“Before, if you had a bad gig, or were drunk and puked on the stage, maybe somebody would tell the story, but there was no video proof. Now, everything is recorded”: Matteo Mancuso on why nobody in the contemporary guitar scene can afford a bad gig

Matteo Mancuso may be one of jazz fusion's fastest-rising guitar stars, having been namechecked by Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa, and Al Di Meola, and even earning his own Rick Beato episode. However, he recognizes that with a brighter spotlight comes greater responsibility – and in the social media era, an off day could cost you your entire career.

“Now that everybody is doing live videos, if you have a bad gig, it will end up on YouTube or Instagram,” he tells Guitar World.

“People will see it if you’re drunk at a gig, for example. We need to pay attention. I don’t like to be recorded — not because I don’t want to see people doing it, but because I think you need to enjoy the moment.”

He also discusses how being fully present at a show – whether as a musician or an attendee – can be extremely challenging, and how the constant possibility of being recorded can be both a motivator and a source of anxiety.

“In the old days, maybe in the ’80s, if you had a bad gig, or were drunk and puked on the stage, maybe somebody would tell the story, but there was no video proof. Now it’s more dangerous. That’s why I keep myself in very good shape. All the people from my generation need to be very consistent online; everything is recorded.”

Matteo Mancuso Live in London 2023 - YouTube

Watch On

Despite the pressure, he asserts that audiences don’t “want to hear a flawless performance,” emphasizing that the key “ingredients” for a memorable concert are “energy and emotion while playing.

“I don’t worry about mistakes like I did before, and that comes with experience. I didn’t work on it; it came from the gigs. I still have work to do there, because when I do make a mistake, you can see it on my face that I’m disappointed.”

He continues, “I’m always trying to find that balance. I don’t consider myself one of the best technical players; there are so many good players who can play twice as fast as me, or they know more leads and have more vocabulary. But people don’t care about your technical stuff; people care about the emotion of it. I’m always trying to search for that.”

For more from Matteo Mancuso, plus new interviews with Grace Bowers and Nita Strauss, pick up issue 586 of Guitar World at Magazines Direct.