T.Jones
Guitars
T.Jones was born Darryl Tony Jones on 11th June 1984 in east London. He surprisingly did not take much of an interest in music until the relatively late age of 14, when he first decided to take up the guitar, having watched his elder brother Dan become part of the growing musical culture at school. Having not taken much of an interest on music before, T.Jones had not been inspired to take up music by listening to a seminal album or artist, but by watching those around him pick up instruments and have a good time. He also saw it as a good opportunity to get out of 'normal' school classes...
T.Jones claims that within a week of playing the guitar he knew that he wanted to take his relationship with the instrument to its and his limits, and began to practise incessantly in order to mimic the guitarists that were introduced to him thorugh friends. Guitarists such as Mark Knopfler, Slash, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore exposed T.Jones to the emotive and musical potential of the guitar, and he still vociferously cites these greats of rock music as an inspiriation today. Significantly, these guitarists all are noted for their rhythm playing as much as their soloing; this ability to cross between rhythm/lead within songwriting would begin to typify T.Jones's playing.
At the age of 17, T.Jones began to explore the world of the 'super-guitarists' such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, and became more aware of the extremes to which the guitar could be taken, not only in terms of playing ability, but also style and panache. It was at this time that T.Jones became involved with his brother's project Duckstar, and his songwriting became influenced more and more by heavier acts such as Metallica, Megadeth, Korn, Fear Factory and One Minute Silence. More significantly, T.Jones became introduced to and influenced by Pantera's great metal guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell. Darrell's, and Pantera's in general, uncompromising attitude to fusing great playing with great attitude and great sound took T.Jones' songwriting to heavier, more extreme areas.
T.Jones studied at the University Of Thames Valley between the ages of 19-22, and completed a degree in Contemporary Musical Performance, which added layers of sophistication and theory to his experience and knowledge of heavy rock music. The addition of jazz, progressive music and recording techniques, as well as an exposure to a wealth of acts such as: heavyweights of the virtuosic rock genre such as Dream Theater's John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert and Steve Morse; relatively obscure yet brilliant artists such as Shaun Baxter and Tommy Emmanuelle; to the all-out lunacy of Michael Angelo Batio; to T.Jones' knowledge afforded him a new method of songwriting that would fuse all of his influences into one giant whole. The fact that Shaun Baxter would become one of T.Jones' tutors at university compounded the importance of theory, total musicality, and improvisational fluency, no matter what genre.
It was this whole that would become Core Project in 2004, the final year of T.Jones's degree. The Project was initially Darryl's vision of an ultimate group that could effortlessly fuse epic but accessible songwriting, total musicianship and complete expressionism through mastery of the instrument. The lineup was bolstered by Dan Jones on vocals and Andrew Soliman on bass guitar.
T. Jones's Gear
Guitars:
EBMM JP6 Mystic Dream
EBMM JP6 Blue Dawn
EBMM JP7 Diamond Sparkle
EBMM JP6 BFR F1 Trans Black
EBMM JP7 BFR F1 Trans Black
T.Jones uses Ernie Ball strings, sizes 10 and 13
Amplification:
Mesa Boogie Mark IIC+ Coliseum Head
Mesa Boogie Roadking V1 Head
Mesa Boogie Quad Preamp
Mesa Boogie Cabinets
Microphones:
Shure SM57
Sennhesier MD 421
Other:
Orville Eventide Harmonizer
Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
Ernie Ball volume pedals
FCB1010 Midi Foot Controller
Genz Benz Racks
Dimarzio strap locks
Planet Waves cables
Dunlop Jazz III Nylon Black picks"
