ADRIEN GROUSSET (Hacride) – The technique is a way to access feeling

Det franske metalbandet HACRIDE har en kar i sine rekker som heter ADRIEN GROUSSET. Adrien er gitarist og han startet å spille seriøst som 16 åring. Bandet har 3 skiver på samvittigheten og er for tiden signet på Listenable Records. Adrien ble med i vår G-String Serie etter et tips fra plateselskapets pressekontakt Jess og her kan du blant annet lese om hva han gjør i kinkie situasjoner på scenen når utstyret svikter eller hvem som er med i hans drømmeband.

When did you start playing the guitar? In what age and which band was actually the one that made you wanting to grab a guitar and start playing?

I started playing, I was 14 but I really started to work hard at 16. Actually I practise music since I was very young as my father is a big music fan but I played many instruments before like violin, piano, trumpet, percu. The band that really gave me the wish to play guitar was Nirvana who is still, I think, one of the biggest musical revelation and smash in my face I had in my life.

What actually makes a guitarist unique? Feeling or technique? Many people for example cannot stand Satriani…who is absolutely a master when it comes to technique!

The technique is a way to access feeling and not the contrary. Technique can't be everything but once you got it your free to do whatever you want. You can't work on feeling that is something you have or not. The problem with some guitarist very good in technique is that they tend to show off and forget about their first aim which should be feeling and emotions.

What was your first guitar? Do you still have it?

My very first guitar was a bad copy of a Fender Strat ugly and the string broke by itself. But my first "real" guitar was a Jackson, a cheap RR. I kept none of them because I needed to sell them to buy new material.

Do you think that the guitarist is making the quality or maybe the equipment can do magic?

Of course it is the guitarist, I mean if my grandmother tomorrow plays guitar with a damn expensive and high quality material I guess it will not sound… By the way the material is as well important but its aim is mainly to valorise the music.

What kind of equipment do you use? Guitars…pick ups…amps…? Do you use different equipment in the studio and different while playing live? If yes then what is the reason?

I use mainly Jackson KV2T & Jackson SLSG and sometimes a Clain (French Luthier). Seymour duncan «Zebra» and the second EMG 81 & 85, the Clain one is Seymour Duncan SH8 & JB. As amp head I usually use a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier (Customised) or equivalent.cab speakers vintage celestion 30. I use the same material studio and live but I will certainly change for the next album except for Jackson. My configuration live is a bit particular because I'm the only guitarist and to obtain the result of two guitars I use a pedal which divide my sound so it goes at the same time in the Mesa head and through the.

Construct the guitar of your dreams…brand, pick ups, strings..everything!

My dream would be a seven string Jackson custom with the same shape as the KV2T with piezzo pick ups with a MIDI out-put and fuzz factory incorporated like Mattew Belamy (Muse). Impossible but it's my dream… maybe one day!

Now form the band of your dreams…with you participating of course…Which individuals you think would fit like a glove to your style?

The drummer of Tool for the slenderness and the relevance of his playing he can sound both Rock and Metal. On the bass Robert Trujilo cause I think his a killer he uses his finger like pics. On the guitar Mikael Akerfeld for his incredible soli and I'd like the Vocals by Devin Townsend, no need to explain…

Are you participating in the composing of your bands material or you're just a performer? How important is it for an artist to be able to express himself? I mean, if for example you were in a band only for performing someone else's musical themes…would you handle it not participating…not being able to express yourself?

Yes I compose everything in Hacride. Composing permit to filter music through different states of structuring. composing, arranging the songs with the rest of the band and then the studio work… I think it's essential for an artist to be able to express himself through its art and it's the main point about being an artist isn't it? 🙂
But interpretating, playing is also a way to communicate with the public and the other musicians but I'm not seduced by playing without creating.

Have you ever run out of ideas while composing a new album? How did you fight it? What was the solution?

Inspiration is a very particular feeling, I think the ideas come from a mix of forced work and the "let go spirit", I have no solution or medicine about this one, no miracle sorry !!!

Do you have endorsements? Do you think endorsements are important for an artist?

Yes I am endorsed by Jackson guitars, elixir strings, Clain guitars and talking with several amplifier brands. I think it's essential for an artist to have help from the others about material. I don't earn a lot of money from music and the material is very very expensive. It's an exchange we have a brand we are attached to cause we like the material and the brand like our music, we make advertising, the brand help us with the material.

In all the years that you've been playing did something go totally wrong during a concert of yours? If yes, what was it? Please go ahead!

Yes some things like that, a bit traumatising :)…
The worst should be a concert in Barcelona on the Dying Fetus tour. My material decided to… work part time. To be clear I had a horrible sound and only one chord out of two, an unforgettable moment of loneliness.
This concert had been a carnage!

Ok then…thank you for answering these questions. One last thing now! Who is the guitarist that you admire or that you would like to "punish" by have him answering these same questions?

Talking bout "feeling" I like mickael ackerfeld of Opeth a lot. He's got a "blues-rock" playing, I love his style, especially the soli. I also like Tool's guitarist for his ambiances, Mars Volta's one for his psychedelic style …
But I don't have like one " Guitar Guru " , I try to be as open as I can concerning guitar and music in general.