This week I’d like to talk about something near and dear to my black heart: loud, heavy guitar. Right now seems like a great time for the state of Australian guitar. We have a particularly strong scene for progressive, metal-influenced instrumental guitarists in particular, and quite a lot of them are building international followings. What is it that’s prompted this wave of great Aussie-based shredders? I think there are a number of factors. I think technology is a part of it: easily sharable guitar sheet music has unlocked the secrets of greats like Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert. YouTube tutorials have made it easier to learn advanced techniques. And social media has pushed guitarists to continually strive for better, more impressive content.
That still doesn’t explain why Australia, of all places, has given rise to so many great players. But when I interview guitarists, I notice a few common references popping up. A lot of these players are into bands like Cog and The Butterfly Effect, which probably explains a lot of the heavy and complex rhythms. A lot of them mention the compositional – rather than technical – influence of Steve Vai, to the point where it almost seems like Australian ears are more attuned to Vai’s songwriting than his guitar playing. And many players I speak to cite Aussie guitar legends like Brett Garsed and Tommy Emmanuel as key influences. Try talking to Stevic of Twelve Foot Ninja for five minutes and not hear Tommy’s name come up.
I also notice that the audience at shows by our current wave of progressive metal instrumental guitarists is not as exclusively guitar-geeky as the scene once was. We’re seeing more and more non-musicians getting into this style. I love seeing this. It tells me that our guitarists are tapping into something that transcends guitar-for-guitar’s-sake.
The instrumental project of Melbourne guitarist Rohan ‘Ro’ Stevenson, I Built The Sky’s latest album is The Sky Is Not The Limit, and it’s full of heavy rhythms and intensely technical lead guitar work. I Built The Sky is supporting Caligula’s Horse on their forthcoming Australian tour, and you can catch them at Max Watt’s on Saturday September 30.
Sydney guitarist Plini definitely taps into the Vai school of composition. His work is damn-near cinematic in scope, and he also has a very intuitive sense of melody and phrasing. His guitar practically sounds like a vocalist at times. Plini plays quite regularly, often with Intervals and he’s been gallivanting all over the world for most of the year but he’ll be back in Australia for two shows in October, including at The Night Cat on Friday October 27. His latest release is the brilliant Handmade Cities.
