Adrian Eccleston may play for Drake and The Weeknd, but he also spreads the joy of the instrument
By Del F. Cowie
“The word is enigmatic,” guitarist Adrian Eccleston says with more than a trace of deadpan when thinking of a word to describe himself. “I like to be around all this famous stuff, but I’m mostly the guy … not really doing too much of the talking.”
For observant music fans, Eccleston’s self-description contains more than a grain of truth, as he’s often been the background figure in prominent circumstances. His distinctive style and ear-bending guitar-playing skills led him to share stages with stars such as Kylie Minogue and Nelly Furtado.
But more recently, Eccleston’s been associated with arguably two of music’s most in-demand acts, both of which happen to be Canadian. He is a band member and the musical director for hip-hop star Drake and internationally acclaimed R&B act The Weeknd.
Eccleston is effusive in his praise of The Weeknd, whose mixtape House of Balloons, on which he played, was short-listed for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize. “This definitely has to be the most exciting stuff I’ve ever been a part of, by far,” he says. The Weeknd, led by mysterious 21-year-old singer Abel Tesfaye, has not given any media interviews and Eccleston is similarly tight-lipped about his work with the group. “Abel has to do his thing and we steer him on a smart path. He’s surrounded by good people, that’s all I can say.”
The strong support system of his own family enabled Eccleston to hone his guitar-playing chops at an early age. His parents regularly embarked on road trips for him to partake in musical competitions south of the border. “That was kind of like my summer holidays, y’know, getting to travel. So nothing’s really changed, only it’s not chaperoned now,” he says laughing.
After the break up of Toronto R&B band Blaxam, of which he was a member during university, Eccleston played the city’s club circuit. He developed a good reputation not only because of his prowess, but also because of his professionalism and punctuality. “It’s just about being ready. That’s one of the things I try to say to guitar players,” says Eccleston. “You never know when it’s going to happen, so make sure you are ready.”
Today, even though Eccleston has his hands full with his duties with Drake, The Weeknd and recording sessions for other artists, he’s managed to put together a ‘guitar mixtape’ of his own instrumental compositions. He aims to release it this fall. “It’s not like a Hendrix record of blazing solos, it’s not like some mathematical jazz record, you know what I mean?” he says. “It’s got lots of bass, downbeat drums and a bit of a reggae vibe on some of it.”
But Eccleston’s overall goal goes beyond releasing his own music and backing successful artists. “If it’s not friggin’ Guitar Hero, nobody’s really holding a guitar right now,” he says. To proactively address this issue, Eccleston will be conducting guitar clinics and sharing information with younger guitarists.
“I think I’m doing what I’m supposed to do and in the last year I just figured out how I want to explain it to people,” he says. “I’m excited about that, because part of the really, really big plan is to make guitar super popular with a lot of young urban kids again because when people came from Africa — when we were here and not supposed to be here — the guitar down in the South was like the first affordable instrument and I love that. Everyone used to have a guitar in their house.”
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