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Guthrie Interview on Indonesia's 'GitarPlus' Magazine

 
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alexkhan



Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 2783
Location: Chino, CA

PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:02 am    Post subject: Guthrie Interview on Indonesia's 'GitarPlus' Magazine Reply with quote

Here is the original interview that Indonesia 'GitarPlus' magazine's Mudya Pralim conducted back in Feb and is now in print for the August issue. Enjoy!



1. Let's talk about "The Aristocrats", what would you say is the most important thing that you took away from the whole recording experiences?

Well, I'd say the most important thing is simply that we managed to make the album! The band actually started by accident, just over a year ago, when Bryan Beller contacted me to say that he had a 30-minute slot booked at a gig called the Bass Bash, in Anaheim CA, and that he needed a guitar player. The original lineup was intended to feature Marco Minnemann and Greg Howe, but Greg had to cancel at short notice, so... Bryan needed to find a replacement and I was scheduled to be in the area anyhow, for the NAMM show.

Well, we did the gig and all three of us just felt that there was a unique energy in the lineup: a lot of telepathic interplay occurred throughout that first gig, despite the fact that we'd only had very limited preparation time. It became apparent that we all had a certain passion for "unusual" and complex instrumental music, coupled with a shared sense of musical humour and a playing approach which somehow combined the improvisational freedom of jazz with the aggression and energy of rock. We figured that we had found something special, and we were determined to record some permanent document of it as soon as possible! (We met in January 2011, and we'd written and recorded our first album by April of the same year, so we moved surprisingly fast, given how busy we all were!)

2. For the guitar solos, how much preparation was involved beforehand when recording? Did you have an idea of what you wanted to play or were they conceived in the studio? Or you do a lot of the solos in single takes?

No preparation at all! We had booked five days in the studio, I think, to record the whole thing: prior to that, we had each written three tunes and sent each other some basic demo mp3s, but when we got to the studio we had to arrange the material, rehearse it, get the right tones... and record the whole album! Consequently, everything really needed to move as fast as possible and I just didn't have the time to plan any solos! Fortunately, I always prefer an improvisational approach anyway, so this didn't really bother me. We try to ensure that there are some thoughtfully composed sections in the music, but during the solo sections, it's all about interplay and spontaneity, so really we're all just reacting to each other in "real time"...

3. You were really popular with all those mix-playing style that shows in YouTube. But do you have any particular scales that you really favor when soloing for the Aristocrats?

It's perhaps worth pointing out that I've never personally put anything up on YouTube - if you do a YouTube search on my name, all the results will be stuff which someone else posted! YouTube has undeniably been very helpful in terms of promoting what I do, anyhow, and as a result of my most popular clips on there, I think you're probably right to say that I've become known as a guitarist who plays in a range of different styles, . To me, though, all these styles are merely different aspects of the same basic thing - ultimately, it's all just music - so I never really thought there was anything unusual about being a guitar player who draws inspiration from various different genres.

In terms of scales... well, to be honest I really don't think about scales when I'm playing. (I suspect that a lot of today's guitar students worry too much about these things, and expect rather more from scales than they can actually provide: it's something I often talk about during my guitar clinics...) My basic approach is that you can really play whatever notes you like, provided you're aware of how they relate to the harmony of the music. Some notes complement the chord, others clash with it... and the "note choice" aspect of improvisation is all about monitoring the oscillation between "tension" notes and "release" notes: you need both to keep things interesting!

4. When recording for "the Aristocrats", how did you approach the recording process for guitar? What are some of the main elements of your guitar sound?

I've always preferred an "honest" kind of overdriven guitar tone, without too much amp compression and minimal effects: a "vintage" style tone with a little more gain, I suppose. A tone like that can be quite unforgiving, and when "shred" style players try my rig they're sometimes horrified by how hard you have to work to make each note sound good... but I quite like that!

My background in playing more traditional blues and rock has helped me to embrace the idea that you can play any single note in a number of different ways - you can really shape the tone of each note, rather than simply "turning it on and off" as you would on a keyboard. I really enjoy the potential of the guitar as an expressive instrument, and that "difficult" kind of amp voicing which I described a moment ago can really help you to bring out so much more detail and personality in the way you play.

For the Aristocrats sessions, I split the guitar signal, using an Axess buffer unit, and played through two amps simultaneously in the studio... so we could blend the two tones during the mix, as each section of the music required. I'd say that at least 80% of what you hear on the record is simply a Suhr Koko Boost pedal running into a Badger 30 head and a 2x12 open-back cabinet (also Suhr) but we occasionally mixed in some of the signal from a Custom Audio Electronics PT100 head with a closed-back 4x12. The Badger is a much more "classic" sounding amp (like a 70s Marshall, perhaps, but a bit "thicker" sounding) and the PT100 provides more of an '80s style "heavy rock" tone (not really my favourite kind of tone, to be honest, but it did help to add a subtle "extra dimension" when mixed with the Badger...)

I guess the remaining ingredient would be the room mic. I think it's cool to capture the sound of an amp in a real acoustic environment - Jimmy Page really showed us all how it should be done years ago, didn't he?! - rather than just mic'ing everything up close and then needing to use artificial ambience during the mixing process.

5. What kind of gear did you use when recording? Do you tend to use the same equipment on tour that you used in the studio?

Well, you already know all about the amp set up we used! What else can I tell you, I wonder? Well... we recorded the album at a place called Planet 10 Studios, in Palatine IL, USA. They certainly have some high quality equipment there - a lovely big Neve board, and so on - but we were all so busy learning and arranging our tunes that we didn't really have the time to check out all the studio's outboard gear thoroughly! I can at least tell you that all the audio was recorded using Nuendo software, and that the guitar tones were captured using CAD Audio T-7000 ribbon mics and a Universal Audio 2108 2-channel mic preamp.

