Culto a la guitarra (World Music 2000)
Summary: Allan Holdsworth, a renowned and innovative jazz guitarist, discusses his career, influences, and the unique SynthAxe instrument in an interview. Despite being a legendary figure in the music world, he remains somewhat underground and self-critical, stating, "I am my biggest enemy, I don't know how to promote myself enough." He also mentions his love for science fiction and electronic engineering aspirations. Additionally, he reflects on his album "The Sixteen Men Of Tain" and his experiences with various bands and musicians. [This summary was written by ChatGPT in 2023 based on the article text below.]
Allan Holdsworth - Culto a la guitarra
TEXTO: JORDI PLANAS FOTOS: LUIS LECUMBERRY
"YO SOY MI MAYOR ENEMIGO, NO SÉ PROMOCIONARME LO SUFICIENTE".
"AUNQUE PARA MÍ SUPUSO UN GRAN SALTO ADELANTE, CASI NADIE TOCA EL SYNTHAXE, PORQUE ES UN INSTRUMENTO UN POCO DE LOCOS, PERO ESO ES LO QUE ME ATRAE, QUE NO SUENA COMO UNA GUITARRA".
Uno de los guitarristas más asombrosos del jazz y la música en general pasó recientemente por aquí para promocionar su nuevo disco, "The Sixteen Men Of Tain" (título sacado de la publicidad de un whisky de malta que a veces bebe.)
El que fuera integrante de los legendarios UK y colaborador de gente como Bill Bruford, Soft Machine o Jean- Luc Ponty, posee una sólida carrera como solista que rebasa la decena de álbumes, con títulos tan recomendables como "IOU" (1982), "Metal Fatigue" (1985) o "Secrets" (1989).
A pesar de seguir siendo un perfecto desconocido para una mayoría, Holdsworth no sólo posee uno de los estilos más refinados y originales (tanto con la guitarra como a la hora de componer), sino que su asombrosa técnica ha servido de inspiración a gente como Joe Satriani, Steve Vai o Eddie Van Halen. Sin embargo, no es el rock precisamente lo que ha inspirado a Holdsworth. Su máxima influencia siempre fue gente del jazz como John Coltrane. De hecho, antes que guitarrista quería ser saxofonista. En febrero estuvo por Europa (aunque es inglés, lleva muchos años afincado en los Estados Unidos) promocionando su nuevo disco. Algo nuevo para él, ya que siempre que ha ido a alguna ciudad ha sido para tocar.
Por primera vez has utilizado un contrabajista en tu música, cuando siempre has tocado con bajistas eléctricos.
AH: "En mi anterior disco hicimos varias versiones de jazz, pero no llegamos a utilizar contrabajo. Pensé que la música de este nuevo disco era jazz más clásico, por eso quise grabar con un contrabajista. Conozco a Dave Carpenter desde hace tiempo, y creo que se ha adaptado muy bien a mi música. Sin embargo, ahora estoy haciendo ya un nuevo disco en mi línea más agresiva, junto a Gary Husband (batería) y Jimmy Johnson (bajista), una de mis combinaciones preferidas".
¿Qué recuerdas de la época de Soft Machine?
"Con ellos estuve dos años y grabé el disco 'Bundles' a mediados de los setenta. Lo pasé muy bien con ellos. Antes estuve en Tempest y fue mi primera oportunidad de visitar varios países, pero al final la música ya no me gustaba. Y es que se quejaban de que tocaba demasiadas notas. Así que con Soft Machine pude dar más rienda suelta a mi manera de tocar, ya que me daban total libertad. Justo antes de grabar otro disco, me surgió la posibilidad de tocar con Tony Williams y me fui con él".
También tocaste con Jean- Luc Ponty.
AH: "Si, es un tipo muy agradable, lo pasamos muy bien. Volvería a tocar con él si se presentara la ocasión".
En el grupo UK tocaste con Eddie Jobson, Bill Bruford y John Wetton. Pero sólo grabaste un disco con ellos.
AH: "Eran buenos tíos, pero había muchos puntos de vista distintos. El problema con UK es que en directo yo nunca tocaba dos veces el mismo solo, y eso no le gustaba a Eddie Jobson, el cual siempre tocaba exactamente lo mismo. Al final era como una pesadilla y ya no me gustaba salir Así que cuando Bill Bruford decidió marcharse, me fui con él. Con Bill lo pasé muy bien. Sin embargo, tanto en UK como con Bruford aún tenía muchas restricciones a la hora de grabar. Nunca pensé que Bruford fuese un batería de jazz. Por entonces yo ya tenía mucho material compuesto, conocí al batería Gary Husband y decidí seguir con mi carrera como solista".
