episode 011//Alex Skolnick
Today I’m talking to Alex Skolnick. Alex is an amazing guitar player who is probably best known for being part of the legendary Bay Area Thrash metal band Testament—who actually just released a new record a couple weeks back called “Titans of Creation”. He was in testament from the time he was a teenager into his early 20s and then did some session work with people like the incredible bassists like Stu Hamm and Michael Manring. He also did some stuff with the band Savatage and eventually moved to NYC to study at the New School and pursue his desire to play jazz. And from there he started the Alex Skolnick Trio and they play cool jazz-influenced versions of classic rock and metal tunes as well as original music. Eventually, he made his way back to Testament and now he exists in two musical worlds.
Alex is a friend of mine and we had a great chat about his origins, where he grew up, what drew him to jazz, the challenges of being a well-known musician expressing their political views on social media, and gives some observations, some insight and his very intelligent and measured take on the state of things.