![GearWire [January 2009]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/gearwire.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Jan 29, 2009 | Articles
The Wood Viper Violin: Stratospheerius’ Joe Deninzon On The Electric Violin
by Patrick Ogle
Joe Deninzon of Stratospheerius says you could fill ten books with him talking about the violin. We decided, therefore, to get specific. We talked to Deninzon about his Viper Violin and how he would up playing it. Deninzon comes from a family of classical musicians. His father played with the Cleveland Orchestra for 30 years. He began lessons on the violin at age 6. Then he fell in love with rock music and later on, jazz. But at the time, he learned bass and guitar and shunted his violin to the side. What kid wants to play violin in a rock band?
“A few things happened which were major catalysts in my life. The first was when I heard Stephane Grappeli, my first introduction to jazz violin. The second was when local Cleveland celebrity Michael Stanley invited me to play violin with his band, and the third was when I heard a recording of Jerry Goodman with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.” says Deninzon.
These three things opened him up to using all the musical concepts he had learned and brought him “back” to the violin — the instrument he feels he is and was most adept at. He went looking for an electric violin.
“I did some research and bought a six-string Jensen electric violin, which had the top four strings of a regular violin (E,A,D,G) and went two fifths below with a lower C and F. This instrument served me well for many years, and then I moved to New York and met Mark Wood,” he says. “His Viper used the same Barbara pickups my Jensen did, so the sound was identical, but what sold me on the instrument was the ‘chest support’ system, which allowed me to free up my mouth and chin, since I sing and play violin at the same time, and the frets enabled me to nail the high notes at clubs where the monitor situation was less than ideal. I also loved the fact that it had a seventhth string (a low B-flat), which went a whole step below cello range. Perfect for distorted power chords, or recording cello parts for string arrangements.”
The Viper is a solid body instrument — not acoustic — and as such, it needs to be played through an amp. Deninzon is emphatic when discussing an amp versus playing through the PA.
“I don’t care what anybody tells you, and I’ve had arguments with many soundmen about this. Electric stringed instruments sound like crap when put directly through a house system,” he says. “I have a very strong opinion about this. You wouldn’t run an electric guitar direct in a live situation, would you? Since the Viper has such a large frequency range, I have found it to sound good with Fender Twins or Mesa Boogie Cabinets. The more powerful tube amps usually are best for these instruments.”
Deninzon also likes exploring how different effects sound with the Viper.
“When I played guitar, I became well-acquainted with distortion, wah, delay pedals, etc. I like how those things sound on a violin. Not quite like a guitar, not quite like a violin, something completely different,” he says. “I have two huge pedal-boards I use when playing with Stratospheerius or Metro Strings. I am also developing a book for Mel Bay addressing how string players can get into using effects and incorporating them into their sound.”
In the studio he uses it in many different ways.
“Often when someone is on a budget and can’t afford to hire a whole string section for their project, I play the cello and viola parts on a Viper and the violin parts on a regular acoustic violin,” says Deninzon. “With the right amp and EQ, you can get a pretty realistic cello sound.”
Among the Viper’s best features are the chest support system which incorporates a guitar strap behind the back and an adjustable chest support device. This means you do not have to hold the violin and strain your neck and shoulders. He also likes the way the Viper looks.
“The design looks like a flying V guitar, and is one-of-a kind for an electric violin design. Very sleek. ” he says. “The frets are a great cheat sheet, since in a rock situation, you can’t always hear yourself, and this really helps you nail notes. It’s especially great if you’re a singer and are trying to multi-task on stage.”
He does think there are some things about the Viper that could be rethought.
“My female colleagues have complained to me about getting “viper boob” when they play for extended periods of time. I think he needs to work on adjusting the chest support system to make it more comfortable for women.” he says.
He also says there are intonation problems — but adds most fretted instruments have those.
“The area where the F, C, and G string are has intonation problems, and sometimes the instrument goes flat as you go up the fretboard. On a violin, there is almost no margin of error, and I know Mark is constantly trying to improve these things,” says Deninzon. “When I bought the instrument, the D and A string would get ripped every once in a while around the third fret, and I had to sand the lower frets down a bit to smooth them out and prevent this from happening.”
