More of this Feature • Magneto: Part One • Magneto: Part Two • Magneto: Part Three     Related Resources • Quebec • World Fusion    Elsewhere on the Web • The Magneto Page (official site) • Rick Haworth . . . à la guitare (official site) • Les Disques Audiogram

Haworth also draws inspiration from World Music in his choice of musical instruments. The owner of 30 or 40 guitars (in his estimate), he also plays stringed instruments that he has picked up from various corners of the World, such as the Turkish saz (a long-necked lute), and the weissenborn, which is an acoustic lap steel guitar. "I think I probably suffer from attention-deficit syndrome. I get real bored with my guitar-playing at times. At times I get fed up with hearing myself play, so I'll try something else. It's kind of nice having that outlet - when I bought my saz in Paris, it was like, 'this is a new toy; this will be cool.' And I actually bought it one day and took it in the studio for a session the next, which was kind of stupid because I had no idea how the thing worked, but heaven forbid I should never not try to make a fool of myself!" he says.

"I enjoy getting a bunch of different sounds, and even with the electric guitar, it's nice kind of mutating it and trying to make it sound different."

And on the album, some of the guitar sounds are indeed different -- Haworth makes a point of noting that no keyboards were used on the album. "It sounds like there is a lot of sampling and keyboards, but it's just all guitar treatments," he explains.

The transition from sideman to main attraction did not come as easily to Haworth as he anticipated. Even though he and Legare had previously performed as a duo at some small Quebec venues and festival dates, prior to Magneto's CD launch party he developed a migraine that lasted for three days. "I just got real nervous about it. I've played a lot of shows for big audiences and TV shows, and I always enjoy it thoroughly. You always get that kind of excited buzz before it, but I never make myself sick. I was just panic-stricken. So that was kind of something new and interesting to experience," he quips.

Someone who is easy-going by nature with a good sense of humor, Haworth said that in the end, the gig turned out to be a lot of fun.

Creating an album of his own work is an experience Haworth says he would like to repeat in the future. "We enjoyed the whole creative process with which we approached the album," he says. "It was just pure enjoyment form beginning to end. We're happy with the results, we think it's kind of a cool record, and the feedback we've been getting has been pretty darn positive. I would go into the studio tomorrow and start working on another record with these guys.

"Sylvain and Mario are two people that I truly, truly, truly enjoy their company. For me, that was one of the main aspects of the record, was just getting to hang with these guys, and if we're playing we're playing, and if we're chatting, we're chatting. It was just great from A to Z."