Scott Gorham - Thin Lizzy - chats to I Like Music

SCOTT: Like most bands there is no actual formula, there is no system to writing a song. You could be sitting in a sound check or rehearsal and someone will be messing with a riff and somebody will say, 'what are you playing there?' or 'listen, I've got some lyrics that'll fit on that.

Phil and I used to do a lot of sitting in the house with acoustic guitars and he'd pound out the assemblence of a chord sequence; I'll grab a guitar and add on to that, this would fit with that. We'd leaf through his lyric book to see what lyrics were fitting the mood of the song. Y'know there were a lot of different ways that inspiration would hit.

Our problem was/is that we never got a vast amount of time to do those things, because we were on the road so much that to catch those moments where Phil and I could sit down together or sit with the band and start writing stuff, towards the end especially it was becoming more and more rare, because we were never off the road, so making albums from midway onwards became a real tough thing for us to do.

ILM: Indeed, where would we be without music?

SCOTT: Yeah. And where would movies be? You know what kills me? In movies…the music guy always gets paid the least. They're the ones who set the mood for the whole thing. The credits should go, 'Director' and right after that it should go, 'And Music By…' but that's just my opinion.

ILM: I couldn't agree more.

Catch PART TWO of our INTERVIEW with Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy next week, where we talk about Scott's fondest studio memory, their November 2007 tour, the twin guitar clash technique and what Scott misses the most about his best friend and band mate Phil Lynott.page << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >>