|
The
following article appeared in the October 1998 issue of Fingerstyle Guitar
magazine.
The Dominic Effect...
The lights fade, and anticipatory murmurs ripple over the crowd like
an encroaching wave. Before long, a deafening hush settles over the
thousands of people attending the evening’s sold-out performance. Dark
silhouettes toting guitars emerge from out of nowhere, taking their
places on stage. Suddenly, a funnel of light thrusts from the balcony,
illuminating the stage, while minions of female admirers erupt in
screams. Immediately, British megastar bassist Sting launches into a
set that propels his audience through a dynamic set of jazzy pop tunes
and socially relevant lyrics. And anyone within earshot of a radio
within the last decade will be all but able to sing along. Off to
Sting's right, a sandy-haired guitarist provides tasty, hypnotic
nylon-string textures behind Sting's haunting melodies as the musical
evening slips away. The gentleman's name is Dominic Miller, and he, in
addition to having the enviable gig as Sting's guitar player, has
recorded with the likes of Phil Collins, Tina Turner, The Chieftains,
Pavarotti, Rod Stewart, Melissa Etheridge, John McLaughlin, and Peter
Gabriel, to name more than a few. Not just a sideman, however, Dominic
has shared writing credits with Sting, having co-written 'Shape of My
Heart' on his eight million-selling album 'Ten Summoner's Tales', in
addition to co-writing 'La Belle Dame Sans Regrets', from Sting's
latest, 'Mercury Falling'.
Dominic has indeed drawn from the fountain of culture, having spent
years of his life in Argentina, England, and the United States. He has
studied at such schools as Boston's Berklee School of Music, as well
as London's Guildhall School of Music, embarking on a program of
classical guitar and composition. In 1981, Dominic began to play
professionally on the London scene, but it wasn't until I989 that he
met producer Hugh Padgham, and shortly thereafter played on Phil
Collin's But Seriously album. Dominic recalls, "I just asked Phil to
pay my expenses to get to the session, and if it didn't work out, he
wouldn't have to worry about paying me." The session did work out,
though, and from that point, things happened fast and furiously. One
might think that with a resume as impressive as Dominic's, he might
consider some gigs beneath him. Not so. He is acutely aware of the
potential brevity of a musician's career, and understands the need to
take advantage of every opportunity. His love for guitar, music, and
composition has sustained him through more than two decades of the
tough, yet rewarding labyrinth of making music. And as we talked, he
provided a peek into his influences, his guitars, his compositional
process, and his boss- Sting.
What was it about guitar that attracted you?
I was born and brought up in Argentina. And in South America. The
guitar is the most popular instrument - bar none. So it was very clear
for me to pick it up, not least because my family played guitar. My
eldest sister taught me how to play and the first thing she taught me
was Brazilian music. That was the most natural thing to me, as a
child.
Did you go off to college to study it?
I came back to England when I was eighteen and went to music college.
Later, I spent a month at Berklee, and then came back to England and
played with a few soul bands. By the age of sixteen, I was playing
professionally in top forty groups, and that was really exciting for
me. So actually, American Black funk music has been a big influence in
my musical development; I love that stuff. For a long time, having a
wide rage of influences was to my detriment, however. In England, the
music scene is quite snobby. Most people want to know exactly what you
do, and a lot of musicians stick to just one thing. But one of the
problems I had getting into this business was the fact that I didn't
have just one thing; I had various things, which is kind of why I
ended up playing with Sting. His music is very varied, and he likes to
mess around with different styles. It has always been important to me
to be as unbiased as possible with music. I love all kinds, and I've
tried to maintain that as a musician. When I was at college in London,
I studied classical guitar. I learned all the Bach, Sor, and Villa
Lobos material. However, the classical guitar repertoire is not that
big, and it's bloody difficult, too. And that is why I studied for
just two years. To be a prominent classical guitarist, you have to
practice six or eight hours a day. At that point, it loses its fun. I
had been playing professionally, and the whole classical guitar thing
just got to me after a while. It's too much work; I like to have fun.
So I got into playing different styles, like jazz.
What other influences have crept into your playing?
