"Things picked up again when Rob Tognoni took to the stage, his dexterity on guitar was truly awe-inspiring. Hailing from Tasmania, he played over an hour of songs backed by his technically mind-blowing guitar, and some funky low beats from his bassist. Armed with a Stratocaster, Tognoni let loose with countless blue's licks. I particularly liked Dark Angel, as well as Bad Girl which was one of his most rocking tracks. It was all impressive, sometimes guitar-led music can get boring when it gets technical to the extreme, but with Tognoni it was just a case of standing back in appreciation for his skills. A true Tasmanian Devil..."

(Speyside Music Festival Review - Brian Banks, MusicVice.com)

From Tasmania, Australia and introduced to Europe by blues master Dave Hole in 1994, Rob Tognoni delivers a 100% powerfully charged experience with every performance. There is simply no compromise, which is strongly evident in his music.

After 30 years his explosive guitar playing and unique songs are now being compared with the greats of his genre and have firmly established him in the European venues & festivals as well as gaining many fans of hard blues rock worldwide.

"Whilst Rob is a very powerful player, able to bring out power chords and driving riffs, there is also a subtle side to his playing that definitely reflects some of his influences, listed as including BB King, Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad and Tony Joe White..."

(Blues Matters Magazine UK - www.bluesmatters.com)

"Australian Rob Tognoni is one of the finest guitar players around today. His work is a combination of classic rock, blues & blues rock and is done with utmost passion and precision..."

(Bandit Blues Radio USA)

For more reviews/references, audio/video clips, pictures and/or cds, please visit Rob's website at www.robtognoni.com

Interview:

Rob, you are from Australia. Will you tell us about growing up in the country and the music scene?

Tasmania was an isolated place in the '60's. My mother used to sing in pantomimes around the country halls, and my grandmother played mouth organ, but that was about it with my earliest musical inspiration. Radio was limited to traditional C&W with religious overtones, so it wasn't an ideal breeding ground for blues rock.

When and how did you get to start playing the guitar? Were there any people or events that were musically influential?

Mum used to make me play an old organ before I tried guitar. It was one of those old pump things that you'd see in a Frankenstein movie. It would be worth a fortune now though. She was given a guitar from a neighbour over the road, but she couldn't make sense of it, so she gave it to me. It had 4 strings on it, but I didn't know that you could buy replacement strings, so I banged on 4 strings until it became a 3 string guitar... then 2 string... finally worked out there were packets of strings out there. Once I saved enough money, I had 6 strings, I learned to tune the guitar from the pump organ (that was out of tune by the way) then picked up my basic chords from watching bands on TV. I used to study where their fingers went on the guitar. I got a few chords right, but I wouldn't recommend this as a reliable form of instruction.

In the early '70's, my older sister was into the "scene" as far as music was concerned... she had great records, but most of them were rock and not so much on the blues content... Grand Funk, Slade etc... I saw an advert on TV with a guy playing "swamp blues" who was about to tour Tasmania - it was Tony Joe White... his sound really hit and made me curious. But, it wasn't until I went to an AC/DC concert that I got turned onto more the bluesier side of things. It was the song "The Jack" were Angus played with such emotion… it just worked for me. He has been so wrongly labelled over the years, I think he was & is one of the best blues players… I know a purist is going to disagree with me and hope I'm banished to rock-hell, but... it's how I see it. I then went on to listen to BB King, Hendrix, John Mayall, Muddy Waters...

You've been known as a blues player, but can you describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured?

Initially, it was a lonely route. My father was killed in a road accident when I was 13 and I used the guitar as a form of escape I think. I was numb to many things going on around me, I'd say it was depression. I preferred the sanctuary of my room to sit and play, although I did play soccer for a while... I liked that too. I was a goalkeeper, a shit goalkeeper, but I really liked it anyway. Eventually I started to play with other guys at school, hitchhiking to the next town every weekend for a practice session... I used to be nearly bursting at the seams to get there, it's all I thought of all week. God help the teachers at school trying to teach me anything. I remember the headmaster calling me up to his office and basically screaming at me "What the F*CK are you going to do with your life????" I just said "I wanna be a guitar player". If you could have only seen the disgust, frustration & trauma in his face.

You seem to have played a lot of gigs in Europe so far, but how did you get the good connection to Europe from your country?

I was living in Melbourne in 1991 with my wife Leonnie and daughter Anastasia. Things musically were going very wrong for me. I was in the kitchen making a coffee when Leonnie called me into the lounge where she had been watching a TV current affairs programme. There was a feature on a 44 year old guitar player from Perth getting signed to Alligator in the U.S. Of course this was Dave Hole. I was so happy to see someone who wasn't playing pop & was at a mature age get a break like this. I wrote him a letter of congratulations and posted it courtesy the TV station. They passed it on to Dave and he wrote back thanking me for my support. I wasn't after a thing from him, his success had lifted my spirits and I was grateful... that was enough.

It wasn't until 2 years later when my career was heading towards meltdown that I posted Dave off a cassette with 2 songs and the letter he had written to me. He remembered, liked the songs, rang me and said he was going to help me in Europe... and he did! Within 2 months of that phone call, his label Provogue in Holland offered me a deal and wanted me to tour.

As one of BUGERA's premier endorsers, I think you've already had a chance to play some of our new valve amps and cabinets. Did the BUGERA sound appeal to you on any level?

Yes, I'm currently using a 6262 120 W Combo. This a seriously good sounding amplifier, and LOUD! I'm using the clean channel's "crunch"" setting and getting a great blues rock tone. It came with 4 x 6L6 tubes, but it was too loud for me. Metal players are going to love the sheer volume and tightness of this amp.

Because I prefer a bit more looseness, I did a quick mod by taking out the two outside 6L6's tubes and dropped the impedance switch from 16 ohms to 8 ohms to compensate the right load to the speakers and I now have a nice spongy 60 watt amp that absolutely smokes... and still is as loud as hell!

You can also substitute the 6L6's for EL34's by just flicking a switch and doing a simple bias adjustment, but I haven't got around to trying this because it sounds so good as it is.

How far from the blues would you stray? Would you do a pop or even metal tune?

If I don't like it, I won't play it. I wouldn't play a metal tune, because I simply can't play metal and there are players out there that are breast-fed with metal... Pop? No, I don't think so either. I'll stick to what I know.

Are you fairly critical of the sound of your guitar on records?

Yep, like every guitar player is.

How many CD’s or LP's have you released as a solo artist so far? Which one has been the most successful?

I've released 8 CDs now and will be working on a 9th late this year. I think the last release, "Capital Wah" is looking to be the most successful.

Do you think you will use BUGERA both in the studio and on stage in the future?

No problem... the sounds are in the amp... and did I mention it's LOUD?? ;-)

Do you have any projects that you've dreamed of doing, but have just never got around to yet?

I'm already doing what I've dreamed of doing, and that's getting out on stage in front of people and acting like I'm 16 again. Once I get over that (I've been doing it for over 20 years) I'll let you know ;-)

Last words for those who are interested in BUGERA products, please.

I think the BUGERA range are a god-send to players who have never been able to afford to buy the top-end sound and features with an amp... finally, they can. Also to professional players, these amps are road-worthy for gigging, and cheap enough to keep as a spare on the road if need be.

I'm happy with what I'm getting, so I'll stick with the BUGERA.