Tag: Steve Hackett

Entertainment, Guitar World Interviews, Interview, Music

Steve Hackett Discusses His New Album, ‘The Night Siren’
Photo by Tina Korhonen

The Night Siren, the new album by rock legend and former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, is a modern guitar album with a heavy message. In Hackett’s own words, it’s a wake-up call to the world.

Everything about the album is a reaction to the right-wing ideas dominating the political landscape, including Hackett’s decision to use musicians from around the world.

“It’s a whole United Nations of 20 people who are on [the album],” Hackett says. “The message is basically peace. If musicans can work together peacefully, I don’t see why the rest of the world can’t do it.”

I recently spoke with Hackett about The Night Siren, his gear, John Wetton and more.

The first thing I’d like to do is get your thoughts on the recent passing of your friend, John Wetton.

John was a man who was as sweet as his music. He was a wonderful guy and I’m sure in spirit he’s still around. Just about every night on this tour I’ve dedicated something to him. He was the warmest, most incredible guy and is sorely missed by so many people.

Let’s talk about The Night Siren. What inspired it?

I made friends with many interesting people from all over the world that I wanted to work with. Some of the album was recorded in Hungary, some in Sardinia and some of it in the U.K. There was also some data I had collected over time I felt would assimilate well into what we were doing. But The Night Siren was not a rushed album. Everything was given its due time—as well as the Surround mix—in order to give Roger King [keyboards/programming] the maximum amount of time.

Why the title, The Night Siren?

Anyone who’s a thinking soul is worried about the state of the world at the moment. Multicultural diversity and diplomacy is terribly important and the only real hope we have. With the rise of right-wing politics and the idea of going back to nationalism and kicking people out, the more we begin exploring the possibility of a conflagration the size of the second world war, or worse.

You can read the rest of my
Interview with Steve Hackett by Clicking Here!

Guitar World Interviews, Interview, Music

‘Wolflight’: Guitarist Steve Hackett Discusses His New Solo Album and Genesis

WolflightYou could call Steve Hackett’s new album, Wolflight, a rock record, but it’s so much more than that.

Besides its healthy doses of rock, R&B and jazz, the album, which will be released April 7, reveals the Influence of 19th-century composers and features some unusual instrumentation, not to mention a healthy dose of Hackett’s inspired guitar work.

“Love Story to a Vampire” uses tension to describe an unresolved domestic drama, while “The Wheel’s Turning” finds Hackett recalling nostalgic childhood memories.

Musicians on Wolflight include Hackett’s longtime collaborators Roger King (keyboards), Gary O’Toole (drums) and Nick Beggs (bass), along with Yes bassist (and Squackett bandmate) Chris Squire on “Love Song to a Vampire” and drummer Hugo Dagenhardt on “Dust and Dreams.”

I recently spoke with Hackett about Wolflight and Genesis, as well as his plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte.

GUITAR WORLD: It’s been nearly four years since your last solo album, Beyond the Shrouded Horizon. Why such a long wait?

For the past few years, I’ve been actively involved in bringing back to the viewing public the Genesis dream that was. It’s taken up so much of my time that I had to put new stuff on hold for quite a while. The effect of that allowed me to concentrate my mind on what it was I’d like to do outside the confines of Genesis. I think that helped create a more broad based album than before.

What can you tell me about Wolflight?

Although the influence of world music is very strong, it’s essentially a rock album. Having said that, there are many guest appearances of things that go well beyond just the guitar, bass and drums. There’s a fair amount of orchestra; instruments such as the tar [from Azerbaijan], in this case played by Malik Mansurov, who kicks off the title track.

We’ve also got some duduk played by Rob Townsend, who normally plays sax with me as well as whistles and flutes. Along with Malik, we’ve twinned the tar with a digeridoo, which is played by Sara Kovacs. All of this is in addition to electric and acoustic guitars. I really wanted to mix things up and felt the genres that normally don’t get mentioned would be rich seas to plunder. There are even moments where there are hints of flamenco and French chanson as well as rock, pop, blues and jazz.

You can read the rest of my
gw_logoInterview with Steve Hackett by Clicking Here!

A Conversation With, Music

Guitar World Interview: Steve Hackett Discusses His New Album, Genesis Revisited II

As a guitarist and music lover, I take great pride in having been around to experience some of music’s finest moments. From the 80′s success of Van-Halen, Randy Rhoads and Alex Lifeson to the rise of Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett and Joe Bonamassa.

Although I loved being able to bear witness to the great players from my high school years, I lament not being “around” (or in diapers) during the heyday of some of the influential artists from the 60′s and early 70′s, particularly The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Fortunately, I have the opportunity to experience what it was like for one such great, as guitarist Steve Hackett revisits songs from the era that made the band Genesis kings of the progressive rock movement.

Steve’s new album, Genesis Revisited II is two-disc compilation containing nearly 2 1/2 hours of monumental music from his tenure with Genesis in the 1970′s. Monumental newly recorded versions of songs like “Horizons”, “Supper’s Ready” and “The Musical Box” sound as fresh and exciting today as they did 40 years ago. No small undertaking, Genesis Revisited II includes no less than 35 guest musicians and took nearly six months to complete.

I spoke with Steve and discussed Genesis Revisited II as well as his plans to take the “new” music out on the road.

Read the rest of my Guitar World article and interview with Steve Hackett Here.