Jon Gomm

His guitar’s called Wilma! He’s from Blackpool! He is, most likely, one of the very best guitarists in the world! His track Passionflower has had over seven million hits on YouTube! He tours the world constantly to his avid fans! And now, Jon Gomm is playing at The Owl Sanctuary for Norwich’s ears only! Let’s see what he has to say while his guitar gently weeps (in a happy way).

How did you start playing acoustic guitar, and how come you didn’t move into electric over the years?

I was so young I can't remember, but apparently when I was 2 I was transfixed by Mark Knopfler playing guitar on TV. It was all I wanted for Christmas. My parents bought me a ukulele, and by the time I was 4 I was taking classical guitar lessons. I took up electric guitar when I was 8 or 9 I think. I've played electric guitar and bass in bands, but now when I pick up an electric it feels so small, so quiet and powerless, it's like a toy compared to my acoustic guitar.

Your dad was a music critic; how did that influence you when you were growing up?

My dad used to take me to blues gigs he was reviewing, and often the touring bands would stay at his house, so when I was a kid I was lucky enough to get one-to-one lessons over breakfast from some incredible legendary blues guitarists, like Bob Brozman and Walter Trout. And get backstage to meet legends like BB King and Jack Bruce. Mr Bruce passed away recently, and it's at times like that I feel very lucky to have seen him play, met him, and be friends with his guitarist to this day.

How did you come to create the techniques you use to make your own particular sound?

Some techniques I invented through experimentation, some I copied from other people. My introduction to playing percussion on the guitar came from flamenco, initially, from my classical guitar teacher. But then later I saw blues guitarists who'd play drums on their guitars, whereas my introduction to tapping (playing guitar with both hands on the neck, like a piano) came from rock and metal guitarists like Joe Satriani. So having a weirdly broad input has helped me have a hopefully unique output.

What is it about the guitar that you love so much?

It's the best instrument in the world! You can play anything on guitar, you can learn 3 chords and with that you can play 1000 songs. It's portable, it's sociable, it's just awesome. I'm really grateful it's so embedded into my life. I can't imagine not playing guitar, it'd be like losing a limb.

I’ve loved your covers of songs by Chaka Khan and The Police. How do you choose which songs to cover?

It's different every time. The Police song is one I loved when I was a kid. When my parents split up, I suddenly went from having my dad's record collection, which was huge and amazing, to only having my mum's, which was... erm... smaller. But she had some Police records and I loved them. It's perfect pop, but played by a real actual three piece band. The early records sound raw yet perfect. The Chaka Khan song was more just hearing the song, and thinking of how to play it on guitar, imagining the kick ass bassline, imagining how I could reach those notes using a weird tuning and some weird techniques.

You must’ve worked really hard for so many years to become as accomplished as you are. Do you believe in intrinsic talent or could anyone, in theory, become as good as you are?

I don't know. I don't feel talented in the slightest. I don't think talent exists, not in music. Anybody can make music. You don't have to be "good". Someone can be tone deaf and still enjoy singing. I know my music is really flashy and difficult, but that's more about me as a person, as someone who wants to solve a puzzle, then create a new puzzle and solve that.

Who has inspired you most as a guitarist over the years?

There's so many, but I like to mention Michael Hedges, who is a key influence for my generation of guitarists. My peers like Andy McKee and Kaki King, we're all massively into Hedges, he's the source. And more personally for me, a singer-songwriter called Nick Harper - he's just the best. He's Pele. If I could be him, I would.

You tour all over the world pretty much continuously. Does it mean you miss out on a personal life?

I just had to abandon a tour overseas because of a serious family health crisis. Driving home from Munich to Leeds to care for a loved one, leaving a tour behind me, was literally the worst experience of my life. So yes, it causes problems.