Sydney Guitar Festival Focus: Brian Campeau

Which act made you want to pick up the guitar and why? As a kid, someone lent me Guns N' Roses' Appetite. That made me want to pull sick solos in front of a huge audience. I told my parents I wanted to learn the guitar, they made me take classical lessons.

What's your preferred guitar and amp set up? I change all the time. My acoustic is a Seagull. I've treated it very poorly. My electrics currently include a Gibson Les Paul, a hollow body Hagstrom, and a Godin Montreal. And I have a nylon which I take on holidays.

What are you going to talk about/play at the Festival? I've written a set specifically for this gig which focuses on patterns and repetition. I'm also demanding that the audience is blindfolded, while getting random massages from volunteers. Bliss.

Are you planning to catch any of the other performances or workshops? If so, what are you hoping to get out of it? What advice would you give to a beginner guitarist attending the Festival? You won't be good straight away. Don't get discouraged because you're not shredding within the first few months. Being good takes years of practice.

If you could play with any performer, who would it be and why? I'm really digging The War On Drugs and Cass McCombs at the moment, so they would be cool. Although I wouldn't say no to Gojira or Meshuggah.

When and where can we catch you at the Festival? 24 Aug, Camelot Lounge. My band is made up of Zoe Hauptmann, Andrew Bruce and Phillipa Murphy-Haste, and the support act is a Classical Guitar quartet led by Miles Fraser.