Michael Fix first came to prominence over twenty years ago as a member of Sydney band Hat Trick. Since then he has evolved into one of this country's leading acoustic guitarists. His remarkable skills as a guitarist are underscored by a passionate and innovative approach to his instrument that has seen Michael garner numerous awards during his long standing career. With a repertoire ranging from Jazz to Blues to Classical, his music is uniquely Australian and evocative. I recently caught up with Michael where we discussed everything from his illustrious career to his approach to his instrument and beyond.

You were discovered by Tommy Emmanuel at age 19, what was that experience like for you? Can you share with us the type of things Tommy taught you as a mentor as well as playing with Tommy himself?

I was living in Wollongong , playing in bands, and wondering where to next with my career. In my late teens I started travelling to Sydney to see what was going on in the ‘big smoke'. It was at the Musicians Club in Surrey Hills that I saw Tommy playing with singer Doug Parkinson. I thought he was incredible on electric guitar, but then, in the band break, Tommy came out and played a couple of solo acoustic guitar pieces. Apart from the occasional classical guitar performance, I'd never seen the acoustic guitar used as a solo instrument, and I was hooked! I started making the trip to Sydney regularly and became a regular face at Tommy's gigs, and then at his house. He introduced me to the music of so many players, most notably Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Jerry Reed, Earl Klugh, and Django. Tommy really introduced me to the world of fingerstyle guitar, which has become the basis of my style and sound. He unravelled the mystery of the Chet Atkins style – what a great shortcut for me! I think the most profound lesson I took away from my time with Tommy was: “there is only one me, learn to be the best ‘me' I can be”.

In 1984 you joined Hat Trick, you've claimed the band's eclectic versions of classical and folk pieces played a major role in the development of your style and musical vision.

Hat Trick were a band of great musicians, great entertainers, and we didn't care about musical trends. We played stuff that we thought was exciting, fun and entertaining to an audience. We took great pleasure in arranging orchestral pieces for a five piece band. Basically we played stuff that excited us as a band, and our enthusiasm helped sell it to the audience. I've taken these same criteria and applied it to my solo repertoire.

You've toured with the likes of Albert Lee, Leo Kottke and Martin Taylor. What did you learn from playing with those guys?

It was incredibly fun and an education and I learnt to have confidence in my own ability, and not to compare myself with those that I was playing with. That was a bad habit of mine, because I used to see myself as ‘not worthy'. Leo Kottke was a good case-in-point; totally unique, I loved his approach, the way he engaged the audience, with story-telling and dry humour. I realised that a musical performance is about being true to yourself and sharing something of yourself with listeners.

How do you approach your guitar playing in general, is it a structured approach or more of a spontaneous spur of the moment thing?

Both. When writing, I hope for a spontaneous expression, I feel my best tunes were created very quickly; when arranging ‘covers', I take a more structured approach, learning the tune, figuring out main riffs, bass lines, and rhythmic figures. I tend to pick covers that have a strong tune, and usually a distinctive hook or bassline. The ‘Theme from Peter Gunn' and ‘Fever' are good examples of this. As far as playing and performing goes, again, I try to be loose and spontaneous, but generally within a framework. One of the really enjoyable parts of performing solo is the freedom to do whatever I want, and it's fun to stretch yourself, to push the boundaries, but you have to be careful; you can't move away from the structure too much or you lose the audience. I think the audience needs to be able to recognise a melodic, harmonic or rhythmic structure if you are going to improvise or ‘twist' an arrangement.

Do you write totally on the guitar?

Sometimes I'll write a tune in my head, but it always ends up on the guitar, because I can't really play any other instrument! If a tune is in my head, I need to get to the guitar pretty quickly or else I forget it – I have a terrible short-term memory!

When writing for film and television, what sort of process do you utilize?

It's all about supporting or reinforcing the emotion of a particular scene. I work on instincts. I've been doing this a long time, and one of the perks of getting older is that you accumulate life experiences which you can draw on. The process is really difficult to describe, but I do feel that the less I think about it, the easier it becomes, if that makes any sense! Think less, emote more is the key.

 
How do you go about capturing your guitar sound in the studio?

