____BACKGROUND___1978 Francesco was born on December 5, in Rome, Italy. He began to play the guitar in 1986, after buying a classic guitar with all of the funds an 8 year old child would be able to buy! He began to take private music lessons for a year to allow him to enrich his initial approach to music. In 1991 he attempted, without success, to create diverse groups of Rock and Pop. In 1995 Smash announced the arrival of a new group to be introduced through a mini concert, during which they covered songs of the most famous groups of the 70's to the 90's; bands such as Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd and more. However, in 1996, Smash decided to split from the group, in order to dedicate himself to his "self-teaching" method of perfecting his personal technique. He passed days and nights in his "studio" with a copy of a Gibson Custom, a simpe 10w Amp, and his computer, which was utilized for its repertory of musical texts and theories. Dedicating himself 12 hours a day to refine his abilities, he seized and incorporated what he learned from the most experienced, great Blues and Rock guitarists: Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Robben Ford, Jimmy Page, Paul Gilbert, and Joe Perry. In 2000 he acquired his first Gibson les Paul Standard, that would really enhance him as a Musician. From 2000-2002, he returned to the search of forming a rock band that would encompass collaboration, production, and above all, the appreaciation and enjoyment of music. So, he managed to join different bands, more or less tight-knit, but with little success of the neseccary seriousness and trust of the musicians within the group. Finally in 2002 he met an Italian-Ameican singer Manny Capozzi (from Chicago), an expert in Blues melodies, Country, and Rock. They formed a duo, "Manny & The Figs," debuting in the most famous musical locations in Rome, and living their lives playing the most beautiful songs composed by Manny. Then, they had an extraordinary collaboration with "Stef Z" (guitar) and "Raf" (drums), both of stand out talent, reliability, and dreams. Two years later, in 2004, Manny decided to leave the group to return to America to undertake a musical career in New York. In 2005 Smash took the advice of the leader of his last band to tranfer to England (London), where he also dedicated himself exclusively to his music. For a month he made many appearances in different London locations. In 2007 he returned to Italy with an excellent musical experience and much determination to continue Live performances. He is currently searching for a new band, or other talented musicians with whom he would form a group...__LE INFLUENCES__Like many teenagers during the 80's, Smash was above all influenced by the hard rock and heavy metal groups of that time. Among his biggest influences he notes Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Slash of Guns 'n Roses, and Jeff Beck soon followed. Smash says, "I remember that I was enchanted in front of the t.v by the mastery of that rocker, with his hair in front of his face, playing songs such as "Sweet Child 'o Mine with Guns 'n Roses. I said, 'who is that?' I didn't know it was the great Slash, I was only thinking of the greatness of his music, and the energy it gave me. So, when I began to play the guitar, it was the only thing that I wanted to do." Some of Smash's preferred groups comprise Aerosmith, Guns 'n Roses, The Who, and Black Sabbath. His favorite albums were: "Rocks" by Aerosmith, "Appetite for Destruction I & II" by Guns 'n Roses. Some of the first songs he learned by himself were, "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple Man. With a hand that continuously became more skilled, he passed a great amount of his time playing on top of the discs of Robben Ford, Slash, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix. For a short period, Smash also began lessons from Paolo Patrignani, teacher of jazz fusion, and successively from another teacher, Nicola Buffa. Smash says, "one of the greatest lessons that I acquired in all of these years was of the musical collaboration with diverse artists, and ultimately, the reciprocal respect and understanding of musicians and music in general, and that there would always be time to find the right relationship between these components. The main goal? To have FUN!!"___APPROACH and STYLE__Francesco bases his style of music around the minor scales of blues and harmony, favored by his influences. Although he is self-taught, he possesses a strong and advanced sense of melody. In general he developes the minor pentatonic scale played in the solo position "blues box," and at times he uses the Aeoliano or Doric modes, from the Mixolydian scale and the major pentatonic scale. Often, he extends himself by means of the major scale to expand his melody. He is a great master of true rocker, and able to improvise.___TECHNIQUE___Like many blues and hard rock guitarists of the 70's, he utilizes a technique of quick and broad vibrations. He developed, for quickness, principally the left hand, using pull-offs and hammer-..lay his notes. Freely utilizing the sordina system (of muting) for his right hand, he focuses the hand on the bridge of the guitar to make the major notes of the percussion. He utilizes this technique for both the executions of lead and rhythm. To obtain various tonality, Francesco often changes the pickup selection while he plays. One of his preferred arrangements for solos is the rhythm of the guitar or picking up the neck, like the control of the tone is reversed. Known as "woman tone," this arrangement was also preferred by Eric Clapton and many English blues guitarists. Francesco also loves the use the feedback to make the notes long during a solo, and in the introduction to songs.___SETTING___Gibson Les Paul: 2 Standard, 1 custom shop 59'; epiphone: 1 Custom; 1 Ibanez acustic. Amp. Marshall: Vintage Modern 2466, Jcm 800 mod.2210. Cassa 4x12 1960 AV Con Celestion Vintage 30. SETTING AMP. Dirty Tone: Presence: 7, Bass: 3, Mid: 4.5, Treble: 7, Output Master: 8, Lead Master: 8, Input Gain: 6.5. Clean Sound: Presence: 0, Bass: 9, Mid: 3, Treble: 5.5, Output Master: 10, Lead Master: 0, Input Gain: 4. EFFECTS: VOX WHA WHA Made in USA, Equalizer MXR m-108,Corus Boss CH-1.DELAY DD-6WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/FRANCESCOMORRIS
