Andrew Synowiec’s newest album, Enjoyable, is loaded with ferocious pentatonics, muscular grooves, and the form of instrumentals that harken to the nice ol’ days when guitar dominated the airwaves. However there’s extra to Synowiec than fretboard dexterity and influences starting from Eric Johnson to Joe Satriani – he’s an A-list session cat who performs for the track, has a jazz pedigree, and a Jones for Satch’s G3 tour.

Enjoyable appears like essentially the most badass musical enterprise card ever.
The 17-year-old me would actually dig this document, and there’s gotta be extra folks like that on the market on this planet. It’s nearly getting them to listen to it.

The early tracks have the fireworks, however as you get deeper, there’s a lot of depth and artistry.
I’d carried out a document earlier than this, making an attempt to do the instrumental-guitar factor however not be so polished and slickly produced with apparent overdubs. Generally, these sorts of information are well-crafted however sound like library music. Sonically, it left a little bit bit to be desired. What I hoped to do with Enjoyable is take it a step ahead. So, we did the entire document in two days, which was actually quick, however felt very luxurious.

It sounds such as you and the band are actually taking part in off one another. It has a vibe.
That was my hope. There are particular information I like that actually are crafted – Eric Johnson and Steve Morse come to thoughts. That stuff is overdubbed, however sounds lovely and actually well-done. Perhaps my style comes from all my years taking part in jazz, however it has to have that stay ingredient. As a result of there’s no vocalist, you want a way of promoting it to the listener, connecting it to them, and having it soar out of the audio system. I’d get mixes again and understand that the organ participant was listening to me, and his bass line echoed one thing I performed, after which I performed one thing based mostly on what he performed. That stuff doesn’t occur if you’re sending information backwards and forwards.

Do you’ve hassle genre-switching to execute the proper really feel?
The types inform one another. It’s good for being a craftsman, however not so good for wanting to place one thing out and have it match into a pleasant little field that any individual may play on the radio. If I’m taking part in a session for an artist, it’s fairly simple to place myself of their footwear and perceive after they say, “That was nice. Can we do it once more (laughs)?” Some folks would say, “If it’s so nice, why are you making me do a thousand takes?” I can put myself of their footwear, and I get it. As an anxious, self-doubting artist, you need different choices. Additionally, being a session participant helps you as a solo artist – you’ve extra instruments at your disposal, extra locations to go to. I’ve by no means been a type of who thought that understanding how concord works hurts your possibilities of writing good melodies and songs (laughs).

What did you utilize on “Late To The Celebration”?
That’s a Mike McGuire Strat-style, which I feel is a relic’d Allparts guitar with pickups he wound. I’m stepping on a fuzz pedal for the loopy part – a Tsakalis AudioWorks Expertise. It’s a great-sounding pedal with a fuzz facet and an Octavia facet that can be utilized independently. It’s very expressive. I’d by no means been a fuzz man, however now I’m approach into utilizing the guitar’s Quantity knob to control tone and acquire. That was first within the chain, after which a King Tone The Duellist, which is sort of a Tube Screamer on one facet and a Bluesbreaker on the opposite. I even have a Strymon Compadre, which I used to be utilizing as a quantity pedal. You possibly can add an expression pedal, which is able to act as a quantity pedal as a result of there’s no audio working by means of it. I used the identical amp on the entire document with a cupboard that Derek Vehicles usually makes use of.

You’re a Rivera man.
I’m an equal-opportunity amplifier man (laughs). I have a tendency to make use of Riveras stay and in my house studio, however the first actually unbelievable piece of guitar gear I ever owned was a Soldano. I used to be an early-’90s child and people amps had been enormous, in order that sound caught in my head. I lastly received a Scorching Rod 50 Plus that I’d wished for thus lengthy and it information rather well. The guitar actually jumps out of the audio system. I used it for the entire document.

The album really resonates.
The blokes I cherished had been Eric Johnson and Satriani, and it wasn’t all pyrotechnics.

This text initially appeared in VG’s January 2024 difficulty. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.