Gary James' Interview With Violinist
Joe Deninzon



He's been called "The Jimi Hendrix Of The Electric Violin" because of his innovative style on the electric, seven string violin. He's worked with Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Ritchie Blackmore, Smokey Robinson, Les Paul and Sheryl Crow to name just a few. His group, Stratospheerius has opened for Martin Barre, Gary Hoey, Mickey Hart, Tim Reynolds and John Scofield. Their music has received over three million plays online. His original music has been featured on MTV, VH-1, CMT, Comedy Central, National Geographic, the Travel Channel, the History Channel and the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay produced film, Virginity Hit. The man we are talking about is Mr. Joe Deninzon.

Q - You've got quite a story here Joe! You were born in Russia, but you grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. What age did you leave Russia?

A - I left when I was 4 years old. My parents are both musicians. My father is a violinist. My mother is a pianist. Classical musicians. So, we got to the States. We lived in Queens, in a crummy apartment for a month. Like seven of us in one bedroom. (laughs) My dad was frantically auditioning on violin to try and get a job in an orchestra. My uncle was frantically auditioning on violin to try and get a job in an orchestra. It was a struggle and my dad ended up winning a job in Cleveland, which is one of the best orchestras in the world. So, that's how we ended up in Cleveland. I grew up in that fair city. I love Cleveland. (laughs)

Q - Cleveland, Ohio. The place some people call the birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll because of Alan Freed. That's a perfect setting for what it is you want to do.

A - I guess so. It was a great music scene. I had a lot of mentors. I had a lot of inspiration. A lot of concerts I would go to in that town. I look back on my formative years with great fondness. Cleveland is the butt of many jokes and I think that's very unfortunate.

Q - I don't know why that should be. They have the Rock 'n' Roll Hall Of Fame there. It should be a place where everyone wants to go.

A - It is. It's great that they have that. It's a good city. I don't live there now, but I love to back and visit.

Q - I couldn't help but notice you studied Classical and Jazz violin at Indiana University. Did they teach you how to play the violin you do now? This is something you picked up on your own or had inside you along, isn't it?

A - I think it's kind of all of the above. It's a combination of things because what Indiana University and Manhattan School gave me was discipline. I got to work on my technique. I learned a lot about theory and improvisation and things I use in my everyday life. But, all the electric Rock 'n' Roll stuff came from music I loved growing up, the things I wanted to do. I was always drawn to Hard Rock, Metal. Playing the electric violin, I really felt like it was my calling. In high school I really fell in love with Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Kings X, Queen, Rush. I could go on and on and list all these bands. I think those were my biggest musical influences. So, after getting my college education I didn't follow everybody else into an orchestra pit. I was never a full Jazz head like some of the guys I went to school with. I really kind of marched to the beat of my own drummer, so to speak. You know, you love what you love. You do what makes you feel like you're being true to yourself. Everybody kind of falls in love with whatever kind of instrument, whatever kind of music they want to play that makes them complete.

Q - After you left college, did you get into a Rock band that played clubs?

A - I was hungry and had to pay the rent, so I took every gig I could, playing weddings, Broadway shows, teaching, doing jingles. For my creative music I had to form a band 'cause there was no band that even had a concept of what it is I wanted to do. I had to kind of create my own playground. It was definitely not for the money. (laughs) It was a labor of love. So, I went through a lot of musicians 'til I found like-minded people, and Stratospheerius was born. I continued being a sideman for the other bands. I loved doing that too, but to really merge all the things that I love and to explore the outer limits of the electric violin and write songs that I wanted to sing and play I had to create my own project. It wasn't easy, but I just felt kind of driven to do it.

Q - You were based out of New York City when you were doing all this?

A - Yeah. I moved to New York in '97 to do my Masters with the intention of staying in New York and now I live in Jersey, close to the city, in Dumont. Living is expensive in New York. I was trying to be a full-time musician and taking every gig I could. I enjoy all the different things I still get to do.

Q - What is Dumont like?

A - It's a little borough in the Northwest part of New Jersey. It's about twenty minutes from the George Washington bridge.

Q - I've heard about eight musicians sharing an apartment in Manhattan. That must be an incredibly difficult situation.

A - Absolutely. I can't imagine doing a recording project that I have to do now on a deadline and dealing with neighbors who don't want me to make noise past a certain hour and sirens and trains and all the stuff you have to deal with in the city, and I love living here and having easy access to the city. You get the best of both worlds living in the suburbs. I've got my own studio and get to do my own thing.

Q - How did these gigs you worked at lead to Bruce Springsteen and Aretha Franklin? And Les Paul.

