Chatting with Zach Comtois (Britney Spears’ guitarist)
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- Опубликовано: 7 янв 2022
- Zach's band, Better Fires: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bet...
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Mixed by Rob Ruccia of Uptown Recording: www.uptownrecording.com/
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Video shot & edited by Jake Jarvi: / pineappleboyfilms
Assistant editing by Amanda Sellers
This video was made possible because of Patreon support from Rob Harper, Hypergnome, Fabio, Ben Swan, Isaac Briefer, ricin, rd1994, Sheldon Bird, Yaroslav Yermilov, Jack Cahillane, Denis Lachapelle, Kevin Harris, Jonathan Olejniczak, Fuad Ghazali, and many other awesome people on my Patreon page: / robscallon
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Fun fact, I randomly met Zach at Norm's Rare Guitars a few years back, we hit it off and ended up forming an electric scooter gang with Mary Spender, Adam Neely and Angella Petrilli on the same day.
can confirm. there is footage of that night.
@@AdamNeely wow you got here faster than a lime scooter in an unrestricted zone.
@@samuraiguitarist Sammy G, who is the best scooter rider out of the club
I had dinner with him at NAMM with the Bare Knuckle Pickups crew, lovely guy, story for the grandkids (but yours is better 😆) 🤘
It’s true. Fastest scooters in the west. Also, many corn dogs were consumed.
Thanks for having me on, Rob. Really enjoyed this!
PS - nice pants.
Checking out your band now. Good stuff!!
How do you like the Quad vs something like the Helix?
@@calaverx11 I haven’t spent any time with the helix, but I really love how easy the QC is to program and how good it sounds
Thank you Zach for sharing your story, it’s amazing how stuff works out…. I’ve discovered so many underground talented people during this pandemic, well sir you aren’t underground anymore, we’ll be following your work.
I am your #293 sub!
Zach is a beast, and an amazing dude!
You're a beast, too, and an amazing dude!
Hey YOU are a.. wait wuuut....?
Unlike you
@@taLLdavidproduction what do u mean?
@@joybuzzer nope.
That "change" at 2:20 killed me (and my daughter)! Lovely.
Totally "Rob's move"! 😆
funniest thing i've seen in a while
That was funny af
I almost did a spit take all over my monitor haha
Hahahah did not see it coming
Hearing it from a professional drives home the point: Stay in your own sonic space and design your sound not to be loud, but to be heard.
That's critical advice for every band, not just those playing with massive pop stars.
A very excellent interview.
I read this in a scotish accent automatically... fascinating.
Looked at this loudness thing from a scientific perspective ;)
@@blakestone75 me too hahaha
Check out Music Is Win's video about terrible guitar tones in popular songs. Even some guitarists not generally thought of as support players, like Randy Rhoads, understood this.
Tell that to Greta Van Vleet guitarist!
"Success is where preparation meets opportunity"
"Say yes and be on time"
Wise words
That's the opportunity part
a convoluted way of saying "get lucky"
Teri in the area!!
@@Kyle97x I like to think that luck, is a small part. Being prepared gives you the opportunity ; )
Amazing interview, amazing pants.
A wild beard appears!
When you two gonna collab again? We need more "communication via djent".
i was watching for a good bit before i was like...wait they are dressed the same......lol Rob...
He is such a humble guitarist who just does his job and does it right. I think that is pretty rare in the music industry these days.
He keeps his playing clean and simple, but it’s still iconic and instantly recognizable. And he still gets excited about the classic Britney riffs haha, that’s awesome.
He’s also not a tradition gear head that travels with mountains of gear and takes ages to setup. He’s got one box and his presets and he’s ready to go on the spot. Really important if you need to “just say yes and be on time.”
I think most importantly, he knows to keep his sound in the proper sound space, and stay out of the frequencies of the lead performer and other instruments. He doesn’t flourish and doesn’t feel the need to be shredding or ripping blues licks throughout the songs.
All great points, although a humble musician who does his job right is by no means rare. Most people who does music professionally are like Zach in that regard. You generally only notice those who break from that mold is all. Think about it from a music director standpoint, who would you rather hire? The person who brags and always has to show off when playing or the the person who is just as good of a player but only serves the music in any situation. The less work a music director has to do to get someone to sound good the more likely they are to hire them!
I think people forget that the guys who are hired to play for pop artists like Britney, Kesha, Avril Lavigne, Ariana Grande, etc etc etc are typically absolute monster players who can shred circles around most players in the world. Studio musicians, session musicians, and these touring stage musicians (usually one and the same) are god-tier level players.
