A few years ago, I was contacted by Andy Summers’ publicist regarding interviewing him about his then new record, Metal Dog, a masterpiece of modern guitar mayhem. Now he has a new book of hilarious short stories, Fretted and Moaning, and a new record, Harmonics of the Night, so it seemed like a perfect time to chat again. We spoke in general terms about gear but he was kind enough to also send me a more specific list, available below.
Hands down, the best part of Summer NAMM was running into Benn Jordan. A candidate for The World’s Most Interesting Man, He plays guitar upside down, has a great YouTube channel, performs in front of thousands as Flashbulb, and is a Mixed Marshal Artist. He recently posted this video describing his laptop-free setup for performing his music, a mixture of jazz, metal, electronica, and beats.
Visionary Instruments’ MIDI controller guitar appeared at NAMM in recent years. Rob O’Reilly has apparently also been making instruments with MIDI control functions for at least five years but, it was only thanks to Pete Thorn mentioning the Paul David demo that I discovered this. David’s demo may leave you drooling and there are a bunch of video demos on the company site that make this instrument very appealing. At €2,990 (@$3500) it is not cheap but for the amount of tech seems quite reasonable. Let me know if you would like to see an interview with Mr. O’Reilly.
Click more for Rob himself demoing the features in depth.
Tim Brady is at the top of a small cadre of guitarists composing what might be called modern classical or new music for electric guitar. His pieces include ones for solo electric and loopers, 100 and 200 electric guitars, electric guitar and orchestra, electric guitar quartet, electric guitar and voices…you get the idea. Check out out our previous chat here and here. And get the new three album set, Actions Speak Louder, here.
Mark Wingfield has found the key to seamlessly integrating traditional and modern electronic guitar sounds through his use of the Roland VG-88 and a Sustainiac pickup. We talk about that and more. Speaking of more, click on the more button for videos of Wingfield in action and more discussion of his gear and process.