How do you develop such a unique style and how do you know when it's too much and when it's ok to do it?
Gavin Says:
I think the biggest determining factor in a musicians style is their personality.
I realised this when I was first working in Italy and couldn't understand the language. I could quite easy feel the musicians personalities when I played music with them. Things like being gracious and tasteful - humorous - melancholic - right up to pushy and egotistical are pretty obvious if you're sensitive to that.
Playing too much or not enough is also controlled by what your parameters of taste are. Having a feel for balance is very important for being tasteful. If you're going to play something tricky it needs to be balanced with an amount of simplicity - otherwise it becomes boring and meaningless.
(I'm not referring to myself here - they're just my observations).