Recientemente parecía que UK se volvían a juntar.
AH: "Eddie Jobson me llamó. Pero la idea de volver a ser los cuatro miembros originales, donde todos tenían el mismo voto y el mismo sueldo, no cuajó. Eddie consiguió un contrato con Japón y quiso tener un control total, inflexible, trayendo además otros músicos invitados. Yo lo hubiese intentado, creo que ahora soy más flexible, aunque seguiría sin hacer dos veces el mismo solo. Pero creo que la propuesta no era justa, básicamente era él pagando a músicos invitados, o sea que al final no funcionó".
El primer disco de UK es una obra de referencia, ya que nadie ha conseguido aunar con tanta destreza el progresivo con el jazz-rock.
¿Te gusta alguna banda progresiva, como Yes o King Crimson?
AH: "La verdad es que no".
¿Y conoces a Dream Theater? Su guitarra es fan tuyo y una vez tocaron una versión de "In the Dead of Night", de UK.
AH: "Si los conozco. Esos tíos son buenos".
En 1986, con tu disco "Atavachron", experimentaste mucho con el synthaxe, una especie de guitarra sintetizador. Por cierto, ¿qué significa el título?
AH: "Yo era un gran seguidor de la serie 'Star Trek', la original, hecha con un presupuesto muy bajo. Era un 'Trekkie'. Bueno, pues había un episodio llamado 'All Our Yesterdays', que también es el título de otra canción de ese disco, y salía un tipo que vivía en un planeta y tenía una máquina llamada Atavachron, una especie de máquina del tiempo".
¿Te gustaba "The Twilight Zone"?
AH: "Oh, sí, me encantaba. También la versión antigua de 'Outer Limits'. Esas series con cuatro duros explicaban buenas historias".
¿Y qué me dices de "Star Wars"?
AH: "También me gusta. De hecho, me encanta la ciencia ficción. Es lo único que me gusta ver. Nunca voy al cine, a menos que sea algo de ciencia ficción. La última película que fui a ver fue 'Aliens""
¿Y qué libros de ciencia ficción te gustan?
AH: "No leo nada de nada (risas)".
¿Ni siquiera cómics?
AH: "No, ya no. No sé porqué nadie se ha decidido a hacer una película sobre 'Dan Dare', un viejo cómic de ciencia ficción inglés"
Volvamos al SynthAxe...
AH: "Si (risas). En la última pieza de 'Metal Fatigue', 'In the Mistery', utilicé por primera vez la guitarra sintetizadora Roland, pero no acabó de funcionar. Me enteré de que alguien en Inglaterra había inventado el synthaxe, lo probé y rápidamente pensé que era un instrumento hecho a mi medida, era como un sueño convertido en realidad. Aunque para mi supuso un gran salto adelante, casi nadie toca el synthaxe, porque es un instrumento un poco de locos, pero eso es lo que me atrae, que no suena como una guitarra. Nunca se vendieron muchos, y realmente son muy caros, así que la empresa inglesa acabó quebrando, lo cual es muy triste. Pero gracias a unos 'clinics' que hice, algo que ya no hago nunca porque no me interesan, conseguí dos synthaxes por el precio de uno".
A pesar de tu carrera y tu reputación, sigues siendo como una especie de leyenda underground. ¿Crees que los puristas del jazz te consideran demasiado vanguardista?
AH: "No lo sé, pero es cierto que no soy tan conocido como otros músicos. Si eres un 'outsider' del rock y un 'outsider' del jazz, al final estás en tierra de nadie. Así es la vida. Pero reconozco que soy muy beligerante en cuanto a lo que quiero hacer, así que en parte yo soy mi mayor enemigo, no sé promocionarme lo suficiente".
¿Qué te hubiese gustado ser en vez de músico?
AH: "Ingeniero electrónico. Eso es lo que quería ser en la escuela, pero allí siempre tratan de desanimarte. Recuerdo que mi profesor me decía, 'no puedes serlo, eres demasiado ton- to', ya que mis notas en matemáticas eran malísimas. Pero ahora sé que eso no importa, ya que conozco a un par de tipos que se dedican a esto y me dicen que siempre están utilizando calculadoras"
El mini-LP "Road Games", uno de mis favoritos, continúa descatalogado.
AH: "Y espero que así siga. Se ve que quieren reeditarlo, pero tendrán que convencerme de que valga la pena. No me gustó nada. Fiché con la Warner, pero el productor empezó a decirme cómo tenía que ser el disco, que metiera a tal batería o a tal cantante, como Geddy Lee, cantante de Rush, por ejemplo, cosa que no quería porque ni siquiera sabía quiénes eran Rush. Hubo mucha presión y no les gustaba Paul Williams, así que decidí poner a Jack Bruce antes que cualquier otro cantante".
