Questions for Ultimatum?

We enjoy playing with many bands. Hard to pick one band.

wat would u say was the hardest thing
for Ultimatum to accomplish and
what would you suggest for a young band to do
and you would suggest they look out for ?

SuprimuS wrote:

wat would u say was the hardest thing
for Ultimatum to accomplish and
what would you suggest for a young band to do
and you would suggest they look out for ?

Hardest thing to accomplish? I'm not sure exactly what you are asking, but I'll try to answer. The hardest thing that Ultimatum have had to deal with over the years is the turn-over of members. While we have some great guys in the band over the years, it's always difficult to lose a member. It changes the chemistry of the band as well. So far it's worked to our benefit as I feel Ultimatum have only gotten better over the years.

A young band? Make sure you are happy with the material you are writing before you rush into recording. When Ultimatum were a young band we were eager to record something so we went into the studio with songs we were not 100% satisfied with and we ended up with a demo we weren't happy with at all. (Fatal Delay). Take your time. Make sure it's the best you can deliver.

Also wouldn't suggest jumping onto any record contracts. Watch carefully. Many record companies will only put you into debt. Many great bands ended because they got involved with a record deal and it ruined them.

wow thanks for the advice, if someone that is from a band is reading this, should take it into a concideration.
I which I make a band one day, I have some friends that play different instruments, and we want to make a heavy metal band with possitive message,But I am learning guitar and is really hard to make up time to learn guitar.

Ultimatum, has time been a big problem for your band? I mean when you try to do a concert and somebody from the band can't do it because they have to work?

I would say learn your intrument well and I mean well. ITs so much better when you already are a good player to start a band. Youre not trying to juggle your lessons and your band at once and plus you already know how so it just makes it much easier. Be patient it will pay off.

As for the time issue weve had our share of arguments and fights over sccedules and certain shows but to remedy any future problems I came up with this simple solution. I have all the guys send me thier schedules at least 2 months in advance if they can. I keep a small calendar with me and mark thier days they cant do shows in it. That way when im booking shows I at least have an idea if we can play it or not and I dont have to keep going back n fourth trying to call everyone up to see if they can do it. Its not a fool proof plan but it works well enough.

yeah
that was good advice
thanks alot
im in a band right know
and we are trying to get things rolling
and its deffinatly not easy
but anyway
thanks for the advice

your advices are very appreciate it. Thanks a lot

wow man
i know no what you meen about losing band members
My bass player pretty much just left because of the problems he was cosing
we were good friends to, and this might sound akward and wierd but its almost
like being broken up with by a girlfriend
in other words it sucks
and you cant really explain the hardness and difficulty of keeping a band together
in words

So if there was a particular band that you would want to share the stage with but havent yet who whould it be? can be disbanded or still together...

Stender wrote:

So if there was a particular band that you would want to share the stage with but havent yet who whould it be? can be disbanded or still together...

Black Sabbath, Dio, or Judas Priest.

Where do you usually get your musical ideas? Do you get a idea for a riff out of the blue or from listening to another band?

very interesting. What has been the hardest song to come to life?

powermacho wrote:

very interesting. What has been the hardest song to come to life?

Shoot. Some songs we spent hours on trying to hash out and some of those songs never even made it to any record. We've scrapped songs that we spent time working on and they just didn't seem to ever flow right for us. As a matter of fact, we've done that a lot. If the song doesn't seem to flow after a while, time to move on.

We had one song we were working on with Augustine and it has so many breakdowns that we had to breakout the chalkboard to map the song out. It became sort of ridiculous. We ended up scrapping the song, at least for now. It may come back in the form of a different song at some time. That happens a lot too.

So, I think most of the songs you hear on our CDs are those that flowed right and weren't difficult to bring to life. The hard ones will probably never be heard.

ultmetal wrote:

powermacho wrote:

very interesting. What has been the hardest song to come to life?

Shoot. Some songs we spent hours on trying to hash out and some of those songs never even made it to any record. We've scrapped songs that we spent time working on and they just didn't seem to ever flow right for us. As a matter of fact, we've done that a lot. If the song doesn't seem to flow after a while, time to move on.

We had one song we were working on with Augustine and it has so many breakdowns that we had to breakout the chalkboard to map the song out. It became sort of ridiculous. We ended up scrapping the song, at least for now. It may come back in the form of a different song at some time. That happens a lot too.

So, I think most of the songs you hear on our CDs are those that flowed right and weren't difficult to bring to life. The hard ones will probably never be heard.

