What's up everyone? And welcome to my new FAQ video!
It's Sunday finally
And ... yes
It's not really Sunday for me, It's more like Wednesday, but let's pretend it's Sunday
And again I want to say thank you for all the awesome questions in my latest video
I got about 2,000 questions, or 2,000 comments at least, in the latest video, which is insane.
Thank you so much, guys.
And I've also seen a lot of questions that ...
haven't already been asked before.
So I think that means that I have a lot of new viewers, which is awesome, I love that. Thank you so much.
First question.
"Hi Ola, you say that you don't want to speak about religion, so how do you explain that you look like Jesus?"
"Interesting idea to ask a guitarist about religion when his signature amp is called Satan"
"What was a game-changer for you in your playing, recording and opportunities
"that came because of what you do?"
In my playing there has not been any game changer
because my playing has been about the same for the past 20 years
But opportunities that came because of what you do
I would name the biggest opportunity that I got from doing my YouTube thing
was when Six Feet Under and The Haunted asked me to join their bands
Basically because they watched my videos. I mean how cool is that?
To be able to say 'yeah, I joined Six Feet Under and The Haunted because of my stupid videos'
That's insane, I love that.
So yeah those two opportunities have definitely put me more into the, you know, touring aspects of life
and being out on tour and being in a "real" band.
So yeah, I'm very thankful for those opportunities
and I'm still in one of those opportunities: The Haunted. So, yeah.
"Hey Ola, I've noticed that in your solos you like to modulate a lot before returning to the original key
"is this an intentional writing strategy, or does it just happen naturally? Cheers from Arkansas"
You know, about 80 percent of the time, when I'm doing or writing a solo
I do not think of any key or anything like that, I just play all over the fretboard
and if I find something weird, but sounds cool, I just stick with that
so I'm not thinking "off key" "on key", you know.
and I think that's good, because it keeps the solos interesting and you know ...
Some of those smaller details that it's really, like, off can really make you ...
What was that? Holy shit. What was that thing he did on the guitar there?
It was not in key, and it was weird and it's kind of awesome.
So, I like doing that.
You know, it makes the guitar solos a bit more interesting
And you know, doing those type of notes is a little bit unexpected, and that's what I like.
"Did you ever imagine that you could make a living making youtube videos?"
No, I would've never imagined that. And I still do not make a living only on YouTube videos
The money I make from YouTube is definitely not enough to support my family.
That's why I'm doing so much other things, you know. I'm touring with The Haunted. I'm ...
Right now I'm also having Solar Guitars. You know, it's all ...
Everything together, I can support my lifestyle and I can support my family
and pay off this apartment, and you know stuff like that
But strictly doing YouTube videos, I'm not big enough.
But I'm very happy that I'm able to make money out of YouTube
which is insanely awesome, because I love doing this
And If I can make a little bit of money out of it, so I can continue to do this
then I'm happy and you should be happy, too.
"What do you really think about your career nowadays like touring with your band and doing your YouTube stuff
"Do you think it's worth it?"
Definitely. I mean, where I am right now, I'm not rich in regards of money
but you know, almost everything I do is just plain fun
and that for me is just way more worth it
To be able to have a great and fun life, do exactly what I wanna do
I feel free in that sense
I do not make, you know, millions of dollars, I don't live in a fancy house, I don't drive a fancy car
I can at least have a sustainable lifestyle and I get to do whatever I want, which is insane
You know having this freedom is worth everything, in my opinion
Yeah, I'm very happy
"Hello Ola, do you have any plans for non pointy guitars?"
You know, I'm a big fan of pointy guitars, so ...
Nah, I don't think so
I mean, what's the point?
"Hi Ola, what is your main attitude towards life?"
Oh, there's a lot of, like, life-questions and career-questions right now
I like it. So, my main attitude towards life is ...
You know, when you become older, you kind of like take a step back
You just watch life as it goes by.
