jazz guy, one minute he'd be playing drums, the next he'd be playing "giant
steps" on the piano note for note. I learned a lot from KoKo and I wish him
well. But for as good as KoKo was for the band David Eagle brought us to the
next level, his unique style and energy really fit like a glove. David's
playing is something to be seen as is          Robertino's. Robertino,Gar
(original Megadeth drummer) and I played together in the fusion band The New
Yorkers from 1979 - 1983 along with Gars brother Stu so Robertino and I have
a very long history together. I have to say, when we play together you can
hear it.

Which guys would you consider to be your main influences?

Our tastes are similar as far as fusion goes,Weather Report,Tony
Williams,Bruford,I mean I could go on. Robertino has a soft spot for Brand X
, he also worships at the Temple of Jack Bruce (it's not healthy how much he
likes Jack). David listens to and knows the titles...place of recording ...
and dates recorded on of the most obscure music I've "never" heard. Where he
gets this stuff I don't think I want to know. As for myself it started with
Beck,Page,Clapton and Hendrix then I heard McLaughlin.....this is when every
thing went terribly wrong.

How would you describe your music to someone who is not familiar with it?

OHM...it is very heart felt, it has a lot of energy and a lot of different
emotions. It's a tension then release kind of roller coaster ride. Lots of
playing all around by everyone in the band. Everyone has their moments but
it's never the same twice which I really like. There's a lot of spontineaty.

How did you develop your own style of playing, did you take any lessons?

I learned to play jamming with records. Some of those were........ Good-bye
Cream, Jimi Hendrix "greatest hits", Best of Mountain,Screaming Lord Sutch
(Beck ,Page and Clapton where on it) Jeff Beck Group "truth"and the orange
album with Bob Tench. i took a couple of lessons but didn't want to learn
standards at the time.
i wanted to know how Page got the sound on the "good times,bad times" solo.
i wanted "red house" tone. then i followed Holdsworth with TonyWilliams,and
McLaughlin with The Mahavishnu Orchestra and many others. anyway, somehow i
stumbled on what you could call a style of my own.one thing i know is I'll
never stop trying to make it better.I'm still inspired by new stuff i hear,
Incubus has a great guitarist, it's all about sound for me, the song's first
but tones are really important.


What is the most important, feeling or technique? can you survive with only one of them?

BLUES!

What kind of equipment are you using live or in the studio?

BOGNER FISH is my main pre-amp, but I just got an Egnater M4, I used it on
the melody and solo for "where's my hat." IM also using a Halfler P7000 power
amp and or a RIVERA tube power amp withYAMAHA SBG1300 Guitars and Fulltone
pedals into Marshall vintage 30s.I also like EMG pick ups and Ernie Ball
Strings. FXs always very depending on my meds but I do like Roland srv2000's
andYAMAHA d1500's,i just got a black face INTELLIFEX that sounds great too.
Im using an a/da stereo tap delay and a 1210 t.c. for chorus. I found a
really cool old ring modulator I like a lot to.

How was the album recorded?

with da38 Tascam digital tape machines and a M2600 8 buss mixing board.
drums were cut with bass and guitar as scratch to be done later. All drums
are live start to finish. all recording was done in our rehearsal-recording
studio in L.A.

Which musicians would you like to play with some day?


I like all kinds of music so I'm very open.


What kind of music do you like the least?

boy band music.

Do you ever listen to music that is very different from what you do, if so what?

I have a soft spot for Rickie Lee Jones, her first record is one of my top 10
on a desert island picks. I had been listening to Bali music for a while but
I lost the cd.(or someone lost it for me, it did just seem to disappear).


Are there any plans to tour?

we will play any where any one will have us. Europe is our goal and there has
been talk in FEB. of 2003, fingers crossed we will be there then!

What other plans do you have for the near future?

get the band ready to tour, get my tone together, write new tunes. When I
work on a record my writing gets put on hold so I can't wait to start that
process again, I can tell it will be good.

How is the musical climate for hard rock in the States at this moment?

two days have passed since I read this question and can just about stop
laughing. There is no instrumental guitar climate in the USA. I'm not going
to sit here and give you that pat answer that it's really coming back, bla
bla bla.the musical climate here   in the USA is about which member of which
boy band is fucking Britney Spears!!!  what we do is truly underground and so
are our fans.


What are your feelings about the world we live in and how do you look upon yourself in 15 years from now?

 It's hard living in modern society. Televised war and instant gratification,
to have and have not is really brought to bare in the world today. I feel
lucky that I have found in guitar an outlet that helps me get thru the day,
as for me in 15 yrs. Who knows?
Let's take it one day at a time.