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Chris Hattingh is a highly regarded, dazzling guitar player from Cocoa, Florida (U.S.A.) who expresses his style as shred, fusion and blues, as one can appreciate on his latest album, "Music For A World That's Burned".  His favorite guitar is a Customized Jackson Stealth with Di Marzio pickups. Hattingh has played guitar since 1975, and candidly avows his career aspiration, "In 5-10 years I hope to have 5-10 diverse guitar instrumentals released, with a sizeable and loyal fan base that enables me to play and write the music I love for a living."
When asked to name his number one effect for the guitar, Hattingh answered back with, "Reverb," and then cited his musicial goals, "To try and write the most beautiful music I can, and to try to help reverse the current popular mindset that musical skill doesn't matter anymore." He hopes to one day study two-handed technique with Stanley Jordan, and is at this time listening to Joy Basu, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. His utmost fulfillment? "Completing an album project," he affirms unquestionably.
Hattingh details continuing and future undertakings in his own words, "My new album - "Shred Head" - is a radical departure from the guitar synth/fusion style of my first solo effort, "Music For A World That's Burned". The new album has 10 instrumental guitar tracks, and each one is a parody/satire/imitation of a different rock guitar legend. I try to change styles, tones and feel on each track to closely mimic the unfortunate "victims". Some of the track titles include "I Am Not A Viking", "Surfing With An Ailment", "Old Hemiola", "Not For Teachers", "Eileen Dover", etc. Although there is a lot of "guitar humor" on this album (which only guitar players would appreciate), the playing is quite serious, and it quickly becomes obvious that I really do hold a lot of respect for the great guitarists I'm satirizing."
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Vol. 17, No. 2: Feb.-Mar. 2012
