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Interview: The Police’s Andy Summers discusses new solo album (Includes interview)

The album will be released on March 24 by Flickering Shadow Productions on all digital platforms. Summers rose to fame in the late ’70s as the guitarist of the legendary award-winning, multi-million-selling rock band The Police, which is recognized as the most successful group of the era. His innovative guitar sound was a key element of the band’s popularity, thus creating a new paradigm for guitarists that has been widely imitated in the decades since.

Regarding his new album, Triboluminescence, he said, “It took months to make it, so it was a slow building of the tracks with all the parts, compositionally. I boiled it down to the nine tracks that made the album.”

He noted that he does not have a personal favorite track on the album, and that he loves all of them. “They are all very different, and that’s what makes the music interesting,” he said. “There is an overall thematic approach, and they all had to succeed in their own way.”

On the song, “Elephant Bird,” he said, “I like the melodies. I created that loop as this exotic backing. I’ve got the drums on it, and nothing was particularly obvious. It created this positive melody that surprised me, and it was really working. It sounded like Miles Davis to me, in a good way on the guitar. I was pleased with the way it came out.”

He noted that “Haunted Dolls” was one of the more difficult tracks to get right. “I went through a few changes on that one. I love the opening melody. I had a few different bridges, and I had another drummer play on it. It was a great piece but problematic to finish it off, and in the end, I abandoned the bridge idea because I felt that the key change really came with the guitar solo,” he said.

Summer shared that the album’s title is a “scientific word that actually means creating light from dark, which is a very good metaphor for the creative process.” “That was the choice. I think it’s a really hooky word that people get interested in it,” he said.

Each day, Summers is motivated by creativity. “I like making things, whether it is photography, writing or playing the guitar and creating new compositions. That’s what inspires me,” he said.

On the key to longevity in the music industry, he said, “doing good work and not getting caught up in trends.” “Taking your own true feelings and allowing what you really want to play, and forget about commercial success,” he said. “You need to decide if you ultimately want to be a pop sensation or a real artist.”

In 2003, Summers was inducted into the coveted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with his band-mates Sting and Stewart Copeland, as a member of The Police.

To learn more about Grammy-winning guitarist Andy Summers and his new album, check out his official website.

Markos Papadatos
Written By

Markos Papadatos is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for Music News. Papadatos is a Greek-American journalist and educator that has authored over 20,000 original articles over the past 18 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in music, entertainment, lifestyle, magic, and sports. He is a 16-time "Best of Long Island" winner, where for three consecutive years (2020, 2021, and 2022), he was honored as the "Best Long Island Personality" in Arts & Entertainment, an honor that has gone to Billy Joel six times.

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