The Life Of A 21st Century Musician: An Interview With Jim Campilongo

Popshifter: Good point, but then, Frizz is. . . well, Frizz.

Jim Campilongo: Yeah. But you know, I do have this laser-beam, take-no-prisoners sound sometimes, and it can be very monolithic. I’m not saying you’re wrong, or changing sides. I agree; that’s why I’m so pleased to hear you say that. And yet, sometimes I feel a little misunderstood, especially when there’s songs like “Orange.” I have 95 songs on iTunes, and I think a lot of those songs are worthy, credible compositions and I kinda don’t hear that that much.

I hear things like, “Wow, great tone, dude!” (laughs) and I think, not to say nothing is ever enough, I think Paul McCartney’s bummed that John Lennon gets some credit for “Yesterday” that he doesn’t deserve, you know (laughs). Hasn’t Paul McCartney gotten enough credit? You know, Jesus!

So I think there’s a natural inclination towards “nothing is ever enough,” and I hope I’m not guilty of that, but I wish people’d , instead of hearing, “Good tone, dude!” somebody would say something like, “Wow, the fourth song was really pretty.”

Photo © Arthi Krishnaswami

Popshifter: I think that’s what separates you from a lot of those other [guitar-intensive] things, Obviously you’re a very talented guitarist, but even listening to you play instrumental songs, it’s not like that’s what it’s about. It’s being very technically able, but using that to serve the composition, the piece of music. It’s not wall-to-wall, how-many-notes-can-I-play stuff, and I think it makes a difference. It seems to make a difference to people who aren’t guitar players, especially.

Jim Campilongo: I played a GIT [Guitar Institute of Technology] gig/seminar on Thursday, (yesterday), and I had an L.A. rhythm section: the bass player was David Piltch, a really great bass player—he’s played with Ribot, he toured with kd lang for years—but he did the gig, and at the end of the gig he goes, “You know, I figured it out. I figured out how to play this gig.” and I said, “Well, what do you mean?” and he said, “I just figured out, I should play like you are the singer.”

Popshifter: Exactly.

Jim Campilongo: Yep. That’s it, exactly.

Popshifter: Back in the late ’50s, early ’60s, you’d have guys like Chet or Les Paul who would be doing basically “guitar” records, and it was still “pop music,” and it was approachable in that sense. There was a strong sense of melody, there would be things that were pretty, it wasn’t just wall-to-wall guitar. It’s refreshing to hear things that aren’t necessarily exactly that kind of thing, but that approach the songs almost the way a singer would, as opposed to, “Watch me wail for forty minutes!” That’s kind of hard to sit through!

Jim Campilongo: You know, I don’t think it’s natural. I don’t think it’s natural to hear a soloist that doesn’t pause for breath sometimes, whether it be on piano, guitar, or any instrument that doesn’t require breath. At least in my mind, even Allen Holdsworth has pauses that would seem natural, where one would physically take a breath. Obviously someone can’t sing what Holdsworth is playing, or it would sound really crazy, but when he plays, it’s almost like he creates. . . pixels, like if you got really close to a television you’d see millions of dots, but if you back away from it. There’s an image.

And I think that’s what he does, at least for me; I think he’s an outstanding artist. Well, a lot of it, or some of it may get a little tedious, but he has all these pixels that create one image that make all his notes really beautiful and have a sense of validity, and he stops for breath. It’s interesting; everybody has a different approach. That’s another side, another thought on it. It’s interesting to talk about.

Click to read more from Jim Campilongo on. . .

New Record Details and The New York Sound
Making The Songs Work Together
Guitar vs. Singing
Sideman vs. Frontman
The Life Of A 21st Century Musician
Jim Campilongo In 3D?

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7