Humanity Hallows Issue 5 Out Now
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By Dylan McCallum

Humanity Hallows discusses inspiration, experience and personal project BANDANTE with George Vjestica.

You were nine years old when watching Hendrix on TV inspired you to pick up the guitar, you’ve kept playing ever since. What keeps you inspired?

That same feeling I had when I was nine. For me there’s a magic to music.   These days I’m fortunate enough to be around some wonderful creative people, great musicians. I love listening to music and being open to it too. I’m a very restless person and curious too so I need to work and find new things all the time.

Your career in music spans from working on film soundtracks to critically acclaimed albums with a whole host of other well-known musicians. Do these varying experiences tend to influence each other?

In some ways they do, when you work with the likes of Nick Cave, John Squire etc you can’t help but take something away from that.

You’ve mentioned that for a while you wanted to keep songs you had written for yourself hidden. What persuaded you to finally share your own tunes?

I was a co-writer in a band in the mi- nineties that had big record deals on the table, but it was all egos and politics and fucked up so I ended up playing guitar for other people. During this time I kept writing songs and had built up quite a repertoire but had never got round to recording them properly. They were all either in my head or on some four track recorder. I just thought it was time to get the songs out there and show the big wide world what I was about.

Can you tell us about your band BANDANTE?

It’s my thing. It’s a vehicle for me to present my songs and to show another side of me as a guitarist. We did our first gig at The Scotch Of St. James in London at the end of 2015. Sammy J Stopford is on drums and Kai Stephens on bass.

When can we expect to hear more Bandante material?

We’re working on an E.P that should be out in September.

Watching BANDANTE live promises to be a unique experience with collage artist Timothy Shepard’s projections. Was this something you envisaged early on in the project or did the idea evolve over time?

Yes it was something I envisaged early on but without it being a distraction to the band and the music. The thing about the projections is that they are all analogue, old reel to reels films that Tim has cut up so from his perspective its more like a stream of consciousness…like lifting the lid on someone’s brain and all these random thoughts just flying out. What I like about it is there’s a certain feel and quality /atmosphere you cant get from digital process. It’s old school in a Pink Floyd at UFO way. It’s a very hit and miss thing when it works its beautiful when it doesn’t…oh shit!

The Samarkand Hotel is an enigmatic, beautiful piece. Is this style of music something you’d explore further in the future?

Definitely, it’s almost cinematic. There’s a simplicity and space to The Samarkand Hotel, an emptiness that’s evocative too. I’m pretty sure that vibe comes from the travel side of my life

What advice would you give to someone who has just picked up the guitar?

Don’t put it down …only when you have to! Practice, listen to and watch other guitar players all the time and eventually something will click. The big one is to never be afraid to develop your own style.

Which three guitarists would you recommend them to listen to?

Vini Reilly…an amazing guitar player, Lou Reed and Mick Ronson.

Finally, who are you listening to right now?

Right now! I’m sitting in a café in Essaouira, Morocco listening to some Gnaoua music…when I get back home I’ll put on some Fat White Family and Toydrums latest album.

You can find tickets for their Manchester gig here and their London gig here.