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Steve Hackett, The Alchemist, Guitar Hero, and Guitar God! Part II 

Posted: August 8, 2025
Sometimes jazz doesn't always have the energy of rock. But in this particular instance, it does. To my mind, it's maybe a little bit like Bebop or Swing or something.


Photo credit: Lee Milward


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RELATED ARTICLE: Steve Hackett, The Alchemist, Guitar Hero, and Guitar God! Part I

Sophia: Well, now it's on my bucket list! Thank you.

Your latest live album has been mixed by Grammy-award winning engineer, Chris Lord-Alge. Of course, he's also famous for his work with Carly Simon, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, James Brown, Prince, Madonna, Green Day and on & on. Dazzling credentials! 

Steve: The list goes on and on! It's extraordinary, all the people he's worked with. He does a great job! He mixed one of our previous live albums from Brighton, on the south coast here in England. He did a great job on it! It had great clarity and presence and punch. 

The Royal Albert Hall, of course, has a slightly different sound because it's a big cavernous thing. It's very much a live sounding place, kind of an arena sound, basically. It's a great place to visit! It's worth just going to the Albert Hall. Again, it's another London landmark. And, just to be inside the building. That sort of feeling. That hushed expectancy that you get from the beginning of Sergeant Pepper. You get that feeling, what's gonna happen? It's great. I've seen all sorts of people there. I've seen Johnny Cash there, I've seen Eric Clapton there. Yeah! Classical stuff. So many things. It's a great venue! The most iconic of all the British venues. 

There are larger venues. Some of which I've played. There are small ones I've played! But, somehow, the Albert Hall is the English venue because everyone's seen it on film. I guess the equivalent would be Italy's Teatro Alla Scala or the Paris Opera House. There's also Covent Garden. Talking about things with heritage. I've been there! Covent Garden has this operatic and classical tradition, ballet and all of that! They're all on the bucket list. Worth seeing! 

Sophia: My bucket list is just getting longer and longer! Hahaha! In 1975, while still with Genesis, you recorded your first distinguished and renowned solo album, Voyage of the Acolyte.  What was the muse and origin for this album, and were any Genesis band members involved in the creation of your first solo album? 

Steve: Yes, they were! I have Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford on it. Drums from Phil, bass and extra guitar stuff from Mike. And, it was extraordinary, really! While I was still in the band, I was working within this other 3 piece unit. Then it expanded. My brother got involved, John Acock, Nigel Warren-Green playing cello, we had Robin Miller. Again, all of this sort of classical stuff. But then there was also Sally Oldfield, Mike Oldfield's sister, singing on it. 

It was wonderful to be able to hit up a team of people who never worked together before. It was recorded over the course of one summer. I was living back home with my parents, and John was there. So we were like kids again, sharing a bedroom with a TEAC tape recorder. Building demos and taking them and bringing them to fruition. So, the atmosphere for me at that time was that I fell in love with making albums all over again. Because, I didn't have to ask permission from anybody as to how I should record something. 

I was so worried that I was underprepared, that I managed to have most of it composed. That was the thing. Because I was so worried it was all gonna end up on the cutting room floor. You know, that worry when you first do a solo album. You don't know how good it's gonna be. But, I could see it was taking shape. It was lovely to see John, my brother, start to flower and flourish on flute. First thing we did was give him a great long flute solo on the second track! That was the first thing, and I thought, oh wow this sounds so great! This was after the end of the first night, because we were only doing night time sessions. I thought, wow! I wonder if the rest of the album could sound this good, and, it did! I was so taken with it. 

It was great! The Genesis guys helped, and John Acock who engineered it. He was much more than an engineer! He was a friend, and he was really functioning as a producer. That was really, really, really good! Sadly, he's passed on now, and a couple other people, who are no longer with us who were on that album. John Gustafson played bass on it, and Robin Millar, sadly. So, there are three people who are no longer with us that were a part of that album. They all made such a great contribution towards it and I was so grateful at the time!

