Catching up with luthier Daisy Tempest

Here we catch up with Daisy Tempest to learn about her route into luthiery, the launch of her new business Tempest Guitars and her exciting plans for the future.

Daisy, congratulations on launching your new business, Tempest Guitars. Tell us a little about your guitar-making journey to this point.

Thank you so much! I’m so thrilled to be in this position. I began making guitars a few years ago and was awarded a QEST Garfield Weston Foundation Apprenticeship in North Yorkshire, near to where my family actually has it’s roots, in late 2018. After graduating that apprenticeship in 2020, I moved to another workshop to further my training in 2020, and left in August 2021. I have just launched the order book of my own company, Tempest Guitars, and shortly after, I was humbled to receive the Newby Trust Craft Excellence Award. This means I’ll be moving into my own workshop alongside a diverse range of other makers at Cockpit Arts in London.

What was it that first drew you to the craft?

I’ve always felt most comfortable when I have an instrument in my hands; I’m able to express myself best like that. If it wasn’t an instrument, then I was always picking up things and trying to make them into something else, or make something new from them. Whilst completing my Masters in English Literature, I realised that I was in completely the wrong place, and in a eureka-esque moment I realised ‘of course I’ll be an instrument maker’. I did everything in my power to make that happen, and here I am several years later, having never looked back. I have since fallen in love with constructing beautifully made instruments, the way I can collaborate with timber to gently encourage the desired resonant frequencies into being, shaping a creative partner for my clients to love for their lifetime. I’ve also fallen in love with the business side of things; collaborations, talking with brands, igniting ideas for the future.

What is the ethos behind the company and what will be so special about your instruments?

Since I began my craft, I wanted my company to be different to any competitor on the market. I realised there was a gaping hole for something like Tempest Guitars, and I gained the knowledge carefully over my training about how to execute my plan to fill that hole. My primary focus is being a responsible role model – sourcing appropriate materials, engaging with kindness when it comes to clients, colleagues and connections – and eventually provide opportunities for other people, especially women, in which to study the craft if they want a safe and positive environment in which to learn. I know that if I stick to these core pillars of expectations I have for myself and my brand, and keep myself honest and hard working, good things can only follow. 

I think my instruments are different from my competitors as I ensure the client experience is the best I can possibly perceive any competitor offering, which takes a lot of effort but is, I feel, essential. For example, I create bespoke journey books of the instruments as they are built, photographing and documenting processes for each guitar – I then give my clients a book of the photographs at the completion of their build for them to keep with the instrument for life.

And your plans for the future?

Whilst I aim to take one day at a time with all that’s going on at the moment, I definitely have a few crazy exciting months ahead. Aside from moving into Cockpit Arts and setting up my own workshop for the first time, I have been doing lots of marketing work. I have just released a video session with the insanely talented actor/musician Iwan Rheon, (someone whose music I listened to when I was learning to play guitar), and we’re releasing a few more soon. I’ve also done a demo myself on my own instrument which is something I have always wanted to do. I’ve also got an upcoming feature in the Financial Times’s ‘How to Spend It’ segment which is exciting and humbling. So, it’s a busy time and I can’t wait for the hard work to drive the brand forward and onto new things – and I’ve got some really interesting clients who I’m excited to start work with this year.

For more details visit www.tempestguitars.com