Guthrie Govan was interviewed by Premier Guitar. He doesn't himself to be the greatest guitar player. Here's why:
I’m not the world’s greatest guitar player, and I’m not trying to be. I’m just trying to be the best me I can be. I’m really trying to stay away from any of that competitive, Olympic league-table mentality. Given that this is music and it’s such an open-ended universe, you never really get there. And I’m sure if you talk to any committed, serious player, they would tell you something similar. I’m guessing if you ask Allan Holdsworth or Steve Vai or Eric Johnson or any of these people, “So, what’s it like, now that you’ve completely mastered the guitar?” They would say, “Well, I haven’t. I’m still working on it. I’m still learning. I’m still trying to get better.” I think you need that humility. You need that sense of perspective. That’s the thing that allows you to keep getting better and keep polishing your art form. When you start congratulating yourself, that’s where things go wrong and you become stale.
On playing live with The Aristocrats:
That’s part of the fun of playing live music that has an improvised element baked into it. You almost want to get lost because that’s where the cool things happen. Inspiration will strike you differently if you’re seeking out unfamiliar territory. The thing that gives us some peace of mind there is that we’re trying to be a team. If one of us does a crazy, confusing fill, we’re not actually trying to mess up the other guys in the band. We’re there to catch each other if something goes go wrong.
He is on tour with The Aristocrats, promoting their latest album Tres Caballeros.
HCTF review of Tres Caballeros.
