Guthrie Govan
Encyclopedia
Guthrie Govan is a guitarist
known for his work with the bands Asia
(2001–2006), GPS, The Young Punx
and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes (a vehicle for his own music). He is a noted guitar teacher through his work with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music and currently the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. He is the 1993 winner of Guitarist
magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition.
programme called Ace Reports. At secondary school he was exposed, via older classmates, to "shred
" guitarists of the time.
After leaving school, Govan read English at the University of Oxford
, though he left after a year to pursue a career in music. 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; ultimately however, Govan declined. Regarding his reasons he has explained: "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 which would eventually appear 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. Subsequently, he submitted a sample transcription (of a Shawn Lane
piece) to Guitar Techniques
magazine; this earned him a job as a contributor to the magazine, ending a spell working in fast food
.
, and the Academy of Contemporary Music; he currently teaches at Brighton Institute of Modern Music. 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.
In 2006, Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes
left to reform an earlier Asia line-up; Govan and the other two band members, John Payne
and Jay Schellen
, formed GPS
(named after the members' initials). After the addition of Ryo Okumoto on keyboards the band released the album Window to the Soul (2006).
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 had been a member of Asia featuring John Payne with Payne, Schellen, and Erik Norlander
from 2007 until mid-2009 when he was replaced by Mitch Perry.
Govan has played live guitar for Dizzee Rascal
, including a performance on Later With Jools Holland
.
; 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.
The Erotic Cakes band line up, with the addition of saxophonist Zak Barrett, also forms jazz-fusion band The Fellowship. The band plays at the Bassment club in Chelmsford, Essex, every Thursday night and has done so for several years.
on bass and Marco Minnemann
on the drums. Their self-titled album was released worldwide in September 2011.
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 as influences. Jazz and fusion elements are an important part of his style: he cites Joe Pass
as a pivotal influence in this respect.
Govan is known for his virtuoso command of the electric guitar, due to both his technical ability and proficiency in various styles. Govan’s MySpace
profile lists quotes from various guitarists to this effect; elsewhere, fellow virtuosos Joe Satriani
and Paul Gilbert
have praised Govan's playing.
: three different Guthrie Govan Signature Model guitars, three custom Standards, a Modern 24-fret model, a Classic and Classic T. Govan also favours Cornford amps: the sleeve notes of Erotic Cakes state he has used an RK100, MK50 and Hellcat.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
known for his work with the bands Asia
Asia (band)
Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a supergroup as it included former members of several veteran progressive rock bands, namely John Wetton , Geoff Downes , Steve Howe and Carl Palmer Asia are an English rock group formed in 1981. The band was labelled a...
(2001–2006), GPS, The Young Punx
The Young Punx
The Young Punx are an English based electronic dance music act whose eclectic and energetic style encompasses french house, breakbeat and drum and bass, mashed up with elements as diverse as 1980s pop music, hard rock, disco and glam rock.-Personnel:...
and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes (a vehicle for his own music). He is a noted guitar teacher through his work with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music and currently the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. He is the 1993 winner of Guitarist
Guitarist (magazine)
Guitarist is a monthly music making magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The magazine features reviews of newly released guitars, amplifiers and other equipment, plus interviews with guitar players, features on the guitar industry, news articles, and features on playing...
magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition.
Biography and early playing career
Govan began playing guitar aged three, encouraged by his father but initially learning mainly by ear. At the age of nine he and his brother Seth Govan played guitar on a Thames TelevisionThames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
programme called Ace Reports. At secondary school he was exposed, via older classmates, to "shred
Shred guitar
Shred guitar or shredding is lead electric guitar playing that relies heavily on fast guitar solos. While some critics argue that shred guitar is associated with "... sweep-picked arpeggios, diminished and harmonic minor scales, finger-tapping and ... whammy-bar abuse", several guitar...
" guitarists of the time.
After leaving school, Govan read English at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, though he left after a year to pursue a career in music. Around this time (by Govan’s own estimation, 1991) he sent demos of his work to Mike Varney
Mike Varney
Mike Varney is an American musician, record producer, music publisher and impresario. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Records, a New York-based label...
of Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records
Shrapnel Records is a guitar-oriented record label started in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. Guitarist Marty Friedman , one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album Unsung Guitar Heroes II in 1980 with the band Vixen. Vixen would later change their name to Hawaii...
. Varney was impressed and offered him a record deal; ultimately however, Govan declined. Regarding his reasons he has explained: "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
Guitarist (magazine)
Guitarist is a monthly music making magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The magazine features reviews of newly released guitars, amplifiers and other equipment, plus interviews with guitar players, features on the guitar industry, news articles, and features on playing...
magazine’s "Guitarist of the Year" competition with his instrumental piece Wonderful Slippery Thing (a version of which would eventually appear 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. Subsequently, he submitted a sample transcription (of a Shawn Lane
Shawn Lane
Shawn Lane was an American musician. Although piano was his first instrument, he quickly became a noted player in underground guitar circles and joined Black Oak Arkansas when he was just fourteen years old....
piece) to Guitar Techniques
Future Publishing
Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers...
magazine; this earned him a job as a contributor to the magazine, ending a spell working in fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
.
Guitar tuition
Govan has since worked with Guitar Techniques, including an article providing a transcription of his track Wonderful Slippery Thing. Since the late 1990s, Govan has taught at the Guitar Institute in Acton, Thames Valley UniversityThames Valley University
The University of West London is a public university based in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in Ealing and Brentford, London, and Reading, Berkshire....
