Richie Kotzen: guitar player interview

YOU NEVER WANT TO ACCUSE SOMEONE OF BEING too talented, but Richie Kotzen might be a candidate for that criticism. A great singer, a strong songwriter, and a flat-out amazing guitarist (not to mention a pretty good drummer), it’s tough to pigeonhole him in an industry that insists on pigeonholing everyone. Kotzen is one of the more charismatic exponents of the Shrapnel wave of the ’80s and early ’90s, and in addition to releasing solo albums, he also landed a glam metal gig with Poison, played fusion in Vertu with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White, and replaced supershredder Paul Gilbert in Mr. Big. Currently touring his latest record, Peace Sign [Headroom], where he plays pretty much every instrument, Kotzen continues to elude easy classification.

How did you get such a live sound on a record where you’re playing all the instruments on almost all the cuts?
For starters, there’s no programming or any of that sort of stuff in the production. It’s all live instruments playing parts. Another reason is, if something happens during the recording—as long as it’s musical—I’m more inclined to let it go and then work around it. I have a studio at my house, and I leave everything set up at all times. The drums are miked and going through the preamps and compressors, and that doesn’t change until the record’s finished. So, I might lay down some sort of drum groove to work off of and then play something on the bass and think, “It would be really badass if the drums reacted to that.” Then I can hop behind the drums, punch in, and do that. It’s easy for me to keep those cool little accidents that happen and make it sound like the instruments are all reacting to them.

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/richie-kotzen/April-2010/110737