THE FANSITE FOR TONY IOMMI FANS CELEBRATING HIS BRILLIANT 50 YEARS OF DEDICATION AND SERVICE TO MUSIC
British Honour to Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi: writing music comes to me from within

Tony Iommi: writing music comes to me from within



Tony Iommi received the Gibson Les Paul Award at the 2015 Q Awards, which took place Monday, October 19, in London, England.

Iommi, who has played a Gibson guitar for the duration of his career, was honored for his outstanding contribution to music, pop culture and as part of the 100th-anniversary celebrations of the birth of Les Paul guitars.

Asked by Danielle of Absolute Radio if he could imagine playing any other instrument, Iommi said (see video below):

"As a matter of fact, I did play another instrument before. I used to play an accordion — only because all my family had bloody accordions and drums and stuff. My father used to play an accordion and my uncles and cousins and all that, so I had one, of course. I wanted to have a guitar, but… Well, I wanted to play drums, but they wouldn't let me have any drums. As you can imagine, we were in a tiny little house, so a set of drums wouldn't have gone down very well. But, yeah, I took to the guitar. I loved the idea of playing guitar. And I played it a few years before I had my accident [resuling in Iommi losing the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right, fretting hand], which then changed everything for me. But I stuck with it andmade it work for me."

Iommi also talked about the importance of writing music that comes from the heart as opposed to following a formula or constantly chasing commercial success. He said:

"For me, playing and writing riffs and stuff has to come from within. I can't just sort of do something what I think people wanna hear. I have to feel it and do it how I feel. Same with solos — I have to play 'em from the heart as opposed to… I can't play a solo that's written down… note for note. I just can't do that. I have to play it how I feel it that day."


Blabbermouth.net, 25 October 2015