- Paul Ortiz
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Paul Ortiz Birth name Paul Antonio Ortiz Origin England, UK Genres Djent, progressive metal, ambient, progressive rock Instruments Electric guitar, bass guitar, piano, synthesizer Years active 2004–present Labels Basick Records Associated acts Chimp Spanner
Blessed Inertia
MonumentsNotable instruments Ibanez RG2228, RG1527, RG7420, RG7321
Custom built Bernie Rico Jr. 8 string
ESP B155 5-string bass
Propellerhead ReasonPaul Antonio Ortiz is a guitarist and musician from Colchester, UK. He is most famous for his work under his solo project name of Chimp Spanner. Both his 2004 album Imperium Vorago and his 2009 album At The Dream's Edge are entirely self produced in Ortiz' home studio. Ortiz also composes for computer games, advertising, television and radio, and his clients range from Red Bull to Dolby Laboratories.
Contents
Music projects
Chimp Spanner
Ortiz categorises the work under his Chimp Spanner moniker as an ambient/progressive metal project, combining heavy guitars with ambient textures, electronica and melodic elements, whilst also demonstrating his guitar virtuosity. Chimp Spanner has often been labelled as Djent, although most listeners consider his music as being progressive metal. 2004 saw the release of his debut album Imperium Vorago, which as well as being self financed and produced, was also distributed by Ortiz himself, without the backing of a distribution company. Ortiz released his second album entitled At The Dream's Edge in December 2009. The album is available to buy in a physical format and as a download.
On 5 March 2010 Paul Ortiz's project Chimp Spanner signed a deal with Basick Records [1] to release the album 'At the Dream's Edge', which was officially released April 10, 2010.
With the signing to Basick Records, Ortiz began to perform live under the Chimp Spanner alias. The live Chimp Spanner lineup consists of himself, guitarist Jim Hughes, bassist Adam Swan (also of Monuments) and drummer Boris Le Gal.
Blessed Inertia
In October 2009, Ortiz unveiled a new project under the name Blessed Inertia. Classed as technical progressive metal on its Myspace page, Blessed Inertia is a more straightforward, guitar-driven project. Ortiz states that Blessed Inertia will be his live band, and although currently instrumental, will incorporate a vocalist at a later date. Alongside Ortiz, Blessed Inertia currently only consists of one other member, Chimp Spanner's live guitarist Jim Hughes. Both Ortiz and Hughes are cited as playing guitar, bass and drums.
Monuments
Ortiz was a live guitarist for Monuments (another group signed by Basick Records) before Monuments secured Olly Steele (formerly of Cyclamen) as their full time second guitarist.
Equipment
Ortiz uses various Ibanez 6, 7 and 8-string guitars. He also owns a custom Bernie Rico Jr. 8 string with 28 frets and a Kahler tremolo. Unlike most "Djent" artists, he does not tune down, preferring to stick to standard tuning. However, he did experiment with using a 7 string tuned a whole step down on At the Dream's Edge (these songs are played in standard tuning live). His home recording suite consists of Line 6 Pod units (X3, HD500), Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 Pro, Steinberg Cubase Studio 5, Propellerhead Reason 5, Native Instruments Kontakt 4 and an M-Audio FW410 soundcard. He uses Superior Drummer, a software drum simulator made by Toontrack, to program drums for his Chimp Spanner releases.
Discography
As Chimp Spanner
Date of Release Title 2004 Imperium Vorago 2009 At The Dream's Edge External links
- Chimp Spanner official website
- Chimp Spanner on Myspace
- Chimp Spanner on Soundclick
- Blessed Inertia on Myspace
References
Categories:- British guitarists
- Living people
- Eight-string guitarists
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