i think I got his point but first id like to point out that he gets his tune straight via electric guitar and amp as written in the interview. so basically he is a guitar-amp guy, correct me if im wrong here
because i havent heard his music nor watched any.
but there is a big distinction between playing guitars and playing with stomps/effects. its like using two different weapons but of the same purpose. other guitarist start with clean then add effects, which is what they like. others gain sound straight via effects without looking in the clean side, and when the effects are off sometimes it sounds like crap but with effects on its cool. just like the intro of "bulls on parade" the wah sound, with no wah effects will sound bad as if its only a one-way strumming, but when effects are on it sounds catchy.
i do hope you get my point, if gears are the enemy we might as well go back to acoustic and throw away electric guitar since its limited. well put it this way whateever car we drive its the same car but with different features, its not how fast we drive, its about using it to the full potential. just look at the ae-86 trueno of takumi in the initial d anime, watch it and you will get what i mean.
moreover, creativity in what? what medium? it using full potential about the gears you have. you might only have a single ds-1 and yet you can make chart topping hits, well i guess you got what being a musician meant. you may have truck loads of pedals but you cant even compose a song and all you do is cover songs, where is creativity in that? so its best to use whatever we have to the full potential and upgrading later on
I also agree with him well gears, gutiars whatever are just mediums, whats important is how we express ourselves using the mediums. eventhough its only a ukelele if we can make truly good songs, what ever weapon we choose we can do it. Im not saying that all guitarist must be a pro singer, no! the topic is about expression so I guess we truly must let it out. with imagination anything is possible
well just take a look at beatles, during their early days they hardly had any gears like what we all have now. all they have is clean electric guitar and truck loads of imagination. but on the later part of their career when they had access to various equipments their imagination also expanded. try listening to their albums "sgt pepper" and "abbey road" those albums I can say are the point of beatles maturity in writing music. their early days are catchy as well but so simple but cool. Nirvana's music is next to simple as well.
