musician - guy buttery
“Songs from Cane Fields” with Guy Buttery Guy Buttery describes his music as: “An amalgamation of so many things. Broadly speaking it is world music, not at all traditional; it has a serious element with a lot of improvisation as I love dabbling in different sounds.” Growing up he loved listening to guitar solos. “To me, vocals were gaps between the instrumentals. When I was young I was inspired by film scores. I don’t sing and consider my voice as an instrument that I don’t know how to use!”
He is described as ‘extraordinary’ by Rolling Stone Magazine; ‘…a national treasure,’ by a leading Cape Town publication, and regarded as ‘one of South Africa’s finest exponents of the acoustic guitar.’ Proudly, we can claim this gorgeous young man, from the Ridge, as our own.
His biography credits his upbringing, North of Durban, in ‘a lush fertile belt, where rich green shades of sugar cane meet the turquoise of the Indian Ocean. 'This is a place of enchantment, freedom, promise and where the creative spirit takes charge.’ Here Guy learnt to play the piano and guitar, encouraged by his mother and brothers. The sound of the Zulus playing their brand of music, known as Maskanda, on finger-picked oil drum guitars, blended with the sounds of the tabla and sitar, from the Hindu temples, bringing a diversity of colour, spirit and enlightenment to his enquiring mind.
“I believe KZN is the most interesting place, culturally,” explained Guy, as we sat at the beachfront, watching the wind dance on the choppy ocean. “We represent a true Rainbow Nation. As a youngster, I never felt that indigenous sounds were unnatural. I guess I created an insular world and would digest these alone in my room. I felt very at home with this music.”
His enquiring mind took him off to the cultural melting pots of the BAT Centre and Rainbow Bar. He considers these adventures as a path of personal discovery and an experiment where he could exchange musical ideas. Although largely contemporary, his music has also been described as “a spicy sonic soup of maskanda, Indian classical music, with some influence from his older brother’s Led Zeppelin records, and later absorbing the finger-picking brilliance of Steve Newman, Tony Cox, Madala Kunene and Nibs van der Spuy.” Producing quite a delightful earful!
Nibs van der Spuy started teaching Guy the guitar when he was 14 years old. One only has to watch Nibs and Guy in concert to know they speak the same musical language.
“It’s as though we have telepathic communication, sorry if that sounds a bit ‘hippie’,” expanded Guy. “Something inter-locks; we are good friends and we complement each other as musicians. I know if he’s improvising and what he is trying to say, musically. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of.” Guy has produced 5 albums since 2002. He launched “When I Grow Up”, followed by “Songs from Cane Fields” (2005), “Fox Hill Lane” (2009), “To Disappear in Place” (2011) and late last year he released “In the Shade of the Wild Fig”. He has no idea how many CDs have been sold. All albums are available on-line, and interestingly, “To Disappear in Place” was only produced on vinyl.
“It was an experiment done with Steven Howes from Erased Records. We are both vinyl junkies,” Guy explained. “We made a limited edition of 300 copies which we sold on-line and at shows. It was hugely successful.”
Guy’s brother, Bruce, buys and sells collectable vinyls on the internet. He claims that 75% of his clients are under the age of 30. Internet downloads are making CDs redundant, with sales dropping 80% since 2008.
Since his debut album in 2002, Guy’s musical success has gained him several awards. These accolades led to sold out shows at festivals and concert halls in South Africa and Europe, fetching rave reviews. Last year he was invited to perform with the 52 piece KZN Philharmonic Orchestra.
“The score for my music was done by an arranger in London. It was simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying! Timing needs to be spot on when you are playing with a band, there’s no freedom to wander off the musical track – it needs to be in the pocket!” Despite Guy’s nervousness a CD recording is being released plus DVD footage. “I’m impressed with what they have captured, and it’s possible we will have a repeat performance.”
Guy has been likened to Joanna Newsome. “She’s so eccentric, totally left of centre,” he said laughing. Known for her musical prowess on the harp and piano, Guy describes her as “having taken the instrument out of context. I am such a fan of that. It’s a courageous step that requires you to have your own musical voice. I have the utmost respect for a musician that has his/ her own sound. I don’t necessarily need to like their music. It’s not easy to pioneer a unique sound, to step out of the box, delivering a fresh sound. One really has to dig deep to do this.”
It seems that Guy has dug deep enough to find his treasure. Casimi Guitars has offered to make him custom made instruments to suit his specifications.
“This is particularly WOW! for me,” exclaimed Guy. “They are un-paralleled in the luthier world; I could never afford to buy their equipment, so this is a great honour!”
As indeed, Guy, it is our great honour to know that you are a Ridge protégée!
Order or download Guy Buttery’s albums or find his gig schedule at: www.guybuttery.co.za
He will be touring with Dan Patlansky from Jo’burg and Alhousseini from Niger in May and June.
Follow him on facebook: guybutterymusic
Published in The Ridge, April 2013
