CJ BERRY – MONSTER GUITARIST

It was 3 years ago when I had first started posting my music on a site called Fandalism.  This is a site for musicians of all levels, genres and from all corners of the wold to put their music out for any and everyone who wants to listen.  I came across a guitarist name CJ who stunned me with his technical, melodic and creative abilities.  I thought to myself, he plays the type of music I like to listen to and create.  It would be amazing if I could get him to play on one of my tunes.

CJ Berry

Back then I don’t know if it was a thing to contact other Fandalism artists directly and ask to collaborate on new music but I did it anyway.  Our first track “Crawl” was the beginning of an fantastic journey of musical creation, experimentation and learning (at least for me).

CJ and I created some incredible music over the years.  Many of which you can still hear on Fandalism and SoundCloud.  I am truly thankful and grateful to have had the opportunity to create music alongside this giant with an axe.

His artistry is deserving of the same accolades and attention given to the best and most popular guitarists on the world stage today.  He is that good.  I felt it was high time someone stood on the mountaintop and shouted his name.  Ok, that may be a little corny but seriously wait till your hear this guy.

Here is CJ Berry

CB- 1/My brother Mike, he was really into delta blues and really old blues and jazz and rock n roll stuff.
2/Jimi Hendrix (because of his unearthly sound and approach) ,
3/Carlos Santana ( because of his intensity and melodic and utterly fantastic approach to Latino percussion and rhythm ,
4/Sly and the family stone ( for pure groove and soulful vocals and the horn lines),
5/Marvin Gaye (soothing grooves and vocals and outstanding arrangements)
6/Deep Purple (Richie Blackmore was an outstanding guitar soloist)
7/John Mclaughlin ( for his indian influence and his otherworldly technique and style)
8/FRANK ZAPPA ( for his genius and his clear cut cynical and humorous approach to music and stage craft).

CB. Being a musician in England has always been like ”that’s nice but what do you do to make your money?”.  People are open-minded ‘generally’ about genre and style but there is a long history of Pop music dominating the scene.  I always felt that the music scene in England was inventive and lively if not at times innovative.

CR. What is the jazz scene like in England?

CB. Pretty miserable….LOL…over here most good players still look to the USA and Sweden, France, Germany, Austria for their influences and their GIGS.

CR. What bands if any did you play in.

CB. For over 30 years I have been a professional session musician. I have performed live on stage and in the recording studio with many artists including Tori Amos, Everything But The Girl, Indigo Girls, The Pixies, Lush, Brendon Perry, Narada Michael Walden, Jaki Graham and my own sister Heidi Berry when she was signed to 4AD/Warner Bros and before that to Creation records.

Banned In China

CR. What was that experience like.

CB. The experience of live gigs and studio recording is the best experience any musician who wants to call themselves a professional can have. Going from fear of large audiences or fear of messing it up in the studio to actually coming alive and playing better with an audience or when the tape is rolling..THAT is the most life-fulfilling and game changing element about being a musician.

CR. What was your choice of genre and why?
CB. I never actually chose a choice of genre..I think I float between the Jazz feel I gained from using Jazz theory to learn my musical language and the blues and rock and Soul roots which I heard on the way toward being an actual player and composer.

CR. What musical projects are you working on or would like to do?
CB. I am forever working on my CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS ..http://cjberryguitarist1.wixsite.com/cjberry/projects  A project I set myself to write a musical composition for every element in the periodic table.

I am working with a colleague, Harry Thompson, on a music production project called

SECOND LEVEL MUSIC PRODUCTIONS www.youtube.com SLMP’s Finished Music & Video Productions which aims to polish other people’s original musical compositions lift to a higher standard of production and arrangement.

I am rehearsing (as a bass player) for a local project to do gigs (for money) around the seaside town where i now live.

I would like to work on musical soundtrack for motion pictures, have done some student films in the past and some other art-house projects more recently.

CR. Pick a couple of your favorite uploads and tell me why they stand out for you.