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ROGER
FILGATE |
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MUSIC
WEB EXPRESS 3000 presents an interview with Roger Filgate I’m
the youngest of four boys, we’re all musicians. I started with
piano lessons (ages 4-8) from my mom, who was an incredible classical
concert pianist. I really owe all the musical talent to her. But after
several years of piano books and recitals it was time for a change.
At age 9 I switched over to guitar, taking lessons from my brother
Jim. Originally, I started with my Dad’s old Martin acoustic
and about a year later got my first electric. After a few years I
stopped lessons and learned on my own from that point. Through my
older brothers Mike & Jim, I grew up listening to & learning
songs from the Beatles, Byrds, and other 60’s groups. They’re
both great players and were always in bands, so I’d hear everything
from that time; Stones, Hendrix, The Who, CSN, The Nazz - you name
it. Even lesser known groups like Moby Grape, Blue Cheer and Bubble
Puppy. Then on to the 70’s bands like Jethro Tull, Wishbone Ash,
Yes, ELP, Zeppelin etc. Aside from that, my brother Gary was into
bluegrass and is one mean banjo picker! So I also heard Flatt &
Scruggs, Tony Rice, New Grass Revival in the house. It was pretty
much like being a kid in a musical candy store, anything and everything
right there.
The album
is called Worlds Within and I recorded it in my studio in Connecticut.
It’s an instrumental guitar album and really the first time I’ve
been able to play such a wide array of music on one record. Right
from the start I wanted to make it different from anything I’ve
done before. An instrumental CD was the perfect way to go – no
boundaries. In terms of production & engineering, I used Protools,
so it’s a very clean recording but still has a vintage vibe to
it. I listened to a lot of older albums to help lay things out like
panning, EQ, levels, sounds etc. Guitar-wise, it was a blast! Just
being able to play whatever I wanted, and finding the right guitars
and amps that fit the mood of each tune – a lot of work but fun
too. My main goal was to keep it interesting and not let it get boring.
Plus by spreading out the styles it appeals to many different age
groups, which is a cool thing. It actually took a long time to get
to this point. When you’re in a band, you can sometimes get anchored
down as a player, and that can be limiting and very frustrating -
and Lord knows I’ve been in enough bands! So, this is really
a new path for me. It’s complete freedom to let the guitars do
all of the talking for a change.
As far
as groups go there’s a ton: Beatles, Yes, Zeppelin, Skynyrd,
Police, Rush, ELP and many more. In terms of guitarists, again there’s
so many, but I’d say Steve Howe tops the influence list. Some
other biggies include Hendrix, Page, Steve Gaines, David Gilmore,
Alex Lifeson, Frampton. During the 80’s I got into players like
Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, Trevor Rabin, Andy Summers and even
a bit of Eddie Van Halen, but I purposely avoided the whole finger-tapping
thing! Other players include Brian Setzer, and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
During my Wishbone days, Andy Powell & I would trade riffs a lot,
and I even traded a few with Ted Turner. Aside from guitar, I used
to learn a lot of the bass parts from records when I was a teenager.
Paul McCartney, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee to name a few, had amazing
technique & feel. Occasionally, I’d snag some keyboard riffs
and play them on guitar. It was a challenge to figure out and play
Keith Emerson riffs, but they sound so cool! I also teach guitar,
so I’ve been subjected to so much music over the years, all styles
from A-Z. For me, it’s opened up my mind as a player and also
from an engineering & production standpoint. When you dig into
a recording you really get to understand how it all works – what
it takes to capture that particular vibe, from the instruments to
the musicians and the actual recording itself. Some albums that had
the biggest impact early on started with the Beatles, pretty much
every album! Then there’s Yes especially from The Yes Album
to Going For The One. Street Survivors from Lynyrd Skynyrd,
Led Zeppelin IV, News Of The World from Queen, Permanent
Waves & Moving Pictures from Rush. They all blew me away,
I wore out the records and needles learning them!
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Taking
a cue from the diverse array of music recorded by his former band,
Wishbone Ash, guitarist Roger Filgate sticks to the all instrumental
format on his 2009 CD, World’s Within. Blending majestic
prog-rock with jazz, funky r&b, acoustic ragtime, a touch of flamenco
and much more, Filgate keeps his sonic palate highly diversified
on World’s Within. Filgate performs all guitars, lap steel
and keyboards and there’s even the prog sound of a mellotron
somewhere in the mix! World’s Within is so diverse that
you almost have to check the CD artwork to make sure it’s all
by the same guitarist. The CD even features Filgate’s instrumental
LedZep inspired rock cover of the “Courageous Cat” theme!
Here’s a guitarist not afraid to take chances. Backed up by Ed
Lange (drums) and Peter Bennett (bass), Filgate fires it
up on all cylinders, driving his instrumental music home with much
musical passion and ferocity. Few guitarists today can get it so together
on such a diverse and powerful instrumental rock album as well as
Filgate and the proof is in the grooves of World’s Within.
Well worth the time for fans of Filgate’s rock albums with
Wishbone Ash, as well as his recent stint as guitarist in Chubby Checker’s
excellent recent group, World’s Within establishes Filgate
as a resourceful music man with a whole lotta tasty guitar moves up
his sleeve. 