For the first interview on this website I shall be talking to my good friend Jo Thompson. She is a 20 year old English guitarist and music producer.

Nick: Hi Jo, nice to talk to you again.

Jo: Thank you, thrilled to be doing your first interview.

Nick: Jo, tell the readers about yourself.

Jo: Well where do I start? I am a self-taught guitarist with some knowledge of reading music  but not to a professional level, but I get by. I started with a pretty beat up guitar when I was about 8. It had a problem with a couple of strings going out of tune after a few minutes  of playing. But I loved my old guitar.

Nick: I've seen that guitar, it looks like it has lived life with a capital L. How did you teach yourself to play?

Jo:  A few books with chord patterns, playing along to videos and records. I think that is quite common nowadays.  YouTube is great because you see the fingering techniques as well as hearing the music.

Nick: LOL. Didn't have that in my day. Basically records, radio and cassette tapes. I am dating myself there. What  type of music did you listen to?

Jo:    Quite a mix.  Some rock, folk, classical. I found the classical stuff was the best to learn by. It wasn't so much chord  based, you listened more to the melodies and the counterpoint stuff. Some of the bass lines from composers like Bach and Handel are amazing. Their bass lines just rock !!!!

Nick: When I met you, you were carrying a bass guitar, This had become your main focus?

Jo:   Probably because I was a rubbish acoustic guitarist and got stuck playing bass.

Nick: NOT TRUE of course. Jo is a great acoustic guitarist.

Jo:    I found the bass lines more interesting to develop. Music today has become more focused on the bass. So you are not just playing a rhythmic role, you are a lead player as well. I liked the fact the listeners "feel" the bass as well as hear  it. When I'm playing I can feel the vibrations passing through me. It's intoxicating. My drug of choice.

Nick:  In the last two years you have started to play more acoustic and electric guitars. Why the change?

Jo:   Meeting you at a BUS STOP. LOL

Nick:   LOL as well. They all say that. I shall explain to the readers I meet a lot of people at bus stops.

Jo:  I think because we started to record, which I had not been involved with much I saw the extra possibilities using other guitars could bring to my music. I had doubts about my technique, whether it was good enough. But just a few simple recordings showed there it wasn't too scary.

Nick:  I think you make a good point. Anyone in their home can now get some pretty powerful music software to allow you to experiment with multi tracking music. I remember you getting excited once we started building  tracks up.

Jo: I had done some recording but it prettty basic.  Like a lot of non-techno types the software looked daunting. And I gave up trying to work with it.

Nick: That's why I use Multitrack Studio from Bremmers Audio. It is so simple to use and as the feel of old tape recording systems.

Jo: I liked that software too. And it's pretty cheap as well....LOL

Nick: What sort of music do you play and record?

Jo:    Pretty much everything,  I don't set limits. I don't dislike anything, it's all valid music. Nowadays, I think as a producer as much as a musician. I tend to listen to stuff today and try to work out how it's thrown together.

Nick:  That's the trick. Listening with your brain as well as your ears.

Jo:   So I don't just like focus on the guitar bits, I sense what the drummer is doing or what the keyboards player is aiming for. Let's get back to what I play. I have done a lot of classical pieces. As you know. LOL. Sometimes a bit out of the box. I had a little stab at Bach's Toccata on a acoustic guitar. Its a killer piece. You have to get away from the original and muck around with the rhythms.  I will finish that one whenever. I done more jazz bass things in that bass, drums and piano format. It is quite intimate and you can get caught out on  a bad day.

Nick:  Didn't know you had bad days. LOL I love that Beethoven Sonata we recorded. I shall put the link here so  the people can hear it.

Jo:   That's my mum's favourite piece.

Nick: You used a fretless bass guitar for this piece. You seem to prefer that type nowadays.

Jo: Very much so. They are much harder to play and even the best players don't even hit the notes perfectly. I think that is the glory. You also get better glides. If I want perfect pitch I now use Melodyne pitch correction software. So my fretted bass guitar is becoming redundant.....LOL

Nick: What are you plans for the future?

Jo:   Chilling out in the near future. But I know I am still in the early phase of my musical journey. I don't want to get too serious. I an playing with lots of different musicians and sponging up their vibes. I am doing a few gigs getting used to more live playing.

Nick: It's a shame the number of venues has declined. Back in the day we could hear live music every evening in pubs and clubs.

Jo: The Good Old Days? I am much more into production. I think that area will always need material and people. And with the Internet you can go global quickly. I am playing more electric guitar as well. The bending and vibrato techniques is something I still need to master. You get real power going electric and the FX's units are ace. I've had complaints from  the neighbours.....LOL

Nick: That's always a good sign. I believe Mozart had the same problem.

Nick: So you are positive?

Jo:  Very much so. Music goes in waves and fashions change. I'm just going to ride the wave. I have a couple of albums in the making, I'm even helping to produce someone else's album and might just get a band together. Perhaps make some money?

Nick: Well remember me when the first Mega Cheque arrives. Thank for taking time to talk to us and keep rocking.

Jo: Thanks Nick. I might give you guitar lessons day one.

Nick:No way. Never understood people who blow, pluck or bash instruments.....LOL

Nick: I forgot to say. Jo played guitars on several pieces on my Piano Album, for which I am eternally grateful, Check them out at "The Piano Album"