– Hi Rod, so When did you start playing guitar and who influenced you growing up?

I was 6 years old when music started to happen in my life. My mom is a great singer, and she used to play acoustic guitar for me every night before putting me to bed. I used to sing with her, and later when I was 13, I started taking acoustic guitar lessons with my cousin, but she used to teach me pop music, and as all 13 years old metalhead kid I was more interested to learn how to play Megadeth’s Holy Wars… A year later I finally got my first (super cheap quality) guitar. It was so low quality that when I had to replace the strings the turners would fall apart… (trust me, that is 100% true!). My mom was my main influence in music that I could say, but obviously, I had some guitar players who were very important to my improvement and influenced me to become who I am today. Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Richie Kotzen, Greg Howe and Nuno Bettencourt are some of them.

– Thats so cool that your mum was such a big part in your music upbringing, so do you have any memories that the guitar has brought you?

I have many great memories, but I have one that I will never forget. In one of my old trio concerts, I saw a lady crying when I was playing one of my songs. I tried to find her after the concert, I wanted to talk and ask her how that song touched her so intensively, but she was gone. That was a very special moment of my career.

– Creating an emotional response is what its all about right ? So with the OZ ROA what would you like to highlight?

That guitar is incredible. I love how it looks, how the neck feels, the satin finish is so smooth, it feels really great.

The pickups sound like a traditional guitar, but at the same time it still sounds very modern. It’s a very versatile guitar, I can play from blues, to rock, metal, prog, everything sounds really great.

– And finally are there any upcoming shows or events that you are looking forward to?

I have been planning a guitar clinic tour in Canada and my home country (Brazil) since 2019, I really hope that I will finally be able to do that in 2022 after the pandemic is over.

My album “Tales Of A Changing Life Part.1” is coming out very soon. It’s an instrumental concept album that is divided in two parts. The first one will be released this year, and the second one in 2022. It’s a mix of all kinds of music that has influenced me along the years, from prog rock to blues, fusion, even some Brazilian and french traditional music. It’s all about how my life has changed in the last few years, and there are some awesome guests who did an incredible job. I’m very excited with this album, and I can’t wait to show you guys!

Well thank you so much Rod Rodrigues for taking the time to talk to us about your life and your favourite Vola Guitar, so has you have seen we can look forward to some great new music from Rod but in the mean time take a trip to his YouTube channel and see this rather talented young man do his thing.