It was mind blowing! I didn't get any sleep making that album. No food, no sleep, lots of cigarettes. There was construction building work going on. We'd get back at 4am and there was building work going on in the apartment upstairs! Drills going, no sleep! It was terribly difficult to get any rest so I was kind of in a half world, making that album. Probably not my healthiest moment in time but it just felt great to be at the helm of the enterprise, if you know what I mean. 

That boy's own feeling, that you need. Or a girl's own feeling, in fact! When you're heading up something that you really wanna do yourself, whatever that might be! That book you wanna write, play you wanna act in or that film you wanna direct. Whatever it is, whatever dream you have. When you finally find you're in that position. That feeling! 

A lot of people don't live out their dreams. They talk themselves into thinking they won't be any good at it. So many people do that and they have the internal invalidator telling them they can't do it. I think that's what stops most people. Because otherwise, I think we'd have billions of fantastic artists if people just gave themselves a chance! 

Sophia: Beautiful. That's such a profound way of seeing people and the  world. We're so grateful for you and your artistry! 

Steve: I find with a lot of people, if they get criticized when they're very young, this can be very traumatic and the inner voice can start to do the same thing. I've seen it happen. It's very sad. 

Something like singing, has got to be learned. And you might not be a brilliant singer at first, but it's possible. I was just having this conversation with Peter Gabriel. He said to me, yeah, I think singing is possible. Hey, if I can sing, referring to himself, anyone can sing. 

It's a learned thing, but you do have to express yourself and take those emotional barriers away. They're no use to you. 

Sophia: Thanks Steve! Very insightful and inspirational! So very beautifully put into words.

Brilliant musicians! Brilliant album!  Please tell your fans what inspired you to pursue this path, and leave Genesis. You've never slowed down, and you're more successful and busier than ever!  But, why did you leave?

Steve: Let's see. Let me put it in context. First of all, my father played a number of instruments. Just for fun. One of which was the harmonica, so I was trying to do that ever since the age of two. I started very, very young and people started to give me harmonicas, and I was doing that 10 years before guitar! 

Genesis came along after 5 years of advertising myself in the backpages. But I kept persisting, because music was so extraordinary in the 1960's. There was such extraordinary stuff going on! Highly creative time!

 And then, I was with Genesis. I was learning to write. I was amazed at what the other guys could do! I thought of myself as pretty slow on the uptake, compared to them. They had been writing together as a team in some shape or form. They'd known each other since school so they were very quick to respond to each other's ideas. It took me a while to figure out how to run with the ball, as someone's passing it to me. 

But, having done the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, great album that it was, Peter Gabriel decided to leave at the end of it. In fact half way through touring, he said "I'm gonna head off". I couldn't talk him out of it. Nobody could. I was very sad to lose him, because he's the guy that got me into Genesis. So this was traumatic for me. And at the end of all of that, my first marriage broke up as well.  

I needed to get my teeth into something solid, and we didn't know what the future held for Genesis. If we were gonna get another singer or whatever. I thought I'd better get busy. Most of the guys in the band went off to do solo projects of one kind or another. 

My brotherhood was gonna work with Anthony Phillips, my predecessor of the band. Phil, I don't know if he started Brand X at that point. Possibly, but he was working with a lot of people doing a lot of sessions. Tony wasn't doing that. Pete was off, and a year later after giving time to his family, he was starting to produce some highly original work and sounding better than ever as a singer. 

I think outside the confines of the band, and working with Bob Ezrin as a producer, Bob was producing great sounds for Pete. "Solsbury Hill" was so very, very good! So, that's what really kicked it off for me. That was it. And then I thought, well, I want to do another album. 

And, because Acolyte had been a success, it created some problems within the band. It was considered to be, I don't know, I think the word was treacherous. Not giving everything to the band, etcetera. But, I wanted to do another album. Because I did get tired, having to ask permission to do songs, within the band context. I think you outgrow the need for permission. That's really what produced that result. 

Genesis went on to do some great things!!! And, I have had many musical adventures, and that adventure still continues to this day!

Sophia: That's really totally incredible!  You all had such strong individual artistic visions. To accomplish all of Genesis, and beyond! Iconic and legendary masters!  

