Guthrie Govan Confirms Steven Wilson Hates Vibrato, Names Guitar Effects He Was Prohibited to Use

Guthrie Govan Confirms Steven Wilson Hates Vibrato, Names Guitar Effects He Was Prohibited to Use

UG exclusive: "I remember him expressing a particular aversion to any note which he deemed to sound overly 'American'!"

Posted Aug 20, 2019 01:00 PM

Guthrie Govan Confirms Steven Wilson Hates Vibrato, Names Guitar Effects He Was Prohibited to Use

During a conversation with UG's David Slavković, Guthrie Govan talked about playing guitar in Steven Wilson's band and performing on 2013's "The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)" and 2015's "Hand. Cannot. Erase."

Guthrie touched on his favorite musical moments with Steven, Wilson's disdain of vibrato and the chorus effect, and more. You can check out a part of the interview below.

What's your favorite piece that you recorded for Steven Wilson?

"Hmmm... maybe [2013's] 'Drive Home'? I'm not saying that was necessarily the best playing I ever contributed to a Steven Wilson song - probably not, to be honest - but I always had fun improvising over that chord progression at the end - the fourth chord, in particular, is really nice!

"I have vivid memories of playing that one live in the studio, with the whole band, so there was a very cool, organic energy in the room...

"I kept asking to do more takes for the ending solo but at some point, it became clear that everyone else had already decided that the first take would be the one which made it onto the record... It was just one of those moments, I guess."

Last year, we got the chance to speak to David Kilminster, who also played with Steven Wilson. According to what David said, Steven really hates vibrato. Was this the same case when you were in his band?

"Pretty much! I remember him expressing a particular aversion to any note which he deemed to sound overly 'American'!

"I chose to interpret that as his way of describing the wider, more extreme end of the vibrato spectrum: he's just not a fan of '80s-style 'guitar hero' histrionics so I guess perhaps the sound of really wide, aggressive vibrato on guitar is something which he associates with the more comical excesses of the 'Spandex Age' of rock.

"I have a suspicion that Steven's ideal guitar player might actually be someone more in the vein of Robert Fripp, who pretty much represents the antithesis of that style...

"Steven Wilson certainly has some unusually specific ideas about what a guitar should and shouldn't be allowed to do within the context of his band. Ultimately, though, it's his music and his vision so... whatever works!"

In the past, we've also got the chance to hear that Steven doesn't like the chorus effect. When you joined his band, did he specifically tell you how much he hated it and that you're not allowed to use it?

"He did indeed! Wah-wah pedals are similarly prohibited, as I recall. [Smiles]"

Talking about different guitarists that passed through his band, what are your thoughts on his current guitar player, Alex Hutchings?

"Alex is great - I really like his playing. Obviously, he's really precise and technically accomplished but there's also a kind of 'Larry Carlton' subtlety in what he does - he knows how to make a really simple no-frills blues lick sound elegant and tasteful if that's what the situation requires.

"He's also a thoroughly agreeable fellow - I do enjoy the rare moments when our touring paths intersect and we have an opportunity to hang!"

Some time ago, you revealed that you recorded some of your most impressive Steven Wilson solos in one take. How does a guitar player achieve this level, where the solo effortlessly unfolds in just one take?

"Well... when you make decisions about how to spend your practice time, you're essentially deciding what kind of player you will ultimately become. Personally, I've always been drawn towards the idea of trying to play whatever I hear in my head, so I've spent a lot of time over the years doing just that.

"As a result, I suppose my ear became pretty good and I gradually developed a more direct connection between what I'm hearing internally and how my fingers instinctively respond.

"For me, trying to come up with a valid solo is more about finding the right inspiration: if I can imagine something cool to play then - at least most of the time - I can figure out how to translate that onto the guitar in real-time for the simple reason that that's how I've spent a lot of my time with the instrument over the last few decades.

"There's no real mystique about the 'first take' thing... if anything, first takes are often the best because they have a certain freshness and natural flow: your 20th take will probably be more technically perfect but this often comes at the expense of continuity.

"You end up remembering all the things which you liked about previous takes and you start trying to cram them all in, often at the expense of the 'story-telling' aspect of what you're playing!

"Having said all that, I'll still plead guilty to having a kind of 'perfectionist' streak and my tendency in the studio is often to request more and more takes, even though I'm fully aware that 'first take magic' is a real thing..."

Last year, Dave Kilminster - also known as Roger Waters' guitarist - told UG about Steven Wilson:

"Steven's very fussy. In fact, Steven's probably fussier than Roger about guitar sounds, because he's a guitarist. So it was more difficult to make him happy. He wants the right effects for the right solos.

"There's certain things that he hates, like vibrato, which is a very personal thing for a guitarist to have. Hates it. Any sort of vibrato. Doesn't like it on voice, doesn't like it on guitar. And I tried to work with him in the studio once and it was a complete nightmare. I was gonna do a solo, so I played a note. 'No, no! No vibrato!'

"For me, I just sound like a beginner then. Because you're not adding any personality or inflections and stuff. To make him happy was kinda tough. And he's such a great guitarist. He should do it himself, which is obviously what he did on the latest album [2017's 'To the Bone'] when he played most of the guitar parts.

"I knew he was gonna do that, so I just sort of went, 'If you want, I could sing some backing vocals.' So I ended up singing on four or five tracks on the new album. I was really happy with that actually."