The Guitar Interview

An open-ended discussion with Timothy Scanlon about guitar playing and guitar stances to mobile phones and more.

Timothy: Hi Pat

Patrick: Tim how's it going?

T: Good.

P: Timothy, if you could only purchase and own one guitar, irrespective of price/availability, what would it be?

T: Well, I think that I'd really have to go with the acoustic. The electric requires too much extra stuff. And I love the sound of the Martin guitars, just they are really pricey. Being hand made you would have to play until you found the right one.

P: What would be the first song you'd play on it, and why?

T: Well the acoustic really lends itself to those solo works, think Clapton, Gregorian, Emanuelle, Scanlon. I have a song that you have heard that is in an interesting open D tuning that I would play first, then The Badger by the Tea Party.

P: It is well documented that you are a fan of the Tea Party, what are your favourite elements of their stage performances, from your experiences of seeing them live?

T: Where to start?!

I'd say that they really know how to rock an audience, while having those soulfull moments that are lacking in the majority of mainstream music. Songs that you can connect with, while jumping up and down.

P: Yeah, I know there seems to be precious little of it around now-days. Do you find that a band member's stance whilst performing can influence their ability to rock an audience?

T: Definitely. Most musicians don't have that comfort factor when performing. I put this down to lack of talent and performing songs that don't mean anything to them. When they really connect with the songs and the audience you get a stance. Best typified by;

 

 

P: A good example of a big stance. Would it be fair to say James' forearms appear larger than his legs in this photo?

T: You raise a good point there. James, and most guitarist's, come from the weiner population. They tend to be little skinny guys, bad at sports, so they play a musical instrument. James' only workout would have been playing guitar giving only forearm hypertrophy. In more recent years he has corrected this imbalance.

James is also a little shorter than your good self, and his wide stance developed from having midget band mates. Sometimes developing the stance can come by accident. So James learnt to rock by having weiner friends.

P: So basically, the microphones were always set at the wrong height, and so faced with the choice between bending down and The Spread, he's gone the wide spread?

T: Exactly! Being a rock god The Spread would come more naturally than the bend. Of course Oasis frontman Liam Galleger has the oposite problem. Microphones are too high so he has to stand upright and crane his neck. Probably why they were more pop than rock.

P: The link between craning your neck backwards and producing more whiny vocals is well documented, I agree.

P: Now, if I may move onto more serious matters, the folks out there in internet land have been bugging me to get some guitar tips off you for the site- will you be able to come to the table on this one?

T: Certainly. I have had a few more years experience than your talented self. Hopefully I can help.

P: If you were learning guitar from scratch again, what would be your primary focus- would it be hand position, to focus on scales, developing speed? What should be the beginner's first goal?

T: A lot of things come with copious quantities of practice. You want to have some scales, some chords, and just practice till the fingers bleed. The more you practice the more you find a comfortable position that is suitable to your biomechanics, and speed will come with practice. And one shouldn't forget that setup for playing will affect your hand position. A low slung guitar will require different hand and neck angles. A high slung guitar will require more shoulder lift and probably encourage the player to wear their pants higher.

P: Continuing with some advice for beginner's, what songs would you recommend for people just starting out? What was the first song you learnt?

T: The first complete song I learnt was Purple Haze (Jimi). But I had spent some time playing riffs and simple solos. I was never into open or bar chords until much later, they seemed too easy. The riffs I was playing were quite challenging, and required phrasing to get the sound right. Stuff like early Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zepplin, the rock cornerstones. You can either go for the simple chords and play a bunch of stuff, as you pointed out in your first Guitar Crazy article, or you can push yourself. Much better to grow as a musician than to be playing the same stuff you were when you started. You could confine yourself to pop, folk and punk for the rest of your life like that.

P: You certainly wouldn't want to go down that road. So you seemed to be setting yourself up as a lead guitarist right from the start, who would you consider to be some of the greatest lead guitarists you've ever heard?

T: Lead guitar just always spoke to me. Provides that melody and drives a song. Listen to George Harrison and he gives simple ditties a feel and drive that just doesn't exist otherwise. But to answer the question I'll say that Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine, Billy Corgan, Joe Satriani, and Jimi Page were all amazing to listen too. Billy Corgan made me pick up the guitar. But sometimes lead can become wanking, all too much for very little reward. The lead work has to say something and all of those guitarists are guilty of guitar wank.

P: Billy Corgan made you want to pick up a guitar, is there any 'lead'-guitarists out there who have made you want to put it back down?

