String theories

Guitarist and composer Richard Wallis plays at Taste Merchants this week. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Guitarist and composer Richard Wallis plays at Taste Merchants this week. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.

Richard C. Wallis' debut solo album encapsulates his passion for classical guitar. Still, he does enjoy the occasional rock lick, writes Shane Gilchrist.

The guitar-playing skills of Richard C. Wallis might be well-regarded by those with an affinity for certain Dunedin bands of the 1980s and 1990s, yet these days he more often caresses a classical instrument than an electric one.

Then again, he could also be busy with a hammer. Having returned to Otago last year after a long stint in Canterbury, Wallis has swapped life in a house-truck for life in a house in Waikouaiti, a project that is keeping him busy enough.

So, too, has his debut solo album, Shifting Lands, a collection of 12 classical guitar pieces released on his own label, Gardens Corner Music, last month.

Wallis' alt-rock resume includes 1980s Dunedin alternative rock outfit Gamaunche, late 1980s-early 1990s punk covers band the Ex-Pistols, a collaboration with David Eggleton on 1993 album Poetry Demon, another poetry-based album with Dunedin's Gaylene and the Undertakers and, more recently, working with Christchurch rock-pop outfit Spencerville Project.

Given his background in rock music, he confesses he didn't really know what he was getting himself into in regards to recording classical guitar.

Having studied classical guitar at the University of Otago under Sue Court in the early '90s, Wallis went on to do some study in Christchurch with private teacher David Smith in the late '90s, when he was also president of the Christchurch Guitar Society.

''Since then I've done private study and taught myself. I've attended masterclasses and got good advice from friends and colleagues. There wasn't really a course that suited what I wanted to do, so I made my own way. I realise that this could be an issue for some people, but I think the album will stand up to scrutiny in the long run.

''The music is quite complex so I had to get some of the technical things under my belt before I could start writing my own stuff. Of course, while you are learning other people's music, you are picking up some of those formal compositional skills as you go.

''Recording was a big learning curve for me. I did it on a laptop. One track was done in the Hororata Hall, recorded in between the tractors and trucks. The rest were done here at my place in Waikouaiti.''

Keen to make the recording process as simple as possible, the 49-year-old musician used a single microphone to record his ''rather valuable'' acoustic guitar, made by New York luthier Eugene Clark.

''Simplicity is important. I don't want to slap digital effects all over my recordings. It was a very simple set-up. The first three tracks do have a small amount of digital reverb on them because they were recorded in a small room. But the album, overall, is very 'dry'.''

Boasting titles such as Full moon flax and Night storm over shadow basin, many of the pieces on Shifting Lands have been inspired by nature, Wallis says.

''When I was writing the songs, I was spending a lot of time cruising around in my house-truck, so nature was an inspiration.''

''Cockle and Pipi are character studies of a friend's two young children playing on the beach and their different play styles. Track four, Nahoni is one I wrote for my dog when I had to put her down. The title track was inspired after Greendale fault ruptured about 5km from Hororata,'' Wallis explains.

''Without trying to sound too airy-fairy about it, what I pretty much do is write a small `cell' or lyrical theme, which usually takes about a month. I write about 12 pieces a year. Sometimes it's a bit more, sometimes less.

''There is no particular harmonic flow or progression of keys in regards to the order of the album. I just listened to the songs and went on feel.''

Wallis says although his original repertoire now numbers more than 30 pieces, he often mixes his own songs with traditional classical compositions.

''The repertoire depends on the show. I've been doing a regular thing at Taste Merchants [in Dunedin]. Most of last year I was playing at Fleur's Place in Moeraki. This weekend I'm playing at the Urban Calm Yin Yoga Centre on High St.

''At Fleur's Place, I do pretty much what I want, so I'll play some traditional stuff. Occasionally, I'll get a request, as some of the audience know the music quite well. Then I'll mix in my own stuff and try to sell some CDs.

''But if it's a formal concert, I'll introduce myself and provide some information on the pieces, then get on with it.''

Though Wallis doesn't play electric guitar that much any more, it's not that he doesn't like to.

''It's more because I get most of my work playing nylon-string guitar these days. Last year was really good. This year is a bit slower, but that gives me time to fix the house as well as concentrate on original stuff.

''I have incorporated some of the ideas from classical guitar into electric guitar playing music, especially finger-picking.

''To be honest, I find there is freedom in what I do on the classical guitar as well.''


The album
Richard C. Wallis' Shifting Lands (Gardens Corner Music) is available from Two Tone Records, Gardens Corner, North Rd. He performs at Urban Calm Yin Yoga Centre, High St, Dunedin, at 5pm tomorrow and at Taste Merchants, Lower Stuart St, every Thursday from noon.


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