今年早些时候，Fender宣布了他们的Fender Next Intiative发起的计划，该计划旨在支持艺术家和音乐家，他们正在帮助将吉他音乐推向新的，更具创新性的方向。随着今晚的水星音乐奖，我们与Fender的艺术家关系主管Neil Whitcher谈到了被提名的艺术家。Little Simz，Idles和Fontaines D.C.都受益于下一个程序的支持，同时还重新定义了吉他在2019年可以做什么。
小西姆兹的灰色地带is her third album, utilising clever and vulnerable worldplay against live instrumentation. Fontaines DC are a Dublin based band, they’re debut album,Dogrel，用重复的，有驱动的吉他展示都柏林的口音，而布里斯托尔的闲置Joy As An Act Of Resistanceto critical acclaim, talking of austerity and toxic masculinity behind a wall of rousing and twisted guitar lines.
接下来是什么挡泥板？
“ Fender Next是我们开发的一个程序，以扩大当今艺术家的声音，并在吉他演奏者和吉他音乐的下一个面孔上发光。这些艺术家正在为乐器做一些非常令人兴奋的事情，并在其中散发出焦点。这是我们发展的方式，我们希望我们将演变成真正有意义的事物，并展示吉他与各种流派，性别，无论是什么都涉及的令人兴奋的新音乐的深度和广度。我们在英国计划中有八位艺术家的清单，目的是在旅途中支持他们，同时也关注一些出色的吉他音乐。”
它如何使艺术家受益？
“It benefits the artist from us being a guitar brand of note with a huge legacy of artists that have made incredible music using Fender instruments and amplifiers. It’s harder now than ever to keep a band on the road so we support artists by putting on experiential events and shows, for example we had a showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas earlier this year. We’re also present at the Great Escape festival in Brighton in the UK, which is a spotlight festival for new music.
“We’ve curated live events and we also create social media and PR opportunities. We also align them with our kind of priorities in terms of what the latest and greatest product from from Fender is. You’ll find a lot of the artists are out there with American Performer instruments, Fender amplifiers; all the stuff you need to further your craft as a musician.”
您如何处理您认为正在推动吉他向前推动吉他的艺术家？
“我们正在寻找的是一些多样性，以确保那里的每个人都有一些东西。Fender仪器一直提供的一件事是能够在许多不同的音乐领域中使用。我们不仅有10个硬岩或鞋带乐队的列表，而且我们希望拥有多种多样的组合。
“One of the things that we noticed in our consumer research is the amount of female guitar players that are out there. Last year 49 per cent of guitar purchases were by females. and there’s a lot of amazing female musicians and artists out there. We want to get a really good mix to reflect what’s going on and what the people that are interested in buying Fender guitars are listening to.
也没有大量的跨界车。该程序中的一个示例是Fontaines DC，我们也没有Simz。她生活在嘻哈世界中，但弹奏贝斯和吉他，这是专辑和现场表演中的遍历。这些都是在某种轨迹上并做一些有趣的事情的艺术家。这是关于平衡的，但最终我们希望用吉他和贝斯进行一些杀手。”
You have three Next artists nominated for the Mercury Prize this year, can you tell us more about them?
“这些乐队确实在那儿完善了他们的手艺，他们都设法在音乐上做一些有趣的事情，而且在文化上做了一些有趣的事情。有了他们所做的一切，他们似乎与年轻的观众特别联系。他们不仅在音乐上而且在抒情上都有话要说，这确实是整个包裹。他们带来的态度以及他们在那里传达的信息。这并不是我们接近闲置，而是我们以一个传统的方式赞助了它们，这是我们随着时间的推移建立的真正关系。
“如果您不熟悉这些乐队，当它们出现在这些列表中或挡泥板上时，它将引起人们的关注，并帮助听众自己发现它们。它可能带给您或以新的方式激发您的灵感。所有的艺术家都具有一定的承诺和诚实。在舞台上观看这些艺术家中的任何一个，这是一次非常强大的经历，您不能否认它。”
What is it about Little Simz, IDLES and Fontaines DC that you feel is refreshing for guitar music?
“其中很多是真正有趣的艺术家，就像他们接近演奏的方式一样，并不是所有人都来自传统的学习音乐家。I think that can be the true definition of an artist who is inspired by everything around them, it might not just be a piece of music that they’ve heard or have grown up with, they might use that as a springboard for something more interesting.
“When it comes to the to a straight up guitar band like Idles, I think they bring an energy that hasn’t been seen to guitar music for a long while. They’re not relying on traditional male rock stereotypes, yet it’s guitar heavy music. Some of the tones that they get that are really interesting. They’re not shredding, they’re not overly high gain but they’re very loud. And they do with the level of passion and commitment that you don’t see very often.”
与其他面向吉他的艺术家，如Anna Calvi，Black Midi，Poals和1975年，您认为今年的Mercury奖表明，进度吉他音乐正在创造？
“I believe so in the diversity of their choices. They’re not just basing it on who’s sold the most records, the whole ethos of the Mercury Prize is about who’s doing something unique and different, and connecting in a way that hasn’t been seen before. You couldn’t really compare Black Midi to The 1975 – Black Midi make music like I’ve never heard before! For some people that might be challenging but I think that’s part of what it’s about, to further musical exploration.
“I definitely think the Mercury Prize is showing some real diversity. This year it’s really, really guitar heavy across all genres. 2020 it’s going to be a really exciting year again, looking at some of the bands that are on the horizon and talking to people in the industry.”
Who are you tipping to win the Mercury Prize?
“我永远不会正确！奇怪的是，我们很早就确定了许多艺术家，但这确实很难预测。有时有人会跳出来，你就像是“嗯，为什么？”我认为可能令人惊讶的人很少。黑色MIDI也可能是局外人。我认为Fontaines DC和闲置的情况非常好。他们是两个乐队，今年确实找到了与观众相关的东西。我有机会看到他们活着，这是值得一看的东西。我强烈推荐其中任何节目！”
To see the full list of Mercury Prize nomineesclick here。