Pete Christie in Acoustic Magazine August 2010

Acoustic Magazine – Retune Your Ears

by Joel McIver

The acoustic guitar is king for Pete

ACOUSTIC Magazine

The UK’s only dedicated acoustic guitar magazine

Issue 44
August 2010

RETUNE YOUR EARS
Presenting new, interesting or alternative musicians from the acoustic world.

With Joel McIver.

PETE CHRISTIE
The acoustic guitar is king for Pete

“I’ve been involved in music in lots of ways, including developing hi-fi equipment, so I’m coming at it from lots of different angles.

I’ve been playing as long as I can remember – and performing since I was 17. I seem to be getting better: every time I pick up the guitar it seems like a new experience.

When it comes to songwriting, I try to write important stuff: I try not to write just anything. I used to do that: I always remember Elvis Costello used to write five songs a day or something, and I thought ‘I wish I could do that!’ but when I did do that, the output wasn’t what I considered to be high quality, which is the important thing. As you get older, you notice the songs that the audience latch on to. I’m always playing the guitar, it’s always on my lap.

I used to work with (legendary manager/producer) Chas Chandler, who told me once that Jimi Hendrix always had a guitar with him, even in the loo. I don’t take it to that extreme, but I will play as much as I can.

I started off as a strummer – don’t we all? – and playing power chords, but over time I found I don’t strum as much, I play fingerstyle more, because of the subtlety of picking the sounds off the neck rather than thrashing them out with a pick.

I experiment with tunings, too: a friend of mine introduced me to open C and after that, I was away. Sometimes I’ll drop a string and see what happens, because the guitar then takes over and you have to follow it.

I keep saying to people, the acoustic guitar is the most powerful instrument in the arsenal. Electric guitars can be loud, but the acoustic has the power”.

http://www.petechristie.co.uk