Chris Woods
The Soundman is as Important as I am
18.05.2014 Filed in: Personality
For the first time I’ve met Chris on Musikmesse Frankfurt in 2012. In the next booth he was showing off stomp-box Logarhytm and amazed passers with his unprecedented guitar playing. Meanwhile he prepared a solo album and Hal Leonard Publishing published his textbook and DVD Percussive Acoustic Guitar. On the occasion of his upcoming tour of six Slovak towns (22 to 30 July 2014) Chris Woods answered a few questions for Novy Popular music magazine.
When (what age) and what to inspired you to play and practice guitar really serious way?
I think when I was about 16 I really got stuck into playing Guitar. I think this was the age music really started to make sense to me. I was quite an emotional teenager and I think music and guitar was really what ‘saved’ me from getting into too much trouble.
What turns on your inspiration to compose?
I’m very inspired by my travels, the more places I visit and the people I meet, the more I write… I think some of the best ideas I have written have been in hotel rooms. I spend a very long time on my pieces, they are like wine they take quite a while to mature – But the idea will usually come when Im least expecting it after an experience whilst touring. I see my pieces very much like stories, and just like a story it can take a long time to perfect how you communicate this.
Who are your musical heroes?
I always mention John Martyn as a guitar hero but also a guy called Tuck Andress who is a great jazz player, these guys inspired me to play more percussively and creatively. I’m like a sponge though, I really absorb everything I hear – I grew up on Nu-metal and hiphop. I don’t really listen to guitarists that much either. I just love ‘sound’ the overall sound and feel of music is what excites me. I most recently have spent a lot of time listening to drummers like Benny Greb and JoJo mayer I think both those guys seem to think in that way, seeing the bigger sonic picture. Im very addicted to Spotify, being able to listen to almost anything on earth is creatively very very exciting!
Tell us more about Logarhytm stomp-box.
A stomp box is an important part of my music as a dynamic tool. My overall sound is so very important to me and a stomp box helps me to do that, it helps me take my guitar sound into an even more rhythmic realm. I was always inspired by blues players, that constant rhythmic bass repetition and these guys used stomp boxes of all shapes and sizes, it was there secret weapon and I guess its mine! I really see my gigs as a sonic experience, and the stomp box is part of that sonic picture… all helped by the soundman…the soundman is as important as I am perhaps the soundman is my secret weapon?! I’m still try to create the ultimate stompbox, and find the ultimate soundman!
What do you look for on your Slovakian part of Stories for solo guitar tour most?
Meeting people! I love traveling… I don’t like holidays so much these days, they never seem as exciting as touring a country with music. When you tour that’s when you truly get to see a country and a culture. Meeting real people and going to real places. I cant wait to come over!
When (what age) and what to inspired you to play and practice guitar really serious way?
I think when I was about 16 I really got stuck into playing Guitar. I think this was the age music really started to make sense to me. I was quite an emotional teenager and I think music and guitar was really what ‘saved’ me from getting into too much trouble.
What turns on your inspiration to compose?
I’m very inspired by my travels, the more places I visit and the people I meet, the more I write… I think some of the best ideas I have written have been in hotel rooms. I spend a very long time on my pieces, they are like wine they take quite a while to mature – But the idea will usually come when Im least expecting it after an experience whilst touring. I see my pieces very much like stories, and just like a story it can take a long time to perfect how you communicate this.
Who are your musical heroes?
I always mention John Martyn as a guitar hero but also a guy called Tuck Andress who is a great jazz player, these guys inspired me to play more percussively and creatively. I’m like a sponge though, I really absorb everything I hear – I grew up on Nu-metal and hiphop. I don’t really listen to guitarists that much either. I just love ‘sound’ the overall sound and feel of music is what excites me. I most recently have spent a lot of time listening to drummers like Benny Greb and JoJo mayer I think both those guys seem to think in that way, seeing the bigger sonic picture. Im very addicted to Spotify, being able to listen to almost anything on earth is creatively very very exciting!
Tell us more about Logarhytm stomp-box.
A stomp box is an important part of my music as a dynamic tool. My overall sound is so very important to me and a stomp box helps me to do that, it helps me take my guitar sound into an even more rhythmic realm. I was always inspired by blues players, that constant rhythmic bass repetition and these guys used stomp boxes of all shapes and sizes, it was there secret weapon and I guess its mine! I really see my gigs as a sonic experience, and the stomp box is part of that sonic picture… all helped by the soundman…the soundman is as important as I am perhaps the soundman is my secret weapon?! I’m still try to create the ultimate stompbox, and find the ultimate soundman!
What do you look for on your Slovakian part of Stories for solo guitar tour most?
Meeting people! I love traveling… I don’t like holidays so much these days, they never seem as exciting as touring a country with music. When you tour that’s when you truly get to see a country and a culture. Meeting real people and going to real places. I cant wait to come over!
Stano Počaji, friend and guitar player
