INTRO
From sharing the stage with Porcupine Tree to embracing the challenge of standing alone in the spotlight, the American guitarist discusses building a fanbase, feeling like a spectator, and the tug of war between pessimism and adventure.
Randy McStine is a man with his fingers in a lot of prog pies. From playing live in Porcupine Tree to solo shows opening for The Pineapple Thief and collaborations with Jane Getter Premonition and Dave Kerzner, McStine is fast becoming one of progressive rock’s first call multiinstrumentalists and vocalists.
“I’m not looking for tabloid fame,” says McStine. “I’m looking for a really respected body of work, a large enough audience-base to play nice venues, and to have a living, frankly.”
His ambitions may be relatively modest, but his own music is anything but, borne out by his technically intimidating albums with drummer Marco Minnemann.
Does playing solo gigs, opening for The Pineapple Thief and Iamthemorning, help you to reach new listeners?
Definitely. When you play with a band of notoriety, you can have this assumption that just because you’re playing in front of hundreds or thousands of people that you’ll automatically get some massive overflow to your own work and the truth is that just doesn’t happen. You have to stake your own ground and be out there doing the hard work. Social media, YouTube, all these things help but when it comes down to it, getting people to listen to your music and to come to a show is still a really difficult task. Doing a support slot, I don’t have a band with me, it allows me to develop a solo show a bit deeper, to explore sonically. I’ve been doing a lot of things processing the acoustic guitar in interesting ways and I’ve got a keyboard set-up, a one-man station: it’s artistically satisfying but it’s also somewhat of a necessity business-wise.
Are you comfortable performing by yourself?
A lot of people come up to me after the show: “It’s so brave that you’re up there alone,” and I like that challenge. I like the dynamic of it, you can bring things down to an absolute whisper then you hit a big chord and the whole thing just opens up.
I grew up playing in bands but somewhere in my late teens, early 20s, I started doing solo gigs and acoustic duos. You don’t have other instruments to support you or to hide behind to take the hit. You’re responsible for every note. I think so much of my growth has come from that, having to carry a show by yourself, because what are you going to do? Thirty minutes doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you’re stepping out on a stage in front of hundreds of people and the majority don’t know who you are, they haven’t paid to see you specifically, y