Hace poco apareció tu único disco en directo, "IOU Live".
AH: "Oh, eso es un pirata grabado en Italia, una cinta que vendió Paul Williams, el cantante, un gilipollas total. Me gasté como cinco mil dólares para tratar de impedir que se editara, pero no lo conseguí. Fue muy desagradable".
¿Has pensado en sacar un directo tú mismo?
AH: "Sí, es por eso que ahora siempre grabo bien mis conciertos, para en el futuro no tener que recurrir a una puta cinta pirata".
¿Qué consejo le darías a un músico joven?
AH: "Perseverancia, tener esperanza y a la vez esperar lo peor. Desconfía de alguien que quiera ser tu mánager y haz lo que sientes que debas hacer".
Cult of the guitar (Machine translated version)
As always, I have marked the quotes here as machine back translated, because Allan's words have been through a process where they were first translated into Spanish, and then machine translated back again to English. Allan's intended meaning does seem to come through most of the time, but we don't really know what Allan actually said himself.
Allan Holdsworth - Guitar Cult
World Music, Apr/May 2000
TEXT: JORDI PLANAS
PHOTOS: LUIS LECUMBERRY
"I AM MY GREATEST ENEMY, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PROMOTE MYSELF ENOUGH." [Machine back translated]
"EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A HUGE LEAP FORWARD FOR ME, ALMOST NOBODY PLAYS THE SYNTHAXE, BECAUSE IT'S A BIT OF A CRAZY INSTRUMENT, BUT THAT'S WHAT ATTRACTS ME, THAT IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A GUITAR." [Machine translated]
One of the most amazing guitarists in jazz and music in general stopped by recently to promote his new album, "The Sixteen Men Of Tain" (title taken from an ad for a malt whiskey he sometimes drinks). [Machine translated]
Member of the legendary UK and collaborator of people like Bill Bruford, Soft Machine or Jean-Luc Ponty, he has a solid career as a soloist that exceeds ten albums, with titles as recommendable as "IOU" (1982), "Metal Fatigue" (1985) or "Secrets" (1989). [Machine translated]
Despite remaining a complete stranger to most, Holdsworth not only possesses one of the most refined and original styles (both on guitar and when writing), but his astonishing technique has inspired the likes of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen. However, it is not precisely rock that has inspired Holdsworth. His greatest influence was always jazz people like John Coltrane. In fact, before becoming a guitarist, I wanted to be a saxophonist. In February he was in Europe (although he is English, he has lived in the United States for many years) promoting his new album. Something new for him, since whenever he has gone to a city it has been to play. [Machine translated]
For the first time you have used a double bassist in your music, you have always played with electric bassists before. [Machine translated]
AH: "On my previous record we did several jazz versions, but we didn't actually use double bass. I thought the music on this new record was more classical jazz, so I wanted to record with a double bass player. I've known Dave Carpenter for a long time, and I think the double bass has adapted very well to my music. However, now I am making a new album in my most aggressive mode, with Gary Husband (drums) and Jimmy Johnson (bass), one of my favorite combinations". [Machine back translated]
What do you remember from the Soft Machine days? [Machine translated]
"I was with them for two years and I recorded the album 'Bundles' in the mid-70s. I had a great time with them. Before that I was in Tempest and it was my first opportunity to visit several countries, but in the end I didn't like the music anymore. And they [Tempest] complained that I played too many notes. So with Soft Machine I was able to give more free rein to my way of playing, since they gave me total freedom. Just before recording another album, the possibility of playing with Tony Williams arose, and I went with him." [Machine back translated]
You also played with Jean-Luc Ponty. [Machine translated]
AH: "Yes, he's a very nice guy, we had a great time. I would play with him again if the opportunity arose." [Machine back translated]
In the UK group you played with Eddie Jobson, Bill Bruford and John Wetton. But you only recorded one album with them. [Machine translated]
AH: "They were good guys, but there were many different points of view. The problem with UK is that live I never played the same solo twice, and Eddie Jobson didn't like that, he always played exactly the same thing. In the end it was like a nightmare and I didn't like going out anymore. So when Bill Bruford decided to leave, I went with him. I had a great time with Bill. However, both in the UK and with Bruford he still had a lot of restrictions when it came to recording. I never thought Bruford was a jazz drummer. By then I already had a lot of material written, I met drummer Gary Husband and decided to continue my solo career." [Machine back translated]
Recently it seemed that the UK got back together. [Machine translated]
AH: "Eddie Jobson called me. But the idea of going back to being the original four members, where everyone had the same vote and the same salary, didn't come together. Eddie got a contract with Japan and wanted to have total control, inflexible, bringing also other guest musicians. I would have tried, I think I'm more flexible now, although I would still not do the same solo twice. But I think the proposal wasn't fair, basically it was him paying guest musicians, so in the end it didn’t work out". [Machine back translated]