And, Peter Gabriel did and does have such an impactful solo career! His work with Canadian production wonder-god, Bob Ezrin, really had a profound impact on his trajectory. Crazy! Ezrin worked with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel...to name a few! And, from what I've read, his song lyrics in "Solsbury Hill" seem to have prophesied his own extraordinary solo career. Mind-boggling!

I really admire and cherish how completely invested and self-aware your artistry is, and how deeply intuitive you are. To listen to your inner voice and trust your instincts! I guess all great artists have this in common. Like you said, the need to create. The undying passion to create. Thank God for authenticity! Thank God for you too, Steve Hackett! 

Thanks for sharing that story Steve! In 1986, you co-founded the celebrated British supergroup, rock band GTR, with Yes and Asia guitarist Steve Howe.  

Can you please share with Guitar Thrills MAG fans, what that creative experience was like?

Steve: Very interesting! As we were both guitarists! Guitar technology was, or should we say, the development of guitar technology was somewhat in its infancy. But, we already had guitar synths. And, we'd been using combos of these synths and trying to do as much as we could from the guitar end. 

Ironically, of course, we ended up getting produced by a keyboard player. That was Jeff Downs, who did add keyboard to the album. But, the initial idea was, oh let's see if we can do it all with guitars! Hahaha! But then of course, you come up against certain brick walls. While there's another guy sitting there with a Clavier saying, "well I can do this". I can create World War 3, metaphorically speaking. 

So yeah, there was a certain amount of capitulation to the fact that we'd separately worked with some great keyboard players. Of course Steve Howe, great player, Tony Banks, great player! Roger King and also Julian Colbeck. All of them were great keyboard players! And all still alive, still with us. It was extraordinary. 

Then I had this idea. Harmoniously of course, I left the band and thought, perhaps I could just make records now! Of course, life doesn't work out that way. What you find is that your first album might do very well, but then your second album doesn't do quite as well. Please Don't Touch did not sell as well. And the fact that I wasn't out there playing with a band! 

Tony Banks was quite right. He said "I'll bet you'll be out there doing gigs soon". And, he was quite right! I formed the band, and I was in love with the band. And, I love what we came up with! That band produced Spectral Mornings and I thought, hey you know, we've got a band that's got a sound! There's a vocal harmony sound that might just rival The Eagles or one of those great harmony bands that I liked so much. I really do love harmony singing! The bands that I like most of all tend to be great at harmonies, in one way or another. They're the ones that stay. They're the ones that sell. They're the ones that are emblazoned on people's psyche. The great harmonies of the Beatles, The Birds, Crosby Stills, Fleetwood Mac, which was half British!  But, essentially, vocally coming from the USA. And on and on and on. 

Those sorts of things are unforgettable. When a chorus hits you, a wall of harmonies, I don't think there's anything to beat it, honestly. I've just done one of those recently, finally! And I'm the only singer on it. But it sounds like there are more. I've worked on that for a long time. I mean, 20 years ago I was doing vocal loops, not just with Genesis when I was with them, but vocal loops of singing all day. Twenty versions of me on each note going Oooh! And by the end of one or two days, my chest hurt like hell! Because I realized I was doing nothing but singing non stop trying to sustain these notes, but I use those to this very day. And if we were outside the natural octave, it starts to sound like girls' voices sped up. Suddenly, I've got girls! And, I love that. 

I love the fact that if you're creative enough, I might have mentioned ELO earlier, obviously there's a lot of vocal harmony work that accompanies them. So, over time, the idea of many vocalists. But, I think it's mainly Jeff. 

Sophia: Yeah. Jeff Lynne. Another living legend! He was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. 7 years after you! And, he's a genius producer as well! Jeff Lynne co-produced the Beatles' Anthology reunion singles from John Lennon demos!!! As well, he produced some heavy hitters. Legendary and iconic artists. The likes of George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Paul McCartney and Bryan Adams, to name a few! Well Steve, your lifelong accomplishments are truly staggering!

