Daniele Gottardo: A Frenzy of Ecstasy and Superfingering

By: Levi Clay

Photos: Courtesy of D. Gottardo

For the hoards of guitar players out there who spend their time trawling through YouTube videos in search of the next big thing, Daniele Gottardo needs no introduction. For the uninitiated, Gottardo is a rising star from Italy who really shot to attention by making it to the final of the Guitar Idol competition, twice.

Now, I personally think Daniele should’ve won the competition both times, his harmonically rich compositions and melodically perverse ideas stood out from the crowd, so much so that Steve Vai quickly took notice and put Daniele’s album out on Digital Nations.

Frenzy of Ecstasy is a true masterpiece, and I advise you to get your hands on a copy as soon as possible. Now the guitar playing community lays in wait while Gottardo puts some time into the second album. I recently hooked up with Daniele to pick his brain on music, technique and the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, Daniele Gottardo.

******

Levi Clay: For those who are unfamiliar with you as a player, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Daniele Gottardo: What can I say? I started playing the guitar purely by chance when I found it at home. At the time I was 13 or 14 years old and I was interested in drawing and didn’t care about music at all.

Then, very gradually, I started to develop a passion for it and started to study with some regularity, first in music schools and then, even now, by being selftaught. After a few years I realized that that’s what I wanted to do.

Levi: There’s no question that your CD Frenzy of Ecstasy is one of the best albums by a guitarist for many years. What’s the story behind the album? Is it a collection of tunes you wrote over many years? Or was it something you sat down and really worked on all at once?

Daniele: Let’s say that it’s a collection of songs I’ve written over time, without any rush. At a certain point I realized that it was time to stop the ideas, and then I started recording at the NFRS studios in Rovigo, my home town. The album contains all of my main influences, jazz, chromatic music, shred and metal.

Levi: What are your favourite tracks to play and which ones are a real challenge?

Daniele: My favourite tracks to play are “Cardiology,” ‘Guitar Sbrego,” “Marrakesh Market,” “Ziprexa Lake” and “Piccions.” The real challenge is to play the full CD live. The pieces are all very difficult and the concentration constantly needs to be high.

I like to introduce small variations in every live performance, to further refine the lines I play. I try to play everything with as few added sounds as possible, in order to concentrate on my playing. I hate pressing pedals!

Levi: Rumour has it that there is another version due out early next year, can you share any details?

Daniele: This CD will be remixed and remastered and attached to the Italian magazine AXE magazine, its a double issue in December and January. It will also feature the transcription of “Guitar Sbrego” and will continue to be available via Digital Nations, the digital division of Favored Nations.

Levi: You have an extremely unique style, and although you’re a terrifying technical player, your best feature is your keen ear for melody. Who do you draw influence from?

Daniele: I’m inspired by so much, there’s so much good music in the world, you just need to look for it. It’s not easy in these times where we’re bombarded by so many things. I like to listen and study different things. I’m always going from jazz to classical, and I can’t decide between the two.

Jazz is easier to study, therefore I often concentrate on that, but the biggest inspiaration for my melodic and harmonic target comes from the classical music from the end of the 1800’s. I like Russian composers very much, such as Korsakov, Liadov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev. The French composers I like are Dukas, Satie and from Vienna I like Mozart, Schoenberg and also northern composers such as Grieg and [Jean] Sibelius.

Daniele Gottardo

Levi: The obvious aspect of your style that will turn heads is your unreal command of the 8 finger tapping technique. Could you tell us how long you’ve been doing that and where that idea came from?

Daniele: The first time I saw someone playing 8 finger tapping was in a vdeo by Dave Celentano. I immediately decided to adopt his method and learn the technique. I was particularly fascinated by the melodic possibilities it offers. Afterwards, I immediately started to work on the sounds I liked, trying out technical approaches that were more comfortable for my hands.

This technique is very creative from that point of view. At the same time I was trying to work out as many musical applications of the technique as possible. Personal technical solutions, melodic and harmonic implications and the musical application of the technique. These three elements make things work a lot better.

Levi: What advice, musically, technically and even spiritually do you have for the young aspiring musician?

Daniele: What I just mentioned, trying to find an individual voice with the various aspects, technical and guitar related, musical ideas and as you mentioned spiritual. The musical application of your personality will be naturally developed a little at a time, if you gradually develop your own personality in life, thus I would add a fourth element: personal development.

Levi: So lets talk about your gear a little, what guitars are you using at the moment, and what have you used?

Daniele: I pretty much exclusively use my Fender Stratocaster, for the more metal arrangements I use an Ibanez seven string which I will soon change. I also use a semiacoustic guitar for the more jazzy songs. I would like to play it a bit more and develop more technique in that department, but I would have to play 20 hours a day to do so.

