Guthrie Govan

Biography and early playing career

Govan began playing guitar aged three, encouraged by his father, but initially learning mainly by ear. His father taught him six chords, and introduced him to his record collection. Govan began listening to 1950s rock 'n' roll artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard; he then moved on to later eras, listening to such bands as The Beatles, Cream and Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and AC/DC, among others. He worked out chords and solos from listening to the records. Half-Scottish, Govan was also heavily influenced by Zal Cleminson, a Scottish guitarist best known for his work with the Alex Harvey Band. Govan considers Cleminson to have been "his Jimmy Page", although it is unclear what he was implying with this statement. At the age of nine, Govan and his brother Seth played guitar on a Thames Television programme called Ace Reports. At secondary school he was exposed, via older classmates, to "shred" guitarists of the time. His first electric guitar was a Gibson SG, which he keeps at home.

After leaving school, Govan studied English at the University of Oxford. He dropped out after a year to pursue a career in music. Govan states that he was torn between continuing his studies or focusing on becoming a musician; he ultimately decided to concentrate on the latter. Around this time, (by Govan's own estimation, 1991) he sent demos of his work to Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records. Varney was impressed and offered him a record deal. Govan declined, despite inititiating contact in the first place. He expained that: "it was as though all I really wanted to know was that I was good enough […] I found I was getting a bit wary of the shred movement."

In 1993, he won Guitarist magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition with his instrumental piece Wonderful Slippery Thing. A version of this song was included on his debut solo album. The demo of the track earned him a place amongst several other entrants in the live final, which he then won. In the meantime, Govan hit upon the idea of transcribing music from records professionally, and submitted the most technically difficult piece he could think of (a Shawn Lane transcription) to Guitar Techniques magazine. This earned him a job as a contributor to the magazine, ending a spell working in fast food.

Guitar tuition

Govan has since worked with Guitar Techniques, providing transcriptions of songs, including his own track Wonderful Slippery Thing. Since the late 1990s, Govan has taught at the Guitar Institute in Acton, Thames Valley University, and the Academy of Contemporary Music. He formerly taught at Brighton Institute of Modern Music, and is invited to teach in seminars, masterclasses and clinics all around the world. In this context, he is known for his ability to teach a wide range of styles. Govan has published two books on guitar playing: Creative Guitar Volume 1: Cutting Edge Techniques and Creative Guitar Volume 2: Advanced Techniques.

Asia, GPS and The Young Punx

Govan began his involvement with Asia playing on the album Aura, after the band was unable to secure the services of their first two choices for guest guitarists: Brian May or Steve Lukather. Govan explained that he was then chosen as an "affordable" option for the band, which had not experienced recent chart success. With his work on the album complete, Govan was added to the Asia line-up for the tour to support the new album. He wrote an instrumental song, Bad Asteroid, which itself was based on material from Govan's early 1990s demo. He went on to play on the band's 2004 album Silent Nation.

In 2006, Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes decided to reform the band with its original 3 members. Govan and two other band members, bassist/singer John Payne and Jay Schellen, along with keyboardist Erik Norlander continued under the name Asia featuring John Payne. Govan left in mid-2009. He was replaced by virtuoso guitarist Mitch Perry, known for his work with Cher, RATT, Lita Ford, and the Michael Schenker Group, and for famously replacing Randy Rhoads in DuBrow. Since Govan's departure from Asia featuring John Payne, they have gone on to considerable international success.

Payne, Govan and Schellen also formed GPS (named after the members' initials), and after the addition of Ryo Okumoto on keyboards the band released the album Window to the Soul (2006). Most of the material on that album was written for a proposed Asia album, but was scrapped by Geoff Downes when he reunited the original line-up of Asia.

Govan performs on a number of tracks on Your Music Is Killing Me, the debut album of UK electronic dance music act The Young Punx and is part of their live act. He also appears in the music video for their track Rockall.

Govan has played live guitar for Dizzee Rascal, including a performance on Later With Jools Holland.

