CHRIS CRESSWELL OF THE FLATLINERS
On his Gibson Les Paul Classic
Writing music allows me to discover new parts of myself all the time . It allows me to really learn more about who I am and who I want to be , and my while all my guitars make that possible , there ’ s one in particular that I just can ’ t seem to quit picking up . Back in 2007 , The Flatliners hit the road for a lengthy U . S ./ Canadian tour , and the Vancouver stop included a video shoot for our song “ Eulogy .” I borrowed a brand-new tobacco burst Gibson Les Paul Classic from the Gibson showroom in Toronto , which cemented me as the overprotective guardian of this guitar I did not own and could not afford to buy . A couple weeks in , we arrive to the video shoot and each film our own individual performance shots . After mine was done , I packed up my beautiful loaner and set it aside for the full band shots we ’ d be getting to in a little while . I leave the shoot to make a phone call and when I return , I see the LP Classic lying there in an open case on the floor in the middle of the room , not at all where I left it . I shrug it off and sling the strap onto my shoulder before one of the camera operators asks what happened to “ my guitar .” It took me a second to figure out what they meant , but lo and behold , there were three small , mysterious , and deep divots taken out of the body close to the toggle switch that weren ’ t there a just few minutes before .
I started sweating the cost , sweating the conversation to come , and just actually physically sweating when seeing the little but now unmissable damage that had been done . This wasn ’ t my guitar ! I couldn ’ t afford to make this my guitar ! No one in particular ever owned up to dropping , stabbing , scooping into , or damaging the guitar in any way that day , and I never got a feeling of who it could have been . I ’ m sure it was an accident , but the mystery was never solved .
We wrapped up the video and as the band headed east on tour , I was still dreading the day where I ’ d have to turn up in Toronto and return the now defaced brand-new Les Paul . The exact guitar I always dreamed of . And even though the damage was quite literally already done , I never wavered as it ’ s overprotecting helicopter parent . At least when it was in my sight . The day finally came where I put my tail between my legs and loaded the guitar back into the Gibson office , where something truly unbelievable happened . I followed up my extensive thank you for loaning me this beautiful guitar with a long apology about how it had gotten banged up on the road , after which they turned to me with a smile and simply said , “ It ’ s yours .” In that moment I was just waiting for a bill to drop onto the desk ( and that moment felt like it lasted an eternity ). Instead , they told me that the damage was covered under some loophole in the video shoot ’ s insurance – one that I still don ’ t fully understand and never will . And just like that , my dream guitar , the one I ’ d been stressing about for a month straight , the one I had always dreamed of , had actually become my guitar . Thank you forever to whoever dinged this thing up . I owe you a great debt .
AZEEM HAQ
On his sitar
My family has a long line of musically-inclined ancestors , including my great grandfather , grandfather , and uncle . My mother was also quite the poet . When I was 13 , I told my uncle that I was interested in making music . He hooked me up with a MIDI piano and software to start recording . Along with that , he brought an instrument that had been handed down in my family for over 100 years — a sitar . Although I never took the time to master it , the sitar became a source of musical inspiration . It ’ s a beautiful sound that I love to incorporate in my music whenever I can , as it gives me pride in my South Asian culture and family heritage .
52 CANADIAN MUSICIAN