In addition to Stratospheerius’ new CD, Deninzon is also writing and recording with his new electric string quartet, Metro Strings.
![Kalamazoo Gazette [April 2008]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/kalamazoo_gazette.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Apr 29, 2008 | Articles
Ad Lib
by John Liberty
STRATOSPHEERIUS’ LOCAL DEBUT
Meet Joe Deninzon, the ‘Jimi Hendrix of the violin’
As a young man, Stratospheerius frontman Joe Deninzon played bass, guitar and violin.
There came a point when he had to pick an instrument, and he went with the violin because he was better at it. The Russian-born musician, who grew up in Cleveland and now lives in New York, was classically trained on the violin and listened to a lot of jazz, but echoing in his heart and mind was the music of Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa and Aerosmith, among others.
Deninzon found a balance between the two styles with an electric violin. Five years ago, he bought a Viper, a seven-string, solid-bodied wood violin shaped like a flying-V guitar. He bought it from Wood Violins, a New York-based manufacturer of electric violins, violas and cellos.
“I played violin, thinking like a guitar player,” Deninzon said during a phone interview from New York. “I was able to scratch both itches.”
Deninzon and the rest of the progressive-rock band Stratospheerius will make their local debut at 9:30 p.m. Friday at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe, 355 E. Kalamazoo Ave. Admission is $5.
The group — Deninzon, drummer Lucianna Padmore, bassist Jamie Bishop, percussionist Benny Koonyevsky and new guitarist Auerelien Budynek — released its latest CD, “Headspace,” last summer. The band blends rock, jazz, funk, R&B, hip-hop and freewheeling instrumentals. And, of course, there’s the Viper.
People tend to look at his instrument as a novelty, Deninzon said.
“I’m trying to get past that and just make music,” he said. “People kind of freak out because it’s different.”
The animated Deninzon — “I go nuts at live shows” — said “people have called me the Jimi Hendrix of the violin,” although he said he’s constantly looking to refine his sound — “It’s a journey, not a destination.” He also wants to revive a dying part of the live-concert experience by “bringing back the glory of the guitar solos, or, in my case, violin solos.”
![ProgSheet [July 2007]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/progsheet.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Jul 29, 2007 | Articles
A Few Words With… Joe Deninzon
Interview by John A. Wilcox
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Joe Deninzon has been called the Jimi Hendrix of the violin. From his work with Blackmore’s Night, Project Object, and Byron Nemeth to his prog fusion ensemble Stratospheerius, Deninzon has put his own stamp on the violin. Hot on the heels of Stratospheerius’ latest release Headspace, Deninzon served up a corker of an interview for Progsheet!…
PS: A good portion of kids play violin starting in elementary school, then move on to other instruments or give up music entirely. What made you want to stick with the instrument?
JD: I think my parents, more so than anything else. I was raised in a household of classical musicians, and they saw it as a career path for me from an early age. I was given a violin at age 6, and put through the standard curriculum of a classical violinist. coming from Russia and entering the American public school system in the midwest, People who played the violin were perceived as geeks, and I wanted to fit in and be cool. as a young kid I was very influenced by my environment and my peers, like most kids. At one point, I was seduced by what I heard on the radio and saw it as a way to still be a musician, but connect better with the the public. I saw rock and pop music as a way to communicate with people and be “cool”. I stayed with the violin because it was what I always did best, and people thought of me very differently once they heard me play. Those moments and my parents’ encouragement kept me going. As I grew older, I began to appreciate classical music on a deeper level and began to realize how ignorant most people around me were.
At the same time, I began hearing more intricacies in jazz and rock. When I was young, I was not aware that you could rock out on the violin, and I badly wanted to form a band and write my own music, so I took up bass at age 13, and guitar at age 15. I was always singing for as long as I can remember. During high school, I lead two separate lives: my life as a classical violin student, and my life as a guitar hero wanna-be in juvenile rock bands. When I first heard Stephane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, and Jerry Goodman from Mahavishnu Orchestra, it changed my life. I realized that I could play my favorite music on the violin, which was my strongest instrument, and I could try to do something innovative with it. I already knew the “language” of rock, blues, and jazz on the guitar and electric bass, and it was just a matter of transferring it to the violin, which came very easily to me when I first tried it.