Facts! Metalheads seem to have forgotten Nuno Bettencourt has played with Rihanna for more than ten years.
this is something people tend to forget. Likes yes your favourite artist is very good at their sound and they excel at that because it's what their career relies on, but a session musician is expected to play anything that they're hired for. It's a tough business being a hire musician
John 5 is a perfect example. Famous for Marilyn Manson, but has worked as a touring musician. The image most people have of him is a basic-riffing guy in makeup, but he can do literally anything. In my opinion, one of the best on the planet.
@@patrickrushbrook4523 For sure! Jason Hook is another fine example. Everyone knows him from 5FDP where the playing isn't particularly wild, but he used to be the session guitarist for Hilary Duff. And he is a beast when he lets loose.
@@enrath4078 God I hate FFDP. The world's lamest cover band. I'll go watch videoe of him and give him the opportunity to redeem himself in my eyes..lol
always heard britney spears music as a whole and hearing the guitar sounding badass by itself is awesome
This must be the best gig ever. I bet he gets paid incredibly well doing what he loves and yet no one would look twice if he went grocery shopping. All the perks, none of the drawbacks of fame.
Very much doubt he makes much money. Britney spears will make a shit ton, he would probably be on similar money to the backup dancers
I read once that a guy who had played drums for a pop artist (I want to say he subbed for Taylor Swift's guy) was making $400 a night. That's close to $200 an hour of stage time, and probably free room, food, per diem, etc. So you could make 40-50k free and clear per year, then earn money in other ways when not touring. I think that's pretty good.
@@FrankFurther i mean, he's making a video about how he loves his job and he's been doing it for 5+ years so i think it's a safe bet that he's pretty happy financially and professionally lol
His playing is so clean and flawless. I'm incredibly impressed.
I agree with you 100%. Not just the right chords, but also an incredible precision in the volume of each individual stroke, to the point where it doesn’t just sound familiar to you, rather, you literally hear the entire soundtrack and even see imagery from the video almost. Such perfection!
People don't really associate these pop stars with good guitar playing. But you know the people they hire have to be amazing. They might not be shreddy types but you know they are gonna be insanely precise and clean type players.
@@aspaceproductions which frankly can be way harder than shredding. Of course some people can do both.
literally the first few notes he played in the video, I could tell he is a phenomenal player
@@apothecurio True but that aspect is way less appreciated by the general audience. Because being extremely clean and precise really doesn't seem nearly that impressive until you actually play an instrument. So I totally get why most people think shredding is way harder.
Me: such an interesting interview, it's a window into a side of professional musician life that we rarely get to hear about, thanks Rob!
My brain: haha pants
I was thinking hair
Rob Scallon is a national treasure.
hell yeah he is
International treasure*
@@mattpassos5689 EVEN BETTER!
Rickolas Scage
and so is Zach Comtois
I loved the "hard rock guitar under every pop song" thing of the late 90s early 00s
I’m a metalhead at heart, but I absolutely adore Britney Spears. She actually has some really good guitar work on some of her songs. Toxic of course, but Satisfaction and I’m a Slave 4 U are REALLY fun to play on guitar. The 2000 VMA performance of Oops I did it Again is straight up rock performance.
It's not just Britney either, The Backstreet Boys also have some great guitar parts in their songs, usually acoustic but they also sometimes have great electric parts like that banger of a solo in Larger Than Life. And then there's Michael Jackson, who's discography is filled with fun guitar parts.
Britney Spears had Max Martin, Swedish metal musician turned producer, as a producer.
Yes.
@ I love that the metal scene produced one of pop music's biggest underground heroes.
@ yesssss Max the legend. You can hear a lot of metal influence in his stuff actually.
I love how he’s giving so many tips on life as a musician, everyone is so negative about getting into this industry, and Zack is just saying hey if you wanna do this just work hard and don’t give up ! Pretty inspiring
@@smthnew861 wether you got lucky can only be determined afterwards 8)
@@smthnew861 Getting that first gig includes luck, being in the industry for many years is hard work and determination, especially in a space that is very expendable. But if you mean that he is very lucky because he is hardworking, then yes.
Holy shit, "Success is where preparation meets opportunity" is my new mantra forever
"One of you guys should change clothes"
Rob: Wears matching pants.
and glasses
Face-blind people will need headphones for this interview
The deadpan costume change killed me 😂
Shit killed me
Holy shit, I didn't even notice that until you said something. That's seriously hilarious.
