Interview with The Police’s Andy Summers: The guitarist who changed the fate of ‘Every Breath You Take’

Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to turn an ordinary song into a pop culture immortal. Talk to Andy Summers, the composer of the famous guitar riff that was savedevery breath you take Take the edge of the trash can.

You read correctly. The most played song on the radio in the history of music never made it out of the album recording studios Synchronizationin 1983.

“It was going to be shelved,” recalls Andy Summers, who spoke to him. Newspaper Ahead of his solo concerts in Montreal and Quebec on Friday and Saturday.

because of ? Deep disagreement between Sting and Stuart Copeland over the direction the title should take.

“No one came. Everything changed when I played my guitar. Immediately, our director decided that this would be the first extract. »

Forty years later, the song has reached 1.5 billion online streams, numbers that are usually the domain of contemporary stars like Taylor Swift or The Weeknd. “Oh my God, it’s me,” Summers exclaimed as the note was passed to him. It created this timeless tone that drove the song. »

His versions of the group’s songs

Despite the musician’s love for him every breath you takeEverything indicates that she will not be on the show during her tour stop in Quebec Cracked lens + missing chain.

However, if we rely on his recent concerts, we can hear his re-reading Roxanne, Message in the Bottle And souls in the material world, Plus other covers and some songs from his solo collection.

Would you rather not play police songs at all? “Well, they’re kind of my heritage, so I don’t really mind. I like the way I play.”

Musician and photographer

As envisioned, The Andy Summers Show highlights his other passion. In addition to music, the guitarist, now 80, is a photography enthusiast.

“I show a series of photos I took all over the world, in Japan, China and India in particular, and I play the guitar in the photos. “I tell stories,” explains the man who became interested in photography when the film “The Police” became a success.

At that time, you had to buy a magazine to see pictures of your favorite artist. Today, everything is just a click away. Do we live in a world where there are too many images?

“Yes, it has become an incredible burden that everything always has to be online. I have to constantly update my Instagram account. We never did that before. We were making good songs and good albums and we were going to play them.”

Andy Summers will perform in concert at the National in Montreal on October 6 and at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec on October 7.