Alexi Laiho on Writing Riffs, Imitating Yngwie and Children of Bodom's New Album, 'Hexed'

(Image credit: Marek Sabogal)

What’s the most technically demanding guitar solo you’ve ever performed?
—Federico Villadiego

Wow, that’s quite a question. Probably a lot of the older stuff where some of the solos I was writing were insanely fast arpeggios and picking. Everything seems hard right now as I had a massive shoulder operation about two years ago. Apparently, my collar bone had been broken for about 10 years. I’ve had to relearn how to play. It’s not a nerve problem, but some of my fingers are not up to speed on a lot of things. It’s a slow process; I’m still not quite back to where I was before the operation.

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Mark McStea

Mark is a freelance writer with particular expertise in the fields of ‘70s glam, punk, rockabilly and classic ‘50s rock and roll. He sings and plays guitar in his own musical project, Star Studded Sham, which has been described as sounding like the hits of T. Rex and Slade as played by Johnny Thunders. He had several indie hits with his band, Private Sector and has worked with a host of UK punk luminaries. Mark also presents themed radio shows for Generating Steam Heat. He has just completed his first novel, The Bulletproof Truth, and is currently working on the sequel.