The Pineapple Thief's Bruce Soord: top 10 guitarists
“Throughout my life I’ve had an on-off relationship with my guitars,” admits The Pineapple Thief's mastermind Bruce Soord. His back catalogue with the British band proves it's been very much a fruitful relationship though, with their new album Magnolia (out September 15) further expanding a progressive sound that would appeal to fans of Radiohead, Porcupine Tree and Muse.
“As a teenager, I was growing up with the shredders,” adds Bruce, “smack bang in the middle of the ‘Vai versus Satriani’ heyday. As a new guitarist, I didn’t have a clue how to make my guitar sound like them. Saving up my paper round money to buy a Boss ‘HM2’ heavy metal pedal, I couldn't understand why it sounded like a chainsaw when I plugged it in.
Thankfully, Bruce found his way to become the accomplished musician we meet today; “As I matured as a player and a songwriter, the guitar evolved into an instrument for songwriting, and my obsession with shredding soon evaporated (just as well, as I was never any good at it) - the humble acoustic guitar became the most important weapon in my arsenal. I learned to be able to hear the chords in my head before I played them, and over the years my mind, voice and guitar began to behave as one. ‘Humming and strumming’ has been the basis of all my best songs.
“When I started out, if I couldn’t fret the chords I needed, then I’d just retune the guitar accordingly. I’ve also experimented with various open tunings but soon discovered that they weren’t necessarily always the solution to the dreaded writers block.
“Having said this, quite often when I get into my studio, my 'hum and strum' foundation may take a completely different course. For Magnolia I found my Kemper [profiling amp] to be an extremely creative tool. It sounds great, but what I love most about it is that I’m able to dial in the sounds I’m imagining quite easily, which in turn inspires me to take my ideas to the next level much quicker. It's a remarkable tool, both in the studio and live. Like most gear, it's easy to make it sound terrible, but if you find the right profiles – and I only use three or four – it sounds absolutely world class.
“I actually think I have the Kemper to thank for my re-deploying the guitar as the main instrument in our music. It features a lot more prominently on ‘Magnolia’ than on previous albums, and takes more of the ‘top lines’ than I’ve allowed it in the past. It seems that I forgot, as a songwriter, that the guitar is more than capable of providing the hook!”
It's this focus on melody that has informed Bruce's pick of his ten favourite guitarists. Read on to find out who and why he chose each one on an eclectic list, along with personal song recommendations.
Beck
"Ok, he's not known primarily as a guitarist, but his acoustic guitar compositions on albums like Sea Change are outstanding and have been extremely influential to me. Check out Round The Bend – simple chords lead to a beautiful song."
