Postcards From NOW HERE

Phil Manzanera gave Roxy Music the taut riffs that made the band’s hits irresistibly danceable – but his latest album, recorded with Tim Finn, is about traveling without moving. We joined him to discover why a Firebird and an Ox make a powerful combination in any home studio, and receive a masterclass in the recording techniques he’s honed over 50 years of hits

- Jamie Dickson

In Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera was the guitarist who put the addictive hooks into hits such as Love Is The Drug and Angel Eyes. A lifelong sonic innovator, Phil worked closely with Brian Eno to create Roxy Music’s experimental pop classics of the 70s – but Roxy’s albums also showed him to be a player of rare taste and poise. Phil’s also produced albums as diverse as David Gilmour’s On An Island and John Cale’s Fear – but he’s far from done making his own music. In fact, he’s just completed a new album entitled Caught By The Heart with Tim Finn, formerly of Crowded House and Split Enz. A multilayered melange of sound with a Latin heartbeat, it brims with soulful sounds from all corners of the world.

Despite its eclecticism, Caught By The Heart was recorded while both Phil and Tim were confined to their home studios, separated by thousands of miles, during the lockdown. With the album now out and the music world slowly emerging from the long shadow of Covid, we joined Phil in the ‘hut’ that became his musical sanctuary to hear his perspectives on the art of recording, learn how he crafted Roxy’s timeless guitar lines, and find out what guitar gear has captured his heart in recent times.

How did you first meet Tim Finn?

“Well, we first met in 1975 when we were on the first Roxy Music tour of Australia. We just arrived in Sydney after a humongous long journey. In those days, it seemed really like a huge adventure to go to Australia. And so I spent 24 hours or something on a plane, I got into my hotel room and collapsed on the bed, turned on the telly and the first people I see are Split, Enz.