You are a TRUE GUITAR HERO and have influenced so, so many, guitarists and musicians alike, including the extraordinary and exceptional late, great Eddie Van Halen who adopted your "tapping" technique.  BLINDING!!! Not many can say that! According to Guitar World: "Steve Hackett's early explorations of two-handed tapping and sweep picking were far ahead of their time, and influenced Eddie Van Halen and Brian May, Alex Lifeson and Steve Rothery." 

That's the definition of the GOAT. Right there! Your influence has been EXTRAORDINARY!  There probably isn't one famous musician on the planet that you haven't played with, collaborated with, or in some way been connected to. Steve, I can't help but want to know, is there one musician that you've worked with that in some way stands apart? Someone who is most memorable to you? 

Steve: Well, I have to say, I've worked with quite a lot of singers. And, I had great joy working with the late great Richie Havens. I befriended him when he was supporting Genesis in London. We had supported him when we were a lesser known act. And, I befriended him in London. I invited him home to have a meal with us, and my mother was impressed with him. My mother was living with me at the time, because she split from my father. So, she was living in this tiny house I had. Anyway, we invited this great big tour guy over, and after the meal, we had a few drinks. He even helped my mother wash up. And she was so impressed that Richie Havens washed up with her. Dried the dishes! I think she dined out on that for quite a bit, you know, that story. Hahaha So, she was incredibly impressed with him. He was such a lovely and sweet guy. Larger than life, but also no job too small, in a way. 

He gave me a lot of confidence when I was doing Please Don't Touch! We did one song, which was "Icarus Ascending". He said "Have you got any other songs?" And I said, well I got one on the back of the cassette here. I'm not sure if it's any good, being overly humble, and he said let's do it anyway. And that day, he'd flown in from New York. From New York to LA, that's a big long flight. And he went straight into it and was prepared to work all night, doing this other song as well. So we did! I guess everyone was young enough then to feel no pain. So into the night, we did that. He was just brilliant to work with. I let him direct. I said how do you wanna do this? 

So I'm sitting there with a guitar to help him, and he's looking at me for approval. And, it was just amazing. That voice. Then, the other track that was on a back burner. He said, tell you what, you'll play guitar and I'll play percussion live, along with it. And so I did it. I don't believe I messed it up! I was probably too nervous to mess it up. And he had maracas in one hand, a tambourine in another and a cigarette in his mouth. Haha! God knows how he balanced it all. But you know, it was loose and acoustic. Nothing to get in the way of his voice. 

I added another guitar later. A higher one. A little bit D tuned to make it sound a bit like a mandolin. And then we added some guitar synths that sounded a little bit like a squeeze box. That was the Roland GR- 500. So, I fell in love with its ability to sound like an acoustic instrument. That was a weird thing. It could sound brassy, trumpety and so this was ahead of the guitar synths that we were to use later of course. You know. The brassy quality you can get from the guitar synths was very interesting. 

But don't forget, I'm also a harmonica player so there's another aspect to me. Every now and then I get to play blues harmonica. Either something that I'm doing or with other people. Harmonica is a great instrument. I'm a great fan of Paul Butterfield and Larry Adler, who I spent some time with and got to know a little bit. He gave me some pointers about harmonica after I'd been playing for years and years and years. The late great Larry Adler. 

Sophia: I'm sincerely awestruck and enjoying this conversation so very much. Go on! Hahaha!

Steve: I'm just name dropping. But yeah! You mentioned people that I've been impressed with, that I've worked with. The thing about Richie Havens, was he was picked up by a couple guys who were bringing equipment for them, from LAX. Having flown in from New York, he insisted on getting in the back of the van! You know, where the equipment is! He says yeah, I'll be fine! He was sooo low key! 

He said he made a promise to himself to do a gig every weekend. And, I don't think it mattered to him how big that was! Whether that was Woodstock, half a million or whatever, or whether that was playing for a handful of people in a Jazz club in London. So, I would try and see him every year when he'd be playing at the Jazz Cafe in Camden. I'd track him down and get to see him play! It was always lovely to see him. It's a very nice venue. Lovely venue. 

