Roly Platt interview

01:30 - Roly is based in just north of Toronto in Canada

01:41 - Canadian harmonica players, including Steve Mariner

02:46 - Canadian harmonica drew influences from its US neighbours, with Roly also listening to a lot of John Mayall in his early days of playing

03:16 - Bands would travel up to Toronto from New York

03:46 - Listening to brothers records and bought himself a harmonica aged 17

04:24 - Roly is about to complete writing a book

05:03 - Paul Butterfield was a big influence on Roly, with the double live album the first he heard of Butter

06:20 - Listened to Bluegrass music early on and playing along with this more traditional form of music influenced the direction Roly took on harmonica

07:17 - Jimmie Fadden from Nitty Gritty Dirt band plays some Country / Bluegrass harmonica and had an influence on Roly

08:17 - These early influences took Roly down the path of the diverse range of session work he has recorded through his career

08:29 - Roly’s first band was a country band called the Cement City Swampers

08:53 - Charlie McCoy was another early influence on Roly

09:02 - Most of Roly’s early session work was to play country music

09:49 - Session work was around Toronto, where there was a lot of studios back then

10:37 - How the internet has changed recording sessions in studios

11:29 - Started playing professionally 18 months after picking up the harmonica, after practising ‘like a mad man’ in the early days

11:49 - Great music scene in Toronto in those days with gigs 6 nights a week

12:20 - Joining his first band (the Cement City Swampers) was one of happiest days of his life

13:08 - Started touring Canada with Matt Minglewood and other bands played with early on

14:41 - Had to find a way to make harmonica fit in music which didn’t previously have harmonica in it

16:02 - Started listening more to other instruments and not just harmonica which developed his style

17:09 - First recording session Roly did was age 19 when he knew very little, but they liked his playing so he got more work

19:14 - Recording on albums with bands came after the more commercial session work

19:20 - Started session work in the late 1970s

19:43 - Has made 1700 individual session cuts

20:30 - Roly’s career has been as a sideman harmonica player as opposed to harp players who run their own bands

21:54 - Some recordings with Canadian bands

23:27 - Played in a Bollywood movie called ‘Delhi Belly’ with a big Indian star as the main character

25:10 - Recorded numerous jingles for commercials

25:24 - Most of working life has been as a professional harmonica player, with a brief interlude as a graphic designer

26:52 - Recordings with Wayne Buttery

27:49 - Released own album ‘Inside Out’ in 2017

29:58 - Hard process to put the album together, but worth it

30:54 - If recorded another album would need a game plan as to why and how it would be used, such as for self-promotion

31:47 - Advent of streaming makes albums financially challenging to make

32:08 - Has own YouTube channel where puts out material which is under his complete control and is easy to release

33:33 - The book that Roly is writing is about his life in harmonica and what it will be about

35:06 - Book is almost complete and should be out in July 2024

35:50 - Roly’s advice for anyone else interested in writing a book

36:54 - Compares writing a book to creating an album

38:18 - YouTube channel and song recordings Roly has made on there and generating backing tracks

39:41 - Always does YouTube videos in one take

39:48 - Using AI to pull out individual tracks from recordings to enable creation of backing tracks from the original recordings and the moral conundrum this brings

41:12 - Recorded the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team theme song, in which Roly had to imitate a seagull on harmonica

43:21 - Won some music awards as part of recording on other artists albums

43:36 - Does some teaching, including at harmonica camps, and has pre-recorded video tutorials via his website

44:12 - Ten minute question

46:27 - Roly’s Harp Wah product, like playing the harmonica through a cup or glass

48:16 - Harp Wah is a specific effect to be used when required

48:56 - Sound you get from the Harp Wah and the material used

50:03 - Resonates best on the low notes

50:23 - Released a handle with it later, to make it easier to hold

51:08 - Roly has gear reviews on his website

51:25 - Roly is a Seydel endorser and plays the 1847 after first trying out the Session Steels for a harp where the reeds laster longer

52:39 - Doesn’t play any chromatic, although owns several

53:06 - Has used some different tunings on recordings

54:01 - How Roly discovered Country tuning via Charlie McCoy

55:12 - Embouchre: mainly puckers but some tongue blocking for splits and octaves

55:26 - Holds harp on almost a vertical angle, except when tongue blocking

55:34 - Amps: Bassman re-issue, Gibson Maestro,

56:01 - Uses Ultimate 58 and 57 mics, also uses bullet mics

56:56 - Makes some use of effects generated by computer when recording YouTube videos

57:38 - Uses Sub n Up pedal for octave effect

57:53 - Uses some pedals when playing live

58:17 - Future plans is to complete book this year and see where that takes him, as well as selling the Harp Wah, recording sessions and playing out live