Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
This interview with Andy Summers of the Police took place at A&M Records in Santa Monica on February 9, 1982. The Police had just released their fourth album, Ghost in the Machine, which would bring them four hit singles: “Every Little Things She Does Is Magic,” “Invisible Sun,” “Spirits in the Material World,” and “Secret Journey.” The evening before our conversation, the Police had headlined the Forum.
Portions of our conversation were published as the Andy Summers cover story in the September 1982 issue of "Guitar Player" magazine. At the time, Andy was one of the leading lights of an innovative new school of guitar playing that valued textures, tones, and the spaces between the notes far more than showboating solos. I found Andy to be easy to speak to, extraordinarily articulate, and remarkably unaffected by his meteoric rise to fame. He is, in fact, one of the most insightful interviewees I’ve encountered.
I hope you enjoy this unique recording, and be sure to check out the other historic interviews on the Talking Guitar YouTube channel. To help us continue producing podcasts, please hit that donate button and send some cheer our way: paypal.me/TalkingGuitar. Thank you!
A special thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 42-year-old master tape. For more guitar-intensive podcasts and articles, visit my online Talking Guitar magazine at jasobrecht.substack.com/. #andysummers #thepolice #jasobrecht #talkingguitar
This interview with Andy Summers of the Police took place at A&M Records in Santa Monica on February 9, 1982. The Police had just released their fourth album, Ghost in the Machine, which would bring them four hit singles: “Every Little Things She Does Is Magic,” “Invisible Sun,” “Spirits in the Material World,” and “Secret Journey.” The evening before our conversation, the Police had headlined the Forum.
Portions of our conversation were published as the Andy Summers cover story in the September 1982 issue of "Guitar Player" magazine. At the time, Andy was one of the leading lights of an innovative new school of guitar playing that valued textures, tones, and the spaces between the notes far more than showboating solos. I found Andy to be easy to speak to, extraordinarily articulate, and remarkably unaffected by his meteoric rise to fame. He is, in fact, one of the most insightful interviewees I’ve encountered.
I hope you enjoy this unique recording, and be sure to check out the other historic interviews on the Talking Guitar YouTube channel. To help us continue producing podcasts, please hit that donate button and send some cheer our way: paypal.me/TalkingGuitar. Thank you!
A special thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for enhancing the sound of the 42-year-old master tape. For more guitar-intensive podcasts and articles, visit my online Talking Guitar magazine at jasobrecht.substack.com/. #andysummers #thepolice #jasobrecht #talkingguitar
