Jason Kui interview (excerpts)

GT: Are there any tendencies that you embrace or avoid?

JK: I always pay a lot attention to arrangements, melody and tones. When I listen to music I think tones are the first thing I notice. I am not a fan of jam instrumentals that have no structure, so I don’t listen to jazz-fusion much. I lose interest since I have no melody to grab onto.

GT: Is a typical song structure always right for an instrumental?

JK: I don’t think structure is all that necessary. A lot of instrumentals by Dream Theater or Rush don’t apply typical song structure. But I do like songs that have a pretty solid and obvious verse, chorus, bridge, especially when I am writing; I can feel the build-up and the development much better. Like telling a story, you start with an introduction, then tell a little bit and a little bit more, and then it reaches a climax and an ending. Just how a storyline develops.

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GT: Many guitar solos start low and slow and finish high and fast. Is this useful for instrumentals?

JK: I’m mindful of that structure for the emotion and dynamics, but density and layering are also important. John Petrucci seems to like this structure a lot. The solo in ‘The Spirit Carries On’, starts with lower notes and fewer notes, then as the song progresses, more and higher notes provide increasing emotional impact. Then after the climax, it goes back down to lower and fewer notes.

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GT: Any favourite modes?

JK: I like the Lydian mode. The second song of that ‘96 G3 show was Joe Satriani’s ‘Flying In A Blue Dream’. When I first heard it, I thought, ‘Wow, this is so heavenly sounding. What does he play to make me feel like dreaming?’ I didn’t know anything about modes back then (I was 13 years old), but I could tell it wasn’t an ordinary Major or Minor scale. Petrucci is the master of Phrygian Dominant. It has a natural metal, exotic, even evil sound. I learned a lot of JP’s solos in Phrygian Dominant, like ‘Dark Eternal Night’ and ‘Home’. My song, ‘Dance Of Awakening (The Spirit)’ has Phrygian Dominant and Mixolydian elements and sound. Two modes changing back and forth contribute to an adventurous and exotic sound, totally inspired by Petrucci and Vai.

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GT: Name three instrumentals that have inspired you.

JK: Number one, Jeff Beck’s ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’. It’s a very melodic song that melts your heart. It’s the best example of the guitar becoming vocal-like. I learned a lot of techniques from this song. Then ‘The Audience Is Listening’ from Steve Vai’s Passion And Warfare. Steve takes instrumentals to another level. He can totally speak through his guitar. Dream Theater’s ‘Dance Of Eternity’ is number three. It’s an insane prog-rock epic. I was 14 the first time I heard it. I didn’t quite get it at the time – I just thought there were so many notes, but as I see it now, it’s genius. It demonstrates how to compose music with no limits. It has key changes, time signature changes and tempo changes; features metal riffs, a ripping solo and even ragtime jazz. It taught me to think out of the box because the song doesn’t have verse, chorus or bridge. It’s simply a masterpiece.