Fingerstyle China interview with Billy McLaughlin

Q: Greetings to FingerstyleChina! Hello, Billy McLaughlin!!! Welcome to the interview of www.fingerstylechina.com
At first, I’d like to say that seeing you playing your music again is a miracle for all of us!
We know that you have returned to the stage for almost a year, what is your feeling about this rebirth and what are you doing recently?

A: Thank you for this opportunity to be part of fingerstylechina and the community of musicians and admirers of acoustic guitar in China - it is an honor to do this interview with you.
As you can imagine, once a musician has experienced the joy of performing music at a very high level, after training and exploring the skills necessary to express the music that is coming from deep inside, it is very tragic, very painful to suddenly lose everything to a disease like focal dystonia. It is like loosing the connection to your life purpose. So it is truly a feeling of rebirth to rediscover and experience the joy of composing and performing again. Sharing music with an audience is very important to me and I am so happy to be able to do so once again.

Q: In the past five years, Focal Dystonia challenged your career, but you finally got your music back, what was the most important thing that helped you to defeat it?

A: To be clear, I still suffer from dystonia and my symptoms are quite severe. I cannot even play a simple major scale melody right-handed. What I did was to find a way around the problem by switching hands, changing the skill-set and muscle movements to perform the task of playing guitar. The most important thing is the peculiar need for humility and confidence, existing side by side.....humility to accept that you must become a beginner again and confidence that if you just continue making a little progress each day that you ultimately can achieve any goal in your life. Patience is part of it. Not everything in this fast world comes quickly.

Q: What did you do for living in those hard years and what can you give some advice to those musicians who have suffered same disease?

A: I did many things to provide for myself and my family. I am a divorced father with two boys who live with me on a full-time basis and it is my priority in life to provide for their health, education and well-being. So I did what work I could find. I taught pre-school children, sitting on the floor with them and playing the simplest of songs. It was a struggle because my skills were so degraded at this point. But I rediscovered the essential joy of music in its most basic form - a powerful means of communication and shared-experience. I also directed a music program at a nearby church for high-school students that allowed me to conduct and not have to play. Additionally, I provided consulting services to other artists who needed management. I did a little teaching but I found it was difficult since I was unable to show the correct movements and postures to my students.

Q: OK, Let’s go back to music.You have released a new live album “INTO THE LIGHT”, how long have you prepared for the show and what was the most unforgettable thing? What about the DVD?

A: I began re-training in 2003 but the dream of performing with a chamber-sized string section goes back to before my breakdown. I would sometimes hear strings in my mind while peforming solo concerts but back then I felt it was too ambitious to attempt such work. This mindset changed when I learned from my neurologist that I am at a higher risk to develop dystonia in my healthy hand. What this meant to me was that I could no longer delay the pursuit of my artistic visions and that I should move ahead with my dreams. I began composing again in 2005 and targeted a show set for the following April. In December of 2005 I made contact with the composer/arranger from Mexico City, Eugenio Toussaint, and he made heroic efforts to finish the orchestra parts in time for the April concert. We rehearsed only once on the same day of the concert and then did the performance. I was honestly still learning some of the new pieces! The most unforgettable thing was to hear the strings, not just in my head but all around me, where everyone could also hear them. It is one of the biggest thrills that I hope every guitarist can someday experience for themselves....to join in the orchestra and be part of a really big sound.
The dvd has been in production and is nearing completion. Typically this requires a lot of money and a team of producers, editors and directors but it is being done single handedly by a volunteer! His name is David Taylor and he brought an entire TV camera crew and equipment to the concert to capture it as it really happened. He has been working on it in his private studio in his spare time as he is on the road most of the time with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. He is a guitarist and his understanding of music shows in the way that he has edited this concert. I am very grateful to Mr. Taylor and his crew. Previews of the dvd are available to everyone on the internet including YouTube and on my website www.billymclaughlin.com and also on www.myspace.com/billymclaughlinmusic

Q: Have you written any new songs? Please tell us about them.

A: Yes, along with re-learning my earlier compositions I am writing and learning to play new ones. Some of them express the joy of playing again but others pay tribute to the pain and struggle I have been through. A wide array of emotions are presented on "Into the Light". I really try to diversify my melodies and harmonic patterns and feel that this new recording reflects that approach.

