Janet Robin Interview - Part 1

[The interview took place on October 6, 2006. It felt more like an informal conversation than a formal interview. It's presented here in a different format from and less formal in tone than other interviews you'll read on Modern Guitars to help preserve that conversational feel and to help turn a reader into an eavesdropper. -- Tom Watson]

Tom Watson: How did you avoid dental school?

Janet Robin: [ Laughs ] Wow, that's a good question, Tom.

Tom: Your father's a dentist, your brother's a dentist. What happened?

Janet: That is a good question. Actually, there was one suggestion of me getting involved in the dental profession, but it was only because I think my parents were thinking, oh, that would be a secure job or whatever. But, actually, they mentioned it only once when I was younger. I've been playing guitar and playing music forever. I started when I was six. I was in and out of bands, garage bands, when I was a teenager, and then, of course, I was in Precious Metal and I started professional gigs. They quickly found out that dental school definitely was not in my future.

What's funny is that I started when my brother was playing guitar and I sort of followed in his footsteps. I was kind of the tomboy. He started taking guitar, so I started taking guitar. He kept it up for a little while, until around the beginning of high school. And we jammed together. We didn't really have a band, per se, but we jammed in the garage and whatnot, and I thought it was really cool. I sort of got the music bug. I think when he got into high school, he was over it, and I was not. I had sort of found my … I guess I found my best friend, you know?

Tom: Classical guitar lessons came first?

Janet: Yes, but it was only for a couple of years. I started when I was six at this place called Valley Arts Guitars - it doesn't exist anymore - for about two years, so six to seven to eight. And then I took from a woman named Arlene who taught at Musonia, which happened to be right around the corner from our house. We got a recommendation to go to her, both my brother and I. I worked with her until I was about 10, and so did my brother. And then, of course, he was four years older than me, and he was like, "I want an electric guitar. I want the chicks." So he got an electric guitar, and then I quickly followed with whining to my parents about getting an electric guitar too. We were at Musonia and Mrs. Rhoads, who owned the place, said, "We have an electric guitar teacher, he's my son, and you'll really like him. He's amazing."

It was Randy Rhoads.

Go to interview part 2 >>

[ Source : Tom Watson of Modern Guitar Magazine ]