I have my own studio, & I've been recording and producing myself as well as other artists for nearly thirty years, so it's a big part of what I do and I enjoy it a lot. I like experimenting with sound, but you know, capturing a great acoustic guitar tone isn't rocket science. You need a nice quality instrument with fresh strings, a pair of pencil condenser mics will do nicely; one pointing to where the 15 th fret is, the other pointing to just behind the bridge, both about 30cm away from the guitar. Main thing is that the two mics are the same distance from the guitar to avoid phasing problems. I'll also like to use a Rode NT4 stereo mic sitting in front of the soundhole, I like that sound a lot, and very simple. If you only have one mic, make it a nice condenser pointing toward the 15 th fret. You can't go too wrong if the instrument is good. When it's time to mix, I'll generally roll out a little ‘boominess' in the region 200-250hz.

You spent time playing lead guitar in Graeme Connors band, how do find playing electric lead guitar compares to playing acoustically?

I enjoy the electric guitar a lot. I love the variety of tones that are possible, and nothing compares with plugging into a nice old valve amp and cranking it up! With Graeme, I played electric and acoustic. Whatever is best for the song,really.

Do you favour one over the other?

Well, for my own solo performance, I prefer the acoustic guitar. I feel that my ‘voice' is in the acoustic guitar, plus I love the fact that the acoustic guitar is a percussive, resonant instrument that you can tap and hit and scrape to create sound effects and percussion sounds.

The acoustic guitar is such a self-contained instrument in many ways that, in the right hands of guys like Tommy Emmanuel, it becomes more of an orchestral instrument rather than a solo instrument.

This is true. A good fingerstyle player can create the melody, rhythm and bass parts on the one instrument. Put it through a big concert sound system, add some effects, and you have an orchestra!

Do you utilize any alternate tunings? Does it change how you approach the songwriting process?

I dabble in open tunings from time to time, but I can't say it's a big part of what I do. Although, there are times when I've looked for sparks of inspiration, I've de-tuned the guitar to create a different sound, and it's resulted in a new tune. But then I'll tend not to perform it much because I don't like standing on stage de-tuning and retuning the guitar. Alternatively, I use capos called ‘short capos' which cover just three strings, and it creates the effect of an open tuning without having to de-tune. I think capos and open tunings are a great way of finding new ideas.

Who are your main guitar influences and in what ways have they played a role in the development of your style?

Early on, it was Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford from Daddy Cool. I loved those riffs, and the interplay between them. I still love that sound. It taught me the power of ‘parts' in arrangements. Another early influence was Cat Stevens; really great acoustic guitar parts, sweet melodies. I also loved Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple: great riffs, powerful songs, and fantastic rock guitar tones. Then later on Tommy introduced me to a heap of solo players (as I mentioned earlier), the most influential being Chet Atkins. Chet had it all, sophistication, clever arrangements, highly tuned melodic sensibility, and amazing technique. I also related to the variety of styles he covered. I think that in Chet, I heard what was possible, and Tommy was the perfect conduit. He helped me unravel the mystery of Chet's style.

Can you tells us about your Maton guitars?

I've been playing Maton guitars since 1990. The first one was a dreadnought cutaway, then later an EBG808, a 225 12 string, then a custom 808, a Mastersound carve top electric, and my current main stage instrument is the ‘Michael Fix Custom'; basically an 808 with cutaway, ebony fingerboard, skinny neck, AP mic pickup system.

Why did you choose the Matons and what qualities do they bring to your overall guitar sound?

Prior to 1990, I had an Ibanez solidbody acoustic for stage, and a Yamaha for the studio. At that time, I couldn't find an acoustic guitar that sounded satisfactory plugged in. Being a practical sort of fellow, I wanted one guitar that could serve both functions; studio as well as stage. It was through Tommy that I met Neville Kitchen who was on the road showing off the new line of Maton acoustics with pickups. I played the guitar and fell in love with it. I think the AP series pickups are the best thing going – incredibly simple to use. I set the sliders ‘flat', set the EQ in the PA flat, plug in and play. It's that simple! I look for a warm, sweet sound, and I can get plenty of volume without feedback.