T: Dimebag from Pantera. He would get drunk and stoned and then play these amazing harmonics and solos that required skill and coordination. Made me feel like I could just leave it to him to amaze people. Then some asshole shot him. But these days there are no lead guitarists. Songs have become bland and lifeless, and that makes me want to put down the guitar more than anything.

 

 

P: Perhaps moving off guitar for a moment, what is the most frustrating thing for you about current music in general?

T: Knowing that I/we can do better. I've written songs that just blow away the current fashions. I know that what I produce would sell, but it wouldn't be able to have an image, a ringtone market, and sponsorship tieins. I just don't think that the market is interested in real music, as its marketed at impressionable kiddies, not seasoned music fans.

P: From a marketing sense, do you think that there is plenty of dollars in targeting music to seasoned music fans?

T: Seasoned music fans are more likely to go out and buy an album than download an mp3. The current sales figures show that. Kids who want to be cool are getting mp3's and ringtones, not buying albums.

 

 

These 'fans' aren't ever going to purchase music, because its flash in the pan, not cool tomorrow stuff. Seasoned fans have a collection, mp3's for them are a doorway to picking the stuff that will be added to their collection.

P: Plus they've got dollars to spend I suppose, don't mind buying cds..

T: And DVD's and the song books, and are old enough to go to the concert get drunk and buy the overpriced merchandise.

P: Nice. So, moving back to guitar if you will, and the subject of stock/easy songs, Bob Geldoff thinks that learning too much about music and chords and that may actually limit you from writing a really good song, because there's too much technique floating around, do you agree with this train of thought?

T: When was Bob's last hit?

P: Long before Live Aid, the first one, didn't stop him singing it one more time...

T: You need technique and knowledge. Yep write a song have no idea about the parts and then have no idea how to add that bit that you need to it. Bob does have a point though. You can become too sterile if you put too much rigid theory into music. Listen to early Beatles and Elvis and you realise that the recordings were far from perfect. Though producers are the only ones with any musical knowledge now-a-days. Bands, artists, and the like are lucky to know how to sing.

P: Trying to think of a concluding conversation.. you got any topics you wanted to cover?

T: We need more funny stuff. something more abstract maybe, like the effect of the global warming on music.

P: Music has been produced for thousands of years, and only started sounding any good a few hundred years ago. What effect do you think global warming will have on music?

T: Well this could go two ways. 1) We end up with a lot of whinging, shit dumb, celebrity musicians telling us how to live through asinine songs. or 2) Music goes back to its acoustic roots due to the rising water levels shorting out their amps.

P: Ok, you're on a desert island with the guitarists from Blink 182, Good Charlotte and Simple Plan (who?). There is one coconut left, who will get it and why?

T: So there's four of us. I'd say that even with my dickie knee that I could take on at least two of those guys and kill them with the coconut. I'd have to then use my oratory skills to persuade the remaining one kill himself. I'd pick the dumbest one for this (would need a coin to choose that). Then with all that extra meat I could live large and not need to eat the coconut but construct a guitar out of the coconut and their bones.

P: Ah yes, the coconut-bones guitar. That's a great idea.

T: Hard to guess who would be the stupidest of those three, at a guess I'd say the Good Charlotte guy. He can't even apply makeup right.

P: If international stardom was to come your way, what make-up would you or your band be wearing?

T: I've never been one for makeup. I might get some fake tattoos though, to make me look more hardcore and appeal to the impressionable angry white teen male demographic.

P: Well, getting banned is the first step to stardom. Every kid is going 'what can't we listen to? Now I'm listening and enjoying out of spite'. What are your favourite music-film clips?

T: The funnier ones are usually best. DJ Format has some good ones for "3Feet Deep", and "We Know Something..". Foo Fighters usually put in a good showing, "All the Small Things" by Blink 182, theres a few others. I think the key to a good video clip is that there is an idea/story/satire attached. No point in having it look flashy and spend shitloads of money for crap.

P: So Tim, who do you think is the hottest musician right now?

T: Well do you go by who has the overall package, or do you go by talent, or do you go by how much skin they show in videos? Maybe they could get Jessica Alba to "sing" with one of those PitchPerfect10000's and she could get dressed up and jump around in a bikini. That would be hot.

P: That would be hot. She might be trying to take her career the other way though.

