Stian Westerhus and Eivind Aarset were two of the main guitarists that led me to found Guitar Moderne. With their obvious technical skills, command of analog and digital effects, and rock star charisma, they made it easy to get excited about new forms of guitar playing. Stian has just released a recording of a live set from DOKK-huset in Trondheim Norway, available on Bandcamp. Even though half the performance is Westerhus processing his vocals, there is plenty of astounding guitar. If you purchase the audio recording, you get access to a beautifully shot video of the live performance. We talked about the record and many, many other things.
Great stuff, thanks both.
Hi Michael,
I so much enjoyed your talk with Westerhus. He had a lot to say and feel that his approach to sound or noise requires a high level of skill as a player. Of course this true of other players but he is not using the guitar as a signal generator; he’s making guitar music of an advanced syntax. If there are computer generated samples and plug ins ( I suspect there are but am not entirely sure} they are seamlessly integrated into the composition.
I find myself drawn to his verbal definitions of what he is producing as well.
I also want to mention that your piece on Brandon Ross was superb.
You are doing a magnificent job of nurturing the culture and I thank you for that.
Stay well and Ever Onwards !
Ralph
Thanks so much Ralph – hope you are safe and healthy