Guthrie Govan, self-taught: “Good music invites more music”. Amen.

Some guitarists are born with music rushing through their veins, just as their fingers will later glide along the neck of that treasured and beautiful instrument with the same agility as their blood. It is something innate, something natural, unique and personal, deeply personal. Only a few come into the world with such a gift. They are the Chosen Ones. This is probably the case with Guthrie Govan.

“I started playing guitar when I was three years old”

So it comes as no surprise that he began teaching himself guitar at the age of three. At such an early age, long before reason sets in, Govan was already showing an innate talent… But behind this great guitarist there is much more: great warmth and approachable kindness, a candid humility, a charming personality, genuine friendliness and sincere modesty. In short, talking with Guthrie and interviewing Govan turned out to be a real pleasure, a pleasure very similar to the one you feel listening to his brilliant technique and his command of a thousand and one styles. We are probably looking at one of the finest guitarists of our time. He deserves it.

Please welcome the great Guthrie Govan. ISP Música proudly presents a true artist, a master of his craft. Enjoy this exclusive interview!

Guthrie, you are considered one of the best modern guitarists. How does that feel?

Well… I just do what I do. It’s great that people like what I do, but I’ve never worried too much about what other people think. I try to do what I think is right.

When did you start playing guitar?

I started playing when I was three… I don’t really remember. I was very young and the guitar was very big! (laughs)

I’ve read that you’re self-taught. Is that true? Why is that?

It’s true. My father taught me to play guitar. Then I started listening to all kinds of music to try to learn.

These days, how many hours a day do you play?

Not enough. Honestly, I spend more time waiting in airports, sitting in embassies trying to get visas and answering emails (laughs). Although that’s cool too…

What is your favourite guitar?

My Suhr signature guitar. I’ll show you. TA-DA!

Wow… It’s amazing!

It’s great! This is my favourite.

But how many guitars do you have?

I have 15 guitars!

And could you tell me which guitarists have influenced you the most?

Oh! Lots of people. Mainly my father, who introduced me to the world of music. He’s the one who made me love music. I also like the guitarists who started playing rock and roll in the fifties, like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis or Chuck Berry. I think I’ve also learned a lot from Scotty Moore. I’ve been influenced by the blues thing too, Eric Clapton in the sixties. I think he’s great. And also B.B. King. Jimi Hendrix too, and of course Jimmy Page.

Let’s talk about your gear. What do you look for in a guitar?

Mainly, a guitar that listens… It’s nice when a guitar responds differently when you play the strings differently. In other words, that it has a wide range of sounds and that you can play its strings in different ways. In fact, for me, the guitar’s responsiveness accounts for 50 per cent; being easy to play would be 25 per cent; and the remaining 25 per cent would be reliability.

Reliability is very important to me because, for example, I was in South Africa recently, so my guitars travel a lot… If you take a piece of wood and subject it to sudden temperature changes and other mishaps, that’s not good, because wood doesn’t like that. That’s why I think a guitar has to be dependable.

And what do you look for in an amplifier?

I think it should let you create sounds and keep the way you play, letting you use sustain and overdrive without losing the emotional charge.

How would you describe yourself: as a guitarist, as a musician, or as both?

Well… I don’t really know. I think you have to be a musician to be a guitarist. You have to have the music in your head and ‘tell it’ what you need to create it. I love guitarists who do big things, deeper things, and who are interested in music.

Guthrie, you’re a very versatile guitarist, but when you play, which style do you feel most comfortable with?

I don’t know… I’m not the kind of person who focuses on that. I know there are some truly great guitarists who seek out the stylistic source, become experts in one particular style and ignore everything else. I’ve spent my life being distracted by everything (laughs). I like country, blues, some classical, and I’m a jazz fan, although I like rock too. Still, I think blues has a great personality. As you can see, I like all kinds of music… I think good music invites more music. I focus on all of it.

You’re also a highly regarded guitar teacher. What do you like most about teaching, and what do you like least?

I’ll start with what I like least (laughs). Sometimes I feel strange as a guitar teacher because I’m self-taught. It’s an unusual situation (laughs). Still, I try to teach people perhaps the way they would teach themselves… I think. The way I taught myself, the way I learned. I try to show them how good they are at certain things, with humanity.

Another thing I don’t like about teaching is that it can swallow you up. Honestly, it’s one of the few ways you can make money as a musician these days. There are lots of guitarists who teach 50 hours a week and get lost in the whirlwind… and I refuse to let that happen to me.

