This was a big change in musical direction for me. I felt like I had already done so much of the classically influenced stuff that it was time to explore some new musical territory. I also did not want to be limited by the boundaries of one specific style. I tend to get bored if I do the same thing over, and so it was time to express some different influences.

I know that this CD alienated some of the hardcore neoclassical fans, but it was important for me to grow and explore as an artist. The writing for the first two CDs was more of a serious, composed cerebral process. When writing tunes for Meltdown, I found myself not consciously thinking about composing songs, but instead just playing and letting the ideas flow naturally. This is the way I always write music now--let the music flow from the emotions without thinking about it. It is much more inspirational for me this way. As soon as I am consciously aware that I am writing, it is difficult to be inspired and creative. Letting the songs write themselves is more magical.

After recording this record, I played guitar for Alice Cooper for several months on the "Operation Rock & Roll" tour before touring extensively with my own band. It was amazing to have so much success with Meltdown on radio stations. The Meltdown music video was in rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. Pretty cool. I am considering making the Meltdown video available for purchase from this site but will have to think about it some more.

One of the highlights of the Meltdown tour was opening up for Rush on their Roll the Bones tour which included playing at my hometown arena, The Spectrum, in Philadelphia. That was a dream come true. We also did two shows at Madison Square Garden. Brian Tichy (who later played with Ozzy Osbourne) played drums on the tour and J.D. DiServio played bass. Both are incredible musicians.

This tour lasted for seven months and was probably the most fun that I ever had on a tour. It was always comical hanging with J.D. because besides being a phenomenal bassist, he is also one hilarious dude. We went out to eat Mexican food once, and as result he wrote a song called, Chimi Chimi Changa which became our sound check tune. Funny as shit! Check out the photos from this tour on the Photos page.