Brisbane’s pop-punk upstarts Two Times Shy are soaring lofty heights as they let loose their …
Download Festival UK isn’t the smallest of occasions, it is known, and for instrumental prog star Plini, performing there for the first time in June as the first ever instrumental act in the festival’s history was a pretty big deal.
“I got on the Ferris wheel that they have there during Marilyn Manson’s set,” he says, “And at the peak of the Ferris wheel I could see, like, 100,000 people and it’s the most ridiculous thing to see, just insane.
MORE: TROPHY EYES: The Dreamers And The Doers // ALPHA WOLF: … And Out Come The Breakdowns // OUTRIGHT: Don’t Holler Atcha Girl
REVIEWS: TROPHY EYES: The American Dream // AS IT IS: The Great Depression // PLINI: Sunhead
“We played at the end of the day so it was a lot more, sort of a realistic thing, to be looking at but still big, lots of people, absolutely crazy.”
What else is ridiculous is that Plini has guitar gods like Steve Vai praising his work, saying it is ‘the future of exceptional guitar’ playing–he’s not wrong. Plini’s brand of prog combines meticulous detail in seamlessly combined contemporary pop and electronic jazz elements, a true musical adventure. “I think he needs to get his hearing checked,” Plini says bashfully of Vai’s comment, “But until then I’ll take it.”
Instrumental prog guitar playing has hit more of a mainstream run in the last year or so, particularly in Australia. “Maybe that’s helping people realise that you can write weird music that doesn’t have vocals and sort of make something of it,” Plini says. “For a long time, I think guitar playing just hasn’t been cool at all, because no one really cared about the way things looked or the album artwork seemed like it was stuck in the 80’s forever, and that was until a lot of big outsiders, guitarists, sort of bring in those big elements.
I think that another thing that I like about instrumental music is, you can use it for a dinner party as much as you can use it for sitting on a mountain thinking about life
[ Plini ]
“It’s hard to say because we’re sort of right in the middle of people starting to get into it and figuring out it’s something that you can listen to as easily as other metal or pop or whatever.”
Plini’s contribution fits in with what’s already going on but his innovative skill is also helping shape and popularize the genre, thanks to his time spent touring internationally. In his latest EP Sunhead, many of his collaborators were people he has come across overseas. “They were all either friends of friends or some random connection from being in the same place at the same time,” says Plini.
“I think the last couple of years of touring and traveling and meeting these people has just given me a lot of inspiration for trying to put together as many different feelings and emotions and thoughts into a coherent song that doesn’t have lyrics, if that make’s any sense. So it’s really showing all that stuff into a guitar melody.”
A cohesive EP, aside from an account of Plini’s travels put to sound, the focus of his writing was to, well, not focus too much on writing. “I suppose you’re hearing me being less concerned with guitar playing than just trying to write songs,” he says. “To me there aren’t that many actual guitar solos on it at all. I spent almost as much time writing all the other instruments as the guitar, whereas maybe in the past I would put all the focus on the guitar, and then add the rest as an afterthought. So yeah, it’s just trying to be more of a composer than a guitarist.
“I think that another thing that I like about instrumental music is, you can use it for a dinner party as much as you can use it for sitting on a mountain thinking about life,” Plini continues pensively. “I almost prefer to just leave it to the listener to like it or hate it, or like a small part, or whatever it is.”
When he tours the country in September, Plini plans to offer people a lot more than an open-ended invitation to dissect his music. In a special masterclass and Q & A session before his performances, Plini hopes he can give back to anyone who too is taking the DIY approach to instrumental composition. “Hopeful anyone who is writing music at home, or starting a band, or anything like that, they can get insight from someone that’s not really detached from what it’s really like to not know how to plug in a guitar or make a song.
“I’ve always found when I go to something like this, if I just get one piece of advice out of two hours that sticks with me, then it’s been a really good time, because that kind of just forms a part of my whole attitude to guitar.”
Catch Plini this September:
Fri 7 Sep // The Zoo // Brisbane
Sat 8 Sep // Manning Bar // Sydney
Thu 13 Sep // Badlands Bar // Perth
Fri 14 Sep // Jive // Adelaide
Sat 15 Sep // Corner Hotel // Melbourne