Sophia:I see why you admire him so very much! He was a gift. A blessing from above. And, he seemed to sing and perform so freely and from such a deep and sacred soulful space.  For sure.

What drives your passion for music, Steve? What drives that love? What makes you not stop? 

Steve: I think probably to try and be better at it. Each time. And, I know that's not really possible. 

It's not really possible to please an early audience, because when you're young and you like something, it's all part of your DNA, your hormones, the whole thing! So, I guess, nothing I do at this stage, for an audience that may have been there from 1972 onwards, nothing is perhaps gonna hit them in quite the way "Watcher Of The Skies" might have hit them live. But, I'm still trying to sort of break that wall down, and say it doesn't always have to be nostalgia. 

I think The Beatles would be the nearest equivalent because we all bought Beatles records when they first came out. "Twist And Shout," "She Loves You,"all this sort of stuff. And then after a while, my affection sort of switched to the Stones because there was more guitar work going on. More perceptible guitar work, more blues. Brian Jones, and Keith Richards, and all of that. 

Then, somehow, the Beatles managed to reinvent themselves to such a degree that we fell in love with them all over again. Because, their work became more complex. They started to use other instruments. They started to use orchestra, string sections, sitars and many things that we didn't recognize and possibly still never will. But, the level of originality was extraordinary. 

So, I think if you can manage to reinvent yourself, if you can do that, then you're in with a chance of doing it all over again. That's the plan. If you can access that audience of course. I think that gets harder. 

So you got experience and ability versus being the new kid on the block. But all musicians, what links them, is we all make noise for a living. No matter what you do. Whether you're George Gershwin or Johnny Rotten. You still gotta make a noise for a living. 

Sophia: True. I appreciate that! There's such beauty and sincerity in that answer. Thank you.

Steve: I'm just trying to think of things that are relevant, before I fall over of course. Hahaha! 

Sophia: There's that clever and witty British humour! Hahaha! You're a Rock 'n' Roll Legend, Steve! And, you have a powerful, dynamic band! Complete virtuosos! And, according to your colossal fan base, you put on a spectacular show! Would you like to give a "shout-out" to your extraordinary touring band? 

Steve: Oh yeah! Sure! It is an extraordinary band. We're going for a year where we're working with three different drummers, because some are busy sometimes. I've just been working with a German drummer, Felix Luhrmann. Just before Felix was Craig Blundell and I've also worked with Nick D'Virgilio, who's gonna be working later in the year. When we do Japan, which is coming up soon in the touring schedule, it's gonna be Craig again. So, we've got three drummers and they're all brilliant! They're all wonderful! 

Of course, Nick D'Virgilio's got a great voice too. He's with Big Big Train and all of that. And having worked a bit with Genesis. And, I've seen him in Cirque du Soleil too! So yeah, he's quite the personality! Very very good. And, Rob Townsend, who's a jazz professor. He's so funny! He's just like a professional comedian. I mean, he's extraordinary. He's just relocated to Denmark. He's English but he now lives in Denmark. He's a brilliant jazz man and melodic too! A stunningly good musician. 

Roger King, who is a keyboard man. He was trained as a cathedral organist, and then took an engineering course. And so, he's done lots of different things! He's also composed film music. The music for Cliff Hanger and In The Name Of The Father. Two big movies. He was involved with that. 

Then, there's Nad Sylvan. His father was a tennis pro back in the day. And his father was John Wayne's pal. So when he was a kid, he was hanging out with John Wayne! And, all sorts of other characters. Hahaha! Now, I'm talking about serious name dropping now! Haha! 

He's a Swedish-American, and he's a bit of a chameleon. He is often singing songs that were written by Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, but also the wonderful Richie Havens too! It's extraordinary, you know. He's got that sort of depth. Singing it in a sort of bluesy way. He's got sort of a brassy voice. Stentorian. It's one of my favourite words. It means brass like. It's a big loud voice. I've got more of a ballad voice. Sometimes I scream, but it's not as pretty. Haha! 

