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SEATED ACROSS FROM ONEanother in a cavernous, chilly SanFrancisco photo studio, Tosinand Guthrie Govan are deep inconversation, dissecting anddebating the relative merits ofvarious guitar neck tone woods.They’re both clearly attuned tothe same profound level of guitargeekery—fretboard brothers. But it’shard to imagine two human beingsmore different in appearance.Abasi is impeccably and stylishly dressedin head-to-toe black, including a well-cutjacket that’s the handiwork of his sibling,the fashion designer Abdul Abasi. His hairis styled with razor-sharp precision in akind of asymmetrical, post-modern pompadour. Tosin’s professorial, tortoise rim eyeglasses lay primly on the table before him.His body language is angular and precise.He’s been pumping some iron of late as ifthe dazzling virtuosity and abstract intensity of his eight-string guitar work with Animals as Leaders weren’t enough of an athletic accomplishment.Thin, wiry and slumped in a leather chairacross from Abasi, Guthrie Govan is sporting a rumpled Pac-Man T-shirt that looksas if he’s slept in it. He’s just off the planefrom London, but looks as if he might justas well have tumbled out of a time machine,transported from some grotty, early-Seventies Jethro Tull lineup into the 21st Century technopolis that is San Francisco. But60GU I TA R WOR L D A PR I L 2015the quietly understated wit and careful creativity with which he chooses his wordsbelie his bedraggled appearance. The samestrange mixture of offhand nonchalance,well-crafted mastery, retro rock referencesand fast-forward futurism distinguishesGovan’s exemplary guitar work with theAristocrats, not to mention his solo discsand sideman work with Steven Wilson, Asiaand others.Mahogany versus wenge has become theconversation’s focal point when Joe Satriani enters the room. Like Abasi, he’s allin black, albeit in a more casual way—thetimeless rock and roll uniform of T-shirt,jeans and leather jacket. Satch pulls a blackwatch cap off his clean shaven craniumand takes a seat alongside his fellow guitartitans. His quiet humility and air of maturereserve contrast benignly with the youthfulexuberance of his cohorts.Tosin Abasi and Guthrie Govan are bothvery much the children of Joe Satriani. Wildlydisparate as they are in their musical and personal styles, Animals as Leaders and the Aristocrats could never have come into existence,let alone find a dedicated and enthusiasticaudience, had Satriani not blazed a bold newtrail in rock guitar playing in the Eighties—raising the bar for fretboard technique andmaking the world safe for shred.And now Satriani, Abasi and Govan arejoining forces with fellow guitarist MikeKeneally (Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, JoeSatriani, Henry Kaiser) and DreamcatcherEvents to present the second annual G4Experience, a four-day, immersive guitar camp held in the idyllic environs of theCambria Pines Lodge in California, June 28to July 2. Satch, Tosin, Guthrie and Mikewill be joined by Govan’s fellow Aristocrats who also serve, conveniently enough,as Satriani’s current rhythm section. And,along with performances by Animals asLeaders, auxiliary instructors include bassist Stu Hamm and Guitar World’s own Andy
H A I R A N D M A K E U P BY M E A G A N N E M C C A N D E S SkingsAledort as well as other special guests. Thefour-day musical retreat will include bothconcert performances and ad hoc jams aswell as up-close and personal instructionfrom the four guitar stars and their guests.The camp concept is very much Satriani’sbrainchild, an offshoot of his much belovedG3 and G4 road tours.“I thought it would be nice if there weresome way to get away from the folding chairand PowerPoint presentation vibe behindmost clinics,” Satriani says. “Rather than justplaying and teaching licks, I wanted to dosomething that mirrors my experience withthe G3 tours. That’s where I see more raptattention and people getting involved passionately, as concertgoers tend to do. I don’treally see that at clinics. So I was lookingfor a way to get the juicy fun of a live performance into a clinic situation. And that’s basically what I put to the Dreamcatcher Eventsguys who came to me with this idea of doingsome kind of clinic over a period of days.”Mike Keneally, who participated in thefirst G4 camp last year, offered his heartyendorsement of the concept via email: “Thefirst G4 camp was a revelation for me in myown approach to instruction. So I was veryglad to be asked to be part of it again andhave an opportunity to keep developing thatapproach. I look forward to the time I’mgoing to spend with Joe, Tosin and Guthrie this year, talking and playing together.Obviously they’re both astonishing players—among the best the world has evercoughed up. The camp will offer a buffet ofmusical choices that campers can choosefrom at will, so there will be something forplayers at every level. Also the physical setting is freaking gorgeous and conducive to apeaceful and welcoming frame of mind.”Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, thetopic of tone woods has been shelved fora while as Satriani, Abasi and Govan settledown to give Guitar World the inside storyon the ultimate guitar camp experience.The first question is for Guthrie and Tosin.What was your initial reaction like whenyou were approached to take part in thisinstructional camp?GUTHRIE GOVAN The logical thing to dowhen approached by Joe Satriani and askedto do something like this is to say yes. In noway was it a difficult decision. Based on myexperience with guitar camps, it always turnsout to be an extension of the personality ofthe guy who dreamed it up in the first place.So I’m really looking forward to this one. Itlooks like it’s going to be a real musical experience, as opposed to a parade of circus tricks.JOE SATRIANI Although we’re not beneaththat! [laugher] That’s kind of what we do ina way. Let me just say there’s nothing wrongwith that. I’ve often said in clinics thateverything is equal. All scales are equal. Allchords are equal. It’s really all the same. It’sjust a question of when and how to use them.TOSIN ABASI I’ve done clinics myself. Myband did something similar to this—aguitarworld.com61
kingsThere’s a poetry tothis that’s not writtendown anywhere.”camp setting where we had multiple dayswith the students. And while the instruction sessions are really cool, what can beeven cooler is what happens outside theformal clinics: Students getting togetherwith other students and sharing the ideasthey just learned. There’s this really cool“behind the scenes” element. Bands form.Musical relationships are formed. Justhaving like-minded musicians all togetherin the same place, sharing the same information—it will be cool to facilitate thatkind of interaction.So what can people who take part in thecamp expect to experience?SATRIANI I’m gonna play, I’m gonna talkand just take questions. I’m not going tomake people pick up the guitar and say, “Putthe third finger on the third fret.” It’s notgonna be like that. People will have a chanceto observe me up close and ask questions. Ithink that’s the best way. There’s nothinglike watching a guy do it. And this is one ofthe few times I won’t have to perform. I’mnot gonna jump around. I’m gonna sit thereand actually look at my guitar, and I canstand near my amp, which is cool! So thatway, you can watch what I do. And if you seesomething weird, you can ask me about it6262WOORRLLDD AAPPRRIILL 22001155GGUUIITTAARR Wand I’ll explain it in an honest way.GOVAN That approach gets my vote as well.The people who are attending will get amore personal experience. We can listento them and bounce back on whatever theyturn out to be looking for rather than turning up with a prescribed list of what we thinkthey need to know. It’s better to be flexible.ABASI I go with that too. It allows for anorganic process that keeps unfolding, asopposed to predetermining which way it’sgonna go. And I think what Joe said aboutjust watching is huge. There’s a cognitivelevel of understanding you get from watching people who have been playing guitarprofessionally for decades and have gotten to this high level of artistry. If you wereto verbalize it, it wouldn’t be the same. Towatch a guy like Guthrie, it’s not the same aswatching a two-dimensional video screen.I can actually get close enough to see andhear how hard he’s picking! I think thatlevel of instruction is invaluable.In Carlos Santana’s autobiography,The Universal Tone, he talks about howplayers he admired in Mexico when he wascoming up never showed him anything,“They showed me their back,” he says,and that this a tradition he and others stillreally respect. “I have my chops, go findyours.” So the question becomes, does alearning situation like a clinic compromisea player’s originality? Is there any value infinding your own chops?GOVAN I think that was more showmanshipthan anything else. You can create a mystiquefor yourself by pretending that a lick you dois so special that you have to hide it from people. Now more than ever people are going tofigure out what you’re doing, whether you’regoing to share it with them or not.SATRIANI When I was growing up you hadto find somebody to show you how to playthe way you wanted to play. There weren’tinstructional videocassettes, let alone YouTube. But yeah, that’s a funny attitude,“I have my chops, go find yours.” I neverunderstood that. That’s not the reality ofthe modern world. I don’t think people evenworry about that.ABASI I agree, it does seem a little fearbased. I think inspiration is what droveall of us to pick up a guitar. And inspiration comes from other guitarists, usually.There’s a fine line between emulation andoriginality. I might try real hard to emulatesomething and fail, but all of a sudden I’vegot something that’s my own version of it.There are so many ways to approach it.
