martin - Gary Mullins - Professional Guitarist

’13’ at the Radlett Centre

February 25, 2015PermalinkTheate Work13, 16, 3120, acoustic, aer, albans, blues, bucks, centre, electric, guitar, guitarist, ibanez, junior, martin, musical, omc, radlett, repair, rg, st., teacher, theatre Leave a comment

Last week I played guiyar for the ‘Sticks and Stones’ production of ’13’ – a youth show about a Jewish lad moving from New York to a sleepy town, and the trials and tribulations of coming-of-age and making friends in a new place.

The music is very eclectic, covering a number of different genres including Death Metal, Reggae, Funk, and beautiful acoustic ballads.

Electric and acoustic guitars are required for this show, and quite fortunately there are not many rapid guitar changes as these are mainly done between numbers.

There are two guitar parts, and as on similar shows I had to compile both into one, reading from both pads and using a series of post-it notes to indicate what to read from which pad. It’s pretty rapid at times, but I relish the challenge to concentrate so much throughout a show. I also really enjoyed the diversity of the music and trying hard to play as authentically as possible with the tools at my disposal.

Most of the sonic variation was was modified via the selector switch on my electric guitar. The switching on the Ibanez RG3120 is really versatile, giving you power and delicacy with ease.

I did the show a few years back and really enjoyed it, and it’s nice to get my hands around it again with more experience under my belt. I look forward to doing it again too!

Live on Radio Blackfrog

November 18, 2014PermalinkLive Work, Solo Work175, acoustic, aylesbury, blackfrog, bucks, electric, gary, gibson, guitar, internet, jazz, london, martin, mullins, radio, solo, taylor, thame, theatre, work Leave a comment

On Sunday 15th November I had the privilege to be interviewed on Radio Blackfrog – Thame’s internet radio station. I also performed a few tunes and talk about a couple of my favourite songs and a few stories from my musical life so far!

If you missed it, you can catch up with the link here… http://www.radioblackfrog.co.uk/catch-up.html

Jesus Christ Superstar

April 23, 2014PermalinkTheate Work24, acoustic, andrew, christ, custom, electric, guitar, jesus, line6, lloyd, martin, musical, paul, pod, reed, royal, slough, smith, superstar, theatre, webber, windsor Leave a comment

Just before Easter I was involved in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Theatre Royal, Windsor. While I didn’t get to see the production itself, it sounded fantastic as the band were great musicians directed by a fantastic musical director. We were left largely to interpret the music how we saw fit, which gave me a lot of room to express myself and put my own stamp on this iconic musical.

I used my Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Artist pack guitar for the majority of the run, along with my trusty Martin acoustic.

The music is consistent throughout the show, and there are no natural opportunities to change from electric to acoustic, therefore I had have my acoustic mounted in a playing position beside me so I could play it still wearing my electric. This system worked ok, although it wasn’t ideal! Still, I’d have rather have a true acoustic sound than compromise, so it was worth the stretch!

I had to use my POD as an amp sim to keep the volume down in the pit, and I thought it sounded lovely, and took the sound of my pedal board well.

I felt the run was brilliant – really consistent and a great show with fun music to dig into, be expressive and delicate in equal measure. I can’t wait to do it again!