Then there's Jonas Reingold, who's a brilliant bass player. He's a rock and jazz player and also plays classical. He plays a piece of Bach on bass at lightning pace as part of a solo I let him do. I shut up and let these guys do solos! Hahaha! Very often during the course of a show. That's what it's all about. To let the musicians express themselves and show what they can do. They've all got personality! That's the thing. So, they are a bunch of virtuosos. It's like having an army of generals or a small platoon. 

And so, whatever they undertake, whether it's my stuff or Genesis stuff or outside of that, they do it with a surge of passion. They can turn on a dime and suddenly they can become another thing. We do a track called "Camino Royale" which was originally on Highly Strung, and I always wanted it to have an aspect of New Orleans to it. So, I did it with slide guitar originally. Sometimes, I've done it with harmonica. And Rob goes into a sax solo, with Felix playing behind him. They go into this sort of swing tempo thing with walking bass. And, it's very very energetic! Landing on your feet with really, really driving jazz stuff. It's infectious! I like that area of jazz very much. 

Sometimes jazz doesn't always have the energy of rock. But in this particular instance, it does. To my mind, it's maybe a little bit like Bebop or Swing or something. But, it's great to hear them just go off on one and I stay out of it for that. I come in with my solo and I rock it up a bit. Sometimes, I tear into a solo like that. Sometimes I just wanna make the silliest noises imaginable to start off with it. That's one way of doing a solo! Haha! Completely jackass it. Just make the worst note you can possibly make, and then build from there and improve. Hahaha! 

Sophia: LOVE IT! Thanks for bringing your live set to life for the readers!  I can see it and I can hear it and feel it too! You're so very blessed to have such TALENT in your band! The combined energy of these musicians must be absolutely mind-blowing! Dynamic! Can't wait to catch one of your upcoming Canadian concert dates! And Steve, for the guitarists out there, what is your gear set up for touring and does it differ from your studio recording set-up?

Steve: Well, live I use a Fernandes guitar. I've used various Fernandes guitars because they've got the sustainer pickup. And, they're Les Paul shaped. The ones I use live. The Burny model. It's an array of pedals. Probably the most important pedal is the Sansamp. Fairly vintage Sansamp. I use ENGL amps, and everything else is a little bit changeable. 

I use a Flashback for doing echoes. I got a thing that I use at home quite a lot. Which is a rock 'n' roll hall of fame, little tiny red pedal that does very nice reverbs. I got a couple of Line 6's. The yellow one does fuzz boxes. It does vintage fuzz boxes and the green one does various things. It could make backwards noises. So, I use it for backwards stuff. Volume pedal. 



I also use a Harmonist. A Boss Harmonist. I set that to a three note or three part harmony. Usually in a minor, but sometimes in a major key. And that's an intelligent harmonizer. So it's very, very good. I use another one for the same thing. A Boss Harmonist pedal for chords, and I've got a Whammy pedal which gives me various harmonies, fixed harmonies and octaves up and down. 

I sometimes use a POG. I haven't used one recently. But, that gives me an octave down, which is a very solid sound. Almost like a bass guitar really. Suddenly, I've become a bass guitarist with distortion. I do like that, I must admit. It's a very heavy little sound. And again, very different if you wanna launch into a solo, and sound very different. It's got a bark to it, if not a growl. That's very good. 

I use a volume pedal. I cannot remember which one it is. They tend to be the bane of my life. Haha! Either they won't switch off completely, or if they do, they slip. I've just been through three on this recent tour. It's not that I'm careless with them, it's just the malfunction factor. I use Nylon guitars as well. I've got a Yairi Nylon, I bought at the time of Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.So, that guitar is now 50 years old, plus. And it still sounds really, really good. And, I've got a Tony Zemaitis 12 string guitar. Another beautiful, beautiful instrument. I still don't think I've got the best out of that guitar. But next album, watch me, I will! 

Do you play, yourself, by the way? 

Sophia: I absolutely do. That's why I enjoy and appreciate interviewing world famous guitarists, like you! Thanks so very much for asking. Honoured, Steve! 