I've always liked the stuff on the ECM label-the more esoteric,
classical Brazilian music. I would also have to include John
McLaughlin, as far as modern jazz goes. Harmonically, I think he’s a
genius; he’s not just a great guitarist. What has always fascinated me
about him is that both his playing and his writing are on an even
keel. Typically, if one area is stronger than the other, a weakness is
exposed. I’ve always tried to make my writing as strong as my playing,
or vice versa. But it always upsets me when there is such a
discrepancy between a player’s writing and his playing. I would say
that my funk influence is really felt in the tune Rush Hour. In the
middle of it, however, it goes into an ECM kind of vibe. The South
American tango influence is felt in the tune La Boca. I think the
first tune, 'Eclipse', is heavily influenced from a harmonic
standpoint by Egberto Gismonte - a modern Brazilian
guitarist/composer/pianist. And to be fair, there are a lot of Sting
influences, of course. But I don't think he would mind me saying that
he has been influenced by me, as well. I've been playing with him for
eight years, now, and his sound is part of my sound, and vice versa.
It's only inevitable that if you work with someone that long, you will
influence each other.
What specifically have you drawn from him, and what has he drawn from
you?
I've drawn a sense of form from him, really. In my opinion, a lot of
tunes on instrumental albums are too long. I try to treat my tunes as
songs, so the actual form or shape has a lot to do with the
arrangement. I've taken a lot from Sting, on that that. For example, I
often ask myself, why go to a certain section? I've learned about
lateral flow.
What do you mean by lateral flow?
Don't go to the obvious place; the rules are there to be broken. For
instance, with 'La Boca', there is no real harmonic relationship
between the intro and the verse. The first thing that came to my mind,
however, was go for it. Sting has done that a lot in his music. He
just goes for it. Have the courage to do something off the beaten
path. As to what Sting has drawn from me, I think he’s gleaned a
certain harmonic sense. I've co-written songs with him, like 'Shape of
My Heart', so I'd like to think that he has drawn some harmonic
influence from me, but I'm not going to delve into that too hard.
How do the two of you approach the co-writing process?
It's pretty casual; it's the same way anyone else does it. You start
out with a riff, or a few ideas. With 'Shape of My Heart', for
example, we started out with the intro like you hear it on the album.
Sting started singing to it, and things started to take shape. You go
through every permutation, and then you end up with a song, which can
take anywhere from five minutes to five years to write. When I work
with him, it usually goes quickly, because we both like to get
results. And I'm really glad about that, because there are some people
I work with who take too long. When that happens, I lose interest
pretty quickly. It took me a month to record this album.
When writing, how do tunes begin for you?
It starts by jamming, really, and the first thing that happens is that
two chords form a relationship. Usually the melodic ideas come
vocally, so I'll start with a vocal idea and a couple of chords. My
feeling is that a chord is nothing without the chord next to it -
either before or after. It's like colours on a canvas. An amazing
shade of purple is only going to look great in comparison to what is
next to it. That's how I like to approach it. And as soon as I have an
idea - it may only be one or two bars - and I know that it stimulates
the soul or the heart, then I work on it. The process could take a
long time, though, and that's where the craft is - the hard work. It's
all very well to have a good idea, but you can't just keep repeating
it over and over; people will get bored. It starts with a simple idea
that is meaningful, then you build on top of that. Timing is also
important. I love the idea of not just having a four or eight block
section of chords, but deviating from that. There's a tune on the
album called Scan, where the chord sequence is seven bars long. The
song is in 4/4, but the eighth bar is actually the first measure of
another sequence. I'm really into compound rhythms; it's a lot of fun
to play around with those.
To you, what are the key ingredients of a good song?
The melody is the most important thing. That is what warrants writing
a tune in the first place. The other keyword that springs to mind is
sincerity. There's no point in being a great instrumentalist if you're
not really saying anything. I've made a few mistakes, but I'm trying
my hardest. It's a matter of opening yourself up and making yourself
vulnerable, both lyrically and musically. There's no way that I could
say what makes a great tune harmonically, because that's a matter of
opinion. I think the bottom line is getting a sense that the composer
is telling the truth. Lyrically, John Lennon was very good at that.
When you listen to some of his songs, you really feel like he is
letting you inside of his world. Sting is good at that, too. A song
like 'Every Breath You Take', for example, is about jealousy; he's
putting his heart on the line. And that's what I feel a good piece of
music is. The composer needs to be putting his heart on the line,
saying "Here I am."
How do you approach your accompaniments with regard to Sting's
singing?
The main thing I do is close my eyes and imagine what I would like the
guitar player to be doing. Then, I see if I can play it. Basically, we
just mess around with a lot of different ideas. His role is to just
let us do what we do: He doesn't have this dictatorial type of style;
he likes to hear what we have to say with accompaniment, and then he
edits what we do, saying, "Could you do a little more of this and a
little less of that?" It's difficult to describe, because there is no
set way that we do it. That's the rule of thumb with Sting; there is
no set way of doing anything. As soon as a formula develops, he loses
interest, and so do I. So really, you're talking about an artist who
likes to bend things all the time. And that's how it is live, as well.
The whole nature of the job is that every day is a new day. There's no
job security around here; it's all about change.
What is the key to originality?
I've often wondered about that. I think it's really a matter of
getting in touch with yourself and your influences. You can't be who
you aren't, you have to be who you are. It's no good, for example, for
me to try to play like Steve Vai. I could sit in my room for a few
months and work on Steve Vai-isms, but it really wouldn't be me. As
much as I respect his playing, it's not what I do. By the same token,
Jeff Beck is my favourite living guitarist, but it wouldn't make any
sense for me to do what he does, simply because he's already doing it.
But you can always use those influences. To find your own voice, you
really have to draw on all your influences, and that's what makes you
unique. It's like your record collection; no two people have the same
record collection. You just put it all in a big casserole, mix it up,
and that's who you are.
What guitars do you play, both for recording, and on the road?
I'm always changing them. On the road, I use a P Project guitar that
was built in the custom shop of a Japanese company called Fernandez
Guitars. They're custom-made, solid-body, nylon-string instruments,
very similar to Sadowsky's. My main electric is a 1961 Fender
Stratocaster, which is just marvellous. I also use Les Pauls; I use
everything. On the acoustic side, I have a Rodriguez, which is a very
fine classical instrument. And I just bought a 1963 Martin D-18, which
I'm very happy with. I've been trying to get into playing steel-string
lately, as opposed to nylon-string, just for a change.
On the technique side of things, do you use a thumbpick, or just your
nails?
My nails break all the time, so I use a mixture of nails and flesh. I
think that gets the best tone, really. And my nails are very short, so
I use more flesh than nail. On my thumb, I just use the flesh, no
nail.
Is colouring the sound more difficult with an amplified nylon-string,
as opposed to a standard classical, and how do you go about doing it?
No, it is really easy. This guitar has a great dynamic range. When
playing melodies, I usually play toward the middle of the guitar,
regarding my right hand, in order to get a warm sound.
How do you rise above creative and performance plateaus?
Everyone is different. You can never think that you've arrived,
because the moment you do, you're going to encounter a big shock! I
constantly have to create problems for myself, in order to rise above
them. For example, let's say I'm on tour and felt like I've been doing
great sets. A couple of nights down the road, however, I'll vary my
performance, in order to keep from becoming stale. As artists, we are
there to change things, and we have to take the responsibility
seriously. Even though you know what you're doing is good, you have to
take chances. The result may not be as good as what you did before,
but you have to keep things fresh, and move on and take a nomadic
approach. I wouldn't recommend being a musician to anyone who isn't
one. But if you are willing to put in a lot of hard work, it is very
rewarding.
What do you find hopeful about today's guitar scene?
I think this is a really good time to be a guitarist, especially a
young guitarist who wants to get into this industry. The guitar is
back. It was in a slump during the eighties, with all the synth bands
and makeup, but I feel strongly that the guitar is having a resurgence
in a big, big way. A lot of kids now are wanting their parents to buy
them guitars for Christmas, as opposed to a synthesiser, or a Yamaha
keyboard. So my parting advice is to get yourself an acoustic guitar.
You can get more sound out of that than you can any effects board. I
love using effects, but I can get more sound from one acoustic than a
whole rack of effects. Besides, playing acoustic also strengthens your
fingers. As far as getting into the industry, don't say no to
anything. A lot of the good fortune that I've had has come through the
most incredible channels. You might meet someone out of a low-paying
gig who will remember you ten years down the road, and say, "Would you
like to join me on this next venture?" I'm very open with the work
that I do; I'm a believer in opportunity. I don't believe in luck. I
think that luck is something you create by taking advantage of
opportunities. I've spent many years working for no money. But some of
those people for whom I've worked for free have become very
successful, and they have remembered my gratis gigs. One of the
reasons there is so much substance abuse in this industry is because
it is so stressful. However, it's a good thing we don't get tested the
way athletes do, because if we did, there wouldn't be an industry. Put
that in your pipe! [laughs]. The bottom line is, you can't refuse
something that you think is below you, because in the end, it all
links together. You have to be willing to make sacrifices, and just go
for it.
© Fingerstyle Guitar
More press >> |
|