PS: What are you able to express through the violin that you couldn’t with, say, a guitar?
JD: First of all, the violin has an unparalleled ability to sustain notes and imitate the human singing voice. Great sustain is something all guitarists strive for but don’t always get. I am also endlessly captivated by its percussive qualities. I think the violin is as much a percussion instrument as a melodic instrument. There are endless things that you could do with a bow that you just can’t do with a pick. The big challenge, though, is playing chords and imitating voicings of a guitar or piano, something I’m constantly working on. As well as intonation.
PS: When I think of violin in jazz/fusion/rock/pop, it tends more often than not, to sound pretty. Your playing can be heavy, rat ass nasty, & smokin’ hot. What drew you to this aggressive approach to the instrument?
JD: I actually got sick of the “pretty” violin sound that everyone knows. I wanted to get away from the cliches of my instrument, and I did this by using guitar pedals, chopping, scratching with the bow, imitating cuica drums, records scratching, using wah wah pedals, not always playing “notes”, imitating guitar feedback, I can go on and on…
I can still sound like a traditional violinist when called upon to do so, as I am 75% of the time, but it’s good to be versatile. I look at it like an actor taking on different dialects. The problem is people might catch you on a gig doing one kind of thing and think that’s all you do. That’s human nature.
The first people who inspired me to get away from the standard violin sound were Jerry Goodman on Celestial Terrestrial Commuters (Mahavishnu’s Birds of Fire album), and Sugar Cane Harris’s blues-harp-like solo on The Little House I Used To Live In (Frank Zappa’s Burnt Weeny Sandwich album).
PS: What did having the solid discipline of classical training bring into your more improvisational soloing?
JD: It allows you to execute whatever is in your head, and also gives you a deeper musical vocabulary. I would encourage any musician on any instrument to get a solid classical foundation, even if their goal is to play rock, blues, electronica, jazz, whatever…
Any student that comes to me and says they want to be a rock star will get the Led Zeppelin book and the Kreutzer book of violin etudes assigned to them on the same day.
PS: What is the most enjoyable aspect of being part of Stratospheerius?
JD: Meeting fans that drive 3 hours to see you. Travelling and playing music you like with people you like. Not knowing what mystical lands the music will take you to on any given night, Getting great energy from audiences. I can go on.
PS: Are all the arrangements for the Stratospheerius material worked out on stage before you go into the studio?
JD: Yes. The songs on the new album were “broken in” over the course of many months in live situations. I much prefer that before going into the studio. The songs are already a part of you.
PS: How did you come to hook up with Rave Tesar as a co-producer? I first became aware of him when he played keys with Annie Haslam.
JD: He was recommended to me by our old guitarist, Jake Ezra, who’s band “Van Davis” recorded their last CD at his studio. Rave is an amazing musician with infinite patience. I know I drove him crazy during the mixing process. We are always on the same page and finish each others sentences when dealing with music.
PS: Tell me a bit about working with Lucianna Padmore. She is one kinetic drummer!
JD: She was a young student at the New School majoring in jazz. Alex Skolnick and Ron Baron, former guitarist and bassist with the group, knew her from school and brought her into the project a few years ago, and she has been with us ever since. I love her like a sister.
PS: Give a little background on the tune Pleasurepain.
JD: It’s sort of autobiographical and deals with the dichotomy of love and conflict that exists in marriage, once you get past the infatuation/newlywed stage. You can apply it to any relationship. You gotta work at it.
PS: I love the line “Try to resurrect a better version of yourself” in Long Rd. What inspired the lyric?
JD: Long Rd is kind of a sarcastic song about the mixed messages you get growing up as a teenager. The self doubt and conflicted feelings you have about things, some of which carry over into adulthood. It also addresses the fact that we take for granted all the good things in our life and complain too much, hence the last verse. I guess the main message of the song is to chill out and not take yourself so seriously.
