It’s been a while since we caught up with the renowned Canadian guitarist, so when his recent UK shows came within hailing distance, we welcomed him back to talk tone, technique and touring
The first (and most obvious) question we ask Ariel as we settle down for our chat is if his current tour is going well. “I’m definitely feeling the love,” he says. “We tend to try to come here annually and I guess because it’s been over two years of not being able to, I feel like everyone’s hungry for music. I’ve just been over the moon with the show – it’s been amazing.”
When Ariel’s name comes up in a casual meeting of guitar players, the word you hear used most often is ‘tone’. He’s renowned for having created his own unique soundscape with custom instruments, including a mighty baritone, and a pedalboard that has been put together with an alchemist’s attention to sonic detail. Add to this some finely crafted songs and an exuberant live show, and it’s no wonder he’s playing to packed houses across the globe.
As we know, the wasteland created by the recent pandemic was a bad time for musicians, but the enforced hibernation it resulted in turned out to be a creative catalyst for Ariel. “Well, my lockdown time was very busy. I’ve been just writing a lot and putting out a handful of music. I put out my record Headway that came out at the beginning of 2021. I started recording that in December 2019 and then, once everything was ready, we were just playing the waiting game to release it.”
To watch Ariel demonstrate his guitars and pedalboard plus a few tasty slide licks at Guitarist’s studio, head on over to http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
And there have been some subsequent releases, too?
“Well, I started writing a bunch of new songs and went into the studio in late 2021. I recorded about 20 solo improvised guitar pieces and I didn’t know what I was going to do with them. I sat on it for a few months and decided to put it all out as an album called Mile End. So 2021 was a very busy year of releases because I’d put out Headway at the beginning of the year and then a couple of months later I actually recorded an acoustic version of the whole album. Also, by the end of the year, I had written almost 30 songs – primarily a bunchof songs that were going to be on future records – but then I still had some songs that didn’t make the record for Headway.
“I also had a selection of five songs that I really, really loved, but I didn’t feel they had a place on future projects. I just wanted them to be their own thing, so
