Dweezil Zappa has issued an update on his highly anticipated, mega-ambitious instrument guitar track, What The Hell Was I Thinking?, revealing he wants to expand its already eye-wateringly star-studded credits list with even more electric guitar heroes.
Back in 1989, Zappa began work on a track that, when it finally arrives, will most likely define his body of solo guitar work. Conceptualized as a celebration of the guitar and the musicians who play it, What The Hell Was I Thinking? features a lineup that reads like something out of a guitar fan’s fantasy.
Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May, Angus and Malcolm Young, Steve Vai and Steve Morse all feature, with Zappa once revealing it featured more than 40 guest stars in total. However, as he told Guitar World at Guitar Summit last month, he wants to add even more to the list – naming a rock guitar hero and a jazz virtuoso in his appraisal.
“There are 45 people on it already, but it probably could get another 35-40 newer players,” he said. “There's a lot more new players out there that I'd like to get involved in.”
But it’s not just newer, unsung players that Zappa wants to recruit for What The Hell Was I Thinking? He also has his sights set on poaching a guitar hero or two along the way.
When asked for names, he replied, “I mean, there's obviously still some very well-known guys, like Jimmy Page. He'd be nice to have on there.
“There's definitely a lot of good players that are out there, newer players,” he continues. “Julian Lage is one of my favorites. But there's a ton of guys. There's this one guy, I can never remember how to say his name. He's a guitar player that plays micro-tonal stuff.
“He's from Azerbaijan and his picking style… I mean, he can play as fast as Yngwie, but it's all these really weird timing phrases and micro-tones. That stuff is fascinating.”
Zappa’s desire to draw from a huge berth of genres – rock, jazz, micro-tonal, melodic metal, prog, heavy metal, shred, and so forth – is indicative of the project’s wider purpose: to put different styles in the spotlight.
“The whole project is about guitar from every different perspective, every style,” Zappa notes. “It's made in a way where, it's like if you were listening to the radio and constantly changing the channel, the music would change.
“There's all these transitions, and it morphs. It's a continuous piece of music that's 75 minutes long. It has every style of music, but all done on guitar.”
Though the melting pot of styles on show will no doubt appeal to most guitar fans, it is the prospect of Eddie Van Halen's solo that seems to be the most tantalising. In a previous update, Zappa said Van Halen's contribution was like "a greatest hits of all his best guitar licks".
Guitar World's full interview with Dweezil Zappa will be live on YouTube in the coming weeks.
