It’s not often that I record a track that is wholly instrumental, unless it is part of score for a visual production, so this was a really fun experiment for me. I played my brother, Shehab’s, ’77 Rickenbacker 4001 Bass and the Stratocaster is a Custom Shop Custom Classic) . The guitar chain is a Fulltone TTE into an Empress Nebulus, Empress Compressor and Catalinbread Semaphore, into a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister Head with Redbox out. It was recorded digitally but warmed by hitting a 1/2” Studer Tape Machine. The composition came together really quickly as a bed for a solo with a repeating chordal motif.
As for the lead guitar, I’m not a solo/lead guitarist by nature and, whenever I do solo, it tends to glow with the influence of Mark Knopfler - because I spent a great deal of time woodshedding to the legend. Knopfler also plays with a classical right-hand technique and that was very comfortable to me since classical guitar is what I studied in school. I always insist on solos being “one thought” or “one delivery” — so I played the lead guitar, from head to tail, as one take without any edits.
Thank you, John, for being the guy to get me into the Fender Stratocaster world. I love it and can’t believe, with Knopfler and Summers as such huge influences, that I spent most of my guitar-time NOT on a Fender guitar! Thanks for the opportunity and I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for listening!
For more music by Asif Illyas, please visit
www.asifillyas.com
from
Pickers for Grinners vol. 1,
released November 12, 2015
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Composed by Asif Illyas
All Instruments by Asif Illyas