Steev & Michael Landau

Michael landau is famous for his studio work and people know him as a session guitarist for james Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Seal, Rod Stewart,..(There is a complete session discography at allmusic.com. with over 600 records and soundtracks listed) but he has his own musical"universe" that he calls "Grime / Psychedelic / Melodramatic Popular Song" , to me a very personal way to approach rock music with a jazz spirit.

Michael and I were supposed to meet before the show so, Paolo, his tour manager invited me to attend the sound check.
I actually learned a lot of things watching Mike tweaking his amp and setup to get to the magical tone he's now so famous for.


Here comes the interview... enjoy

Back home in L.A, what!s  a typical day in your life?
Are you a "very organized" person with a schedule to follow each week?


Every day is a bit different, on the days that I'm not working for other people
I'm usually spending time at home playing guitar and recording at home.
I'm working on a new studio record of mine and a new record of my
wife's music called "Hazey Jane". We hang out with friends, hike around
the hills, make food, drink wine... I also play a lot at a small blues club in Hermosa
Beach called "Cafe Boogaloo" with a good friend of mine and great guitar player Kirk Flet-
cher.


At your level, how do you work or practice music?
Do you study new things?


I spend time working on technical things, harmony and new songs,
but mostly I just play a lot and improvise.  Some days I'll play all day,
other days not that much.


Every "guitar hero" has his own REH video or book, you don't but do you
teach music in some ways?


I'm not really the teaching type, I don't have the time right now, maybe some day...
I plan to do a live DVD soon, I guess thats a form of an instructional video.


What would you like the next generation to remember about your musicality or your approach to your instrument?


I would like the next generation to remember me for the improvising and the tone...


Since you!ve done some pretty big gigs, have you ever been nervous before either a live or studio gig?


Yes, its more excitement and adrenaline though, not really
a nervous thing...


The music business has changed a lot over the past 10 to 15 years, do you
feel a difference between the music scene in the 80's and now?
Do you miss some aspects of the past?


I miss the live tracking sessions the most, there are less and less of
them these days, playing with a group of good musicians is inspiring,
you feed off of each other. At some point the sum of all the musicians becomes
this collective piece of music that is a performance, you don't
get that when everyone overdubs separately.


You're famous for your playing and for your session work but also for your
Tone, it seems that you're a kind of  "gearslut" spending a lot of time tweeking
toys and trying new stuff.


I spend more time these days fine tuning the gear that I already have
as opposed to buying a lot of new gear. I work a lot on setting up my
guitars to make them play well, I work on my amps with little tweaks to make them
sound better, last year I listened to a lot of different types of speakers that are out
there and found a couple of new ones that I like. I put up a blog on my "MySpace"
site thats lists all the current gear that I'm using now.
Tone, phrasing, time and choice of notes are everything to me, the tone can dictate what I
play depending on where I am on the neck. Its a constant search for just the right tone,
some days its there, some days its not...

There are lot of guys on your forum sending posts to everyone they know as
soon as you change a pedal on your board, change PU or amp head, you probably
had your own tone references but it seems that you became one.
How do you feel about being a reference and being so important in all those people!s research?


Its a compliment when people are so interested in what I use, it tells me that they
like the sound... One of the sounds I'm known for is that processed clean sound
that I used on a lot of records in the '80's. That tone evolved form me trying to get
the clean sound that Pat Metheny got on his early records. Since I didn't know
what gear he was using, I used what I had and tweaked it and eventually it be-
came my own sound.


Your latest albums were recorded live in a small club in studio city, some peo-
ple (not me) would expect from a famous studio musician to release some more
"produced" albums or more studio projects.
What's the reason why you prefer to work that way?


I like both the produced studio records and the live ones... The live ones are "real" and
stripped down, I'm not afraid of "rough edges". The live records also really showcase the
improvising and the group playing together, you don't get that in the studio.


Than you very much Mike!! Play as loud as you can tonight!!


Thank you man.