Steve: You're probably brilliant! 

Sophia: Awwww you're wayyyy to kind!  Hahaha Let's just say, the guitar is my muse!  I LOVE the guitar.  It's the main vehicle for my songwriting. I'm a singer-songwriter, so I do the main vocals and play rhythm guitar in my band. 

Back to you, Rock Star! I know you tour all over the planet. Ongoing! I'm certain that your fans want to know, what's your touring schedule like for the remainder of 2025? 

Steve: Well, I'm off to Japan. We will be doing the States and Canada later in the year. Around October. We will be doing Italy in September, I seem to recall. We've done a lot of European stuff. We just did three weeks playing in so many different countries. Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Germany, The Netherlands. It has been quite a schedule! But, I wanna get back to recording as soon as I can get people in. 

Jonas has made a really great album. Karmakanic. It's damn good. And Nad, his solo album which I think is just about to come out, sounds really good too! The team's been doing brilliant things! Collectively and separately, so that's really interesting. 

Sophia: Thanks Steve!  I intend to catch one of your dazzling and brilliant shows when you come to Montreal, Canada this Fall!  It's going to be a night to remember!  Not to be missed!!!

Steve: Thanks, Sophia. Sure! Well, my love affair with Canada started when I was a kid. I went to school in Vancouver when I was 7 years old. We were all set to stay and live there. So, you know, Canada has a big part of my heart. I was all set to become the guitarist in Brian Adams band or Joni Mitchell. I always loved Canada! It's a great, great country. 

Sophia: Thank you for that!  That's very heart-warming. 

Thanks for being YOU, Steve Hackett.  You're such an incredible inspiration and blessing to the musical world! It's been an enormous THRILL of a lifetime to interview you for Guitar Thrills Magazine!  

Thanks for your musical gifts, your love of music and phenomenal passion in your ability to share this with the planet! Your music. Your extraordinary and exceptional gift to the world.

RELATED ARTICLE: Steve Hackett, The Alchemist, Guitar Hero, and Guitar God! Part I






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For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.

  • Company (referred to as either "the Company", "We", "Us" or "Our" in this Agreement) refers to Guitar Thrills Magazine., Tampa, FL U.S.A.

  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.

  • Country refers to: Florida, United States

  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

  • Service refers to the Website.

  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.

  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

  • Website refers to Guitar Thrills Magazine, accessible from https://www.guitarthrills.com

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address

  • First name and last name

  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device's Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

Tracking Technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service. The technologies We use may include:

  • Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. Unless you have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our Service may use Cookies.

  • Flash Cookies. Certain features of our Service may use local stored objects (or Flash Cookies) to collect and store information about Your preferences or Your activity on our Service. Flash Cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as those used for Browser Cookies. For more information on how You can delete Flash Cookies, please read "Where can I change the settings for disabling, or deleting local shared objects?" available at https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/disable-local-shared-objects-flash.html#main_Where_can_I_change_the_settings_for_disabling__or_deleting_local_shared_objects_

  • Web Beacons. Certain sections of our Service and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).

Cookies can be "Persistent" or "Session" Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser.

We use both Session and Persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:

  • Necessary / Essential Cookies

    Type: Session Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with those services.

  • Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.

  • Functionality Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website.

For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy or the Cookies section of our Privacy Policy.

Use of Your Personal Data

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.

  • To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.

  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.

  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application's push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.

  • To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information.

  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

  • For business transfers: We may use Your information to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Data held by Us about our Service users is among the assets transferred.

  • For other purposes: We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Service, products, services, marketing and your experience.

We may share Your personal information in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, to contact You.

  • For business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of Our business to another company.

  • With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.

  • With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions.

  • With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside.

  • With Your consent: We may disclose Your personal information for any other purpose with Your consent.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation

  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company

  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service

  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public

  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Children's Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.

If We need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing Your information and Your country requires consent from a parent, We may require Your parent's consent before We collect and use that information.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:

  • By email: info@guitarthrills.com

  • By visiting this page on our website: https://guitarthrills.com