Latest articles by Gregory Adams
“My goal was to make a modern, metal take on a vintage Jazzmaster shape… I never thought the first track I would use it on would be with Megan Thee Stallion”: Spiritbox’s Mike Stringer on 2023’s most talked-about offsets – and the collab no-one saw coming
Recently nominated for a Grammy, Spiritbox are now one of modern metal’s biggest success stories. Their production-savvy guitarist details how he tackled their viral hip-hop crossover, why bridges are key to his unique tracking approach, and the fervor surrounding his custom Jackson Surfcasters
“I had to stop buying records. I stopped being a fan of music – I felt that was affecting my individuality and my style”: SSD were hardcore legends, then Al Barile sold his guitar gear to buy a jet ski. Here’s how he found his way back to his Gibson SG
He may have been schooled on AC/DC, Van Halen and classical guitar, but Al Barile attacked his instrument with a vicious physicality inspired by his love of hockey. He looks back on his love-hate relationship with music – and the ‘80s SG he snapped after performing a jump-kick at CBGB’s
“We had to perform 700 songs in the space of five weeks, but we had to learn 1,200. I didn’t sleep for seven weeks”: Being a guitarist on TV is no walk in the park. Just ask The Voice and The Masked Singer six-stringer Dan Maher
The seasoned session guitarist has played with Rita Ora and Adam Lambert, and tackled an impossible number of songs for Australia’s premier primetime TV shows. Maher explains what it’s like to accompany an avocado, why playing AC/DC made him more nervous than anything else, and that time he got a FaceTime call in the middle of a live show… and couldn‘t read his charts
“I do this thing where I literally black out, and then the song’s over. I’m not even registering what I’m doing – it’s beyond muscle memory”: Kyle Seely has been playing the same Telecaster since he was a teen – but Sheer Mag keep evolving
The acclaimed Philly outfit enter their 10th year with a sound that’s more defined than ever, via their lead guitarist’s accidental journey into a side-project he could barely control
“Selective picking, to me, is drumming on guitar. Tosin Abasi brought this technique to the world and it made me excited”: Prog-metal visionary Pomegranate Tiger was ahead of his time. Now he’s tackling cutting-edge technique and AI head-on
Eight years since the release of his last album, Martin Andres reveals what he learned from playing with Oni, Mark Morton and Gojira, how he discovered selective picking before it went mainstream, and why he’s creating an AI version of his musical self
“In the beginning, I would just rip Tom Morello… Then I realized I could maneuver notes, harmonics and chords. I can do some weird stuff with the Whammy”: How Nick DePirro became one of instrumental metal’s most technically adventurous players
The Night Verses guitarist exploits open tunings, delays and a heck of a lot of Whammy pedal to devastating effect. He explains how he found himself in guitar solo rabbit holes, what it took to secure a guest spot from Tool’s Justin Chancellor, and why he uses harmonics as often as he possibly can
“We had a lot of adrenaline. Sometimes we didn’t remember what we did until the day after”: Inside the psych-surf sound of Teke::Teke – a riptide of antique drive pedals, improvisatory freakouts and needle nose pliers
It's surf rock but influenced by Japanese folk, off-the-wall pedalboard choices and Sei Nakauchi Pelletier and Hidetaka Yoneyama's widescreen vision for guitar sound
“It’s not about how complex your phrases are, it’s just about your style and stamp”: Sevendust’s John Connolly and Clint Lowery on how they “fell back in love with the art of soloing”
Returning with and tuning down for Truth Killer, Sevendust are confronting their demons head on with big riffs, and a newly regained appetite for lead guitar
“If you’ve never heard this record but you can appreciate shredder music, oh my God it’s going to f**k you up”: Mutoid Man’s Stephen Brodsky reveals 10 guitarists who shaped his sound
The Cave In, Converge and Mutoid Man guitarist on “sinister” fusion virtuosos, the genius of Jim Martin’s guitar tone and how Adam Jones taught him everything sounds better in drop B
Mike Spreitzer on why he's “letting notes actually sustain” on DevilDriver's latest, and what keeps him coming back to his custom ESP Vs – even if he can't play them sitting down
Dealing with Demons Vol. II marks the Californian metallers' long-awaited return with more brutal arrangements, less noodling, same dark outlook
With panic-inducing chords and down-tuned Jim Root Strats, Jesus Piece are on a mission to shake up metalcore and write riffs that disturb you
“We’re trying to get out of using straight-up power chords all the time, because that can get pretty boring,” say David Updike and John DiStefano of their latest album, which is a triumph over adversity
How Drain’s Cody Chavez made one of this year’s finest hardcore albums using an arsenal of Jackson Dinkys – and an LTD that got run over by a car
An album of wild stylistic turns and high-energy guitar, Drain's Living Proof is living proof that more is more when it comes to hardcore
Ayla Tesler-Mabé: “I’m not sure I want to hear a purely improvisational solo... My favorite solos are the ones that are singable”
The Ludic (and ex-Calpurnia) guitarist on her solo debut experiment, where “every single note is something I understand and believe in”
Mikey Way: “I was borderline terrified a lot of the time My Chemical Romance was active. I was learning the bass in front of 20,000 people every night!”
