Andy Summers Talks About ‘Vertiginous Canyons,’ Music Inspired By His Pictures

Those who follow the career of former Police guitarist Andy Summers may know that in addition to his work as a musician, he is a long-time visual artist whose work has been exhibited in international galleries and museums. Over the years, Summers has put on multimedia shows showing him playing the guitar solo and his photographs have been displayed on the big screen, including at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for its exhibition . Play it loud in 2019.

For his latest record, Vertiginous Canyonshas created a new soundtrack inspired by his photo book 2023, Viewing Series. Recently he says: “I had made a photo book, which took about six months to put together. “A German publisher asked me, ‘Would you like to add some music to the book?’ I said, Music is in the book? What is that? I’ve never heard of that and I don’t know if it’s ever been done.’”

A mix of ambient- and jazz-like elements in his guitar playing, Vertiginous Cayons is very catchy—highlighted by the closing track “Into the Blue.” To use Viewing Series As a director, Summers said it took him about three hours in the studio to develop the music into what it would become. Vertiginous Canyons.

He says: “I didn’t overthink it.” “I was in the studio. I took out the book, trying to be a little more realistic. But I have a knack for doing that. And I did those eight songs, between 2 o’clock and 5 o’clock, looking for a sound and going to do this in a different way. So there’s a general atmosphere on the way.”

The reception from his followers goes Vertginous Canyons it’s been great, Summers says. “It surprised me, because I did it normally. I think maybe that’s why it worked because it was so free. I didn’t think about anything. I thought, ‘This is it’ yes. This is the way I play. It’s just me, no other musicians.'”

He also says: “I had someone who helped me with these things. The idea was to make each song sound different, both in terms of how I would approach playing the guitar, as well as the sonic quality. I think this is a very good song. ”

The music continues Vertiginous Canyons is a sound addition suitable for Viewing Serieswhich is the site of Summers’ photography over the years taken during his world travels. Summer is a book Phones On My Hand by the famous photographer Robert Frank was an example of how to gather Viewing Seriess.

“My thinking was more about which images complement each other,” Summers says of his approach to his book. ”It doesn’t have to be a funny story. It had to be very visible, straight against these two horizontal images, and be a big double horizontal and two vertical… You start to create a rhythm in the way the pages are laid out. it.”

He adds: “[It’s] much like recording music. I’ll record a song or something and say, ‘I don’t want to hear it for three days.’ Now [I] play it to me and go, ‘Okay, that’s wrong. Bass should not be present. That snare drum is in the wrong place. Let’s move these two things.’ So I’m very familiar with how to organize and give myself space to see it. And so it was with the book. I would do a couple of pages and go away without looking at it, then come back and go, ‘Okay. There are lots and lots of black pages out there. Let’s change it.’ It’s artistic decisions to create something compelling and rhythmic. ”

As seen in Viewing SeriesSummers’ images reflect the style of photography from the 1950s and 1960s. They vividly capture the ordinary yet fascinating people in their surroundings, whether urban or rural. But don’t call it street photography.

Summers explains: “When you say that, it sounds like you’re shooting people on the street, they’re working people, they’re having a hard time, and it’s about street life.” it’s totally mine. I’m looking for formal terms for shape, size, space and all that. Maybe it’s someone’s desperate face, and it’s compelling.

“It’s a complicated concept when you’re in the world because I’m mostly shooting in the world. I can only spend so much time in a hotel room doing it. But there are these kinds of lessons that you get used to. You go back and forth with it. until you feel like you have something that makes sense. I don’t think of it as street photography at all. I feel like you’re out there in the world and you’re trying to make art with how you put yourself camera, etc.”

At the time of this interview, Summers was in South America doing shows with members of the band Call the Police which is revisiting old Police records. In addition to acting, traveling has given him the opportunity to take new photos in his spare time, as he did during a recent stop in Rio. “It was a very inspiring 45 minutes,” he says. “I was using a Noctulux lens with my Leica and I got some really good shots. I’ve been shooting a bit on the road but not for long because I’ve been playing with all that.”

In the meantime, Summers will be doing dates showcasing his music and photography in Australia and New Zealand later this fall. Regarding the style of those programs, he says: “I talk to the audience.” I show this film and take photos. I play all kinds of music. It’s a very different show, but it’s going really well. So I feel very happy about it. And I think Australians have a great sense of humour. I look forward to that.”