In a new interview with Guitar World, Dave Matthews shared how he draws inspiration from King Crimson and Robert Fripp’s distinctive finger techniques. The singer, songwriter, and producer may not fit the stereotypical image of a Robert Fripp disciple in terms of appearance and sound; however, he revealed that the prog guitarist has significantly influenced him.
Though his influence is combined with his own guitar skills, Matthews thinks Fripp would not comment positively on it:
“He would probably look at my guitar playing and think, ‘You’re a moron,’ but he has this tuning where he plays in a really formal way [with his hands spread out].”
Matthews’ ‘Ignorant’ Imitation Made Him A Hit Song
The 1995 hit song ‘Satellite,’ released as the fifth and final single from their LP ‘Under the Table and Dreaming,’ was highly inspired by Fripp. But his imitation of the King Crimson guitarist might have affected him negatively. Referring to his view of imitation as ‘ignorant,’ he continued:
“I was just trying to imitate him, and I was also ignorant. So it was a combination of those two things. I was trying to play what he was playing by looking rather than listening, like ‘What is he doing?’ So I tried and it didn’t sound anything like what he was doing, but it was nice.”
‘Satellite’ Was A Challenge For Matthews
Clarifying he was influenced by the guitarist in his now-hit ‘Satellite,’ Matthews is aware that it was a challenging song to both write and play. Still, the thought of widening his fretting hand encouraged him to explore melodic ideas, along with a wish to break away from typical rock scales:
“Satellite was a challenging lick. I liked to watch Robert Fripp and how he played. But he has got this crazy way of playing – his hands are all spread out and he gets this coverage. Which is unnecessary if your guitar is tuned traditionally.”
You can listen to ‘Satellite’ below.