Erotic Cakes and The Fellowship

Govan's debut solo album, Erotic Cakes, was released through Cornford Records in August 2006. In the album's sleeve notes, Govan states the album is a Simpsons reference (From the Episode "Treehouse of Horror VI"); he also explains that when playing live, the band is billed as Erotic Cakes rather than simply Guthrie Govan. In addition to bass by Govan's brother Seth and drumming by Pete Riley, the album features guitar solos by Richie Kotzen (whose Los Angeles studio was used to record the guitar tracks on the album) on Ner Ner and Bumblefoot on Rhode Island Shred respectively. Seth Govan and Pete Riley also complete the Erotic Cakes live band. Previous versions of Waves and Rhode Island Shred appeared on the compilation Guitar on the Edge, Vol 1. no.4 (Legato Records, 1993). A version of his Guitarist of the Year winning piece, Wonderful Slippery Thing appears on the album. While this is his first album, Govan had been collaborating with drummer Pete Riley on the music since the mid-1990s. Govan faced a set back after the albums were produced when several thousand copies of Erotic Cakes were stolen during a warehouse robbery and were never recovered, but the record company said that "if the thieves can sell all of the records they have a job here with us".

The Erotic Cakes band line up, with the addition of saxophonist Zak Barrett, also forms jazz-fusion band The Fellowship. The band used to play at the Bassment club in Chelmsford, Essex, every Thursday night and did so for several years.

The Docker's Guild

Govan performed on all tracks on The Docker's Guild's debut album The Mystic Technocracy – Season 1: The Age of Ignorance, released in June 2012 on Lion Music. Other people associated with Asia worked on the album, including John Payne (vocals on 2 songs) and Simon Hanhart, who mixed the album but was not involved in the production otherwise. Other session musicians appearing on the album include Gregg Bissonette (drums), Tony Franklin (bass), Jeff Watson (guitars), Douglas R. Docker (keyboards), Goran Edman, Tony Mills, Amanda Somerville (vocals), and Janthana Rodjakkhen (spoken voice). Govan began an intimate relationship with Rodjakkhen during the sessions, which ultimately led to his estrangement from project mastermind Douglas R. Docker; Rodjakkhen has also not appeared on additional releases.

The Aristocrats

In late 2011, Govan announced a new tour with new band The Aristocrats, featuring Bryan Beller on bass and Marco Minnemann on the drums. Their self-titled debut album was released worldwide in September 2011, followed by Culture Clash in 2013. In January 2015 The Aristocrats released their second live CD/DVD Culture Clash Live! through all official channels and a very special so-called official self-released bootleg double CD Secret Show - Live In Osaka which is only available in their own webstore and during the live concerts at the merchandise table. The band's 3rd official studio album was released on 23 June 2015, and its title is Tres Caballeros.

Other

In 2012, TBS began running a TV ad for the popular show "House of Payne" that features part of his solo from his jam track "Les is More." In June 2012, Govan was featured with a guest solo on the song, "Have a Blast" on progressive metal band Periphery's, second album Periphery II: This Time It's Personal.

In 2013, Govan played a series of gigs with Paul Gilbert. He played guitar on Steven Wilson's third and fourth solo album and as of October 2013 was a full-time touring member of Wilson's band until April 2015. He is also one of the guest stars on Michael Angelo Batio's album Intermezzo, released in November 2013. Guthrie was also a guest guitarist on one song, Electric in My Veins, in Nick Johnston's solo album, In a Locked Room on the Moon.

In 2014, Govan performed with Hans Zimmer at the Hammersmith Apollo in "Hans Zimmer Revealed". Another Nick Johnston album - Atomic Mind (2014) - features Guthrie on one song: Silver Tongued Devil. Interestingly, Bryan Beller and Marco Minneman - the other two-thirds of The Aristocrats - have played bass and drums on the entire album.

In 2016, Govan, along with other stellar musicians such as Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel Stick Men), Gary Husband (John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth, Jack Bruce and others), Jack DeJonette (Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis), Tim Garland (Chick Corea, Bill Bruford), Danny Markovich (Marbin), were featured in -Indonesian Guitarist - Dewa Budjana's exquisite work of art album called "Zentuary". Govan Beautifully blended his Solo with Budjana's on track "Suniakala". Zentuary listed in 2016 Progarchives.com Top Prog Albums.

Govan has consistently stated that he will eventually record another solo album, but has yet to announce when said album will be recorded and released. He's said "[To record the album, I need to] carve out a big chunk of calendar and say no to everything else. Some crazy things have gotten in the way..."