Q: To me, your “Helms Place”(my favorite!! ) is the acoustic version of “ For the Love of God” , is it an “attitude song” to you? And I don’t quite understand the meaning of the title, can you explain it to us?

A: Thank you for asking about my most requested and one of my most challenging works. This piece means so much to me.....more than even the title and story behind it. I have come to understand that in the same way a monk or yoga instructor may use a mantra, a personal mantra, to increase the benefits of mediatation, this composition has become my mantra. The first repeating melodic groupings played at slow to moderate tempo have an effect on my ability to concentrate. At first they challenge my hands to flow but once they do it becomes a confirmation that the mind and body are truly connected and in complete synchronization. Perfection is not always attained but it must always be attempted! I say this with a smile!!!
The literal story is that I grew up in a smaller city in the midwest called Minneapolis. It is an urban center with a good arts community and good public education but when I was growing up there wasn't much chaos like a big city. We lived on a quiet street and my father demanded a quiet house at night even though there were nine of us children. I moved to Los Angeles to attend the guitar program at USC and when I first got there I was shocked at the noise of the city and the chaos of so many millions of people. It was a big adjustment. One of the places I lived was right next to the busiest freeway in the world - the Santa Monica Freeway. My house was on a street called Helms Place and all you could hear 24 hours a day was the sound of cars and trucks screaming past on the freeway. At first I could not sleep at night because of all the noise but I lived in LA for almost six years. Then I moved back to Minneapolis and I couldn't sleep because it was too quiet! One night I began playing my guitar while remembering the sound of the freeway.....there is a rhythm to the traffic actually and this piece tries to capture that momentum. The slow section in the middle is like the peacefulness late at night when traffic dies down. Then morning comes again at the end of the piece and everything roars back to life.

Q: Your tapping skills may divide our brain into two parts to play like piano, are there any tricks to practice these kind of music?

A: I like teaching this style of playing because there is an inherent dilemma that must be faced and the resolution of this problem has great benefits to any student. The problem is this: due to the position of the hand which plays the bass notes, there are times when you cannot see your melody hand position at all. This forces you to perform without being able to see your hands. You must stop depending on your eyes and rely on feel. This requires great confidence and therein lies the great benefit. It is good to just listen to yourself when performing. I encourage students to practice one hand at a time with eyes open at first to create a map in the mind. Then practice each hand individually but with eyes closed. Finally perform the parts together but not looking at the hands, only using a quick glance if needed to establish a point of reference.

Q: “Out of Hand” is a great song, where did you get the inspiration? And how do you play this kind of songs (with other background music )when you are in concert and play alone?

A: Unfortunately I have not yet re-established the skills required to play this song but I hope to some day. I love playing electric guitar and have always enjoyed blues and rock music. This song reflects my love for aggressive strum-style acoustic guitar and I only performed this piece live when drummer Kirk Johnson toured with me. We called ourselves "The PowerAcoustic Duo". Kirk was the drummer for Prince for many years and is absolutely amazing.

Q: You wrote many beautiful songs such as “Coffee Break” and “Dreaming on a Runway”, what role do they play in your life?

A: Many of the songs like the ones you mentioned came from a love of impressionistic music like Debussy, Satie, Ravel and others. I have always been moved by beautiful melodies and colorful harmony. I don't think music has to be overly complicated to be considered great music. Great music ultimately produces some sort of great satisfaction in the listener. Everyone hungers for and is satisfied by different things. If a piece continues to satisfy over a long period of time then I think that music is special. I still find that in much of my work and am glad others do too.

Q: Many guitarists have begun their career as singers, they put their techniques and idea into more songs, how do you think about this trend?

A: The guitar has a unique history that it has always been used as an accompanimental instrument. It is so perfectly designed to be used that way and I think it always will be. Some times it is used in an interesting way that draws attention to itself and other times the guitar is intended to simply support the singer and should not be noticed. Both roles are valid and important. I find it interesting when there is a combination of those roles. Of course I love instrumental guitar solo as well.

Q: Have you ever played electric guitar or joined a band? Did you get idea from other musical instruments?

