Biography

Christophe Godin (born 1968 in Annecy

Annecy

Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) is a French guitarist and singer, notable for his work with the famous French bands Metal Kartoon, Gnô and Mörglbl. Godin plays a variety of styles, including heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, jazz fusion

Jazz fusion

Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...

, blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 and more.

Christophe Godin was on tour with some famous musicians, like Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal

Ronald Jay Blumenthal , better known by his stage name Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, is a Jewish-American guitarist, songwriter, recording artist and producer. Thal adopted the name Bumblefoot from the bacterial infection of the same name, which he learned about while helping his wife review for her...

 (Guns N' Roses), Andy Timmons (Danger Danger), Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen), Kiko Loureira (Angra). Morglbl shared the stage with Liquid Tension Experiment (3/5 of Dream Theater plus Tony Levin on bass) at US biggest indoor prog festival, NEARfest

NEARfest

The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, is a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event is held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, approximately one hour north of Philadelphia...

 in 2008 for the festival's 10th anniversary. He also played with Paul Gilbert (Mr. Big), Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson).

Godin is known for his sense of humour, virtuosic guitar skills, energetic performances and overall wacky personality. These traits can be best observed in one of his live performances, where he does both the vocals and guitar parts in the Jimi Hendrix classic "Little Wing". Instead of playing the chords as they would normally be played, Godin played the arpeggiated versions of those chords using the sweep picking technique, all the while singing in time with his playing.

Christophe Godin began his musical journey as a local guitar hero in several bands which, unfortunately, never left any trace.

In 1995, with Temple, Christophe played on an album that was properly distributed in France and received a wave of positive reviews.

In 1996, he took part on Guitare Attitudes, a compilation featuring French guitarists, that allowed him to regularly appear on the French TV show Nulle Part Ailleurs (Canal +) as a guest guitarist.

In 1997, he created, along with Ivan Rougny and Jean-Pierre Frelézeau, the Mörglbl Trio !! and released two albums ("The Mörglbl Trio !!" in 1998 and "Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land" in 1999). With this band, the doors to international distribution finally opened. In the meantime, Christophe, who's been a teacher at the E.T.M. of Geneva, Switzerland, since 1994 acquired a solid pedagogue reputation with the release of an instructional video (Heavy metal : les techniques) and the multitude of articles he wrote for dozens of guitar magazines. He became a regular guest at the M.A.I. of Nancy, France, and runs master-classes in the whole country.

In 2001, he created Gnô, with Gabriel Vegh (bass/vocals) and Peter Puke (drums/vocals), and releases "Trash Deluxe". Gnô was on tour intensively throughout France until 2003. Finally, simultaneously with his duo with Pierrejean Gaucher (the 2G,playing Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

covers alongside their original material ), Christophe, for the first time, formed his solo project under the name Christophe Godin's Metal Kartoon, which includes two violinists/pianists/singers, one bass player/singer, one drummer/pianist/singer and Christophe Godin. The band tours since 2004, and the album is released in the fall of 2005. All the ingredients that made the career of the guitarist what it is are to be found on this record: humour, virtuosity, and a mix of jazz, funk and metal.

Godin was voted fifth best international guitarist by Guitar Parts magazine.

Discography

Temple

• Temple (1995)

Mörglbl

• The Mörglbl Trio!! (1998)
• Bienvenue à Mörglbl Land (1999)
• Grötesk (2007)
• Toon Tunes from the Past (2008)
• Jäzz for the Deaf (2009)

Gnô

• Trash Deluxe (2001)

Christophe Godin

• Christophe Godin's Metal Kartoon (2005)

Collaborations / Duos

• Christophe Chambert - The Family (1999)
• Rob Van Der Loo's Freak Neils Inc. (2004)
• 2G - Pierrejean Gaucher / Christophe Godin (2007)
• Samuel Arkan's Origins (2010)

Compilations

• Guitare attitudes rock influences (1996)
• Pour une Terre sans mines (1998)

2011 releases

• Gnô Cannibal Tango (CD)
• Chrtistophe Godin/Olivier-Roman Garcia (CD)
• Mörglbl Live DVD (DVD)

Equipment

Christophe Godin is endorsed by Vigier electric guitars and Godin and Simon & Patrick acoustic guitars, Laney amps, Zoom effects Roctron srompboxes and Ernie Ball strings.

Electric guitars

• Vigier Christophe Godin Signature
• Vigier Excalibur Orangette
• Vigier Excalibur Supra Kartoonette
• Vigier Supra Yvette
• Vigier Excalibur Custom
• Vigier Excalibur Expert
• Vigier Supra 7 strings
• Vigier Surfreter
• 1 Fender The Strat

Acoustic guitars

• Simon & Patrick A3T
• Godin Multiac
• Godin 5th Avenue Cutaway
• Godin 5Th Avenue
• Vladimir Christophe acoustic guitar
• Mahalo Ukulele

Amps

• Laney GH50L
• Laney GH100L
• Laney VH100R
• Laney TT100
• Laney TFX 100
• Laney VC 50
• Laney Lionheart
• Laney VC15
• Laney LA65C
• Laney 4 x 12 Cabinets
• Laney 2 x 12 Cabinet
• Palmer 2 x 12
• Palmer The Junction
• Palmer ADIG-LB
• Zoom Fire 35

Effects

Stomboxes

• 3 Zoom PowerDrive overdrive pedals
• Rocktron Try Wah wha pedal
• Palmer overdrive
• Palmer chorus
• Stevens overdrive
• Badcat overdrive
• Uncle Sound Christophe Godin dostortion pedal
• Dunlop Cry Baby
• Onerr Cryin' wha pedal
• Guyatone wha rocker
• Jacques Trinity
• Rocktron Deep Blue chorus
• Ibanez chorus
• Danelectro chorus
• Badcat chorus
• Jacques Meisterstringer chorus
• Electro Harmonix Nano chorus
• Whammy II
• Presonus Blue Tube

Multis-effects

• Zoom Gt 9.2 tt
• Zoom 508 delay unit
• Zoom 509 modulator unit
• Zoom G2
• Zoom PFX-9003
• Zoom 707 II

External links

• Christophe Godin Official Site - Biography
• Christophe Godin Official Site - Equipment
• http://www.gno-music.com/
• http://www.myspace.com/morglbl
• http://www.myspace.com/christophegodin
• Zoom
• Christophe Godin Vigier Excalibur anniversary guitar