Influences and technique

Govan is known for his virtuoso command of the guitar, due to both his technical ability and proficiency in various styles. A 2006 interview hailed him as the "virtuoso's virtuoso" and said of him, "Guthrie Govan is recognised by his peers as possibly the scariest guitarist alive. Combining an unparalleled technical ability with a mastery of almost all styles, Guthrie is equally at home comping in a trad jazz combo as he is performing death-defying 'shred' guitar. Coupled with some seriously funky grooves and an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music styles, a wonderfully developed slide style and improvisational abilities to match anyone, he may just be the most complete guitarist out there".

Govan's earliest influences were Jimi Hendrix and Cream-era Eric Clapton; as such he describes himself as coming from a "blues rock background". While he is "wary" of 1980s technique driven guitar music ("shred") he cites the imagination of Steve Vai (as well as Frank Zappa, with whom Vai played) and the passion of Yngwie Malmsteen. Jazz and fusion elements are an important part of his style: he cites Joe Pass, Jeff Beck and John Scofield as pivotal influences in this respect. He also admires a lot of modern guitar players with different styles such as Derek Trucks and Alex Machacek. Although a very able player in a diversity of styles, Govan has a distinct playing style typically characterised by long, smooth runs often using chromatic notes to "fill in gaps", his fast and fluid tapping up and down the neck, funky slapping, and occasional use of extreme effects. Govan has said that the guitar is simply a "typewriter" for getting a musical message across. Due to his experience in listening to music and working out riffs, Govan states that he is often able to visualise playing in his head without even playing and said that he pretty much has all of the notes in his head before writing something or learning to play something to produce the sounds that he wants.

Govan's MySpace profile lists quotes from various guitarists; elsewhere, fellow virtuosos Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert have praised Govan's playing. Satriani said "What sets Guthrie apart, is that no matter what he's doing—picking, tapping, slapping, playing legato, whatever—he mixes everything up gracefully and absolutely nails each approach. And all the while the music sounds natural." Gilbert said "Guthrie Govan gives shred a good name. It's absolutely heartwarming to hear someone play super fast and have musical depth to match. What a breath of fresh air."

Equipment

He used various Suhr Guitars: three different Guthrie Govan Signature Model guitars, three custom Standards, a Modern 24-fret model, a Classic and Classic T. He plays Vigier fretless guitar. Govan also has used Cornford amps: the sleeve notes of Erotic Cakes state he has used an RK100, MK50 and Hellcat. In the last European tour of 2010 and 2011 he played Brunetti amplifiers (CustomWork Mercury 50) like his friend Dave Kilminster, and he recorded live his last CD/DVD during the Lapsus (Torino, Italy) show on 8 December 2011. With "The Aristocrats" he was using Suhr Badger 30 amps live as well as a CAA PT-100 and the Badger 30 on the Album. In 2013, Govan has started using amplifiers designed and produced by Victory Amplification for both Steven Wilson and the Aristocrats tours.

On 17 December 2011, Govan and the Erotic Cakes band had their gear stolen after a show in Rome. Among the equipment stolen were Brunetti Mercury heads, a 1989 Warwick Streamer bass, and yet-to-be-edited footage from the show played at Lapsus, Torino in Italy.

In October 2012, Govan was seen using Charvel guitars on tour, however it was confirmed to be a prototype and will be used throughout The Aristocrats' current tour. Govan recently stated that he and Suhr parted ways, and that Suhr would no longer carry his signature guitar, however, he also mentioned that he did not have an endorsement deal with any brand.

In July 2013, Charvel made it official that they had joined forces with Govan, who had been using their guitars for a few months. Govan's latest prototype sports a caramelised basswood body, birdseye maple top, a caramelised maple neck, Sperzel locking tuners, custom pick-ups by Michael Frank-Braun and an original Floyd Rose bridge without fine tuners. In January 2014 at the NAMM Show, Charvel officially introduced the Charvel USA Guthrie Govan Signature Model in two versions: one with a Birdseye Maple top and the other with a Flame Maple top.

Solo Albums

With Asia

With The Aristocrats

With Steven Wilson

With GPS

With Docker's Guild

Collaborations