International touring guitarist and Brisbane resident MICHAEL FIX tells GEARED about the intricacies of the acoustic instrument, and shares his views on the music world.

GEARED: How do blend your intricacy and precision, which in other players can seem quite cold, with such warm and organic phrasing?

MICHAEL FIX: Precision comes with practice, but there must also be an awareness of breathing and phrasing, in the same way that vocalists work on these elements. I listen to more music with vocals than I do instrumental, I love the phrasing quirks that forms the styles of great singers, and so I try to incorporate my personal expression and phrasing on the guitar. I’m a bit laid-back by nature, and if I were to analyse my phrasing, I would say I tend to phrase a little behind the beat.

G: For those of us who play rock and pop music, how does one approach songwriting when the tunes involve playing bass lines, melody and chords all at once?

MF: The tune is king; I make the melody the most important aspect. This is a matter of personal taste I guess; I’m just drawn to strong tunes, whatever the genre. Once I understand the melody, the bass parts and harmony are built to support the tune. Of course, the groove has to be right too. So, I approach writing instrumental pieces the same as writing songs.

G: What draws you to the acoustic guitar rather than the electric?

MF: I love the percussive nature of the acoustic guitar, the fact that it’s a wooden box that you can use as a percussion instrument. I love to incorporate percussion into my arrangements. I also love the fact that I can change a lot of pre-conceptions about an acoustic guitar because for the majority of the public, an acoustic guitar is a very familiar instrument that nearly everyone has some contact with at some time, and so most people think of the acoustic guitar as the humble thing that you bang a few chords out on to accompany a singer. I love hearing people say to me “I had no idea you could do all that on an acoustic guitar!”

G: Similarly, in an age where electric and electronic instruments are becoming the norm, do acoustic musicians have to evolve to stay relevant, or is there a timelessness to the music and instrumentation?

MF: There is a timelessness to acoustic music, no doubt at all in my mind. I see it all the time with young kids starting out, they are listening to the same ‘60s and ‘70s music that I started out listening to. I think acoustic music will always be relevant, just that its prominence on the airwaves changes, like fashion. I love to see it evolve and be incorporated into a variety of styles, including electro. I think that’s really exciting. Plus, technology has helped enormously with the amplification of acoustic music, so that an acoustic music performance can be as huge, loud, and exciting as an electric performance.

G: The show is sponsored by Maton, and they do a signature guitar of yours. What do you think of Australia’s own ubiquitous guitar brand?

MF: I’m very proud of Maton, it really is a great Australian family company. They’ve been at it for over 60 years, that’s as long as Fender. I love the fact that I’m increasingly seeing the guitar used by performers internationally, that makes me proud. When I play overseas, and I’m on stage with my Maton, it feels a bit like I’m wearing an Aussie flag!

G: You’ve travelled the world playing guitar, in your opinion is Brisbane the cultural hub it’s made out to be?

MF: I’m not so sure about that, but I do know that Brisbane is a great city and that I love coming home to Brisbane. Cities like Berlin, Tokyo, Bangkok and New York; all really exciting, high-energy cities, but I wouldn’t make a home in any of them. Well, maybe Berlin, but I’m sure I’d feel really homesick in winter!

G: Of all the places you’ve been, where was the most exciting to play?

MF: I don’t know if I have a single place that I can say, mostly it’s anywhere new where I play for the first time. You go somewhere in another country with no expectations because you think that nobody knows you, and you find an enthusiastic crowd who go crazy at the show – that’s exciting to me!

I recently did some shows with Tommy Emmanuel in Japan and Bangkok. These were exciting shows because Tommy is playing big theatres over there. I’m still new in Japan, and Bangkok was my first visit, so I was just amazed at people approaching me and requesting tracks from my CDs. There are dedicated fans of acoustic guitar music out there who do all their research on the Internet, and then come to the gigs.

G: Tone-wise, do you travel with an amp and effects units? Or just a really good EQ/DI?

MF: I carry my own FX unit, currently a Yamaha Magic Stomp. It’s very compact and fully programmable. It’s designed for electric guitar – it’s an amp/speaker simulator – but you can disable that function and just use the effects, which for me are basically reverbs and delays. I think it uses the same processor chip as the SPX990. I like it a lot.

I’m a huge fan of AER acoustic amps, I use a Compact 60. I’m thinking of getting the smaller (and lighter) Alpha so that I can pack it into my luggage when I travel. I used to think that the amp was a nice luxury to have, useful when the monitors aren’t so great, but I’m becoming more reliant on having the amp as part of ‘my sound’. The amp is effectively my DI, I run a line straight from the amp into the PA.

G: What’s the lamest lick you’ve ever played noodling at a guitar store?

MF: Haha, that is a very funny question; no-one has ever asked me that before! Sometimes, if I’m in a music store and there are some young metal-heads noodling and squealing away, I might plug in an electric guitar and play The Chicken Dance really loud, just to see the look on their faces. You’ve got to admit, that’s one lame piece of music!

MICHAEL FIX plays the Pioneer Village Country Music Hall, 20 Dayboro Rd, Petrie. It’s a Maton guitar night presented by Oz-eGuitar. There will be Maton giveaways, door prizes, and BBQ. For more information phone 3285 1311 or email . You can find Fix online at www.michaelfix.com

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