I wouldn't be doing my duty as a friend if I didn't point out that the Les Paul Zach is playing at the 4:20 mark (giggle) is none other than The Beast, belonging to Bernie Marsden! One of the most, if not THE most, iconic '59 Burst Les Pauls there is. Bernie brought it to a show for Zach to play and...that's it! 🤯
There are many session guitarists, but few session guitars.
If only les paul a were cool guitars worth owning that comment would be relevant...
Loving these deep dive interviews! Incredibly inspiring!
Zach rocks! I was taught music in middle school by his dad, who showed me how to set up and wire guitars!
Wonderful way to pull back the curtains and show the point of view of a working professional musician. Thank you
I love the greatest art piece in the smallest picture frame at 0:09 behind rob’s shoulder
I love that Rob values the wisdom of musicians from all styles. Such a cool dude.
Man I’m so glad you are doing what you do! The “change” had me giggling
been watching ya right from the beginning and im glad i am. what an awesome journey to all the new videos..love the editing, the small costume changes, subtle details and just your enthusiasm and genuineness to this. Keep up the amazing content!
Honestly I didn’t have high expectations for this video but I was blown away. He drops some gems in here. This is a must watch for any guitarist.
This guy's tone sounds awesome! I've been an analog purist for years but I've been kicking around the idea of a digital rig for awhile because I'm tired of hauling around 100 lb amps. I may have to look into one of these
This is really interesting would love to see a series with other professional guitarists from all different types of music. People don't usually think Britney Spears and guitar, but every major artist needs backing musicians to some extent.
Absolutely loved this interview! Would love to see more like this :)
that was so cool! its crazy how guitar in pop is so heavy but usually gets washed away by the other elements or the creative process of the mix. wish we could hear it louder!
Thats just the way it is now...sad but we just have to hope things change
I don't think the produced songs are that heavy, but the live shows certainly are. Just goes to show - you can't kill rock and roll
@@matthiasfoo1217 Nah, I hope things don't change. There's not too much left to do with rock really.
@@matthiasfoo1217 If you take a look at what Travis Barker has been doing with the music industry the past couple years, you'll see things actually are changing. Even that Whip My Hair kid plays guitar now.
@@xeliarx I hope so...thats all ill say
I LOVE this kind of videos. Please do more of this with different pro guitarists if you can :D
I did a Free Britney Celebration video this week with the Spark and some of those songs have cool chord changes and rock up pretty well. Great timing!
Yess new video!
These interviews format spreading on the YT guitar game is really one of the best things happening in 2022.
2:20 goddamn Rob, I spat in my keyboard
Same. But i almost spat tea on myself while lying on the couch.
Legend says he plays for Britney and Christina. The forever rivals
This is brilliant! Thank you so much - these insights into the working lives of real professional musicians is always such a revelation and really enjoyable to watch. THANK YOU : )
That was a really nice interview. Thanks for sharing!
I was a Chicago-based bandleader for 16 years and Zach absolutely “gets it” There’s no reason why he won’t continue to be successful. What a great interview! Thanks for sharing!
How many guys (and gals LOL) are just realizing Britney has band members on stage....... Mind BLOWN! 😉
Enjoyed this video so much, everything about it was awesome! New subscriber 🙌🏼
I love getting an insight into a musical world I’ve never experienced before.
Watching an incredibly diverse collection of different styles of music over the years, specifically revolving around the guitar, I keep coming back to the conclusion that flamenco is one of the finest expressions of the instrument. You can hear the sounds even in modern pop songs.
Beautiful as it is, it is incredibly difficult to play traditional flamenco accurately. It's not surprising to hear 'simplified' expressions in other genres reminiscent of the typical sounds associated with it. In the end, its just about seeing (or hearing, rather) where we can explore with sound.
hey baby - Jimi Hendrix, the intro springs to mind
I know this dude…I fill in for him occasionally with his GB group. The few times we’ve shared the stage (you don’t often get the chance to play with your instrumental colleagues in Boston’s GB scene), it’s been a lot of fun…monster player 🤙
I've watched Rob's videos on and off for years, but this was the one that got me to subscribe. Really enjoyed that interview.
what a great interview!
For somebody like me who listened to Brintey in his preteens but listens to stuff like Dying Fetus, Weather Report and Alcest this video is golden.
Weather Report is amazing (so is Britney too though)
@@LageRUclips Indeed
i love how open minded he is about getting into different genres, most people are music snobs
What a great interview!
Wow, great interview! It was fascinating learning about how someone gets gigs. He's really talented!
NGL, I didn't even know Britney had a guitar player. The fact that she actually uses a live band greatly increased my respect for her as a performer.