A - You kind of develop a circle, a community of musicians. You get to know people. You gotta just be out there. If people like what you do, like you as a player and a person, you start getting calls for things. Each of those gigs kind of came about through different connections that I had made. My friend Sam Bardfeld toured with Springsteen on the (Pete) Seeger sessions album and he and I traded gigs all the time. He got to put together a string section for some of the concerts when Springsteen came though town and he invited me to play, which was a dream come true 'cause I'm a huge Springsteen fan since I was like eight years old. The Aretha Franklin gig was with Ray Chew, who used to be the Musical Director at the Apollo and that was an orchestra recording of the National Anthem that she sang I think at a Detroit Tigers game. It was all just through word of mouth. I always tell young musicians you just can't sit in your house making Tik Tok videos. You gotta be out there in-person, meeting people and forming relationships. That's what music is all about. One thing kind of leads to another. That's how it works. A lot of these gigs, I don't want to sound like I'm the star of these gigs. I was just in the String Section playing, being a working musician among a lot of colleagues I respect. A lot of times when I do these things (interviews), it sounds like I was the star of the show, and I don't want to misconstrue people. (laughs)

Q - Those were live gigs?

A - The Ray Chew one was a studio project.

Q - After the recording session, would Aretha have come around and said, "Hello"? Did she shake your hand, or she just did her thing and left?

A - She kind of did her thing and left. I really didn't get to talk to her.

Q - And Springsteen?

A - Springsteen was different. That was a very interesting moment because he's very spontaneous. To give you an idea, we were supposed to play one song with him, "New York City Serenade" at Met Life Stadium. Two hours before the concert in front of 50,000 people he just had an idea to do another song with strings. Nothing written out. It was eight of us. He kind of knew that we could all throw something together at the last minute. So, he invited us to his makeshift dressing room, which was in the room where the New York Giants dressed. It was curtained off and we went down this long hallway behind the curtain and he was sitting there on a sofa with his acoustic guitar and played us this song. Here I was, right in front of one of my heroes, listening to him sing "Jack Of All Trades". We just came up with the harmonies and two hours later we were onstage, playing the song. And that's how he operates. Totally, kind of fly by the seat of your pants. My friend said, "He thinks like a Jazz musician."

Q - He's fortunate to have had guys like you to support his ideas.

A - Exactly. Not many string players would have pulled that off without completely freaking out. (laughs)

Q - And Les Paul?

A - He used to play Monday nights at The Iridium forever, for a long time. I just went up there on night and somehow got recommended to sit in with him. People would have to recommend musicians. He would always have guests. I played "Sweet Georgia Brown" onstage with him with his band. He was really nice. Very sharp witted to his final day. Very funny. Even though his fingers weren't working well, you could still hear the ideas and the soul in his playing even though the stuff he played was very simple, not as flashy as fifty years ago when he was in his twenties. That was an amazing moment as well. That club is still there. They book a lot of great music in that venue. It's kind of become synonymous with Les Paul though 'cause he had such a history with that place.

Q - You won this John Lennon Songwritng Contest. What kind of a song did you write?

A - That was a song on two albums. It was "Adventures in Stratospheerius" back in 2002 and I redid it with a female singer on a Jazz record that I made in 2010. The song was called "The Sun Goes Down". It was kind of a Brazilian Jazz ballad. It was co-written with my friend, John La Barbera.

Q - When you win a contest like that, what does it do for your career? Does it make people sit up and take notice?

A - It always does, but it's hard to measure. But we did get to perform at the NAMM show (National Association of Music Merchants). They had a John Lennon tour bus right in front of the Anaheim Convention Center and inside was a recording studio. We got to play in front of all these people at the NAMM show, which was really cool. There was a small cash prize. You always meet some people in those competitions. It's another feather in your cap so to speak. It was a great experience.

Q - What are you working on as we speak?

A - We're working on two projects simultaneously. We're doing a double live CD/DVD which will be out later this year (2022). That was from two performances at Prog Stock Festival in New Jersey. And then we're also working on a studio album which will be out in 2023. From that album we've already released a bunch of singles, four singles from that album which has kind of been a work in progress over the last two years. So, we're writing a lot and recording and editing. We're not performing live right now, but we hope to get out there in the next few months.

Q - Do you like being called "The Jimi Hendrix Of The Electric Violin"?

A - (laughs) I'm very humbled by that. It's funny, that kind of started in college. It just stuck, which I find hilarious, but it's very, very flattering.

Q - That description gets people's attention.

A - It's funny. I'm a guitarist trapped in a violinist's body. I grew up loving the guitar and playing the guitar. When I look at my heroes, most of them are guitar players even more than violin players. I love hanging out with guitar players and nerding out on gear and talking about all the stuff guitar players talk about. But I take that all for the violin. I think like a guitarist. It's weird. So, definitely influenced by Hendrix. Absolutely. Without a doubt.

Q - Could you go onstage and either open up or close the show with "Purple Haze"?

A - I've done it. And "Fire" and "Little Wing" and "Voodoo Child". I've played a lot of Hendrix in my time.

Q - The crowd must go wild!

A - They do enjoy it. (laughs) I try to do it justice. That's the trick.

Official Website: JoeDeninzon.com

© Gary James. All rights reserved.



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