The reunited emo kings’ low-end ranger reveals why he swapped out his signature Fender Mustang for a sparkling new signature Jazz Bass, learning bass in arenas, and how he overcame insecurity about his chops
Obituary’s Trevor Peres and Ken Andrews take you inside the Florida death metal legends’ caveman sound
Dirty Rats, cranked Marshalls, slide guitar and an ear for the morbid, Dying of Everything is everything you could want from the Tampa death metal stalwarts
Meet Coloma Guitars, the Canadian guitar company that TikTok built
Meredith Coloma studied under esteemed luthier Roger Sadowsky, but it wasn’t until she shared her creations on social media that her guitar design, the Freya, went viral
How Drive-By Truckers, Rat-augmented lap steels and electric shocks shaped the alt-country sprawl of Wednesday's Rat Saw God
Led by the two-guitar and lap/pedal-steel attack of Karly Hartzman, MJ Lenderman and Xandy Chelmis, Wednesday have crafted one of the most engrossing rock albums of 2023
The Van Pelt: "Skill does not write a good song. Louie Louie is better than any song Joe Satriani’s written, but the more skillful you are, the easier it is to execute your vision"
Armed with a Music Man Silhouette copy, Tele Deluxe, and a Walrus Audio reverb pedal, returning indie guitar titans Chris Leo and Brian Maryansky showcase their unique musical language on the Van Pelt's electrifying new LP, Artisans & Merchants
Braid's Bob Nanna and Chris Broach discuss how octave chords and unconventional rhythms helped shape their Midwest emo landmark, Frame & Canvas
On the eve of the album's 25th anniversary, Braid's guitarists untangle the spidery web of six-strings that defined Frame & Canvas, an album that informed the guitar approach of Yvette Young and countless others
How Narrow Head tapped into a shoegazing '90s alt-rock sound with “poppier pop and heavier heavies”
The Houston-based pedal pushers put on an immersive tone clinic on their latest release, Moments of Clarity, and it's giving us all heavy '90s vibes
Kamelot’s Thomas Youngblood discusses the evolution of a bona-fide Florida metal institution and the guitar strategies that challenge his audience
Kamelot have made a spectacular return with The Awakening, reestablishing the Sunshine State veterans as champions of guitar-forward, progressive power metal
Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan: "I’ve tried to challenge myself to solo in different ways, rather than just turn the distortion way up on the Rat, step on it, and go"
The beloved indie trio's guitar-slinger reveals how he's gradually warmed up to plugins, the magic of "old and rickety" DigiTech PDS pedals, and the fan-made drive unit that now occupies pride of place on his pedalboard
Katatonia’s Anders Nyström on how he crafts his signature melancholy metal sound – and impersonates whale song with guitar effects
Sky Void of Stars might find Nyström taking a backseat on the writing, but he explains how the performance and recording leaves his imprint all over the Swedish metal stalwarts' sound
Inside the long-awaited return of Mercyful Fate: metal guitar’s most unholy band
Guitarists Hank Shermann and Mike Wead join iconic frontman King Diamond to discuss the reanimation and macabre theater of a legendary heavy metal institution
How F*cked Up’s Mike Haliechuk wrote and recorded his guitar parts for the band’s new album in 24 hours – and why he gave up playing chords halfway through
Ahead of their explosive new album, One Day, the ever-ambitious Canadian hardcore band's guitarist ruminates on his shrinking pedalboard, trusty Fender DeVilles, and eschewing chords in favor of "groovy one-note melodies"