The main instrument I used for the album was my Suhr Antique Modern GG signature model (which features a basswood body, a plain maple top and an ultra-stable roasted maple neck.) You can hear this guitar on every track apart from Get It Like That, for which I replaced the guitar part at home after the main studio sessions, using my old Gibson ES-335 running into my trusty Badger 30 head (again!) and subsequently into a Two Notes Torpedo speaker simulator.

Live, it's all done with my Suhr signature guitar plugged into the Badger 30/2x12 rig, with a handful of pedals. I have a TC Electronic Flashback delay and Hall of Fame reverb in the FX loop and in front of the amp, the signal goes: guitar - Suhr Koko Boost - Guyatone envelope filter - Providence Anadime chorus (or sometimes my trusty Analogman chorus) - Dunlop Cantrell wah - Dunlop volume pedal - amp.

6. Guitarwise, do you have one or two rock tracks from your albums of which you are still particularly proud? And why?

Hmmm... I'm not sure. I'm really not the most prolific person in terms of recorded output, and part of the reason for this is that I try not to release anything unless I'm genuinely pleased with it!

Having said that, I do have a special feeling about the sound and "vibe" of the tracks Eric and Slidey Boy, on my Erotic Cakes album: ironically, those are probably amongst the least typically "rock" tracks I've ever recorded, but to my ears they each capture a unique mood, and they don't really remind me of anything else I've ever heard - which is a good thing, I think Wink

Compositionally, I'm quite pleased with the way Furtive Jack and I Want A Parrot turned out on the Aristocrats album: whether you love them or hate them, those tunes don't particularly sound like anything else I've ever heard - Parrot, in particular, is quite unusual in places - and that's surely a good thing, from the artistic perspective!

7. Looking back your early days, what sparked your interest in music and what made you gravitate towards the guitar and were there any particular guitarists who influenced you in your early days?

Well, I definitely grew up surrounded by music. My parents were very keen music listeners, and my dad played a little bit of guitar - he wasn't an amazing player, but I definitely absorbed his passion for music at a very early age and there was always a Spanish guitar lying around in the corner of the room, so I'm told that I started playing around the age of three (I don't actually remember, myself, but it sounds believable to me...) At that age, you tend not to analyse why you're doing things - you just do whatever feels right.

My earliest influences were probably the '50s rock 'n' roll guys - Sun-era Elvis, etc - followed by lots of Beatles, Hendrix, Cream and so on. In my teens, I think I probably had three "epiphanies" - finding technical inspiration in players like Yngwie and Steve Vai in the mid-'80s, discovering guys like John Scofield who had found a way to play jazz notes with a filthy, blues/rock kind of attitude... and perhaps most mind-blowing of all, hearing Frank Zappa for the first time...

I should add that I was pretty young when I realised that a guitar player can also learn from non-guitar sources - so I was always trying to use my ear to work out TV themes, famous classical tunes, film soundtracks etc, rather than just focusing on one specific style of guitar playing.

8. I want to talk about your personal goals nowadays, specifically as a guitar player. Is there a particular area in your playing that you are still working on?

I'm still working on all of it, really! It might be a cliche, but music really is all about the journey and not the destination: you never actually "get there", because every new thing you learn is coupled with the discovery of some fresh new avenue which needs to be explored!

Right now, for instance, I'm trying to broaden my understanding of Indian classical music, which is a humbling but exciting ear-opener for any Western musician, I think... This might sound odd, but I actually like the idea that I could spend the next few decades focusing on that stuff and still just be a beginner Wink

9. What is your all-times favorite guitar oriented albums? And why?

Difficult question - I suspect I'd have a different answer every week! Well, quite a lot of my favourite albums are not guitar oriented, just for the record (on something like Bjork's Debut, I'm not sure if there's even a single note of guitar!) but I'll try to keep the following list within the realms of my chosen instrument Wink

Some of the following are not necessarily the "best" album by the artist in question, but in each case I've gone for the album which had the most profound effect on me, depending on whatever was going on in my musical life when I first heard it... (Also, there's a huge body of influential material, by people ranging from BB King to Jethro Tull, which I can't really list, because I associate it with old reels of tape which were lying around in the house where I grew up, so I never thought of those tracks as coming from any "album"...)

Axis, Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix
Virtuoso - Joe Pass
Abbey Road - The Beatles
Reckless Precision - Tuck Andress
Them Or Us - Frank Zappa
Rock Drill - Sensational Alex Harvey Band
Eat 'Em & Smile - David Lee Roth
Trilogy - Yngwie Malmsteen
Still Life Talking - Pat Metheny
Ah Via Musicom - Eric Johnson
Que Alegria - John McLaughlin
Powers Of Ten - Shawn Lane
Hand Jive - John Scofield
You Had It Coming - Jeff Beck
The Adventures of Bumblefoot - Bumblefoot
Solo Guitar - Ted Greene
Soul Serenade - Derek Trucks

[/i]THANK YOU[/i]

No, thank you - hope some of this was useful Wink
_________________
Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
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jb777



Joined: 06 Jan 2010
Posts: 70
Location: st annes lancashire

PostPosted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for the post ed, cool to hear some of guthries fave guitar related albums
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charlestheguitarist



Joined: 23 Jul 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep, I totally agree! Thanks for that I have wanted to know which albums Guthrie listened too. I shall purchase, listen too and transcribe all!!!!
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bender83



Joined: 06 Jun 2011
Posts: 43
Location: Ελλάδα

PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

great interview finally not the same old Very Happy
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