Steven Wilson: “I love the guitar, but it’s an instrument that belongs to the 20th century in many ways”
Is the guitar dead? The decline in the number of artists putting guitar solos front and centre has led some observers to conclude as much. But others – while they may acknowledge the changing appetite for lead guitar – say it might not be such a bad thing.
Steven Wilson, for example – who has just released his eighth solo album The Overview – says in 2025, the guitar is an “old-fashioned” instrument.
READ MORE: “Old-school players have beautiful technique – but they’re not so innovative with the actual sound”: Steven Wilson explains why guitarists should regularly change their tone
In an interview in the latest print edition of Guitarist magazine, the Porcupine Tree leader touches on his vintage-meets-modern approach to crafting the guitar parts and tones for his new album.
“It’s a gift for someone like me, who thinks of himself primarily as a producer, that there’s never been more ways to process, twist and mutate sound,” he says. “It’s just extraordinary, particularly when you bring together as I have on this record, the two worlds of the vintage and the modern.
“I’m not a purist. I’m not interested in getting vintage tones for the sake of it. I like vintage tones, of course I do, and there are some on this record. But I’m a massive fan of what you can do in the digital realm, with processing and plugins, particularly with an old-fashioned – quote, unquote – instrument like the guitar.”
Steven Wilson goes on: “I love the guitar, but essentially it’s an instrument that belongs to the 20th century in many ways. So it’s a question of, what can you do to try to reinvent that vocabulary to make it seem relevant?”
On The Overview, Wilson recruited longtime collaborator Randy McStine to help him record guitar parts. He says McStine “understands” the need to make the guitar seem relevant and fresh.
“It was really fascinating to go down that road with him, where we tried to create something in the tradition of the epic guitar solo but in a way that perhaps was fresher to people who’ve heard that before,” he says.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
