MusicRadar

Image: © Jorge Uzon/Corbis

As MusicRadar has previously reported, the documentary It Might Get Loud, focusing on the individualized talents of guitar greats Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, opens in August in select cities before going into wider distribution later this year.

Directed by Davis Guggenheim (an Oscar winner for An Inconvenient Truth), It Might Get Loud tells the story of the electric guitar as told from the point of view of Page, Edge and White.

It's one thing to film a guitarist in frenzied, impassioned performance. It Might Get Loud goes way beyond that: it explains the artistic process, it analyzes the poetry, it gets inside each guitarist's head. In those ways, it does what no other music-based film has done before.

Guitar World recently assembled the film's stars to talk about their involvement in It Might Get Loud. The three icons were more than happy to discuss what The Edge calls "one of the best documentaries I've ever seen."

I assume you've all asked to appear in other rock films and music documentaries. What made you want to get involved with It Might Get Loud?

Jimmy Page: Davis contacted me and outlined the project. He had just done the Al Gore film, but he was obviously a music fan, and I liked that. He had passion. And one thing he said was, "First, we'll have an interview and I'll record it, but it won't be on camera." More of a get-to-know-you thing and to build some momentum. And I thought, Hey, that's cool.

The Edge: I was told that they wanted to go after the guitar not just in technical terms; they wanted to explore the reason why people pick up the instrument - what is it about the guitar that offers people the opportunity to express something that they couldn't in any other way? The approach was going to be more sophisticated to what we've seen before.

I met Davis and we really hit it off. We talked for hours about creativity and the state of the planet. Then he mentioned Jimmy Page and Jack White, and I thought those were great choices. That's when I decided to take the plunge.

"None of us had ever played together before, and I think that was interesting, because each of us defines an era, if you like" Jimmy Page

Jack, you weren't so sure at first, were you?

Jack White: I talked to Davis, and I thought, I don't know...It seemed a little too 'out there.' But what sold me was that he didn't know what he wanted to do. That spoke volumes to me, for someone to relinquish control and let things happen while the camera rolled. And, of course, when he said Jimmy Page and The Edge…well, what can you say? [laughs]

Page: I knew exactly what Davis was going for. It might have been nice for him to discuss a few numbers beforehand, you know, "Do you want to have a crack at these songs?" But that wasn't part of the equation. He wanted to see how we'd relate under unchartered circumstances.

None of us had ever played together before, and I think that was interesting, because each of us defines an era, if you like.

Next page: 'the summit'