It would be cool to hear one of the songs that you call (a hard one) just to see the difference. Sometimes the fans like the songs that the band hate like Metallica's Escape song... the band hates it but a lot of people dig it.

It would be cool to add 1 or 2 b-sides on the next ultimatum album

Sorry it took so long to get this show uploaded for Podcast, bros! But it was HEAVILY saturated on the affiliate stations we air on. Not very happy with the quality of Scott's segments. There are two reasons why they were not perfect:


1) The STUPID jerk at that station I was (key note "WAS") working at was doing crap to sabatage anything MEtal I was doing. I did other inter views with no issues, but whenever I did anything Metal, I got mysterious static.. I later caught the dude sabataging my work.. The dog eat dog world of Christian radio.. Nice!

2) Scott was on his cell phone driving around in his Mustang at 100 mph with the windows open..




One day we will re-do it with my new program which is KILLER!! I am sorry it was NOT done aswell as I wanted it to be dudes... At least it took your music to a different audience. I hope sales are going well for you on this one. Notice any increase in sales? I hope we helped you a little at least, oh well. Keep it METAL and keep your armor on lads!

Ult, I got some questions for ya...

-Are all of the members (past and present) of the band Christians?
-Does a person have to be a Christian to join the band?
-Has the band ever rejected a potential member because of their beliefs or lack thereof?

Yeah, I got a question for Scott, man...

Who cuts your hair?

TrogDawn wrote:

Yeah, I got a question for Scott, man...

Who cuts your hair?

I guess that you can't even answer it.

This one is for Robert.

What is your set up? I was spinning INTO THE PIT today and realized that your tone is about what Im looking for. In the pic in the cd it looks like you are playing through a Peavy XXX? Also are you using EMGS or something of that nature in your guitars.

Ive got a Marshall MG100 head and just cant seem to get that razor sharp gain that is rather prevelant on the new Ultimatum album.

Ive always been a fan of Peavy Amps.
For Live shows I do use a Peavey XXX head though a full stack 5150 cabs. I Like my tone I get out of that Head very crunchy and loud! I also loaded it with 4 Groove tube 6L6 Power Tubes and I use 4 JJ 12AX 7's in the Pre Amp section. This Amp is much like the 5150 or 6505 Amps that Many main artist use however I thinks its more user friendly and has more versatility as well. Two high gain channels with independant EQ's and one clean with EQ. Simple not a lot of knobs to turn and its easy to dial in a great tone.

For Effects I run a Korg 3000 Effects Pedal Board (which I may be selling soon when Line 6 comes out with the M13 Effects Pedal board) and a BBE sonic Stomp Pedal a Weeping Demon Wah (this Wah kills! I love it) and a Rocktron Hush pedal for the effects and Boss NS2 Noise Supressor for my Guitar. I recomened you get one of these or some kind of noise suppressor because the Peavy Heads all have a tendency to feed back a lot especially a high volume levels. That Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor is like Gold!

The Guitars I use are either my Ibanez RG 450 Custom, My Charvel solist, or my New ESP /LTD Horizon. All loaded with EMG pickups. Been a fan of EMGS for about 10 years now.


For the Into the Pit Recording I used the XXX head but ran it through a Marshall 4x10 Cab which gave it that extra punch that I needed for the recording.
And the Guitars I used were my Agile 2000 for rythms and for the Leads I used my Ibanez RG 450.

Not real familiar with the Marshall Mg 100 although the Marshall JCM 2000 is a great Amp has lots of gain on it but a lot more pricy. The Peavey XXX head will set you back about $800 to $950 new. Used you can find one around $500 or 6.

Here's another question for Robert:

When you wipe, do you use 1 stroke down and then 2 up or some other combination? Also, do you find that this is seldom enough to get all of the debris cleaned away? Any suggestions for those of us who struggle with this issue?

TrogDawn wrote:

Here's another question for Robert:

When you wipe, do you use 1 stroke down and then 2 up or some other combination? Also, do you find that this is seldom enough to get all of the debris cleaned away? Any suggestions for those of us who struggle with this issue?

Thanks for the rundown on your set up Rob. Im looking to down scale. I have a halfstack. The Marshall head and a Crate 4X12 with celestions. I no longer have a use for a halfstack so a nice 2X12 combo is in my future. More than likely a Line6. I like the Peavey tones though but Im still not sure I need a tube amp especially since I will mainly be recording at home. EMGs are in my future though. I have a 92 Carvin Ultra V that could really use some extra punch in the pickups. Thanks for the info and keep shredding!