PS: Of all the songs out there to cover, what drew the band to the Police’s Driven To Tears?
JD: We’re all huge fans of the band, and it was a song that always spoke to me over the years. I like the issues it addresses, and I’ve always wanted to cover it. There are songs that I respect so much that I have to honor them by playing them and making them my own, and songs that I respect too much that I have to honor them by not playing them. The Police song and any other cover we’ve done would apply to the former, I think music by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, and the Clash would apply to the latter.
PS: How did you get the gig playing with Ritchie Blackmore on Ghost of a Rose?
JD: I was recommended by somebody, but I never found out who it was.
PS: Did Blackmore give any specific instructions, or were you left pretty much to your own devices?
JD: His producer, Pat Reilly, gave me a few general guidelines, but I came up with most of the parts myself.
PS: You’ve played with Frank Zappa stalwarts Ike Willis & Napoleon Murphy Brock. Was Zappa a big influence on you musically?
JD: Absolutely. We’ve covered a bunch of his songs live, and I grew up listening to his music. I think Zappa, Miles Davis, Stravinsky, and Bruce Springsteen, are my biggest musical heroes of all time. I respect anyone who makes groundbreaking music on their own terms.
PS: Any plans to play with Mahavishnu Project again at some point?
JD: No. Certain members of that group have a poisonous personality.
PS: What’s next up on the musical horizon for you?
JD: Stratospheerius has been taking up most of my time and I plan to keep writing with and recording the band, but I have many different projects on the backburner that I really want to follow through on. Among them, an acoustic jazz record that is 70% done, a solo electric/acoustic violin/voice project that I want to pursue (inspired by Tim Reynolds), some kind of electronica project incorporating the electric violin, maybe some re-mixes of Stratos songs. I am also working on some psychedelic string quartets, as well as writing more commercial pop songs with my friend Chris Millaterri. Someday in this lifetime, I want to write a jaw-dropping electric violin concerto. There are definitely not enough hours in the day.
PS: Please tell me 6 CDs you just never get tired of listening to!
JD:
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
Frank Zappa – Roxy & Elsewhere
Screaming Headless Torsos – 1995 debut
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds of Fire
![Green Arrow Radio [May 2007]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/green_arrow_radio.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | May 29, 2007 | Articles
Led by electric violinist/vocalist/mandolinist Joe Deninzon, Stratospheerius unleash their fourth collection of songs. Hot on the heals of their acclaimed CD, Live Wires, Headspace brings their live energy into the studio. Vocal rock anthems like New Material, Old Ghosts, and Today is Tomorrow, shout alongside some ripping instrumentals. From the bluegrass punk of Gutterpunk Blues, to the psychedelic roller coaster ride of Mental Floss, and the bigger and louder sequel to the Heavy Metal Hora Heavy Shtettle II. The disc also features a unique cover of The Police Driven to Tears. This album is filled with memorable hooks alongside the without a net instrumental jams the group has built its reputation on. Influences range from theMahavishnu Project, Mr. Frank Zappa and the mightyZeppelin, to Dave Matthews, Radiohead, Jeff Beck, andBela Fleck.I had the chance to chat with Joe to discuss the new album, the strangest billings he’s been a part of and,well just…
LISTEN TO OUR CONVERSATION HERE
![Music Street Journal [April 2007]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/musicstreetjournal.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Apr 29, 2007 | Articles
Stratospheerius – Live in Chicago, IL, April, 2007
By Greg Olma
I always find it a little daunting to review a concert by a band that I know nothing about. Such was the case with the Stratospheerius show at Martyr’s on April 23, 2007. I did a little leg work beforehand, looking on the Internet and listening to mp3 samples, but I was still pretty “green” as show time approached. Ultimately it didnât matter what I knew (or didn’t know, as it were) because you either make a connection with the music or you don’t. Well, I’m happy to say, the connection was made and I have since held Stratospheerius as one of my new found gems.
