“That required some right hand training. It was like a tongue twister for my hands”: Mike Dawes has transformed a Sleep Token song into a solo acoustic guitar masterclass – and the results are awe-inspiring

Mike Dawes - Euclid (Sleep Token) Official Music Video - YouTube

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When it comes to reimagining popular rock and heavy metal tracks for solo guitar, there is arguably no one in the game who can rival Mike Dawes – the British acoustic guitar virtuoso whose body of work already boasts covers of Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix and more.

For his latest release, Dawes has turned his attention to contemporary alt/prog metal heroes Sleep Token, and transformed the cinematic metal ballad of Euclid into a one-guitar-only masterclass.

For the uninitiated, Euclid isn’t strictly a guitar track. Sure, there are some hair-raising riffs and awe-inspiring progressions dusted throughout the run time, but the track – lifted from 2023’s Take Me Back to Eden – relies heavily on its operatic piano motif.

As such, Dawes – who first covered Euclid live on stage – has to tackle all the above. In true Dawes form, though, he doesn’t stop there: his fingerpicking and fretting hands are also tasked with managing the vocal melodies, and the drum lines, which are gorgeously recreated through pin-point body hits, rolling finger slaps and harmonic tapping lines.

It’s not a cover recommended for the faint of heart, but for Dawes himself, it didn’t prove too tricky to arrange. In fact, it was the easiest he’s worked on.

“This was the least challenging arrangement I've done,” he tells Guitar World when asked about the challenges Euclid posed. “I was playing around in the tuning, CGDGAD (I call it Step-DADGAD) and the melodies and chords really fell into place and inspired the arrangement quite naturally.

“That being said, trying to replicate ii's complex drum patterns was a bit of a nightmare. The outro was also quite tough as the melody had to dance around the mid range whilst the harmonics weaved around it. Physically, that part sucks to play.”

That’s not to say Euclid didn’t force Dawes to think outside the box, though. Indeed, those drum parts proved to be particularly problematic, and required special attention – especially against the backdrop of everything else that’s going on in the arrangement.

“Honestly, getting the drum inflections and patterns close required some right hand training,” Dawes continues. “It was like learning a new groove, I'm talking about the‘The Night Belongs to You’ part near the end where it gets big. That was like a tongue twister for my hands.

“I will add that the other hardest part was probably preventing the harmonics behind the fretted notes from ringing out in those really delicate parts. Condenser mics really pick that stuff up.”

Euclid - YouTube

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Difficulties aside, it is a rather timely cover: over the past few years, Sleep Token – whose members are anonymous – have become one of the biggest contemporary bands in the alt and prog metal world. For guitarists especially, the band’s tone has been the focus of many tone-chasers.

“I think that any band regardless of genre that reaches a huge audience will have a generational impact playing real instruments like the guitar,” Dawes says of the band’s influence.

“Sleep Token in particular, given their anonymous presence, have inspired so many more people because their music is so raw and relatable, like an exposed nerve.

“Their songs seem to reach out and grab you emotionally in a way that is aided by a tangible analogue instrument – similarly to how the acoustic guitar is often associated with emotive raw music and themes. I think this is why the guitar arrangement works.”

For the cover, Dawes rigged his acoustic up to a Boss OC3 Octave and Neural DSP Quad Cortex. The acoustic virtuoso recently sat down with Guitarist to explore his set-up in more detail.

Mike Dawes will be on the road for a North American tour later this year. A full list of dates can be found below. For more, head over to Mike Dawes’ website.

1. July 24 Seattle, WA The Triple Door
2. July 25 Portland, OR McMenamins Mission Theater
3. July 26 Eugene, OR The WOW Hall
4. July 27 Bend, OR Tower Theatre Bend
5. July 29 Mill Valley, CA Sweetwater Music Hall
6. July 30 Venice, CA The Venice West
7. July 31 Fontana, CA Stage Red Fontana
8. August 1 Seal Beach, CA The Bay Theatre
9. August 2 Tucson, AZ 191 Toole
10. August 3 Phoenix, AZ Musical Instrument Museum
11. August 7 Las Vegas, NV John Petrucci’s Guitar Universe