I'm just trying to enjoy my time while being here
because, I mean, in the end of the day we're all going to die.
Having that in the back of your head, that nothing that you're doing is gonna matter in the end
because we're all gonna die at some point
It's kind of like it's very sad, but it's also a bit relieving, you know?
So I can take off a bit of that pressure from my shoulders
and, you know, just take the days as they go and yeah.
Go see an "otolarogeoologust"
"Go see an otolaryngologist" Woo
"You could be dying by gases floating on your throat"
I don't think so.
"Hey Ola, this is a very good question: do you think wood affects tone enough
"to not be able to let's say compensate for the tone difference by dialing your amp settings?"
What the f***?
Holy shit. Yeah.
Maybe I should go see a ...
"otolerangelologist"
The tonewood question is definitely a very loaded question
In my experience, you know
I think that I've felt, like, an audible difference between guitars with different type of woods
But then again, you know, I can play a guitar that's exactly the same as another guitar
have the same type of woods, and same ... you know, even built the same way
and they can sound different, because, you know, it's just how the guitars are being built, the ...
Okay, I have to stop. This is getting dangerous, guys.
Even the smallest, smallest detail matters when you build a guitar
So, even having the same guitar, but two different ones, they can differ a lot
Just by the fact that there might be, like, a fraction of a millimeter offset somewhere
Or you know, the pickup and stuff like that. I think that matters more than tonewood in that sense.
However, the feel of how you play a guitar, when you play it
I can definitely kind of sense if it's a harder type of wood or a softer type of wood
but it's not necessarily something I can hear in the sound, but it's ... yeah
It's more of a feel thing for me. I think
What was the question?
That I think if wood affects tone enough
to be able to compensate for a tone difference by dialing your amp settings?
No, I don't think so.
So, there you have it.
Did I answer the question? Probably not .
"Ola, here Damian from Argentina, thanks for all the info in your videos
"So when you're recording, do you use often 'cut and paste' for riff?
"or do you play the song all the way? Maybe the way you play the riff can be different in different takes."
This is a good question. It depends on the situation.
If I'm writing a song and, you know, I'm trying arrangements and stuff like that
I can copy riffs all over the place. Just, you know, to work quicker basically.
Now with that said, when I'm recording that song later for an album or for the release of the song
I do record every part, you know, over and over, so I do not copy in that sense
Just because it makes it feel a little bit more live, rather than just copying the track
So, it depends on the situation. If I'm writing a song, yeah I definitely copy-paste.
"Hi Ola, I've been your subscriber for a long time and I've always wanted to know
"why you haven't talked in the early videos. Have you been trying to avoid this or this was your thing?
"Even in your early demos 'how to record metal guitar' or 'metal bass'
"you used some kind of software to talk instead of you.
"Always wanted to know why you were silent in early videos
"because I remember how amazed I was when you began speaking on camera
"Keep up the good work. We're always waiting for new videos
"and we really appreciate the work that you are doing for your fans. Good luck."
Well, I think I have the most excellent Fans and followers, thank you so much. You're awesome.
And yeah, back in the day ...
In my earlier videos, I always assumed that the viewers didn't want me to speak or talk
They just wanted to hear the amplifier, at least in my sense. I was like:
"Okay, I want to hear an amplifier." I would search for a Dual Rectifier
and I would just want to hear the sound and nothing else
That's what I assumed that people would want, but yeah
You know, back in the day I was not the talkative guy
You know, I was a bit afraid of talking in front of people
It's just something that I have learned to kind of control and ...
Videos that, you know, I'm not really in a good spot, it feels awkward, and it's just awful basically
But you know, with time I got used to this situation, just sitting, talking to you like this
and it's definitely way more natural
And I think that since I started talking, the engagement with the viewer has really gone to the next level
So, it's not like I'm gonna stop anytime soon, if that's okay. So, alright.
Oh, awesome!
"Howdy Ola, how do you prefer to portray yourself on stage
"as a more serious metal guy or with a bit of sense of humor?
