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“If I had tried to be another Ron Carter I would have failed. I don’t think that’s what Miles was looking for”: Dave Holland on the making of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew
By Joel McIver published
Few jazz bassists can match the pedigree of Dave Holland, thanks to his work with Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Chick Corea and just about everyone else

“I couldn’t even walk, but I thought, ‘At least I can play guitar!’ When I picked one up, I just couldn’t. That was the final straw”: Deryck Whibley had to rebuild Sum 41 after nearly dying – so why is he ready to break up the band?
By Amit Sharma published
As Sum 41 release their final album, the pop-punk icons’ frontman explains why he knew it was time to call it quits – but not before he bought the ’68 Les Paul featured on the album that inspired him to play in the first place

“Music saves many of us – yet we often lose the people who gave us that music to the very thing their music saves us from”: The tragedy that led Sully Erna to create the Scars Foundation
By Alison Richter published
The Godsmack leader’s first-ever song was about a friend who took his own life. He’s never recorded it, but he’s determined to share what he’s learned about the power of music and communication, with the aim of saving others

“I know my limitations, but at the same time I’m really pushing myself to be a better guitar player”: Billie Joe Armstrong on ripping solos like Angus Young – and what Green Day have in common with Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran
By Richard Bienstock published
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong reveals the origin story behind Saviors, the punk superheroes’ first new album in four years, and looks back on the making of 1994’s Dookie

“Roger Glover got me into Jaco. I heard the stuff he was doing with Weather Report while Priest were at the same studio in the ’70s”: Judas Priest’s Ian Hill names 8 bassists who shaped his sound
By Andrew Daly published
A mainstay of chug-and-slug for over five decades, the veteran bassist reveals the surprisingly wide range of influences that feed into the metal gods’ low-end –

“As the bass player in a guitar-driven band, I don’t need to be in the spotlight. I don’t need to do any more than just rock out”: Troy Sanders on the perils and pleasures of playing bass in Mastodon
By Joel McIver published
According to Troy Sanders, when it comes to laying down the bass parts in Mastodon, restraint is the key

“We tune to C#, which creates sourness. It’s not a tuning a lot of guitarists want to stay in – it’s kind of out of tune. We create something evocative in that dissonance”: How Sleater-Kinney use guitar as an agent of beauty and chaos
By Andrew Daly published
Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker strive to create a sound that’s “out-of-tune-adjacent” – and they use their opposing playing styles and “corrosive” pedals to channel tragedy and joy

“Thom Yorke called Colin Greenwood the secret weapon to Radiohead, and I think he was right”: John Garrison on the 5 bass albums that shaped his sound
By Nick Wells published
John Garrison, currently holding down the low-end with pop swooner James Blunt, talks us through his top 5 bass albums
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