I purchased the new CD prior to the show at the merch booth thinking that maybe a couple of tunes would be played that night. Those fans that knew Joe Deninzon and company were still in for an evening of new music. The new album Headspace wasn’t available yet (except at the shows) so pretty much everyone in attendance was just as “green” as I was to the new material. 70% of the set was culled from the new record which would have been the kiss of death for most bands but for Stratospheerius, it was all about music and not whether it was familiar or not.
I have read that Joe Deninzon is the “Jimi Hendrix of the electric violin” and I can see why this statement is true. Deninzon played his violin, creating a lead guitar sound that just dripped emotion. Like Hendrix, he used his instrument to paint the musical picture in his head. It was certainly not a “let me show you what I can do” display. The other obvious comparison is that Hendrix never played a song the same way. Deninzon and company follow suit by improvising parts during tracks that add at least a few minutes to each song. By nature, improvisation is spontaneous, and you could tell that each member played where their mood took them. It must have been fun for the band to play this way because each show is fresh and exciting.
The highlights of the show for me were “Driven To Tears” (the Police tune), “Old Ghosts” (my favorite off the new record) and “New Material.” Although Joe Deninzon is the leader, the other band members are no mere sidemen (or sidewomen). Lucianna Padmore (drums) and Mack Price (guitars) were given space to play and “show their stuff.” They all looked like they were having fun up on stage. Stratospheerius have carved out a nice little niche for themselves by being a technically proficient band that both musicians and non-musicians can enjoy. For those folks out there that are looking for a night of good music, check out Stratospheerius. You just might make the same connection that I did.
Photos by Greg Olma
![Port Folio Weekly [February 2006]](https://joedeninzon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/portfolio_weekly.jpg)
by Joe Deninzon | Feb 21, 2006 | Articles
Electric violinist/singer Joe Deninzon formed the rockin’ psycho-jazz, trip-funk Stratospheerius in 1998. Appealing to jam band fans, musicians who admire musicianship, as well as Frank Zappa and Jean-Luc Ponty admirers, the quartet is touring in support of Live Wires.
You were born in Russia and immigrated to America when your classical musician parents joined the Cleveland Orchestra. Were they disappointed when you ventured away from your classical training towards jazz and rock?
It’s hard to say because they always fed my interests. They would buy me amps and gear that I needed, and encouraged me. But every parent’s fear is that you won’t get a steady job and the orchestral path is a more-steady working situation/ I think deep down inside they wanted me to be a classical cat.
What artists originally drew you in that direction?
I was watching MTV in the early 80’s and everything was there, from Twisted Sister to Michael Jackson to Yes, and I just fell in love with rock n’ roll. In high school, I got heavily into Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, and Black Sabbath.
I took up bass. It was the first instrument I learned to improvise on. I wanted to start a band and no one played bass. It had four strings and a violin had four strings, so how hard could it be?
So then in my high school jazz band, I had a good teacher—when I was 15—that turned me on to Miles Davis and got me really into jazz. The I eventually started to play guitar. And those were the instruments I really learned to rock-out on before I learned to rock-out on the violin, even though I had beenplaying violin since I was 6.
As far as technique is concerned, do you attack the violin the way Jimmy Page does his guitar?
I would think, yeah. I beat it up pretty brutally. I think I approach…in my head I’m hearing Jimmy Page, because those guys had a bigger influence on my violin playing than Itzhak Perlman did.
I noticed on the song “Heavy Shtettle” you inject an obvious Middle Eastern melody.
Definitely. On purpose. Alex Skolnick was in my band at the time and he had always been joking that when he was living in San Francisco that people would tell him he should start a band called Heavy Shtettle, like a klezmer metal band. I had this Middle Eastern melody floating around, so I brought it to him and he completed the song. It’s a celebration of our Jewish roots and our metal roots.
The violin is an instrument of both high culture and the folk culture of the commoner. A big divide exists.
I wish there was a way to break that connection because people sometimes feel intimidated by classical music and feel it’s over their heads. We should try to bridge the gap and try to get people into it because there’s a lot that can appeal to basic human emotion. I was just at the NAMM show and I saw so many kids playing electric violins. When kids see you can rock-out on the violin and do more than just play Mozart, then they get turned on and think playing violin is pretty cool.
