Greg Chambers

Guitarist, songwriter, singer for Isolating Ivan

Previously performed publicly for a plethora of plaintive and perjoritive projects; professional, productive and petty.

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What is music to you? What does it give you?

Music is truth and will never let you down. You will let music down; you will fail to practice, you'll hit bad notes, you'll forget your soul in the attempt to be marketable, etc...

What is your music dream?

Living it, but would like a much larger audience.

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

Science and music literacy should replace superstition and evil, but that would reduce or eliminate profits from corrupt and pathological pursuits like religion, fossil fuels, weapons and banking.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

Oh Happy Day by Edwin Hawkins.

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

I must admit that I listen to A LOT of classical, so everyone from Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven to Wagner and Mahler...lately Yo Yo Ma. I love big band jazz especially swing and Gershwin of course. As far as rock, Pink Floyd/Roger Waters give the best live performances and most extravagant shows, bar none, but I also love lots and lots of other artists and styles.

What inspires you to make music?

Pain and loneliness are excellent motivators. My worst tunes came from happiness, historically, but I believe that my songwriting skills are more mature now and I can create anything I wish, anytime I wish, because emotions are all at the forefront of my brain, to be delved and mined at will.

What is the message you want to send with your music?

Liberation and freedom from superstition, lies, corruption and evil.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

Alive and well at home.

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

The market is in the toilet because of music industry theft and corruption. Album sales are plummeting. Instead of 500 bands having a million fans each, we have a million bands with 500 fans each. The algorithms that write songs, the computers that play the songs in corporate machine music, has a monopoly on popular markets. I have hope for the Indie markets because I have trust in the people.

What do you think of Drooble?

I love it.

What frustrates you most as a musician?

Besides injuries and other musicians? HAHAHA! The same things that upset me as a human; stupidity, greed, cruelty, racism, xenophobia, sexism, bigotry, authoritarian and antisocial behaviors, etc...

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

Yes. I attend, get others to go, help with gear, sit in, encourage, complement, emotional and technical support.

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

After honing your craft, perform it clearly and coherently. Use air and space in your compositions to let the listener's ear breathe. Forget the industry and play from your soul. Experiment. Use musical tension and resolve. Stop sounding so much like other people and dig for what makes you and your music special and unique.

Share some awesome artists that we’ve never heard of.

Allan Holdsworth, Django Rheinhardt, Bob Gulley, Larry Hanson, Max Bennett, Mike Fennigan, Durga McBroom, Vernon Porter, JJ McCabe, Ron Shipp, Richie Uhl, Kalina Justice, Ron Kobayashi, Bobby Cochran, Paol Pedersen, Martin Gerschwitz, Michael James Brown...