Fair enough… You also have your own band, ‘The Aristocrats’…

Yes, The Aristocrats is my own band, the band I rehearse with here in my town. But I also do recordings for other people. That, and teaching, are things you do to make a living from the guitar. I never specifically set out thinking “I want to be a guitar teacher”; it just happens. They’re things that are now part of my life.

Your brilliant debut solo album was called ‘Erotic Cakes’. How would you describe it to our readers?

It’s instrumental music with a lot of notes (laughs). I think stylistically it’s a mix of many things. You’ll find funky rhythms, heavy rhythms, some strange rhythms too… I think it’s a fusion of different styles, something original. It’s guitar music.

Why did you decide to call it that?

(Laughs) The Simpsons had a Halloween special episode in which Homer found himself on a street, but in the real world, the world you and I live in, and he got scared. Suddenly he saw a shop with a sign saying ‘Erotic Cakes’ and Homer went in, while all the humans stared at him. I thought it was a really funny episode… That’s why I named my album that.

By the way, you were involved with the supergroup Asia… What was that like? What did it mean to you? And to your career?

Well, I’m not sure what it meant for my career, but for me it was a great experience. At first I was hired as a sort of session player to help them finish the whole album. That happened around 1990 [actually, 2001]. It was a great experience for me because I went into the studio, played on the tracks and realised I was playing with real monsters. All of that became very inspiring for me. Then, a few months later, they called me to join the tour as their guitarist. And I said “OK”, and started living on a tour bus… It was a great learning experience and I was immersed in music 24 hours a day.

Let’s talk about your band The Aristocrats. What are your plans?

We’ve been ‘touring’ a lot this year. In fact, we’ve been to several countries in Asia, like Korea, Japan, and so on. We’ve also been lost in the United States. We’ve been around Europe, we went to Turkey… In short, we’ve been touring this small world! (laughs). But our most immediate project is releasing a live DVD we recorded in June in California, which sounds and looks great. We’ll also release our new album in January, and we’ll be touring Europe as well.

You played with The Aristocrats in Spain last March… Will you be back?

Of course!

Guthrie, you can play like any great guitarist in the world, but have you found your own style?

Yes, I think I have. And I think every guitarist should care about finding their own style. You always try to sound a certain way or like a certain guitarist, and that’s good, because it helps you learn. But after that, you have to turn the page. You have to recognise the moment when you’re ready to move on to something else. You have to feel that it’s time; when you get that feeling, you no longer have a choice.

Over the last few years a lot of people have taken an interest in what I do, because of what I play and also what I teach in a magazine… In the end you build up a kind of reputation, and sometimes people say to you: “Oh, you’re the guy who can play like other people”. But that’s never really what I wanted. It’s something you do for work, like playing a Steve Vai solo for a guitar magazine. On the other hand, the internet is helping me get my own message out and have people listen to me.

Is it hard to be a guitarist these days?

Yes, I suppose so. These are confusing times for everyone.

To wrap up the interview, could you give some advice to ISP Música readers?

Let me think… There are many guitarists who learn to play by ear, who are looking for their own identity… Some of them worry about learning a lot of technique, shut themselves away in that search and say “No, it’s impossible to know more”. But playing guitar means learning and growing. There are people who have their own style and should go for it, because no one can take it away from them. It’s a gift.

Then there are guys who go to lots of clinics and that kind of thing. There I’ve met musicians who started playing at 14, listened to John Petrucci and tried to copy every one of his scales and every one of his licks. They locked themselves in their rooms trying to achieve the same as him. But then, once on stage, when they finally played with a band, they felt lost. All these kids need to realise that having good technique is great, but you have to ask yourself: “Why do I play? Is there a reason for me to be playing?”, and that way understand what brings you there. It’s not like being at school and saying: “This week I’ll play faster than last week”. That’s fine, but if you want to play music, even without an audience, you have to write your own music. It takes a lot of effort.

That’s why technique shouldn’t be the only thing a guitarist focuses on. Very often people play ridiculous stuff and look unhappy, because they don’t know what comes next and they only focus on picking up tricks and putting pressure on themselves. Above all, a guitarist should be happy with what they do.

There’s little more to say. We’ll just add: Guthrie, thank you so much for everything! And as Govan himself said: “Good music invites more music”. Amen.

Editor’s note: The Aristocrats (Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Marco Minnemann) remain active. In February 2024 they released Duck, their fifth studio album, a concept record about a duck’s escape from a remote Antarctic island to New York. In May 2026 they returned to Spain as part of their European tour, playing six shows: Palma, Bilbao, Madrid (Teatro Eslava), Seville, Valencia and Barcelona. Govan also keeps collaborating with other artists; his most recent work is a guest solo on In Verses, the latest album by Australian band Karnivool.