Levi: I notice you now have a signature pickup, can you tell us how that came about and where our readers may find one?

Daniele: In 2010 I started to work with Mama pickups and we decided to design a signature pickup which would emphasize my approach on the guitar. It’s a Humbucker Alnico 2.

The characteristics are a defined and fast attack, a good sustain, a not too dull sound but warm and round. The same principles that are used for the “Gottyboy” pedal. You can order this pickup from Mama’s website.

Levi: How about pedals, what are you using right now?

Daniele: I’m not a a big fan of pedals and effects. I believe the sound comes from my hands and everything else is of secondary importance. In terms of effects I use very little, a Delay and a touch of reverb from the mix. I’m very happy with Eleven Eletctrix pedals.

I use distortion for the more crunch sounds, like on “Dick Plays The Blues” and the N20 Boost aside from my signature pedal Gottyboy. However, if I have to play pop, things change a little. You need a vast array of sounds and timbres as well as a wider sound, but luckily I don’t play pop anymore.

Levi: So tell us more about the Gotty Boy distortion pedal. <,p>

Daniele: It’s a pedal I designed in partnership with Eleven Electrix, and it’s an interesting pedal in terms of mixing vintage sounds with modern. It’s a representation of my musical ideas turned into sound.

It has german components and it’s great for modern techniques like hammering, legato and tapping. It also has a slightly vintage sound which softens the output a little, and gives it a cetrain color. It’s great especially for solos. It’s hard to describe, you have to try it!

Levi: Lets talk about your new DVD Superfingering what can you tell us about it?

Daniele: I’m very happy with the results of this DVD, thanks to the help from the people at Etremomusic. It’s not a typical educational video based on “licks.” It’s a real method which is definetely more important.

In this video I extract the “ingredients” and I demonstrate some “recipes,” however you’re in charge of “cooking.” It’s a video which helps to develop technical,harmonic and melodic control over the instrument in order to acquire control over your music.

Levi: So how long have you been working on that?

Daniele: We worked on it without any real rush or urgency. There are two hours of contents, and the work behind it has been great. This time, as opposed to my first DVD, I controlled all the aspects of post production and editing, for me the choice of the camera angle and various shots, is very important in order to communicate what I want across to the viewers.

There are some pretty innovative camera shots in this instructional DVD, such as the shots from behind the neck, something that has never been done as far as I’m aware, but something that I feel is truly valuable for the application of certain things.

Daniele Gottardo

Levi: When can we expect the next instalment, is it already done? Or are you going back to film it?

Daniele: It’s expected after the DVD, and it deals with another important aspect, Harmonic and Melodic construction, in extreme detail. I’ll give the basis of counterpoint, something very important in developing things. We’ll see how this DVD goes, and then we’ll get to work.

I decided to do it like the first DVD Superfingering, because I think it’s a very good visualisation, organisation and application of the musical elements which are fundamental in developing a deeper awareness of the instrument.

Levi: When the first clips for the DVD came out, your playing wasn’t what people were expecting, is that sort of sound the direction you’re heading in?

Daniele: I think it’s also headed in that direction, but isn’t restricted to that. I’m always developing my main musical tendencies, jazz, metal and classical music. I think it can be considered a preview of my next album.

Levi: I guess the biggest question that our readers, and myself have, would be when do we get the next album?

Daniele: Good question. I often ask myself the same thing. I’ve been working on new material for some time, and the direction follows more the Neo-Romantic style of the first album, rather than the Jazz rock influences, but I think there will be a bit of everything.

The Neo-Romantic Style is still in its infancy in the world of guitar, wheater the jazz-fusion style is played by everyone, and I’m a bit over it. So I’ll dedicate myself completely to this style which in the future will represent me more. You know, there are no real methods for this subject, besides few which are very basic, and it’s a lot harder to study this than Jazz. I still love Jazz and I’ll carry on playing it mainly with my band.

Levi: Its nice to see footage of you out playing with a live band, are there any plans to take the band out further so some of the world can see you do what you do best?

Daniele: The main goal is to take the album and my future songs out live, but we’re a very versatile band and in our repertoire we have jazz rock songs, additionally we will also rearrange songs in a different style and in different keys, everything but classic rock.

Levi: Thanks for your time Daniele, is there anything else you would like our readers to know?

Daniele: One piece of advice I would like to give readers is this, work on the sound. Not the sound of the instrumentation, but rather the one from the hands.

To stand out as guitarists, the technique needs to work for the sound, not the other way around. Often guitar players have the technique define the sound, but it won’t work, you’ll always sound like shit. Think about it.