Alex Lifeson of Rush: “I’m just a guy who loves playing guitar. It’s not about having a successful career”
Despite being one of rock’s most celebrated guitarists, Rush’s Alex Lifson insists he’s “just a guy who loves playing guitar”.
Speaking on The Rockman Power Hour podcast, the Rush legend shares his view on fame, noting how much of what he’s achieved is just a by-product of his love for the six-string.
“You get a lot of celebrity thrown at you and all of that stuff. It’s just normal in this fan world,” Lifeson says [via Blabbermouth]. “But honestly, I’m just a guy who loves playing guitar, and I always have, since I was 11 years old. I feel so lucky that I have that, and it’s not about having a successful career or any of this.”
READ MORE: “I was reluctant even in Rush towards the end”: Why Alex Lifeson shied away from guitar solos in Rush’s later years
Describing his relationship with the guitar, the musician says: “I play guitar every day. I play usually for – I don’t know – three or four hours a day. I play for an hour before I go to bed every night. I like to have a little puff, and then I sit down. I keep a couple of guitars in the bedroom, and I go back and forth – it’s nylon string one day, steel string [the next day] – and I play for an hour, and I’m lost. And I don’t play scales or I don’t practice.”
“I just play guitar because it’s so fucking amazing to be able to do that. And I’m gonna do it until my last breath. I know that,” he adds. “And I don’t attach any kind of specialness to it. It’s just a blessing for me that I can do that. And then if I can apply it to other people’s music and use my skills that I’ve learned over the years to do something to make their music better, that’s a real gratifying experience for me.”
These days, Lifeson keeps busy with a range of collaborative projects, often far from the spotlight. One of them is a new documentary centred on the Great Lakes, featuring fellow Canadian musicians from Barenaked Ladies and the Rheostatics.
“I work on a lot of different projects,” he says. “I’m working on a project now with some of the guys from Barenaked Ladies and the Rheostatics on a Great Lakes documentary, and it’s all jam based, so we have hours and hours of jamming and now we’re editing and putting it all together.”
“Wow. What a great experience that is, because it’s not being a big shot. It’s there playing with other great players, making great music, and everybody’s contributing. And that’s the essence of being a musician and being a part of this whole musical world. It’s not about being a big shot.”
Meanwhile, Envy of None, the band featuring Lifeson, Andy Curran, Alfio Annibalini and Maiah Wynne, recently released its second album, Stygian Wavz.
Check out the single Stygian Waves below.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
