Plini's Heading Off The Beaten Path

The legend and profile of Sydney guitarist and composer Plini, full name Plini Roessler-Holgate, has been growing and growing over the last few years, nationally and internationally. 

He has toured the "world and elsewhere" in recent times, and on his upcoming European tour he conquers even more new territory, playing two dates in Russia. The man himself, speaking from his home in Sydney, is very excited by the prospect and is expecting a very strong reaction, although at the same time he plays it down in his typically self-deprecating style.

“Everyone I’ve talked to who’s been there has loved it,” he says. “I think that because it’s a bit more off the beaten path for most bands, it’s kind of a big deal and is quite exciting for all the fans. I’m really looking forward to seeing Russia, and it’s always fun to play somewhere for the first time.

“Even if 20 people show up it’s a big achievement for me. Because if I can go somewhere I’ve never been before and 20 people have heard of me, that’s kind of insane.”

Roessler-Holg is of course being modest. The fact that he has been able to spend so much of his own time creating his music and then touring the globe on the back of it, and generally forge an excellent career playing complex guitar music with no vocals in this day and age, is nothing short of a miracle, and no one is more surprised about it than himself.

“I’m just so happy, there’s no other way to explain it,” he enthuses. “It’s just the most fun thing I can imagine doing.

“I toured a lot with Aaron [Marshall] and the band Intervals [who play similar guitar-based instrumental music] in 2016, and every day we would wake up in another city and just kind of laugh at each other, and pinch each other, and ask, ‘What the fuck are we doing?' [laughs]. It was great.

"We’re just two people who met on the internet, who make this kind of music in basements or bedrooms, and then we both find ourselves on the other side of the world, doing it as a job. It’s totally ludicrous, in the best way.”

Prior to his engagements in Europe and Russia, he has a solid run of dates across Australia to complete, with a couple of his favourite international instrumental guitar prodigies in tow -  American Javier Reyes (Animals As Leaders) with his Mestis project and Serbian wunderkind David Maxim Micic. “Australia’s always the most fun place to tour, because it’s so familiar,” he states. “Especially since Javier and David are coming, they’re two good friends from overseas and I love showing people who’ve never been here before all the stuff that I love about living here.”

The tours are to support the release of Roessler-Holg’s latest EP, Sunhead, which came out in late July. While the EP is recognisably a Plini release from the very first note, it also breaks new ground musically for him and takes him to sonic territory he has never explored before, throwing a bunch of jazz, fusion and more experimental curveballs at the listener throughout.

“I’ve been listening to a lot of weirder music lately,” he reveals. “That’s not meant to be offensive to jazz, I’m just broadening the range of stuff that I enjoy, and that’s naturally going to result in me broadening what I play with in music.

“Plus, I think, touring with Animals As Leaders quite a bit. They’re one of the most experimental guitar bands, if you think of them like that - and that all inspired me to try not to be limited in what this kind of guitar music can be.”

Roessler-Holg's growing band of rabid listeners can expect more of the same from his future output. In fact, he is likely to step even further out into left field in future, and remains unconcerned as to what his hardcore fans might think of the trajectory - he's found they're mostly very open-minded. “Hopefully it’ll become even more bizarre as we move forward. I think people liked it in the first place because it was just me doing whatever I wanted and not really worrying if anyone liked it.”