Peter Northcote
Never let it be said that Time Out Sydney doesn't know how to cook and/or wail
By Andrew P Street
Who is he? He's one of Sydney's best-kept musical secrets, not to mention one of its finest exponents of the guitar-slinging arts.
What's his sound? His newest album, Poindexter And The Genius Sex Act, playfully jumps from style to style with alacrity - but that being said, lovers of virtuoso axemanship in the style of Satriani, Vai or Zappa will probably find much to love.
So he's been around a bit? He's paid his dues, definitely: aside from countless session gigs, he's been the guitarist of choice for the likes of Dragon, Daryl Braithwaite and Doc Neeson's Red Phoenix project, among many other bands. "I've been performing since I was 11: I used to do old peoples homes and shopping centers before I was old enough for pubs."
Who's giving him props? He took out the Best Instrumentalist award at the 2007 Musicoz awards, the biggest awards for unsigned acts in the country. He was also handpicked to open for Joe Satriani at the Enmore Theatre this week.
Does the notion of opening for a player like Satriani, before an audience of guitar nuts, faze him at all? "Absolutely," he insists. "They can be the best and the worst audience. It's like the old joke of how many guitarists does it take to change a light bulb? One to change the light bulb and 10 to say they could have done better!"
So is Poindexter a full-on concept album? Yes, pretty much. "It's a little bit semi-autobiographical - but only a bit," he insists. "Being a child of the 60s, I grew up listening to albums from the masters and had a penchant for concept albums. Also, I'm much more into ‘entertainment' than just ‘widdly widdly' guitar music."
Session work only happens at the very commercial end of the spectrum, while the album's pretty freakin' odd: is session work merely a necessary evil? "I just love playing guitar. I don't care if it's a dog food jingle or a Hi5 album, playing in front of Joe Satriani's audience or at home jamming with a Led Zep album. I get to play guitar every day doing sessions and feel very fulfilled creatively. The recording and creating of Poindexter And The Genius Sex Act is just another part of me. I've been very lucky in that I make money from doing what I love to do. So I guess I'm just itching to do more ‘stuff'."
Where can I hear him? Peter Northcote opens for Joe Satriani at the Enmore Theatre on Mon 14 July - and he's got a regular Sunday afternoon residency at the Bridge Hotel in Rozelle. ‘Guilt-Free Guitar' (from Poindexter And The Genius Sex Act) is streaming right now. Just click play!