"Playing music in front of people is my favourite thing"

Paul Gilbert shall play live in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on October 18, 2008. Let's find out more about thwe show from the guitarist himself...

Stefan Yordanov: Can you hear me now, Paul?

Paul Gilbert: Yes, I can.

S. Y.: Yes, finally. How are you doing, Paul?

P. G.: I'm doing great, thank you.

S. Y.: OK, Paul, my first question (I know my 10 minutes are running). We obviously have a reason to have you with us as your first concert here in Bulgaria will be on 18 October. You have never been to Bulgaria before, but how many times have you been to the Balkans?

P. G.: Probably the closest I've been is the Czech Republic or... e-e-er, ha-ha-ha, sorry. I've been to so many places, it's hard to remember them all. But this is the first time I will be in Bulgaria and I can't wait. I love going to new places especially if I can do it musically, if I can come and play with my band. It's absolutely a joy to me. To visit new places that way.

S. Y.: My next question is about guitar playing. Is it important to be a fast guitar player these days?

P. G.: Well, it's up to your taste. Music has such variety of styles... Everyone likes different things. Obviously I do fast playing, but that's only part of what I like. I like a lot of styles in music, so if you check my CDs you will find a lot of elements, but obviously one important element is fast, intense, exciting guitar playing.

S. Y.: Is it trendy to be a fast guitar player?

P. G.: Ha-ha-ha, well, I'm the last person to ask about being trendy...

S. Y.: I know...

P. G.: For me to become a fast guitar player takes a lot longer than the life span of a trend. To do it properly requires a lifetime endeavour. If you want to dedicate your life to music it's really much more than one year or two.

S. Y.: You do a lot of things. Do you still write for "Total Guitar"

P. G.: I'm actually doing another column for them and it's starting now, so I hope you enjoy the new column.

S. Y.: I wanted to play some kind of associations game with you, but then I looked at your website and there's a section dedicated to musicians, whose names are also sentences. Some names are with question marks like Izzy Stradlin for example... Will you make it clearer what do you mean?

P. G.: Well, I think you will probably have to ask Izzy about this, because there's a verb "straddle". Is straddling the homo version of Izzy Stradlin?

S. Y.: And what does Britney Spears in this list, what's her place?

P. G.: It's sort of... I'm not sure what she is "spearing", but she must spear something...

S. Y.: It's gonna be hard to translate this, but I will try. Are there any chances of resurrecting of Racer-X or Mr. Big?

P. G.: Oh, there's always a chance while we are still alive, but at the moment I'm busy doing this tour and all, but we will see next year. Every year there are chances for anything.

S. Y.: How long will be your set in Bulgaria?

P. G.: It's running around 2 hours. That will be long enough to play every note that we know several times.

S. Y.: Hah, OK Paul, thank you for this interview and I wish you good luck with the tour, because you have a really tough tour schedule...

P. G.: Oh, it's fine. Playing music in front of people is my favourite thing, so it certainly takes a lot of effort, but it's worth spending my effort on.

S. Y.: OK, see you here in Bulgaria on 18th October.

P. G.: Fantastic. Thank you.

S. Y.: Thank you.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock