SIXTY SECONDS with...
A minute’s all it takes to find out what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped into his limo for the airport we grabbed a chat with guitarist from Scottish rock legends The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and new outfit /Sin’ Dogs/, Guthrie Govan’s
GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can’t live without?
ZC: Jim Dunlop 1mm or anything similar. It’s the perfect pick for what I do...
GT: If you had to give up all your effects pedals but three, what would they be?
ZC: I only use delay and reverb. Very occasionally a touch of chorus, and that’s it. Any effects I use are from the Kemper profiler’s stomp pedals.
GT: Do you play another musical instrument well enough to do so in a band?
ZC: Well, I can hammer out a riff on the bass - might make it in a punk band...
GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?
ZC: Only chord sheets - no dots. But then too much discipline is bad for the soul.
GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference to the sound? What make are yours?
ZC: No cables; I use a wireless Xvive system. Faithfully reliable.
GT: Is there anyone’s playing (past or present) that you’re slightly jealous of?
ZC: Frank Zappa. Not only his playing but also his musical genius. Now he’s a guy that can read and write dots...
GT: Your house or studio is burning down: which guitar do you salvage?
ZC: My custom-made Robert Mould. One pickup, one knob, six strings - job done!
GT: What’s your favourite amp and how do you set it?
ZC: I use a Kemper Profiler. I use five presets, one for heavy metal rhythm; one is a clean acoustic setting, another clean spacey kinda Floyd setting, and two lead channels with different delays.
GT: What kind of action do you have on your guitars?
ZC: Nothing too quirky. I like the action fairly soft, especially at the high end.
GT: What strings do you use?
ZC: String gauge is Elixir 11-49, all tuned down a full step, then down to a C for a few tunes.
GT: Who was your first influence to play the guitar?
ZC: I guess Chuck Berry, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Holly and Scotty Moore. Then it was Hendrix, Beck, Page, Townshend, and McLaughlin. But most of all Frank Zappa.
GT: What was the first guitar you really lusted after?
ZC: Hofner Verithin. My parents eventually bought me one.
GT: What was the single best gig you ever did?
ZC: Reading festival.
GT: …and your worst playing nightmare?
ZC: There’s been a few, most recently in Kinross and Hull. Although the band went down a storm, with age come certain standards, and when they are compromised for no good reason, I become a glorious bastard.
GT: What’s the most important musical lesson you ever learnt?
ZC: Play what you hear in your head right away - then worry about it later.
GT: Do you still practise?
ZC: More so than I ever did. The discipline thing has always been my downfall.
GT: Do you have a pre-gig warm-up routine?
ZC: Stay alive, stay warm and keep an eye on my hair.
GT: If you could put together a fantasy band with you in it, which would the other players be.
ZC: That would be Jonny Greenwood, Thom Yorke, and anyone else in Radiohead.
GT: Who’s the greatest guitarist that’s ever lived?
ZC: How can there be one? Too many styles to admire, personas to mesmerise, and tones to relish. So it must be Frank Zappa.
GT: Is there a solo by some other guitarist that you really wish you had played?
ZC: Zoot Allures by Frank Zappa.
GT: What’s the solo/song of your own of which you’re most proud?
ZC: I quite like the original solo of Vambo Marble Eye. I couldn’t really pick a favourite; they are all so wonderful darling...!
GT: What would you most like to be remembered for?
ZC: Being a reasonably accomplished human being, father and grandfather. Music is a bonus I will be eternally thankful for - it has brought me back from some very dark places.
GT: What are you up to at the moment? (Gigs, gear, albums)?
ZC: I sing and play guitar in a band called /Sin’Dogs/. We have just released our debut album Vol. 1 and are touring parts of the UK from July until the end of the year. Come and see us!
PLAY WHAT YO U HEAR IN YO UR HEAD RIGHT AWAY, THEN WORRY ABOUT IT LATE R!