kingsOkay, so now the question becomes,what has the viral availability of information on technique and things like thatdone for the art of guitar playing?SATRIANI It’s definitely elevated it to anincredible level, and here’s the proof righthere. Look at these guys! When I startedplaying, most people played the same, Iwould say. Six strings. Fenders and Gibsons. Really. There weren’t that many artists. How many pedals were there? Some ofthe music may have been complicated, butthe tools weren’t so great. So people weren’ttrying to do much with the guitar. But nowthe art of guitar playing has been elevated toan incredible level. Look at Tosin and Guthrie here—or someone like Charlie Hunter—and you think, Oh my God, what happened?The future is here. And all that other musicis still available too. You can go on YouTubeand see a 14-year-old kid who sounds likeone of the blues artists from back then.ABASI The prevalence of all this information has brought a real cool evolution inguitar playing, but it also creates a senseof overload. Like for me, I would get oneinstructional video, devour it and then I’dhave to go to the music store physically, pickout another and take that home. Now it’slike you can Google “melodic minor” andit’s this tremendous rabbit hole that, for mepersonally, can get a little overwhelming.The information is so accessible and so vast.But that’s why things like this camp are soimportant. Yes, all this information is nowavailable, but what you’re going to get fromus is more of a specialized, individual actualrepresentation of all this information. Howwe express ourselves on the guitar. And Ithink that will help channel out all the distractions that can come from all the information out there.You all said that you’re not going in witha prescribed list of things you think players ought to know. But still, can we agreeon a few essentials that, say, a beginningplayer should know?SATRIANI Don’t play with pain, and prac-tice in 45-minute segments. That keeps aneight-year-old or 12-year-old from gettingbored. Grownups can stay focused for a longer period of time. Basically, if somethinghurts, stop doing it. The repetitive stuff canbe a big problem—the quest to be exactlyGuthrie without understanding how thebody works, without taking the time todevelop the tendons and muscles, not tomention the brain and the ears. So I alwaysinclude that in the top five things: don’t playin pain and practice in small increments.But I don’t think there’s any one scale orexercise that’s better than any other scale orexercise for getting you to become familiarwith the instrument and your body.GOVAN I think it’s really important forsomeone at the beginning level to ask themselves, “Why am I doing this?” That answer’snot going to be the same for everyone. Someguys just want to be in a band. Some justmight want to be able to play “Layla” in theirbasement after a hard day at work. Somepeople just want to be the fastest—which isvalid in the same way that wanting to get ahigh score in a computer game is valid. Butall these different players should be workingon a slightly different balance of core skills.Identifying what kind of player you want tobecome right at the beginning leads you to aplace where you’re guaranteed not to wasteany of your practice time.The new Ibanez JS25ART guitars offer a uniqueopportunity to own an original piece ofartwork and a great musical instrument.FOR JOE SATRIANI ,sketching and drawinghave always been as much ofa creative outlet as his gamechanging, guitar-driven rockmusic. These two differenthemispheres of his artistryconverge beautifully in Ibanez’snew, limited 25th anniversaryedition of Joe’s iconic signatureJS guitar, the JS25ART. Thebody of each guitar bears a fullcolor illustration, hand drawnby Satriani himself. Each one is64GU I TA R WOR L D A PR I L 2015different and there are only 50of them, 25 of which are slatedfor sale in the U.S. Offering aunique opportunity to be a guitarcollector and art collector all inone, this very special JS editioncommemorates the birth ofSatriani’s Ibanez signature model25
guitarworld.com 59. Abasi is impeccably and stylishly dressed in head-to-toe black, including a well-cut jacket that’s the handiwork of his sibling, the fashion designer Abdul Abasi. His hair is styled with razor-sharp precision in a kind of asymmetrical, post-modern pompa-dour. Tosin’s professorial, tortoise rim eye- glasses lay primly on the table before him. His body language is angular .
