News
(9/1/2003)
Name: Scott Appleton
Title: Guitar Tech for Neal Schon
Home State: Wisconsin
How long have you been a guitar tech? How long have you been on the road?
On and off for the last 12 years. Full time for the last 3 years. I started doing it part time. When I moved to Nashville, I started working for country artists. Just trying to progress. I got out of it for awhile and got back into it gradually and here I am.
Were you a Journey fan?
Oh yeah. I grew up on it. I’m a child of the 80’s.
Neal Schon fan?
Oh yeah. Being a guitar player, it’s hard not to be.
What other bands did you work with prior to Journey?
Peter Frampton, B-52’s. A lot of country artists, mostly names you never heard of.
How were you introduced to Neal?
I met Neal two years ago when I was touring with Peter Frampton. Got to know him then. There was a weird situation where Chainsaw had to leave last year. Neal made a call and here I am.
When you are onstage during the concert, what is your greatest challenge as Neal’s guitar tech?
If I do my job right during the day, there shouldn’t be a lot of challenges at night. A lot of times, especially on nights like tonight when things are very warm on stage, temperature plays a role with the way the instruments will react. Weather goes real cold then it goes sharp, when it’s hot they go flat etc. etc. A lot of it is watching, keeping a close eye on him, making sure I know what’s happening on onstage at all times. Making sure I know which guitar he needs. I’ve got to have eyes in the back of my head.
What is the strangest or funniest thing that has happened to you during this tour?
We have had a few strange items thrown on stage this year. We’ve had everything from three crayons wrapped in duck tape to a fortune cookie. Which was a first for me, that was odd. One of our funnier moments, we had the other day, was when we decided to get in a game of “radio bowling”. We all carry radios on our belts, we decided to set them up as pins and used a drum case as the bowling ball. We can really entertain ourselves.
What advice would you give aspiring techs?
Depends on what you want to do. First thing I would say is get to know what you want to do first. I would say read everything you can get your hands on, get to know anybody you can who does it. Just find out what it’s really like. It takes a very special person to do what we do, being away from home. It also takes a very special person, technically, to know what happens with instruments, lighting and sound. My advice is to go get yourself a psychological evaluation and get a lot of hands-on knowledge. There’s not a whole lot you can get from books. You have to get out there and just do it. Go local and then go from there.
What would you like to say to the fans?
Thanks for being out there supporting the band. Not only do our guys love it but it also keeps me my job so thank you!
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