DEFYING THE CONVENTIONS OF TONE , TECHNIQUE , AND COMPOSITION , THE NORWEGIAN SONIC WIREWALKER CREATES A UNIQUE AURAL UNIVERSE IN HIS LATEST ALBUM , AMPUTATION .
DEFYING THE CONVENTIONS OF TONE , TECHNIQUE , AND COMPOSITION , THE NORWEGIAN SONIC WIREWALKER CREATES A UNIQUE AURAL UNIVERSE IN HIS LATEST ALBUM , AMPUTATION .
BY MICHAEL ROSS
If musicians can be likened to painters , Robben Ford , Wes Montgomery , and Joe Satriani would be considered classicists — their linear lines telling a story , à la Rembrandt or Rubens . Jimi Hendrix , Jeff Beck , and Bill Frisell would be impressionists , with smeary solos that distort reality , like Van Gogh or Cézanne . If we use the analogy to describe Stian Westerhus , the Norwegian guitarist would fall in the abstract expressionist camp , like a Jackson Pollock or Kandinsky . Westerhus largely eschews melodic lines in favor of splashed stabs of pure sonic color layered on a wash of bowed guitar , creating works as intangible as a Kandinsky and as deeply affecting .
Like those artists , Westerhus is thoroughly grounded in the tradition . He studied jazz while taking a bachelor ' s degree in London , but found that “ the traditional language is not my cup of tea … I didn ’ t grow up with it .” For his master ' s degree in Norway he was allowed to create his own program , where he worked 14 hours a day developing his unique style of playing .
Throughout his recordings for Norway ’ s Rune Grammofon label — whether solo albums like Pitch Black Star Spangled and The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers or duo outings with avant singer Sidsel Endresen — Westerhus has amassed a unique body of work that displays a virtuosic mastery of effects . Although his style is as much noise as notes , like the best abstract art it demonstrates a strong internal logic and its own brand of lyricism .
His latest solo excursion , Amputation , contains echoes of his previous recording , Maelstrom , a band project on which Westerhus added his own vocals to the collage of sound created via his Gibson ES-335 , pedals , and computer processing . The guitarist ’ s haunting falsetto recalls the minimalist style of James Blake , as well as a certain classic-rock legend . “ I listen to a lot of Neil Young ,” Westerhus says . “ He ’ s an inspiration — and the best guitar player there is .” Fans of Young ’ s noisier guitar excursions — especially Arc — will get the connection immediately .
For his first Premier Guitar interview , the guitarist discussed analog versus digital , working with an orchestra , and the relatively normal effects he uses to make his decidedly abnormal sounds .
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