London-based Australian guitarist and composer Zak Scerri presents In Case I Don’t See You, a trio recording that brings together nearly a decade of writing shaped by movement, transition, and personal change. Rooted in jazz but coloured by a background in rock and contemporary music, the album captures a guitarist navigating new surroundings while drawing together past and present into a cohesive statement alongside bassist Ross Anderson and drummer Billy Pod.
In this interview, Scerri reflects on the experience of relocating to London and how it influenced both his writing and perspective as a musician. He discusses the openness and demands of the trio format, the balance between instinct and intention in composition, and the evolution of material written across different stages of his life. With a strong focus on flow, narrative, and interaction, In Case I Don’t See You emerges as both a personal document and a forward-looking step in his artistic development.
1. In Case I Don’t See You brings together material written over a long period. When you listen back now, does it feel like one body of work, or a collection of different phases?
It is definitely a collection of different phases, but I am really happy with how cohesive it sounds and feel there is a real nice flow to the album. So in that way it does feel like one body of work.
2. You moved to London during the period covered by the album. How did that change the way you were writing or thinking about music at the time?
Moving to London has been such an eye opening experience. I think just being surrounded by a plethora of wonderful musicians has definitely pushed me to dig deeper as a musician and that has undoubtedly influenced the way I write and think about music in general.
3. Why did you choose to record this as a trio, and what did that format demand from you as a guitarist?
Playing in a trio has always been my favourite format to play in, it’s also the kind of music I’m often drawn to. There is something about the openness and the intimacy of a trio I really enjoy – whether that be a guitar trio, piano trio or sax trio. As a guitar player the approach to playing in a trio can be really varied, think Wes Montgomery v Jim Hall v Kurt Rosenwinkle v Julian Lage – all very different, but all wonderful. A piano commands so much sonic space and range, but as guitarists we don’t have that same luxury. There is a natural sort of space that comes with playing in a trio and for me its all about balancing my playing on a textural level.
4. Your background includes both rock and jazz. Do you still think of those as separate influences, or has that distinction disappeared in your playing?
It depends. Jazz very much feels like my home and a place where all my influences can (hopefully) come together in an organic way. If I were playing straight up rock music (which I love!) I don’t think you’d find much in a the way of jazz influence there, whereas in the right musical context you can definitely find some rock influence in my jazz playing.
5. What guitar influences do you feel are audible in your playing today?
That’s a great question and potentially something a listener other than myself might be able to better judge. But for me there are a few guitarist who have had a massive impact on me. Those would be; Wes Montgomery – the first jazz guitarist I checked out and got me excited about jazz. James Muller – an incredible Australian guitarist who not a lot people outside of Australia know about, but he is someone that I constantly go back to and still inspires me. Julian Lage – whose sound, approach and openness I find incredible. And most recently is Lage Lund – his approach to the guitar is mind boggling. So hopefully you’ll hear tiny bits of them sprinkled throughout my playing.
6. Ross Anderson and Billy Pod are central to the record. What do they bring that makes this trio work in a specific way?
I was absolutely blown away by their playing on the record. Billy is someone who’s playing and original music I’ve loved for a while and just felt his background and playing would be a perfect fit for what I was going for. I think Ross is such beautiful player, not only when playing time but also as a soloist. The combination of the two just felt so easy to play with and I made the actual recording session feel like an absolute breeze. They just got the music and I barely had to give much direction at all, which made my job easier!
7. Some of the pieces date back several years, while others are much more recent. Has your writing process changed over that time, or has it remained consistent?
I’ve always been someone who writes on the guitar, often ideas will come out of messing around on the guitar and I follow the thread to see what comes out. I think the main change is with the more recent music I’ve tried to go in with a bit more intentionality before picking up the guitar. Whether that be a specific theme or sound or concept. That way I’m telling the guitar what I want and not the other way around.
8. If someone is coming to your music for the first time with this album, what should they listen for?
The main thing I can think of is listening to it from start to finish in order (obvious I know!). I was very intentional about the order of the tracks and think there is a natural progression to the sounds as it moves from one song to the next. There are some stark stylistic differences throughout so I think jumping around might lost the impact of that. I should also mention that the tracks were recorded in the same order as they appear on the album, as I wanted to capture the feeling of a live gig, and I think that is reflected in the playing
9. Looking ahead, has making this album changed how you want to approach your next project?
I think it has definitely got me excited for my next project, after I finished recording I actually started writing some new material. In terms of changes, firstly there are certain things I hear in my playing that I would like to improve on. Secondly, I would like to dig a bit deeper with my writing and try to explore new sounds while developing and expanding what I already do.
