“I’ve used Gibsons and Fenders in the past, but, honestly, nothing compares to how good my signatures sound. It’s almost a joke!” How Nick Johnston found tonal nirvana by plugging straight into the amp

Nick Johnston has never sounded more poetic than on his latest solo album Child of Bliss – its title the English translation of his wife’s name. He’s blurring the lines between progressive rock, blues and jazz as he so often has done in the past, but this time boiling his ideas down to their core ingredients. 

The man whose name appears on Schecter’s best-selling signature guitar says he’s never felt this content in creativity and tone…

Your instrumental music has always had a vocal-like quality to it, but this latest work feels like your most hook-laden yet…

“A lot of the solos have no rhythm guitar behind them, just to let things breathe! But that can be a scary place to be. It’s not me trying to show what I’ve been practising but rather what I’m hearing. And, on top of that, I’m just going straight into the amp! Certain things came out because I felt so comfortable. 

“I surprised myself, especially when playing over strange chord changes. I couldn’t explain it but I was definitely liking it! It felt like I was unshackled. It was exciting to see where it all went. There are a couple of songs like Memento Vivere, specifically the leads in that first break, where I didn’t even know what I was playing!”

Nick Johnston - Moonflower - YouTube

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Some of those chord changes really catch the listener off-guard.

“That comes from writing at the piano. When you take away the guitar, your usual tricks and licks are gone. There is no comfort zone. I find my guitar lives these days more like the icing on the cake. Some of the songs feel like they have nothing to do with guitar! I made a whole bunch of records that were all about my playing. 

“Because I’m not listening to guitar music these days, I don’t really want to write it. It’s a ‘you are what you eat’ kinda thing, I guess. My favourite songwriter is Pat Metheny and he’s talked about it too, choosing to mainly compose on piano. You can really hear someone’s sense of harmony when you pull the shapes away.”

You have S-style and T-style signature models through Schecter, who you’ve been with for nearly 10 years. Which exact one are we hearing?

“It’s a newish S-style with the cracked red finish. That’s been my main guitar for the last few years. I’ve used Gibsons and Fenders in the past, but, honestly, nothing compares to how good my signatures sound. It’s almost a joke! And for some reason this Custom Shop red model wins the battle every time.”

You’ve been posting a lot of footage with your Orange OR30 recently. Was that the main guitar amp?

“I used around four heads – the Orange, a Marshall Plexi, a Mesa and a Friedman. Instead of adding EQ, we used different mics. If I wanted more top-end, we’d just blend in a little more of whatever mic had that sound. It’s a really layered sound with a lot of overtones and musical feedback. 

“It was actually such an easy album to record, I’ve never felt so at ease with my tone. And there were no pedals, maybe a Uni-Vibe a couple of times; but to be honest, it was just one guitar straight into an amp.”

• Child of Bliss is out now via Remarkably Human.