Dean Cascione: Neoclassical Shred Guitarist

Randy Ciak - The Simon Cowell of Shred

2007-08-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone always ask me who the hell is Randy Ciak? Simply Stated, Randy is one creative genius & one of the most innovative bastards I know. Randy is also my best friend and co-partner in crime. Quite frankly, It's Randy's brutal honesty that has made my guitar playing mature to the level it is today. Rip off a sextuplet or extreme phrygian run across 2 octaves, and Randy will be the first to point out that I missed one 64th note somewhere in the riff and I better work harder to clean it up!!! Its like having a personal Simon Cowell always critiqing your playing! Having this type of person anaylzing your picking and fretting hand, or just listening to your phrasing is a HUGE benifit - My advice: Find the most ANAL person you know and latch on to them and make them listen to you - you guitar playing will only improve! Randy also continully thinks out of the box which keeps him on the cutting edge of originality. It was Randy Ciak who pushed me to develop my own style & techinque and inspired me to become Dean Cascione , Neoclassical Shred Guitarist, and not just another Malmsteen / Stump clone. Randy would say somthing like this" Dude, theres already a Yngwie and Joe Stump......the world does not need another. Be yourself. Be Dean Cascione - Now lets here some original riffage....."

Jay Menard - Sound Engineer & Best Friend

2007-08-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

Jay Menard is by far one of the most talented, genuine individuals I've met in my lifetime. This Crazy Canadian is truely gifted with amazing Production and Engineering skills and is one killer guitar player and composer! Jays Talents are captured within his Band's latest cd ICEWIND - ALL IS DUST 2006 (Underground Symphony) which is total kick-ass - I mean crazy production, arrangements, and musicianship! It was this very reason (The QUALITY OF THE CD ) that I chose Jay to Engineer my sound. Jay is the "ears" and "brains" of capturing my tone in all the recordings. He's been patient with me week after week, as we test the many diffrent guitars /amp / mic configurations and scenarios. Thanks Jay for everything man - Shred on Brother!! - Dean

The Man Behind the Drums

2007-08-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

After a long painful search for some killer talent, Guillaume Sylvain of Montreal Canada was chosen as the drummer for GCS. Jay "The Ripper" Menard (My best friend in the world!) knew what I was looking for in a drummer - "One who could add some originality to my tunes as well as power" so Jay reccomended Gui. Jay presented me a demo of Gui which literally blew me away - " Guillaume was destroying the shit out of his Ayotte drum kit, releasing some unique killer thunderous pounding beats - in perfect time! Guillaume was brought on board and learned all the tunes with lightning speed! Within 2 months time the drum foundation for Guitar Chop Shop was recorded!

The Demo - Moving Forward

2007-08-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

The demo was complete earlier this year (March 07) which framed the foundation for the cd. I reviewed my tracks with my mentors (Joe Stump, Jay Menard and Gab Langelier of IceWind, Randy Ciak, George Bellas to name a few) and used their advice to hone my skills and polish my ideas. Next I set out to capture my killing live tone with the most accurate recordings possible. Although loops and drum machines were used on the demo, I wanted to stay true to my original idea and keep everything huge-sounding and real for the cd - GCS (Guitar Chop Shop). Also on the demo, the guitars were recorded direct ,so the lack of micing big tube-soaked stacks revealed lost tone, missing nuances and feel. The pulse of 4x12 celestion speaker cones driven by pure Laney Pro Tube valve power is equal to none!To date, the Drum tracks, Heavy Rhythm Guitars, and Bass tracks are complete. With tons of testing, I truely believe we are capturing the raw power of the guitar and drums in each recording and look forward to recording the final tracks: Nylon string and Lead guitars!
Shred on - Dean

Guitar Chop Shop: Neoclassical Shred

2007-08-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome! This is the place that I will update everyone on what's happening during the recording, mixing, mastering, and release process of my debut cd "Guitar Chop Shop". - Dean