John Squire’s departure was a huge loss for the Stone Roses. The Mancunian indie band had released two monumental albums before he stepped aside in 1996, and Simply Red’s touring guitarist, Aziz Ibrahim, was subsequently sworn in.
Ibrahim delighted in the opportunity. But it also presented a huge learning curve.
“It was a dream come true. They didn’t tell me how to be; they just wanted me to be an entity, a unique individual, and to let my personality shine,” he says in the new issue of Guitarist. “They wanted that to come out in the music, so it was about identity.
“I started to understand what being in a band was about, which is about what you have to say, not what you’re told to do.”
It was a stark contrast to serving as Mick Hucknall’s foil. But there was an ugly side to the job, too.
“That was bittersweet,” he says of replacing Squire. “The downside was that I knew you couldn’t replace somebody as loved as John. It was difficult in terms of being accepted, but also with the racism I faced during that period. In those days, people could get your phone number easily, and I used to get death threats and all manner of calls.
“For that to be related to music was mind-blowing. It was difficult psychologically, but, musically, it didn’t take me long to learn.”
He was given freedom to be himself, but that didn’t stop Ibrahim recognizing the need for a change of style all the same.
“The hardest thing was that John is such a unique individual, so that was an education,” he observes. “That was the beginning of my reverse-engineering the damage in my playing. And when I say ‘damage’, what I’m referring to is the technical playing.
“I was geared up to play Steve Vai solos, which needed dexterity, and I was [particular] about pickups, fretboards and fret height. But being in The Stone Roses sent me in a completely different direction. It was now about individuality, tonality and the sense of the song.”
There’s nothing quite like being yanked out of your comfort zone to test your mettle, and Ibrahim was thoroughly tested during his time in the band. Sadly, the Stone Roses would go on hiatus by October 1996, with Ibrahim going on to work on vocalist Ian Brown’s solo albums. There, his Asian heritage could shine more brightly, with faux sitar licks aplenty.
Ibrahim’s full interview can be found in the new issue of Guitarist, an issue that puts the world’s greatest signature guitars under the microscope.
Digital and print copies can be ordered from Magazines Direct.