, and the Academy of Contemporary Music; he currently teaches at Brighton Institute of Modern Music. 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. With his work on the album complete, Govan was added to the Asia line-up for the tour to support the new album. Bad Asteroid, an instrumental in the live shows, was a Govan original composition; it dates back to his early 1990s demo. He went on to play on the band’s 2004 album Silent Nation.In 2006, Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes
Geoff Downes
Geoffrey "Geoff" Downes is an English rock keyboard player, songwriter, best known as the keyboardist for the bands The Buggles, Yes and Asia, of which he is the only consistent member. When he was a keyboardist for The Buggles, he played multiple keyboards to achieve a New Wave technopop sound...
left to reform an earlier Asia line-up; Govan and the other two band members, John Payne
John Payne (singer)
John Payne is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Asia from 1992 to 2006 and from June 2007 with ASIA Featuring John Payne....
and Jay Schellen
Jay Schellen
Jay Schellen is a U.S. drummer who is best known as a member of the hard-rock band Hurricane. Schellen has also worked and currently working with a number of other heavy rock and progressive rock bands, including with Asia World Trade, CIRCA:, Unruly Child and several members of Yes.-Career:in...
, formed GPS
GPS (band)
GPS is a progressive rock group formed in 2006 by John Payne , Guthrie Govan and Jay Schellen...
(named after the members' initials). After the addition of Ryo Okumoto on keyboards the band released the album Window to the Soul (2006).
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
The Young Punx
The Young Punx are an English based electronic dance music act whose eclectic and energetic style encompasses french house, breakbeat and drum and bass, mashed up with elements as diverse as 1980s pop music, hard rock, disco and glam rock.-Personnel:...
and is part of their live act. He also appears in the music video for their track Rockall.
Govan had been a member of Asia featuring John Payne with Payne, Schellen, and Erik Norlander
Erik Norlander
Erik Norlander is an American musician who describes himself as a 'keyboardist, composer, producer and engineer'. Norlander has produced albums for Rocket Scientists and his wife, Lana Lane. He also has a progressive rock solo project titled simply Erik Norlander...
from 2007 until mid-2009 when he was replaced by Mitch Perry.
Govan has played live guitar for Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
, including a performance on Later With Jools Holland
Later with Jools Holland
Later... with Jools Holland is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jools Holland. A spin-off of The Late Show, it has been running in short series since 1992 and is a part of BBC Two's late-night line-up, usually at around 11pm to 12 midnight...
.
Docker's Guild
In December 2010, Govan performed on all tracks on Docker's Guild album The Mystic Technocracy - Season 1: The Age of Ignorance, due for release in 2011. The project also features some other Asia artists, notably John Payne on vocals and Simon Hanhart, who mixed the album. Other special guests include Gregg Bissonette (drums), Tony Franklin (bass), Jeff Watson (guitars), Douglas R. Docker (keyboards), Goran Edman, Tony Mills and Amanda Somerville (vocals).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 named after an episode of The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
; 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
Richie Kotzen
Richie Kotzen is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.At a young age, Richie Kotzen was taken by music and first began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven he was inspired by the band KISS to learn the electric guitar...
(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.
The Erotic Cakes band line up, with the addition of saxophonist Zak Barrett, also forms jazz-fusion band The Fellowship. The band plays at the Bassment club in Chelmsford, Essex, every Thursday night and has done so for several years.
Playing career in the 2010s
In late 2011, Govan announced a new tour with new band "The Aristocrats", featuring Bryan BellerBryan Beller
Bryan Beller is an American bass guitarist known for his work with Mike Keneally, Steve Vai, Dethklok, James LaBrie of Dream Theater, and Dweezil Zappa.-Career:...
on bass and Marco Minnemann
Marco Minnemann
Marco Minnemann is a German-born drummer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. He lives in Lake Elsinore, California.-Biography:...
on the drums. Their self-titled album was released worldwide in September 2011.
Influences and technique
Govan’s earliest influences were Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and Cream-era
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
; 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
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
(as well as 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...
, with whom Vai played) and the passion of Yngwie Malmsteen as influences. Jazz and fusion elements are an important part of his style: he cites Joe Pass
Joe Pass
Joe Pass was an Italian-American jazz guitarist of Sicilian descent. He is generally considered to be one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century...
as a pivotal influence in this respect.
Govan is known for his virtuoso command of the electric guitar, due to both his technical ability and proficiency in various styles. Govan’s MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile lists quotes from various guitarists to this effect; elsewhere, fellow virtuosos Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
and Paul Gilbert
Paul Gilbert
Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr...
have praised Govan's playing.
Equipment
Govan mainly uses various Suhr guitarsSuhr Guitars
Suhr Guitars is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and basses, guitar amplifiers, and effect units...
: three different Guthrie Govan Signature Model guitars, three custom Standards, a Modern 24-fret model, a Classic and Classic T. Govan also favours Cornford amps: the sleeve notes of Erotic Cakes state he has used an RK100, MK50 and Hellcat.
External links
- Official Guthrie Govan Web Site
- Cornford Records on Myspace Samples of the debut album
- A YouTube clip of Govan improvising Sample of his fusion-jazz style
- Another YouTube clip of Govan improvising Bluesy style showcasing Govan's string overbends to create melody
- Official Aristocrats Band Site