INTERVIEW – Ramon Goose

Published on August 14, 2011 by Christian Sellers · 1 Comment

The key to being a great musician is to not close yourself off from other genres and to embrace all types of music, taking the strongest elements from each and incorporating them into something fresh and unique.

Guitarist Ramon Goose has spent the last few years experimenting with music from around the world, from traditional blues to funk, jazz and even African music.

His first solo album, Uptown!, is due for release later this year and will see Goose delving further into his love of blues.

Ramon Goose talks about his influences and what makes a great guitarist.

Despite primarily being a blues guitarist, you have incorporate elements of hip hop, West African and numerous other styles into your songs. How diverse are your influences and do you find it difficult to gel these different genres with your own personal style?

“Firstly, what a great question! The first bands I got into were mainly due to my mum’s passion for blues and rock music. She introduced me to The Cream, Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. She also introduced me to blues guys such as Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter and B.B. King. From there I just explored the blues right back to the Mississippi Delta (artist such as Charlie Patton) and more modern players such as the late Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robben Ford. I was always into African music even before I played guitar so I got to know that style by just listening to a lot of records – Nigerian and Ghanaian High Life and also Malian greats such as Ali Farka Toure. I guess when I work with musicians who play a style I may not be so familiar with then I tend to search for a common thread which will work, I think unless the music is totally alien you can always find a common ground in which to communicate, that’s the beauty of music.”

What is your most cherished instrument and do you still own the guitar that you first learnt to play on?

“My most cherished instruments are not my guitars but actually my two amplifiers! They are called Mystic Blues and are handmade by Tommy Cougar in Sweden, they are very special indeed (based loosely on the Dumble Overdrive Special design). I can play any guitar through these, even the most trashiest and they sound really awesome and you can turn them up and really rock out too! I play mainly a Stratocaster made by Bill Nash that has Jason Lollar pickups – a great sounding guitar.

I go through so many guitars that my first electric which was a Japanese Squier Telecaster has long gone, but I actually met the guy that bought it off me and still uses it a lot – kinda of funny seeing the guitar that you spent hours woodshedding on!”

Having worked on so many different projects over the years, why do you consider your upcoming album Uptown! your official debut?

“I feel this album is truest to myself. It’s a very natural album and I don’t have to think about how to play this material, so its been just really good fun to do. The reason it’s my debut is that if I’m involved in a world music project I could never say it was entirely my own because of the marvellous musicians I get to perform with – these guys are insanely good at what they do, so I’m much more comfortable under a collective name, such as my current project, but the Uptown! album is really music I feel comfortable with!”

Who do you consider to be the greatest guitar player of all time and what is it about them that you feel deserves this title?

“Wow, what a question. Well, my favourite player is Robben Ford without a doubt, but I love other players such as Ry Cooder, SRV, Wes Montgomery, and my first hero was Peter Green. If I had to really say who was the greatest electric player ever then I guess it would have to be Jimi Hendrix.”

What is the biggest crime that a guitarist could commit and do you feel you have ever been guilty of this?

“Apart from the foot on the monitor (which I secretly would love to do!!) I think the worst thing you can do is not stretch yourself or be closed-minded to other musical styles. I took my mum to see Ozzy and really loved the show and really appreciated Gus G’s playing (he has had to follow Zakk Wylde!). I’m playing world music a lot of the time but I still love to rock out, and I’ve been guilty in the past of saying this style is better than that but now I am just into good music played with a conviction – doesn’t matter what genre or style it fits into.”

Do you write material in the studio or do you like to refine your songs out on the road before recording them?

“Hmm, songs can generally come from a lot of places but I normally start with the music first. If the album is groove-based then I try to record the drummer playing all kinds of grooves in the studio and then take that back to my home studio to work on riffs and chord progressions. With Uptown!, however, it was a bit more harmonically sophisticated, so I really had to think how chords fitted together and tried to think of a subject matter that fits the overall feel of the song. Then I went into the studio with the whole band and played pretty much live, I wanted to go for a more old fashioned approach to recording. The first song on the album Delta Moon is about the blues artist Blind Blake, who was this virtuoso guitar player that one day just suddenly disappeared and was never heard of again but left behind these amazing recordings from the 1930s.”

If you were to release an album of cover songs, which do you feel you would want to include and how would you adapt them?

“Well, I love strong grooves and rhythms so I guess I would like focus on that in terms of production but regarding which songs, I’d say old blues tunes from the 1930s because they are so open to being changed around – look at what Led Zeppelin did to old blues tunes! One of my favourite recent blues musicians to cover would be R.L. Burnside – a lot of people overlook this guy, but he had one hell of a groove when he played and almost reminds me of Gnawa music from Morocco – very trancey!”

How does your new album differ to your previous work and how have you developed and matured as both a musician and songwriter?

“My new album differs in that I get to play more guitar, but at the same time I hope it comes across as tasteful and there’s lots of other great musicians on the album that also take a spotlight. Also, it’s pretty much a blues album and some tracks we cut in one or two takes completely live with no overdubs, so thats been a real pleasure to do – just cut loose and play!

Thanks, it’s been a real pleasure,
Ramon.”