Phil Manzanera in the studio with his 1964 Gibson Firebird. He helped invent art rock as a member of Roxy Music, played with everyone from Brian Eno to David Gilmour to Bob Dylan and was sampled...
Phil Manzanera in the studio with his 1964 Gibson Firebird.
He helped invent art rock as a member of Roxy Music, played with everyone from Brian Eno to David Gilmour to Bob Dylan and was sampled by Jay Z and Kanye West. But what Guitar World readers really want to know is…
Here on the 45th anniversary of the first Roxy music album, how does the record sound to you today? has it stood the test of time? —Kevin Warren
I don’t listen to it often, but I had to listen to it for this deluxe anniversary reissue project, and I was so pleased, really. And amazed that we had the bravery to actually do such a crazy album at that time. I find it difficult to categorize, stylewise. It’s not prog rock, it’s not glam… I answered an ad in the Melody Maker to join Roxy Music, and the ad said, “The perfect guitarist for avant rock group.” And there was a list of things they wanted: “original, creative, adaptable, melodic, fast, slow, elegant, witty, scary, stable, tricky. Quality musicians only.”
I was just desperate to join a band. I don’t really think I took that all in. But, looking back on it 45 years later, that surely sums up the style of Roxy Music—avant rock group. And all the little things they wanted, to me, sums up the band at that time. It was such a mixture. We all contributed bits and pieces. The one thing that stands out the most for me with Roxy Music was just a lot of humor. We were laughing constantly. Especially doing the weird stuff we were playing, we thought, If we look too serious, people are just going to get bored with this.
When and how did you first