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Guitarist
Interview
with Lauri Hyvärinen April 2014 Bands: Horst Quartet, XXXXXX, Belorukov/Hyvärinen, Rutto & Koivusalo, Verisuoniongelmia Websites: laurihyvarinen.com, soundcloud.com/laurihyvarinen, soundcloud.com/belorukov-hyvarinen, soundcloud.com/xxxxxxband QRD – What was your first guitar & what happened to it? Lauri – It is a Yamaha classical guitar. My father bought it for me when I was 11. I still have it & play it from time to time. QRD – What’s your typical set-up from guitar to effects to amplifier? Lauri – Gibson SG Special into whatever amp there is. Sometimes no pedals, sometimes a volume pedal, Sparkle Drive, Rat, & octave fuzz. Assorted crap: knitting needles, pieces of string, handheld fans, ebow, magnets, chopsticks, etc. QRD – What’s the most important part of your rig - guitar, amplifier, or effects? Lauri – Guitar. QRD – What’s your main amplifier & why? Lauri – Depends on the gig. If I bring my own amp then it’s either a Music Man 65 watt for loud ones or a ZT Lunchbox or Marshall 1 watt for quiet or small rooms. Music Man sounds beautiful clean & it’s loud. Other two are easy to carry & sound decent. QRD – What’s your main guitar & what are the features that make it such? Lauri – Gibson SG Special. It’s light, withstanding, & trusty. We’ve been through a lot. QRD – If you had a signature guitar, what would it look like & what would some of its features be? Lauri – A mega loud acoustic guitar. QRD – If you had a signature pedal, what would it be & what would some of its features be? Lauri – It would be as small as possible & have many different kinds of distortion/overdrive/fuzz options & maybe a ring modulator. QRD – How many guitars do you own? Lauri – Six. QRD – How & where do you store your guitars? Lauri – In cases or gig bags at home or rehearsal place. QRD – What do you wish guitar cases had that they usually don’t? Lauri – Combined comfortability of gig bags & protection of hardcases. QRD – What features do you look for when buying a guitar? Lauri – Neck & playability are most important, then tone. QRD – How much do you think a good guitar should cost? Lauri – 500-1000 euros. That’s what they usually cost. QRD – Do you upgrade & customize your guitars or just stick with what you get? Lauri – I choose not to customize, there are too many options. QRD – How thoroughly do you research or test a piece of equipment before buying it? Lauri – Quite thoroughly, but sometimes it still doesn’t add up. QRD – Do you change your rig around often? Lauri – Lately, I’ve been trying to get rid of most of my equipment. QRD – Are you after one particular guitar tone & locking into it, or do you like to change your tone around a lot? Lauri – I used to change it all the time, but not anymore. QRD – What are some guitars, amps, & pedals you particularly lust after? Lauri – I’ve been wanting a Gibson ES-330 for some time now. Also a good acoustic guitar would be nice. QRD – What do you think are some important features to be on a person’s first guitar that aren’t always there? Lauri – Good tuners & intonation. QRD – What have been the best & worst guitar related purchases you’ve made? Lauri – Best must’ve been the Music Man amp. I have had so many bad purchases (& sales), I can’t even count them. QRD – What are some effect, amp, & guitar brands you particularly like or dis-like & why? Lauri – No specific ones, I just like the ones that work accordingly & are durable. QRD – What’s the first thing you play when you pick up a guitar? Lauri – “Reflections” by Thelonius Monk. QRD – How old were you when you started playing guitar? Lauri – I guess I was 9. I played on my father’s guitar. I couldn’t hold down the strings on that guitar. QRD – At what age do you think you leveled up to your best guitar playing? Lauri – I was quite good when I was about 22. Now I’m much worse. QRD – Why do you think a guitar fits you more so than other instruments? Lauri – It’s just something I’ve grown up with. QRD – Do you think guitar should be people’s first instrument as often as it is? Lauri – It can be, there are so many ways of playing a guitar. I guess it depends on what you want to do. QRD – Do you see your guitar as your ally or adversary in making music? Lauri – Ally. QRD – Who are the guitarists that most influenced your playing & sound? Lauri – Derek Bailey, Marc Ribot, Nick Drake, Joey Santiago, Sonny Sharrock, James Blood Ulmer, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Greg Ginn, Jimi Hendrix, Otomo Yoshihide, Kazuo Imai, Topias Tiheäsalo, QRD – Do you think people anthropomorphizing guitars is natural or silly (e.g. naming guitars)? Lauri – It’s stupid. QRD – What’s the most physical damage you’ve done to a guitar & how did you do it? Lauri – During a show in 2007, I threw a guitar into a wall because the signal was cutting out. The guitar split in two. QRD – What do you do to practice other than simply playing? Lauri – Mostly I just play. Sometimes I learn jazz standards or classical pieces. I might play simple technique exercises or work on new ones. QRD – How many hours a week do you play guitar & how many hours would you like to? Lauri – I play about 2 hours a day, so that would be 14 hours a week. Maybe I should play less. QRD – What type of pick do you use & why? Lauri – Those little Dunlop jazz ones. My picking technique requires only a very tiny amount of plectrum. QRD – What gauge strings do you use & why? Lauri – 12s or 13s. I like heavy strings. They feel sturdy & solid as a mountain. QRD – How often do you change strings? Lauri – When I break them. QRD – How often do you break strings? Lauri – Rarely. QRD – Which do you feel is more proficient, your strumming hand or fretting hand & how does that effect your style? Lauri – My strumming hand. I have to augment my fretting hand with different things... QRD – Do you set-up your guitar yourself or send it to a guitar tech (or not set it up at all) & why? Lauri – I do it myself. Just to save time & money. QRD – What tunings do you use & why? Lauri – Standard, I like to have some limits. QRD – Do you prefer tablature, sheet music, or some other notation system for writing down your own ideas? Lauri – Tablature with sometimes rhythm symbols added. QRD – How high do you hold your guitar when playing (strap length)? Lauri – Very high. QRD – What’s a bad habit in your playing you wish you could break? Lauri – Long story.… QRD – Playing what other instrument do you think can most help someone’s guitar playing? Lauri – Drums are the foundation of music. QRD – What’s a type of guitar playing you wish you could do that you can’t? Lauri – I really don’t know. I only want to play like only I can. QRD – What’s a guitar goal you’ve never accomplished? Lauri – Wish I could improvise exactly what I’m thinking. QRD – What’s the last guitar trick you learned? Lauri – I was teaching pinch harmonics to my guitar student the other day. Didn’t know I could do them... QRD – What’s your favorite guitar gadget (Ebow, capo, slide, string cutter, etc)? Lauri – Handheld fans. Don’t know if they qualify as guitar gadgets... QRD – What’s a guitar technique you’d like to master, but haven’t? Lauri – Sweep arpeggios or something. QRD – Did you ever take guitar lessons & if so, what did you learn from them? Lauri – I took lessons when I was 11-14 years old. I learned some Ritchie Blackmore & Iron Maiden riffs. There was also a strong emphasis on alternate picking & playing legato. I don’t know why. QRD – What would you teach someone in a guitar lesson that you don’t think they would generally get from a guitar teacher? Lauri – To improvise freely. QRD – What’s something someone would have to do to emulate your style? Lauri – Forget everything they know. QRD – What’s your take on tremolo/vibrato systems? Lauri – They’re nice, but I haven’t used one in over ten years. QRD – How often do you adjust your tone knob? Lauri – When a different color is required. QRD – What do you see as the difference between lead guitar & rhythm guitar players? Lauri – Rhythm guitarists are usually better players. QRD – If a band has good guitar work, can you ignore the rest of the band not being good? Lauri – It can’t be good like that. Bad guitar work in a bad band is good & good guitar work in a bad band is bad. But bad guitar work in a good band might be interesting. QRD – What famous musician’s guitar would you like to own & why? Lauri – I don’t want their sweat & filth. QRD – Who do you think is currently the most innovative guitar player & why? Lauri – There are so many! For example Kazuo Imai, Katsuyoshi Kou, Jasper Stadhouders, Topias Tiheäsalo, & Niko Karlsson. They are taking the guitar & music back to their primordial origins, but at the same time their playing is perplexing & cerebral. QRD – Where can people hear your best guitar work? Lauri – Live. QRD – Anything else? Lauri – “Do it ourselves.” - Jack Wright
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