As I type this, our YouTube
Channel (youtube.com/premierguitar) is approaching
30 million views (wuhoo!),
and as you can imagine, it’s
no stranger to weird-ass comments
of all sorts. Everything
from giddy requests for the “free
gear” viewers think we get (we
don’t) to levelheaded, thoughtful
observations about the
video subject matter to heated
battles over which piece of gear
or player in the video rules (or
blows) to expressions of … er,
“admiration” for the kick-ass
women on our staff. Expressions
that range from tasteful and
restrained to so creepy you A)
hope the commenter one day
moves out of his/her parents’
basement and learns to develop
a social filter, B) hope you never
cross paths with the person in
real life, or C) hope they are
soon rounded up by their local
police department.
We get similar stuff on our
Facebook page, too, only it’s not
nearly as bad because, well, people
can see who you are there.
But whether it’s on Facebook or
YouTube, we can always count
on certain hot-button players or
bands to roil the waters—and
trust us, we usually know well in
advance which will be a thorn in
our collective buttocks. We knew
our Rig Rundown with Creed’s
Mark Tremonti would brew
up fresh battles about how he’s
the best/most-derivative player
alive. We knew our RR with
John Mayer’s tech would revive
debate about how he’s either
the most sexist and misogynistic
guitarist on the planet or the
heir to Clapton. And we sure as
hell knew a Rig Rundown on
Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and
Ryan Peake would prompt some
of the sharpest barbs of all time.
So, naturally, when managing
editor Tessa Jeffers went off to
shoot a Rig Rundown with Ted
Nugent, we expected to get all
sorts of craziness from across the
sociopolitical spectrum. But …
damn, we were still pretty blown
away at how unhinged and
uncivil some people can get.
The “Motor City Madman”
is obviously infamous for his
outspoken views on a number of
politicized subjects. And we’ve
spoken to players on the opposite
end of the spectrum, too—players
like Tom Morello and Ani
DiFranco. And we’ve no doubt
interviewed players who some
people might find offensively
apathetic toward issues of the day.
Trust us—we totally get the
visceral gut reactions that various
outspoken artists can elicit as individuals.
Heck, we’re human, too.
The funny thing is, you can tell
from a lot of the out-there comments
on our Rig Rundowns that
the person didn’t actually watch
the clip. Even though the players’
polarizing beliefs aren’t expressed
in our vids (as was the case with
the Nuge), it doesn’t seem to make
a difference: Under the cover of
YouTube’s anonymity (and, to a
certain extent, even on the more
transparent Facebook), a handful
of viewers always attempts to
hijack a comment thread and take
it away from where it belongs.
Let us be clear: It’s about the
guitar, stupid.
Of course, we mean “stupid”
as a term of endearment
… unless you’re one of those
people trying to ruin it for the
99 percent of players who prefer
wailing on our axes rather than
each other. Sorry—call it “tough
love” if it helps it go down and
get digested more easily.
But seriously, even though we
here on the PG staff sometimes
find ourselves agreeing with various
personal feelings expressed
by our readers toward interview
subjects because of their politics,
we keep them to ourselves.
Why?
Because our number-one goal
is to cover a wide range of guitarists
and bassists and to get them
to talk about their craft in an
engaging, informative, and entertaining
manner. Our strict MO
is to avoid discussion of polarizing
non-musical topics and
to make it all about everything
from playing and practicing to
songwriting, performing, recording,
and getting great tones.
That said, we will tip our
hand a little to let you know
that all this vitriol has made us
think seriously about starting a
new Premier Guitar video franchise
that brings the cathartic
Claymation of MTV’s Celebrity
Deathmatch to guitardom: The
pilot episode will feature Vinnie
Vincent and Ace Frehley attempting
to javelin-throw axes through
Tommy Thayer’s torso, and it will
culminate with YouTube trolls
battling to the death over who
had the best/worst technique,
tone, and gear.
Shawn Hammond
shawn@premierguitar.com