T: What more clothes, more "acting"? She's in a new film with Paul Walker in a bikini! I see no problem there. Plus she is one of the few actresses that looks hot in paparazzi shots, as she doesn't need the flattering lighting, makeup and to be reminded to suck in the gut and pose.

P: I don't know if I want to see a movie with Paul Walker in a bikini. She should choose her pictures better.

T: I meant her in a bikini standing next to Paul Walker. And yes him in a bikini would suck. As long as he gets to say 'dude' and his character takes the moral high ground in a movie his job as an actor is done.

P: Yeah, well good luck to him. I think Rob Shneider was saying "people ask me if it annoys me to be type-cast, hey, at least I'm getting cast, that's fine by me".

T: Rob Sneider is "The Carrot"

P: Tim, care to dip your toe into the Blur vs Oasis debate?

T: Yes. They both suck! Oasis sucked a little less.

P: Ok, who is better out of Led Zeppelin and Creedence Clearwater Revival?

T: Led Zeppelin hands down. Creedence has gone on to influence no rock bands. Led Zep is the cornerstone of most rock influneces. Of course we are talking rock here, not pop or folk. I'm sure Australian Idol contestants wouldn't know who either are, but would like Creedance more.

P: Out of Metallica and Smashing Pumpkins?

T: Curse you for making me choose!!!! Smashing Pumpkins has one of the best albums of all time (Siamese Dream). Metallica can also claim this (Metallica, or the Black Album). Both have control freaks at the healm, though Metallica has two control freaks. Pumpkins has an ego maniac. I'd say Metallica due to longevity.

P: Out of Queen and Rolling Stones?

T: Rolling Stones. Never got into Queen. Plus you could go on the number of chicks their respective lead singers have gone through and the Stones win. If you go through the number of guys the lead singers have gone through, Queen only just edges out the Stones.

P: A couple more oldies- Paul McCartney vs John Lennon, and Beatles vs Elvis!

T: Paul McCartney. He didn't marry a nutcase. Beatles over Elvis. They wrote all their own stuff and didn't star in cheesy films. Although Elvis is still The King. How many people have had a hit after being dead for 30 years?

P: Would you argue Nirvanna had a lot more hits after Kurt was dead?

T: Definitely more popular. Before it was Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and that Seatle scene. After it was all about Nirvana. Even Dave Grol doesn't talk up Nirvana. Hell, give me the Foo Fighters any day. Though hopefully no-one else will realise this. Last thing we want it more celebrity musician deaths leading to great careers. Though then again it would mean that they would be dead.......

P: Yes, it seems a lot of people like to find something mystical in music if the person has died young, trawling through lyrics for 'clues' and 'deeper meaning'. I guess only the dead can seem perfect with impunity. Gives new meaning to 'soul-less pop'?

T:I love the over analysis of lyrics and music. 99% of it (the pop market anyway) was written because it sounds cool. The few who do know about writing are seldom mainstream, the mainstream hsa come to them. "I'm being metaphorical to make a statement about consumer society. Hey buy my new clothing line."

P: Also, a lot has been said about muscians not being numerically compensated for their work, and that they aren't making any money- what's your take on it?

T: Well they aren't but it kinda their own fault. In Australia if you go platnium you have sold roughly 75000 albums. But you can go platnium without selling any, as it goes on how many are shipped to stores, not actual sales. Now you enter into a contract with a record company to make, market, promote, and sell records. You run up an expense account to do so. So you have to pay back the money you owe before you can make any yourself. Most record company guys know that they can really control an artist by having them owe a lot of money. So they fly in big name producers, go to the most expensive recording studios (and spend hours getting the mic-stand right), put them up in expensive hotels, fly them first class........ Basically you end up with a Def Leppard scene where you have to sell 5million albums just to break even. Most artists in Australia will be lucky to sell one tenth that many in their careers.

But you can be smart and spend less on the video clip, don't go and spend months in a studio, don't hire Mr Bigshot-Producer. Gotta stand your ground like Daniel Johns from Silverchair and do it your way. Of course what record company guy will do that when they can just sucker some kids out of high school.

P: If you could change two things about the music industry, what would they be?

T: Talent would replace hype and looks as key ingredients. Second would be that artists had control of their music and record companies became the hired marketing company they are supposed to be. Actually no, make that I would make it mandatory for all artists to look good naked. And second that the females had to perform naked in their videos. That would make Video Hits worth watching, even if you have to turn the sound on.

P: Timothy, thankyou for your time.

T: Not a problem Pat.