retro for playing it live, but people came around
after a while. I kept cracking the binding on the
guitar and its expensive to keep fixing, so it lives
in my closet at home, my son loves it so I bring
it out every now and then.
[WM] Who are some of the Gretsch players
who have most inspired and why?
[MGC] My brother (who taught me guitar) was
a massive fan of the Stray Cats. They seemed
so timeless to me. I didn't realize they were an
80’s band playing 50’s music. I also had the VHS
Hot Licks Brian Setzer instructional video. That
would have been one of the main inspirations.
U2 Rattle and Hum, early Beatles, early The
Clash… I also watched the U2 PopMart VHS
every day after school and The Edge played a
Country Gentleman on the song One, that was
extremely inspiring.
[WM] What about Gretsch guitars makes
them great for Worship music?
[MGC] One of my favorite things is having a
loud tube amp and playing extremely sensitive.
I think Gretsch does this really well. I feel like
worship music requires a lot of subtle guitar
playing. For me, I find the White Falcon to be
such a smooth and focused guitar. It does
the ambient stuff really well. Nothing beats a
Gretsch White Falcon with a Bigsby tremolo
drenched in reverb and delay. I feel like Gretsch
hollow bodies have a slower response then
most other guitars out there. Anyone that plays
one knows what I mean. Sometimes it feels like
you are taking a vintage car around a corner.
You can't go too quick but you also don’t need
to.
[WM] What are some of your favorite tracks
that you cut using a Gretsch?
guitar vibes for that project, we only took one
electric guitar on that trip. So, it was the White
[MGC] The Hillsong United era of UNITED: We Falcon. Pretty much any slow or moody song
Stand (2006) and All Of The Above (2007) was I have worked on since 1997 would feature a
entirely Gretsch, I had busted the green Fender Gretsch in one way or another!
Strat by that point, so any fast song was the
Gretsch Penguin and anything slow was the [WM] What would you like to say to the
White Falcon. The neck eventually broke off folks at Gretsch in celebration of their 135th
the Penguin traveling from Chicago to Los Anniversary?
Angeles. It got fixed, but it never really played
Hillsong United // When I Lost My Heart To You (Hallelujah)
right again. We did a project called Of Dirt and [MGC] I bought a Gretsch history book last
Grace (Hillsong United - Live in Israel). It was time I was in Nashville so I have really brushed
a live project, no overdubs. I’m proud of the up on my Gretsch history. I’m really proud of
December 2018
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