Your channel has become more and more intresting to watch by the years. Just amazing content. I was always a rock player but was put out of my comfort zone and started to play at concerts, yeah big concerts with violins, choirs and all of that stuff. It all began when at my later years me and a good frriend of mine said to ourselves, damn what are we doing? we need o go and learn some theory and maybe some note reading. I needed to understand what the heck we were playing. Which led us to a music school and there we somehow met the lead pianist and cellist of the great Miki Theodoraki (Zorba). Who offer us to play at his concerts. Little did we now that he was testing us at his first gig and put us to learn 30 songs in only two days. Maybe for some thats not a lot. For us it was, but we somehow managed through his first concert which was a small one at the beginning but became quite big and we toured whole Greece playing lovely music. Both the pianist and his son, wow what amazing mucisians man. We learned a lot from them. So what Im saying you have to work hard and the pressure can be real, but in the end if you do push through you will become a better mucisians at the end. Being on time and being prepared is the key of becoming a professional guitarist or mucisian of all sorts..
Thanks for the interesting comment. I just started playing, so I hope I'm some day there where I can play something and than learn the rest. But I prefer more the Blues.
This was so fascinating!
This interview was sooooo cool!
Mamma mia, this is the best and most random episode I've seen here in a while. The meritorical value is here, the comedy is not pushed overboards and the production is simple but on point. I'm sure this is most memorable piece of content I've seen here in long time. Wish I could help you out in creating it just to have some of the satisfaction you sure have right now. Totally not joking, I meant all of it.
Rob Scallon's a legend, the master of all instruments and now a great interviewer
This was very cool. Informative and great to see and hear about this side of music.
Great stuff! Really enjoyed this!
Well I never thought I'd be searching/watching Britney Spears live shows. Thanks Rob 😂
What a great guy, and he's really got the dream gig!
Really insightful video!
Both such down-to-earth guys with a lot of skill to offer.
This is really cool. Thanks for the great story. Happy to see his success.
NOW MY 2022 CAN BE CONSIDERED STARTED, FIRST SCALLON VIDEO OF THE YEAR!!!
Are you saying you want to fist the man?
@@The_Kirk_Lazarus oh god just noticed the typo 💀
Rob should impersonate Zach and play a britney spears concert and add all the crazy fills and shred
That was really interesting, thanks Rob
damn rob, awesome video
13:25 the fact that Zach's face is like he is the most badass hardcore metal guitarist but he's actually playing Britney is hilarious
Huge tone. Love it. Also like sludge metal
To be fair, it sounds sick regardless! 😂
Absolutely not
Which part is funny, exactly?
Excellent gag with that glasses edit lmao
His speech on keeping and open mind and taking gigs outside of your comfort zone as a recipe for long term success is almost word for word what Rob Morgenstein talks about in the Vic Firth interviews
That was such an interesting perspective, seems like a really cool experience to get a gig like that.
My dad’s a guitar teacher.
My mom’s best friend since they were 4 years old is a woman who also married to a guitar teacher, and that guy is of course my dad’s colleague and friend and the’ve played in bands together and teach guitar at a college and a performing arts high school respectively.
Those other people have a son who is a year younger than me and we grew up having sleepover parties and stayed friends throughout our lives.
I got bit with the music bug at a young age and was playing piano since I was 7 and guitar since I was 12, whereas the other boy was focused on sports entirely and was an exceptional hockey player.
By 15, I was a pretty good guitar player and I stopped seeing the other boy because he went to a sports high school and I was too old for sleepovers and we’d just kind of grown apart during high school with our own personal lives.
What I did not know, however, was that he was drifting away from hockey and had been secretly playing guitar… a lot of guitar… and was getting really, really good.
Then one day some years later, I went to a bar to see an Eagles tribute featuring my dad’s friend (my teacher and father of that other kid) and who’s playing lead guitar in the band? The kid… 1 year underage. And he’s killing it.
My mom and her friend (his mom) are there and I’m like “Omg is that ****? When did he become THAT good at guitar?!!”
Anyways, this guy became the best guitar player within a 500 mile radius. And he could/can sing amazingly well while playing insane shreds. He’s a level 10 frontman talent, and his entire career in life the past 20+ years has been playing guitar with his band, doing cover gigs for weddings etc but also releasing his own music to moderate success (due mainly towards the fact that his writing isn’t remarkable but he can shred blues rock so it sells and pays the bills).
One day, around 17-18 years ago, my mom told me that she heard he got asked to play/tour with an extremely famous pop artist but turned it down and everyone thought he was crazy.