"I've recently come under fire, stupidly in my opinion, for my onstage antics
"and was wondering how you prefer to act on stage"
Well, you know, I try to be myself on stage
And when you're on stage, you have a good gig, you feel empowered, you know
You feel like "I'm on top of the world right now", which is a ... you should, yeah.
You should definitely take in that feeling, and you know it's ...
Try to look cool.
I know I'm not looking cool
Because I have stupid faces.
This is what I look like, this is what I have to work with
If you go out to a show for instance, you're gonna see me enjoying myself, and having a good time
I'm happy being up there on stage, I'm happy to see you guys out there
Being happy that I'm playing for you guys, so ...
I wanna ... I wanna, you know, I wanna ...
I wannaaaa
You know, I just wanna let you know that, the people that follow me ...
I'm the same type of guy wherever I go.
So yeah.
What?
"How do blind people know when to stop wiping?"
Oh shit.
"Ola, if you ate anybody's poo, whose would it be? I would-
Okay, let's stop with the poo questions for a bit, okay?
"Why the name solar? Why not Sun? Or Eclipse? Or Anus?"
Good point.
Anus Guitars ...
"Hola Olanator. By the power of Grayskull, when you are on tour
"Do you just take your Axe8 and run it through the front of house or do you still need to take an amp head?
"asking for a friend who also has a fish up his ass"
So when I bring my Axe8, I basically ask for just a backline amplifier to wherever I go
So I'd still use an amplifier, I use an Fx-Loop of an amplifier to hook up my Axe8
So, I've never gone directly from the Axe8 to front of a house
But I still have the option if it's like ... if it's the worst case scenario, there's no real good amp there ...
Or, you know, it's a situation where the stage is really small
I can still go front of house directly from the Axe8, but I still prefer using a real amp, okay?
"You need some new riffs, bro. It's like the same thing over and over."
What?
No! I don't ...
I don't know what to say.
I mean, think of it like this
I'm providing content to you, like at least three or four times every week
Where I have to play 10 or 15 minutes through a rig, and it's ... you know, after one year
You're definitely gonna hear a lot of the same things
and obviously right now I'm in some kind of, you know, riff-mind
That will hear a lot of riffs that are about the same, that's just how it is. You can just unsubscribe.
"Hello dear Ola, my boyfriend and I watch your videos together, and we think you're 10 out of 10
"I was initially resistant because I don't play guitar, but I now find your voice soothing and your kids are so cute.
You know, I agree
"I was wondering if you received presents from fans/groupies, and what the weirdest gift was."
I've received a bunch of gifts
I actually have a couple over here. So, let me see ...
Oh, that's that f***ing burp again.
Oh, this is a weird one. I received this in Chile.
And I guess this is sort of like ... their religious figure there in Chile
and they worship this kind of guy over there
So, what happens is that you do this
I should probably censor this.
Yeah, I would say this is kind of like a weird gift.
I mean that dick is ...
pretty big ...
... for the size
Yeah.
So yeah, fans bring me gifts all the time. It's usually booze or liqueur
Yeah, but sometimes I get some weird shit, you know
Yeah.
Oh, that's it. Okay, thank you so much for watching.
Oh, that's right. I need to decide which question was the best.
Oh, what was it?
Oh, I forgot.
Let's ... okay, I decided. Let's give the t-shirt to this ...
"Brnaschnaknaschna" guy. I cannot ... I have no idea how to write his name
But yeah, that was a good question and the English was really good too
So, I'm not sure where you're from but you should contact me, I'll send you that He-man t-shirt, okay?
Where is it?
Alright, so you can contact me mr. "Naschnakrackrack", and I'll send this to you wherever you live, okay?
Congratulations, okay? Thank you.
Alright guys, thank you so much for watching this video
and please, if you liked it, subscribe to my channel, because that's how I grow, you know.
Okay, thank you. Bye.