Myles Kennedy: Lead Vocals with MultiRack

Published Oct 06, 2010

While Myles Kennedy originally gained fame as a member of Alter Bridge (along with Creed alumna Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall, and Scott Phillips), it is his current gig as lead vocalist with Slash that has landed him even wider acclaim. In this interview, Myles tells us how he uses Waves MultiRack live on tour with Slash.

How is the Slash tour going?

The tour has been an amazing experience to say the least. Being a part of it has been one of the highlights of my career.

As an avid Guns & Roses fan, how does it feel to perform their songs live with Slash?

When I first heard Appetite for Destruction, it blew my mind. It was so dangerous and cool, yet it felt very real and genuine. It was a big departure from a lot of what was going on at the time. If someone had told me that in the future I would be sharing the stage with Slash, performing some of those songs, I would have thought they were completely high. So, to answer your question.... It feels great!

How do you approach performing with Slash as opposed to performing with Alter Bridge?

Slash's solo material, as well as his previous work, has a different feel and story line than Alter Bridge, so I try and tap into different emotions to convey the songs. The Slash set is made up of material that is straight up Rock and Roll. It's important to try and maintain a certain amount of recklessness and not turn it too clinical—otherwise it won't work.

How did you start working with Waves MultiRack?

We were in the middle of rehearsing for the tour, and our Monitor Engineer, Kevin "Tater" McCarthy, said that he wanted to try integrating the Waves MultiRack into the console to see what I thought. I knew that Waves plugins were used for recording but I didn't ever think of trying them for a live application. So I thought, "Cool, let's give it a shot."

What was your first impression when you experienced a monitor mix through MultiRack?

WOW! I kind of freaked out to be honest. I was totally blown away. Once he popped it into the vocal channel I looked at him and he looked at me and it was like "Holy Shh......!" We were both grinning from ear to ear.

Do you find that you can control your vocals better now that your monitor mix is clearer and more balanced with MultiRack?

Absolutely. It makes everything seem very effortless. I don't have to push at all because for the first time, I can hear all the subtle nuances that the human ear needs to hear to translate information to the brain. I can hear exactly what I should or shouldn't be doing with my voice to hit the notes so I don't have to strain. For a singer, that difference can literally save a tour. If you’re pushing and fatiguing your voice, eventually the vocal folds stop working correctly, shows are going to be canceled and fans are going to be upset. I certainly don't want that.

Would you recommend MultiRack to other performers?

Let me put it this way, as a singer, now that I've heard what a difference this has made in my world, I don't even want to think about performing without MultiRack.

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