You constantly tour countries such as Germany and Italy …

The link into Italy came via Alan Samin of MMI (Messiah Music Italia). Alan is the distributor of Maton guitars in that country, and in 2004 he invited me over to present workshops, meet retailers, demo guitars at trade shows and in stores, as well as play at a major guitar festival. Italy has a strong culture of music, especially classical guitar music, so there is a natural interest in acoustic guitar. Tommy had already toured through Italy a few times and audiences there are keen on Australian musicians, and aware of Maton, so I was able to attract some interest from the outset based on the fact that I was an acoustic instrumentalist from Australia playing Maton! While I was there, I figured I might as well hop across to Germany and visit some relatives in Dortmund , and see if I could set up some shows. As luck would have it, there was a guitar festival in Dortmund the very weekend I was to be there, and the headline act? You guessed it – Tommy! So, I managed to get myself onto the show, and that led to invitations to return, so I've been going over twice a year ever since.

Do you think overseas audiences are more receptive to guitar players like your good self than they are in Australia ?

Yes, I think so. As a total unknown in that part of the world, I found audiences incredibly attentive, but then they follow up with incredibly boisterous applause. In Italy , the audience would burst into applause in the middle of a tune if they happened to like a phrase or lick! They're very interested and very enthusiastic.

What do you want to achieve with your guitar playing?

Very simply: I want to use the guitar to connect with people on an emotional level. I want to keep improving my technique so I have more ‘tools' to build bridges with listeners. Naturally, I want to keep writing better tunes.

 
“Something's Cooking” is your most recent album release and features your playing in more of a solo acoustic framework, can you tell us about the way you approached this record?

A lot of the original tunes were inspired by travels and events over the previous two years. In the past, I've generally written tunes, recorded them, and then performed them. This time, I wrote, performed and recorded, so the pieces on Something's Cooking were more developed stage pieces. This meant the recording process was much quicker. I recorded nearly every track as a solo guitar performance, and then put on my producers hat and listened to the body of work as a listener. I decided the whole package would be more commercial and appeal to a broader audience with some additional instrumentation. So I added some percussion, bass, some violin, a little electric guitar, but kept the focus on the acoustic guitar.

When can we expect another album from Michael Fix?

I am planning a new CD release for 2007. I am working on a couple of different concepts, including my take on some classical music that has been in my repertoire for many years now.

What is your most prized possession?

That's a tough one. I guess if I had to choose just one guitar, it would be the MF custom Maton. It's the guitar I perform with and travel with everywhere.

If you were given the choice to pick any other guitar player in the world to play with, who would you pick?

Another tough one, but I'd go for Mark Knopfler. He plays so lyrically and with such a gorgeous tone, I'd like to think that to play with him would bring out the best in me.

 
In what ways do you think guitar playing in general today has changed from what it was twenty years ago?

The availability of high quality gear at an affordable price has meant more players starting each year, the amount of teaching aids via internet, DVDs, computer software, excellent quality concert footage of nearly everyone available to all – these factors combine to produce amazing young talent. I'm constantly amazed at the standard of young musicians – they're everywhere! I think there are many more fantastic young players around now than ever before.

You're very self-sufficient career wise, what attributes do you have that helps you to sustain a career in this very tough business?

You have to remember that the music business is music and business. Yes, the business side is tedious, and a chore, but you have to be able to attend to that side of things if you want to have a career in music. I see myself as running a small business, I dedicate time to setting up shows and tours, marketing, keeping my web site up to date, answering email correspondence, handling my tax and book-keeping, and so on – just like anyone who runs a business. I consider myself to be quite versatile; I've been able to earn income from performing, tutoring, composing, writing articles, and producing. Maybe I'm a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, but it works for me; I gain satisfaction from all those areas of music. Being organised is a very important skill to develop.

How has the internet and technology in general changed the way you view the role of the guitar within today's society?

I've heard it said that technology and internet is somehow competing with pursuits such as playing guitar, but I see heaps of kids using the ‘net to download guitar tabs, watch music movie clips, and generally seek out music. I think this is healthy. I sense a continuing strong interest in the guitar, just as there has always been. Anything that aids or inspires players has got to be a good thing.

By Joe Matera
www.joematera.com

Fri 13th Oct 2006