The first UK album is a reference work, since no one has managed to combine progressive with jazz-rock with such skill. Do you like any progressive band, like Yes or King Crimson? [Machine translated]
AH: "The truth is no, I don’t." [Machine back translated]
And do you know Dream Theater? Their guitar is a fan of yours and they once played a cover of "In the Dead of Night" from the UK. [Machine translated]
AH: "Yes, I know them. Those guys are good." [Machine back translated]
In 1986, with your album "Atavachron", you experimented a lot with the Synthaxe, a kind of synthesizer guitar. By the way, what does the title mean? [Machine translated]
AH: "I was a big fan of the 'Star Trek' series, the original one, made on a very low budget. I was a 'Trekkie.' Well, there was an episode called 'All Our Yesterdays', which is also the title from another song on that record, and there was a guy who lived on a planet and had a machine called the Atavachron, a kind of time machine." [Machine back translated]
Did you like "The Twilight Zone"? [Machine translated]
AH: "Oh yeah, I loved it. Also the old version of 'Outer Limits'. Those series with hard four told good stories [???]." [Machine back translated]
And what about "Star Wars"? [Machine translated]
AH: "I like it too. I actually love science fiction. It's the only thing I like to watch. I never go to the movies, unless it's something science fiction. The last movie I went to was 'Aliens.'" [Machine back translated]
And what science fiction books do you like? [Machine translated]
AH: "I don't read anything at all (laughs)". [Machine back translated]
Not even comics? [Machine translated]
AH: "No, not anymore. I don't know why nobody has decided to make a movie about 'Dan Dare', an old English science fiction comic." [Machine back translated]
Let's go back to the SynthAxe... [Machine translated]
AH: "Yeah (laughs). On the last piece of 'Metal Fatigue', 'In the Mystery', I used the Roland synth guitar for the first time, but it didn't quite work. I heard that someone in England had invented the Synthaxe, I tried it out and quickly thought it was an instrument made for me, it was like a dream come true. Although for me it was a great leap forward, hardly anyone plays the Synthaxe, because it's a bit of a crazy instrument, but that's what attracts me, that it doesn't sound like a guitar. They never sold many, and they really are very expensive, so the English company ended up going bankrupt, which is very sad. But thanks to some clinics I did, something I never do anymore because they don't interest me, I got two Synthaxes for the price of one." [Machine back translated]
Despite your career and your reputation, you remain something of an underground legend. Do you think jazz purists consider you too avant-garde? [Machine translated]
AH: "I don't know, but it's true that I'm not as well known as other musicians. If you are an 'outsider' of rock and an 'outsider' of jazz, in the end you are in no man's land. That’s life. But I admit that I am very belligerent in terms of what I want to do, so in part I am my biggest enemy, I don't know how to promote myself enough". [Machine back translated]
What would you have liked to be instead of a musician? [Machine translated]
AH: "Electronic engineer. That's what I wanted to be in school, but there they always try to discourage you. I remember my teacher telling me, 'you can't be, you're too dumb', because my math grades were terrible. But now I know that doesn't matter, as I know a couple of guys who do this and they tell me they're always using calculators." [Machine back translated]
The "Road Games" mini-LP, one of my favourites, is still out of print. [Machine translated]
AH: "And I hope it stays that way. It is clear that they want to reissue it, but they will have to convince me that it is worth it. I did not like anything. I signed with Warner, but the producer started telling me how the record had to be, to put in a certain drummer or a certain singer, like Geddy Lee, singer of Rush, for example, which I didn't want because I didn't even know who Rush were. There was a lot of pressure and they didn't like Paul Williams, so I decided to put Jack Bruce before any other singer." [Machine back translated]
Your only live album, "IOU Live," recently came out. [Machine translated]
AH: "Oh, that's a bootleg recorded in Italy[sic], a tape sold by Paul Williams, the singer, a total asshole. I spent like five thousand dollars to try to stop it from being published, but I didn't succeed. It was very unpleasant." [Machine back translated]
Have you thought about putting out a live show yourself? [Machine translated]
AH: "Yes, that's why now I always record my concerts well, so that in the future I don't have to resort to a fucking bootleg tape. [Machine back translated]
"What advice would you give to a young musician? [Machine translated]
AH: "Perseverance, having hope and at the same time expecting the worst. Be wary of someone who wants to be your manager and do what you feel you should do." [Machine back translated]
