Paul Strayfer
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Paul Strayfer

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"This former head-banger doesn't need heavy metal to build his skilled new sound"

This former head-banger doesn't need heavy metal to build his skilled new sound

Since Paul Strayfer's heavy metal band All For Nothing broke up a few years ago, the local musician has started playing -- gasp -- solo acoustic. Not only that, there aren't any words, and it's all pretty and stuff.

What happened?

"I think we sort of saw it wasn't going to get much further," says Strayfer, 26. "We'd made three records, been playing for 10 years, and it was just time to move on. The band had sort of run its course."

Blasphemy!

If Strayfer seems like a shell of his former head-banging self, though, don't be too quick to judge. The St. George resident is a staple of the Staten Island acoustic scene, playing every second Thursday at The Cup in Stapleton and becoming a regular on acoustic bills Islandwide. On top of that, his style of playing employs unique techniques even shredders might appreciate.

"I sort of play the guitar like one would play the piano," he says, running his long fingers over the fret board of his discontinued Martin JC 16 GTE acoustic guitar. "Sometimes I play the bassline with one hand and the more melodic stuff with the other."

Strayfer is the first to admit that he is a "horrible, horrible singer," and says that his technique reflects a wish to keep things interesting for the audience despite the lack of vocals. His skill can certainly be captivating -- the songwriter uses every part of the guitar, playing up and down the instrument's fret board, strumming and finger-picking strings in various spots, and using different parts of the wooden body to create rhythmic interludes among his bouts of harmony.

His Martin has both a regular pickup in it as well as a small microphone, which helps him to amplify both his percussion and his unique playing. He also uses alternate tunings, which help him to create thicker harmonies and play his compositions easier.

All of this is the result of a long history with music. The young guitarist has been playing since he was in his early teens, but he's always had a knack for melody, and from the time he picked up his first guitar, he loved to make his own music.

"I took a couple of lessons, but it was too much like school," says Strayfer. "And I didn't really enjoy school that much."

The self-proclaimed troubled teen bounced between several Island high schools, some of which he says didn't expel him, but asked him politely to leave. But music was something he always sort of understood, even if he had to approach from his own angle. His big family -- both parents and six older siblings -- was a help, too.

"I always got along with my brothers and sisters," Strayfer says. "And everyone has always been supportive of my music, even when I was playing heavy metal in the garage. Needless to say, the neighbors weren't big fans, but my parents were."

Instead of suffering through professional lessons, Strayfer fueled his own evolution as a player with his ears and the Internet, where he found tablature (a simplified form of musical notation) of songs by musicians he liked, like Iron Maiden and Green Day. Working at all the local music stores, from the near-legendary Mandolin Brothers to national chains like Sam Ash, also helped.

A while after his metal band went kaput, Strayfer, who liked to tap and mess around with guitars during lulls in the music store business, was approached by a patron who said "you must like Michael Hedges."

"I'd never even heard of the guy, but I looked him up, and found he was doing similar stuff," says Strayfer. "So I got deeper into research of the style and found other artists doing similar things, like Trace Bundy and Andy McKee."

Now, Strayfer's changed his vocation -- he does clerical work for a hospital in Brooklyn -- but he still plays guitar every day.

He'll release his first real solo record in a few months, tentatively titled "Smoke & Mirrors." Recorded at his mother's house over the last year (Strayfer says his biggest problem in recording is being a perfectionist), the set of songs will hopefully get him more recognition. But as far as being the next great instrumental guitarist, he doesn't really think of it like that.

"I don't really consider myself a guitar player," he says. "I consider myself an artist with the guitar as my outlet."



c. 2008 Staten Island Advance

- The Staten Island Advance


"UpComing Artists"

PAUL STRAYFER, from Staten Island, is one of the best guitarists I've heard in a city with a lot of very gifted musicians. Some of his classical/blues/rock/country/experimental-influenced work reminds me of Leo Kottke. I am looking forward to the day or evening when he perhaps gets to experience Marty Stuart, the "Mississippi Mozart" of Johnny Cash fame. - The UpFront News


Discography

"Smoke & Mirrors" 2008

All For Nothing's "You've Been Warned" 2005
All For Nothing's "Sweet Anguish" 2003
All For Nothing's "All For Nothing" 2000

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Bio

Paul Strayfer started on the local music scene in the heavy metal band, All For Nothing, back in 1996 at the age of 14. After 10 years and 3 albums with the band, they departed and focused more other metal projects. Paul, on the other hand, found a niche in his acoustic playing. He started playing a few instrumentals that he wrote at various open mikes in the Staten Island area and immediately started getting a great response. His heartfelt music can appeal to anyone who hears it, and it's fun to watch too with various "two-hand tapping" techniques and "guitar-slapping". After only two years into his solo acoustic career, he has already become a staple in the New York acoustic scene playing bills all over Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan to name a few. He has also appeared on television shows such as “N.Y Rocks” and “Live in Studio A” as well as being featured in newspapers such as “The Staten Island Advance” and “The Upfront News” and a speaker on an upcoming documentary on Staten Island. While it may be difficult to classify the genre of music that he plays, it doesn’t seem to be much of an issue to him. As Paul puts it, "The most general and simplistic definition of music is the transfer of emotion to sound. All these songs I write, I write for myself... to take whatever deep feeling I have and create a piece of music that represents it. I know I've done my job when someone can relate to one of my songs when I haven't spoken one word."