Licked: Jean Fossat explains how to play guitar like Slift
Since bursting onto the scene with an acclaimed KEXP set in the ever-distant dream of the pre-Covid era, Slift have remained one of the most compelling rock acts around. Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Jean Fossat, his brother Remy on bass, and drummer Canek Flores, the Toulouse outfit crafts pulsating odysseys, thrusting listeners to the limits of space and time, and that’s without the option of narcotic facilitators.
The trio’s new album Illion, built on the brilliance of 2020’s Ummon, establishes a unique sound that fits somewhere between metal and psychedelia, with the heavier moments more resounding and the hypnotic ones more full-bodied. On it, Slift jumps further into the void with increasingly expansive sonics that leans on more conspicuous electronic textures for extra impact.
While each member brings something vital to the leviathan that is Slift, the duality of Jean Fossat’s fierce vocals and searing guitar lines are extra potent, with his guitar playing the spike of the band’s LSD-dipped spear. Through his crunching chords and spacey melodies, with an overall style that adroitly bounces between punishing and dream-like, the trio manages to pierce the listener profoundly and leave an everlasting mark after oxygen levels are reclaimed and the cognitive trip wears off.
Jean was nine when it all started. Just like with many musicians, a friend from school initiated it all. Flores was a drummer looking for a creative outlet when he asked his buddy to be in a band. He recalls, “I told him, ‘Of course, whenever you want, but I don’t know how to play any instruments!'” He was promptly instructed to learn guitar. Happy to oblige, it transpired that a friend of his parents had an old Yamaha C40 acoustic lying around and was glad to lend it to him. This commenced his long journey to artistic achievement, with Jean learning a handful of chords to get started and play along with his buddy.
Naming his number one idol, he states: “I am a lifelong member of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Church”. This acknowledgement goes a long way in confirming the frenetic psychedelic tradition that birthed his playing and that of Slift in general, with their spacey sonic voyages a distant, more muscular relative to that of the late Seattle wizard.
Like with most players, the first guitar they learned to play on becomes something of a totem, a reminder of their early days and how far they have come. After playing the loaned Yamaha C40 a lot, Fossat’s parents decided to buy him a copy of his own.
Unsurprisingly, given their long history together, it’s a tool he intermittently uses to write on: “I still have it, it’s indestructible, I sometimes still compose music on it. This is the guitar that I would recommend to all beginners.”
Taking a more holistic turn, Fossat commented on how he forged his unique sound. He looked to the early days as significant in every player’s story with constant metamorphosis and refinement instrumental to all: “Each sound is unique because each person is unique; to think otherwise is an aberration for me. So I think musicians find their sound very early. They then develop it, refining it over the years and through experience. The quest for sound is endless. It’s something that lasts a lifetime. That’s the beauty of it!”
From the outside looking in, a key to Fossat becoming the player he is today is the distinctive 23-fret SG model he employs. Answering the burning question on the mind of his fans who fall into the guitar nerd category, he reveals that it was built by the French luthier Roger Daguet. Complete with an Olympic white Cellulosic lacquer finish, a mint green/duck egg pickguard and two D90 ‘RDG’ pickups, on his website, the custom model is aptly titled “SG P90 Korina aka ‘The Slift’ model”. It comes with a Korina neck and body and the option to have either an ebony or rosewood fretboard. It would set anyone looking to emulate Fossat’s sound a cool €3,500.
This chosen axe is part of a finely honed rig. “I use two Fender amps: a Super Bassman and a Dual Showman,” he explains. “For cabs, a Marshall 412 bass lead and a Fender 215. For pedals: Death By Audio Fuzz War, RMC1 Wah, Boss DMW2 Delay, OTO Bam, and Enzo Meris. Recently I also added a copy of Klon Centaur and the drive Barbershop from Fairfield Circuit.”
While they might often seem like an added complication for the uninitiated, guitar strings are vital to any player of note’s sound. As Fossat’s sound is a remarkable mixture of girthy and intricate, it makes sense that he uses a thick string gauge, allowing him to go toe to toe with Slift’s elemental rhythm section and command audiences.
Of his strings, he says: “12-60, Ernie Ball. It’s a custom build; I order the strings individually. I change the strings before each concert. Otherwise, they break!”
Every guitarist of note has their favourite trick, and for Fossat, it’s playing with his pickup switch and muting a tone knob. This playing style is influenced by the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, a man whose bright licks and prominent thumb action have impacted the Slift guitarist’s intricate flourishes. Fossat explains: “It creates some cool waves with the fuzz engaged! I dig the sound of the tone muted; on some jams, it could create great atmosphere, with delay too.”
But all these influences are subsumed within something decidedly singular. Incidentally, Fossat names ‘Confluence’ from Illion as the song that best defines him as a guitarist. It is perhaps the most distilled version of his playing. While it might forego the heavy chugs he often weaponises, it is a highlight of the group’s oeuvre because of his extensive soloing, which is so lucid, it’d likely induce a whitey if you were too stoned watching them live.
The track is comprised of a feverish use of techniques such as bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs, as well as effects like delay and reverb that fuse technique, cogent use of pedals and artistic vision into over eight minutes of mesmeric abandon. The towering, echo-drenched refrain that pulls it all together is astounding. Fossat is the messenger from out of space, and it is through this pulsating, technicolour passage of air that we follow him to untold reaches. Who knows what delights this kaleidoscopic vista has in store further down the line?
This is just as well because Jean could never see a future beyond his instrument: “Honestly, since I was nine years old, I’ve wanted to be a musician, and I’m lucky enough to be able to do that today. I don’t know at all what I would have done if I hadn’t made music. Before I was nine? I probably wanted to be Aragorn in Lord of the Rings!”
The blueprint:
