Distance vs. Desire

Steve Hunt Reminisces On Playing Distance Vs Desire Live

GW: I can anticipate your response, but in retrospect, which among your recorded solos have you been most happy with?

HOLDSWORTH: I'm not really happy with any of them. I mean, I just think that they were okay at the time, because that's all you can ever hope for, unfortunately. Because I started playing late, it's only in the last five years or so that I've started to feel I've made any progress as a musician, out-side of just waffling around on guitar. I feel like, I don't know that I haven't done anything yet. There are certain things I almost like. Like that solo on "Distance Versus Desire" [Sand]. In a way that was the closest I ever got to attaining the kind of sound I hear. People say, "You know I like the guitar sound you get, it's really expressive," or whatever all these things are that one tries to attain, but to me, it isn't anywhere near as expressive as what I think I'm going to be able to get out of the SynthAxe. I didn't think the sound was so great on that particular track, but I would never have believed that you could get that degree of control over a synthesizer. The Unreachable Star (Guitar World 1989)

"For example, the second track on the album, called Distance Versus Desire, is like a ballad, and I just solo over the top the chords. I think the kind of expression that can be got with it, kind of surprised myself: you'd always expect to get more from a real instrument." Castles Made Of Sand (Guitarist 1987)

"One tune we did, a piece called "Distance vs. Desire', which is a ballad, is like a duet with myself. I think I was able to get as much expressiveness out of the synthesizer as I've ever been able to get out of a guitar. So that was a revelation to me, something to get totally excited about, seeing as I'm still new at it." Guitar Synths in Jazz (Music Technology 1987)