Most often hard to come by. It’s what gets you out of bed in the morning, and what keeps you up at night. That finite spark of brainpower that keeps you connecting the dots: Inspiration.
Like Ali said in the last post; “people emulate what they love,” so here i am writing off the top of my head looking for inspiration… Inspiration… Who inspires me? Who do I emulate?
On guitar, Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac), Jamie Hince (The Kills – mentioned in my previous post, with a RAD video!), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Jack White (White Stripes, Dead Weather, Raconteurs), Dave Grohl, and that long-haired guy from the Tragically Hip, what’s his name? Oh yeah – Rob Baker. Heh heh heh …
With guitarists inspiration is a somewhat grey area, at least in my opinion. There’s always that one song that got you going, (for me: “Lake Of Fire” from the unplugged Nirvana record), and there’s always another musical hill to climb. But are your awesome licks your own creation? Probably not. Did you use some other guy’s riff, and put a little deedle-dee on the end? Maybe. Personally, I don’t care; I do it all the time! I believe if something sounds good – it is good! To me, it doesn’t really matter where a riff came from or who wrote it, as long as the performing guitarist/musician puts their own spin on it! (Plagiarism/Copyright infringement isn’t cool).
“That riff is awesome, I’m just going to keep it to myself,” said NO GUITARIST EVER. (We can be cocky, egotistic, show off, glory hogging, bastards). But really, once you release a song out into the world, is it really YOUR song (or riff) anymore? I mean, look at “We Will Rock You” by Queen, or “7 Nation Army“ by The White Stripes; both songs are chanted in sports stadiums around the globe, potentially inspiring millions of people! Maybe not in a musical way every time, but hey – inspiration is inspiration.
Hmm… I think I’m getting a little off track. Or drunk…
Bottom line is we need to stick with what inspires us, and use that inspiration to empower our lives. Who knows? Maybe your pet cat inspires you to write rippin’ metal shredding solos. Whatever connects your dots 😉
-Greg
Hunter's Night 