A: Yes, I was playing electric guitar in bands as early as 1976 and was only 15 years old when I became a professional and started getting paid to play music. I think the most inspiring "instrument", the one that has given me the most ideas is the human voice. It is so expressive...the most expressive to me. I feel that if I can play my guitar and be as expressive as a human voice then I have a chance to really communicate with people.

Q: Could you give us any advice on how to practice efficiently and correctly?

A: I think in addition to my earlier advice it is important to practice often for shorter periods rather than say just once a week for a long period. I have found that students develop more quickly when there is greater frequency of meaningful practice which can be made in as little as 30 minutes each day. The last piece is of course to be sure to have every student experience true performance. By that I do not necessarily mean a formal recital but some regular experience of performing for others entire songs from beginning to end. So many things about performance can only be experienced and made comfortable through actually stepping out of practice and into a real performance. Another way of saying it is that there are many elements of the performance experience that cannot be understood through practice.

Q: Since tapping skills need great power and endurance from fingers, what kind strings do you use and, do you set your stings close to the fingerboard?

A: Yes, I rarely use my guitar for aggressive flat-picking so I can set my strings quite low at both the nut and saddle. There is a point at which you no longer get a benefit from going any lower and each player must find their own specifications.

Q: Who influence your way of playing? Please recommend some “guitarist’s guitarist.”

A: Michael Hedges was a big influence but so was Carlos Santana for very different reasons. Carlos showed me the basic truth that music does not need words to have intense meaning. Michael Hedges influenced the approach I have to technique and sonic expansion of acoustic guitar tone. I enjoy so many guitarists: Andrew York, Steve Tibbetts, Dan Schwartz, Alan Holdsworth, Robben Ford, Andy McKee, Wes Montgomery....each one so different.

Q: Can you tell me about your guitar and the basic pickup and effects system? Do you use the same equipment when you are in concert and studio?

A: Yes I use the same equipment in all settings. It is really quite simple. I have an LR Baggs LB-6 pickup and the LR Baggs Parametric DI pre-amp feeding an Ibanez stereo chorus that runs into a Mackie 1202 mixer. The only other thing is I really love the older digital reverbs from Applied Research Technologies ART. I use a discontinued model from the mid-90's called the RXR Elite.

Q: Apart from finger-style guitar music, what kind of music do you often listen to ?

A: I have been listening to a lot of Latin music - Latin singers and piano players. Right now my favorites are Alejandro Sanz, Luis Miguel, Eugenio Toussaint, Cecilia Toussaint, Marisa Monte, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

Q: Finger-style music contains a lot of elements, what is the most important thing do you think when your are learning or playing your music?

A: I strive for clarity - am I being clear about what I am communicating. This means you must have the skills necessary so you are not impeding the message of the music. Once you gain enough skills to whatever level you desire, you can forget about the guitar and focus on what the music itself is trying to convey.

Q: Please recommend some finger-style CDs which are important to you.

A: One of the most important fingerstyle players in my life was more famous for his voice than for his guitar playing - his name is James Taylor and I have to believe that his music is available all over the world. Any of his CDs will contain brilliantly arranged and performed fingerstyle guitar parts. John Renborn's recording of a piece called "The Hermit" also showed me a new level of combining techniques. Andrew York's Perfect Sky and Michael Hedges first two CDs on Windham Hill made a lasting impression on me as well.

Q: Please say something to your fans in China, thank you!!!

A: One of my greatest wishes is that through music we will find a shared experience that can bring out the best in the human race. Each culture makes an invaluable contribution to the arts which includes music of every kind. That is what we can celebrate in the coming years as our world must embrace our differences if we are to survive. I hope my music will continue to take me to different parts of the world including to China. I would love to play my guitar for you and hear what you can play on your guitar. In that way, we can become the best of friends. I wish you all the very best and hope to be with you in person in China soon. Keep playing your guitars and I will keep playing mine!

Q: At last, thank you for your time! We are looking forward to your performance in China!

A: Thank you for your wonderful questions and for your patience in awaiting my response. It has become very difficult for me to type due to the dystonia and I am as slow as a turtle. Thank you for your understanding and kind patience. Also, I would thank you personally by name but I do not know your names so please accept my best regards!

Billy

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