WATCH: Play me a song, you’re the guitar man

IT was Take Your Guitar Out Day on Saturday and a time to remember the dreams you cast aside as you did your guitar.

Think back to when you first got it and why. Done? Okay. Gather some friends and family, get them to take out their guitars as well and rock out.

While the history of this day is unclear, be sure that your schedule is. Skills aren’t up to par? No worries, mate. The Highway Mail has got you covered. We recently sat down with guitar maestro, Seb Goldswain.

The Botha’s Hill resident told us all about his journey of learning and eventually mastering the guitar. So, before you rock out, read below first, be inspired by his story, watch him play and learn a thing or two about playing. Visit www.highwaymail.co.za to listen to Seb strum his guitar.
Before we even sat down for the interview, he was already taking his guitar out of its case and tuning it.
“A guitar is like a wife, its priorities come first,” he breaks the ice and we are now both laughing.

So, how did it all start? In high school, my parents asked me if I wanted to study a musical instrument, I said no and somehow that no was translated into a yes. There was a bit of a communication break down and they bought me a guitar and got me started on lessons. I thought I’d humour them for a while but after my first lesson I thought the guitar was the coolest musical instrument ever. My focus on academics plummeted and my focus on the guitar sky rocketed.

By now, the music bug has bitten you? Yes, I was 13. Up until then, I had never had a musical bone in my body and I had never considered music at all. It kind of hit me in the face and took me by surprise. The more I enjoyed it, the more I spent time on it and it just evolved eventually until it got to a point where I couldn’t see myself doing anything else other than music for the rest of my life.

At 13 years old, you would have developed a music taste of your own. Who were you listening to then? In high school I was absolutely in love with rock music. Bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the White Stripes and Jimi Hendrix. I just wanted to do Blues Rock guitar. I decided I wanted to study further once I finished high school and I had two options, to either study classical music or jazz. The degree I studied was jazz and popular music. I figured that that was the best option for me and that opened up a love for jazz music, and for the great singer-song writers of the 20th century like Ian Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington, not so much as song writers but as great jazz musicians. And that helped form the musician I am now.

You did an opening act for George Ezra, how did it feel to be a part of the first acts for such a popular musician? It’s always such an honour to do something as cool as that and getting the opportunity to open for someone like that was amazing. The show had 20 000 people. Some had asked me if I was going to see the show and I’d say to say I’m one of the opening acts. Also, the experience of watching all the other bands and overseas professionals perform and work was absolutely amazing. And the stage was huge and that was also awesome.

What do you enjoy most about performing live? Connecting with the audience. I get to play the guitar for myself all the time. As far as performing goes, people pay good money to watch shows and that’s because they are looking for something. They might be going through something, have something in their life or they’ve got something bugging them. And very often when people go to music shows, they are looking for something. Being able to connect with an audience and play songs that they know and love and being able to play my own songs, that hopefully resonate with them, is what I’m aiming for and I love seeing a satisfied audience. That’s my biggest high in music.

How did your family and friends warm up to your decision to be a career musician, given its unpredictability? Once I started music, it took me a long time to decide that I was going to do it as my career, just because I didn’t want to rush into it and realise that I had made a mistake. And I see that a lot of people fell into that. I didn’t want this to be an impulsive thing. I was very confident by the time I decided to do music. My family and friends could see that and as a result, they were very supportive. Once I got to university, I was practicing for up to eight hours a day, most of it would be at 1am or 2am. My family was very kind and supportive in allowing me to practice at home while they were sleeping.
The creative industry is known to be unpredictable, hot today, gone tomorrow.

What keeps you going with music and in life in general? There are two answers to that. One, I believe that we are put here by a creative god. He created the entire universe and we’re a part of his creation. And because everything around us is naturally and intrinsically creative, I have such an admiration for it that I can’t help it but want to be creative as well. Secondly, it’s now part of my job, so if I’m not creative anymore, I’ll stop.

Many guitars are left idle and forgotten in basements and attics. How would you inspire their owners to pick them up again? Three pieces of advice – practice, practice and practice. That’s all it comes down to. The more work you put in, the better results you get and the more work you get in, the more satisfied you’ll feel. It all comes down to taking that first step to working hard.

What’s next for Seb? I released my first album, Pictures of A Thousand Words, in August 2015. It was a mixed album with all sorts styles of music with an electric guitar and with bands. It was everything I had in my heart musically that I wanted to say.
I’m busy working on a second album which is going to be recorded live and it’s just me on an acoustic guitar. The last one took two years of recording and planning and this one is going to be like two hours of playing.

Pictures of A Thousand Words is available online, you can buy copies of the album from Seb. Visit www.sebgold swain.com