Despite being known for his intricate guitar riffs in Rush, Alex Lifeson admitted in a new interview with Guitar World that he’s no longer interested in showing off his impressive skills by “shredding.”
As Lifeson explains, his lack of desire to “shred” (including in his band Envy of None) is a result of the massive amount of other guitarists who are doing so online. Instead, Lifeson is more interested in using his skillset selectively, adding solos only if it enhances the piece of music he is working on.
“I’m actually soloing more, provided that it’s in service of the song,” he said, comparing Envy of None’s newest album to the band’s 2022 predecessor. “If the solo fits and does something to enhance, or plays a role in the arrangement of a song, then I’m all for it. But my days of shredding and playing like a crazy maniac are over. There are a million people on Instagram that do that now.”
He continued: “For me, I just love to approach the guitar from a different angle. I love doing things that people don’t expect me to do. I try not to be Alex Lifeson from Rush, you know? I try to create sounds on a guitar that are not guitar-like, which is kind of fun, camouflaging the instrument. On this record, I’m playing a lot more traditional stuff.”
Lifeson went on to describe his playing as being more textural and atmospheric.
“I think that’s always been a part of me. I mean, I’ve always thought in those terms, you know? [In Rush] Geddy [Lee] and Neil [Peart] were really active as a rhythm section and it kind of forced me to pull back a bit. I thought, ‘If these guys are going to play like this, I can’t play like that anyway.’ It would be crazy and it wouldn’t service the song. So I really developed a style that’s more chordal and broad.
“I use chorus a lot in my sound, just to get a more expansive kind of tonality and character to the guitar sound, and it was perfect for Maiah [Wynne, Envy of None vocalist]. She’s a singer who has a beautiful, very nuanced voice that can sit on top of anything; the heaviest stuff, the darkest stuff, the bluesiest stuff… she just fits on anything, so it frees all of us up.”