I ran into him at a bar a short time later and we sat down for a beer to catch up and I asked him about it and why he turned it down.
His exact words were…
“I’m really good at playing other peoples music, but I’m not that good at coming up with my own stuff that’s that good. If I joined that guy’s band playing his shitty music, I’d just get worse, not better. And besides, the last thing I want people to remember me for is being ******’s guitarist” and we never spoke about stuff like that again.
Unfortunately, that guy got deeper into drugs, mainly coke for like a decade and then the pandemic destroyed his career and he got into opiates. He moved out to the middle of nowhere and has been selling off all of his belongings and furniture on Facebook marketplace the last 6 months and it’s a sad and embarrassing thing to see in my feed and hear about through the family grapevine.
He never amounted to being known for his own art, but I respect him for trying, even if his legacy may ultimately be that he was a drug addict who threw his talent away.
that was a rollercoaster damn
Saw Zach's name and thought I would check it out. Very gifted, hard working and a team player- any organization should have been thrilled to have him. BTW, Zach, I don't think the "good stuff" is nearly over- you keep doing what you do, whether as Miss Spears' lead or where ever you go!
As much as I am in awe of your musical talent, I was curious, Zach, had any of Britney's legal battles with her father and family created any difficulties for him or the stage crew as they played out? I used to live in Garland, Texas, and have a little "over the fence" relationship to some of "all that crap". What has already transpired for Britney shouldn't happen to anyone- I wonder if her father thought once about how deleterious all this could be for other talent around her.
Best New Year you ever did have, Zach! Rob, I'll be back- although I think you ought to "duet" some more- as a musician, you ain't too shabby yourself! And take that Best New Year personally- I challenge you to have the best damn new year of your life! FR
Go Zach! Hope the New Year brings you the coolest things! :-)
What a terrific, insightful interview!
This is an amazing video. Always wanted to know the “Hired Guns” people. Please do kore of these videos 😁 Such a cool dude, humbled and fun.
Cool down to earth guy
That's a fantastic Vid!
I'm a very old-school rocker / Blues, Flamenco acoustic dude... But I absolutely love this.
Love Rob's interview technique, seems so genuine and let's the interviewee talk without interruption!
This is way cool. I play a few of those bigger gigs like that every now and then, but not Britney Spears big. It's cool to see what the guys at the apex of the industry are doing, and that they're thinking about it in the same way I am and using similar gear. I'm using a Kemper right now and it's the best thing ever.
Your friend is an awesome guitarist
So cool and inspiring! Nothing beats an SG with 10-46 strings!
Thats was really interesting. Great interview.
Something so satisfying seeing two amazingly talented guitarists nerd out about string gauge.
Has Zach played in several of Adam Neely's gig vlogs?
Yup!
Excellent Video
Just GREAT !! Never listened to too much Britney but now I've got to search !
I couldn't figure out who was who until they made Zach change pants
What was the name of the multi-effects processor?
I thought that was really cool of him to just be like "I'm not gonna complicate things, I got this in one or two buttons". It seems he's really dedicated to what he does!
Neural Cortex
The quad cortex by neural DSP
this thing is quite expensive, but you can buy what they call "archetype" the quality is as good for aroud 100$. Each artist has its own "archetype" signature pack.
@@melissafonteny5538 honestly archetype is great, but you'll spend more money tone chasing, you're best off buying the mooer GE300, it has a shit tonne of amps, cabs, FX. and if they're not good enough for you, you can upload 3rd party IRS too! it's a really worthwhile investment
Outfit change got me rolling you guys are great and an inspiration to all musicians at every level of their journey.
A very interesting video, great job!
Great interview! The (good) advice of incoming flashing lights popped me a question, as i work with design & motion graphics and occasionally for big screen events: How tough is for a musician (Like Zach) to get used to strobe/flashing with all the sudden changes in lighting? Thanks!
@13:00 that doesn't even sound like hit me baby one more time lol. It reminds me of the breakdown before the solo in dethsupport by dethklok. It sounded a lot prettier here though. That's wild.
Great interview and Zach offered some great insights!
This was awesome! 👌
I’d love it if some of those QC presets were public. It’s fun to jam through professional artists sounds.
I literally laughed when you put on the same pants. LMAO
I subscribed to your channel because you managed to embed an advertisement (of your own course) on a very non-obtrusive way. Thanks for the quality content and the respect you have for your audience.
Its so satisfying to see someone know exactly what they need to do to be successful. He knows exactly what his role is so he can do it perfectly.