Gregory Adams

Gregory Adams is a Vancouver-based arts reporter. From metal legends to emerging pop icons to the best of the basement circuit, he’s interviewed musicians across countless genres for nearly two decades, most recently with Guitar World, Bass Player, Revolver, and more – as well as through his independent newsletter, Gut Feeling. This all still blows his mind. He’s a guitar player, generally bouncing hardcore riffs off his ’52 Tele reissue and a dinged-up SG.

Latest articles by Gregory Adams

Coheed and Cambria perform live in 2019.

How Coheed and Cambria embraced pentatonic riff slams and a Deftones 8-string to create prog guitar epics for a new generation

By Gregory Adams Published 14 June 22

Claudio Sanchez and Travis Stever deliver you deep inside their latest sci-fi journey, Vaxis II: A Window of the Waking Mind

Guitars

John Browne on how Doom composer Mick Gordon ended up on the new Monuments album – and why they're moving forward as a one-guitar band

By Gregory Adams Published 26 May 22

The prog-metal mainstay discusses the making of devastating new record In Stasis and why nothing cuts through like his Mayones Qatsis

Music Releases

Alex Lifeson on life after Rush and finding a new sound with Envy of None

By Gregory Adams Published 26 May 22

The legendary Rush guitarist is taking a scaled-down approach to his new project but, as he explains, making “ear candy” that suits the song takes focus – and lots of it

Guitarists

[L-R] Paul Marc Rousseau and Josh Bradford of Silverstein

Silverstein: “We are still very much a heavy guitar band, but we love seeing what other creative things we can do that don't fit inside the original box”

By Gregory Adams Published 18 May 22

Guitarists Josh Bradford and Paul Marc Rousseau talk blending blitzkrieg-style hardcore with synth-driven pop flavors on new album Misery Made Me, and how Kanye West became an unwitting mentor during its composition

Artists

Alex Edkins: “I was open to getting basic with Weird Nightmare – I was like, ‘Oh, an open D chord? That feels awesome!’ I hadn’t done that in 10 years”

By Gregory Adams Published 17 May 22

The Canadian alt-rocker talks embracing traditional rock and pop tropes on his self-titled Weird Nightmare debut, and how the METZ fan community came together to support the band after the theft of their gear last year

Artists

Guitarist and vocalist Roine Stolt of Swedish progressive rock group The Flower Kings performing live on stage at Scala in London, on December 8, 2019.

The Flower Kings’ Roine Stolt on taking the Swedish prog-rockers back to the future for the uplifting By Royal Decree

By Gregory Adams Published 13 May 22

Expansive, psychedelic, humane, Stolt and The Flower Kings’ return is a triumph of imagination, and thinking outside the box with a wah pedal

Bands

Ludic: “Groove is something that should exist on every instrument you’re playing – it’s a side of guitar playing that can easily be neglected”

By Gregory Adams Published 11 May 22

The Vancouver trio on the Latin American influences that flavor new coming-of-age-themed EP, Grown?, and how guitarist Ayla Tesler-Mabe came to lay down tracks on Willow Smith's latest album

Guitarists

Mark Holcomb and Misha Mansoor on returning to Haunted Shores for a pissed-off djent-thrash record

By Gregory Adams Published 5 May 22

New album Void is the first Haunted Shores record since 2015 and 100 percent a knuckle-twister

Artists

Pink Mountaintops’ Stephen McBean: “There are a lot of tones on this record where I might have been like 'yuck' before, but now I like it”

By Gregory Adams Published 4 May 22

The psych-rock mainstay on his newfound love of Charvels, balancing Black Mountain and Pink Mountaintops, and jamming with J. Mascis

Guitars

Deaf Club: "We have a little language as far as chord voicings go – they’re definitely anxious chords!"

By Gregory Adams Published 3 May 22

Tommy Meehan and Brian Amalfitano dish on their unique brand of pedalboard nastiness, covering the Pixies, and their shared love of ring modulators

Guitars

Mark Engles: "We wanted the sound to evolve, but you’ve got to keep those roots. It’s still big and heavy… we still love that"

By Gregory Adams Published 14 April 22

The Black Map and Dredg guitarist on his tonal predilections, switching from Teles to Ibanez Artists and SGs, and the slide tricks he learned from David Gilmour

Guitarists

Snail Mail's Lindsey Jordan: “I’m a perfectionist – I will rip a song apart until it is done”

By Gregory Adams Published 28 March 22

Jordan details the making of her sophomore full-length, Valentine, designing custom Fender models, and undergoing vocal cord surgery just days before she was due to tour in support of the record

Artists

At the Gates on creating new nightmares, orchestral influences and the evolution of an iconic death metal sound

By Gregory Adams Published 25 March 22

Three albums into their reunion phase, The Nightmare of Being finds Swedish death metalers At the Gates addressing their legacy while pushing off into wild new horizons

Bands

Joshua Travis on his love of rhythm guitar: “I’ve always wanted to hit you hard. Lead playing doesn’t hit me like that – it doesn’t punch you in the face”

By Gregory Adams Published 22 March 22

The Emmure guitarist talks tackling the lower registers with 7-, 8- and 9-strings, and how his all-out work ethic inspired pummeling new solo EP, NO REST

Artists

Star One’s Arjen Lucassen: “I really felt I needed to do a heavy, guitar-oriented album again. That’s in my blood”

By Gregory Adams Published 16 March 22

The prog-metallers’ new album, Revel in Time, finds Lucassen joined by an all-star team of guitar heroes including the likes of Michael Romeo, Steve Vai and Adrian Vandenberg

Music Releases

John Reis details his approach to guitar playing: “Rules are important – you need to know how to do something in order to know how to f**k with it”

By Gregory Adams Published 16 March 22

The Hot Snakes guitarist on why he dubs new supergroup PLOSIVS' upcoming self-titled debut “distance rock”, how he recovered his stolen gold sparkle Gibson Les Paul Custom, and his latest solo outing, Ride the Wild Night

Guitarists

The Black Tones' Eva Walker: “We would start our sets with a heavy blues instrumental. It locks people in, like, 'Oh s**t, that Black girl's actually shredding'”

By Gregory Adams Published 14 February 22

The Strat-toting rocker on the four-note sequence that set her on a quest to conquer the blues and the duo's raucous new Sub Pop single, The End of Everything

Artists

Spoon's Britt Daniel: "My playing is all about the right hand. That’s my way of being expressive, by establishing a feel and rhythm"

By Gregory Adams Published 11 February 22

Daniel discusses his role as a rhythm guitarist, why a Vox Pathfinder is his go-to amp, and dissects Spoon's latest LP Lucifer on the Sofa, from its back-to-basics approach to its "fuckin' ferocious" leads

Guitarists

Venom Prison: “The whole ‘aggressive, nonstop assault of riffs’ approach isn’t really a thing on Erebos – this album is about the songs”

By Gregory Adams Published 31 January 22

Ash Gray and Ben Thomas on expanding the UK death-metallers' horizons, their mutual love of the EVH 5150III, and the art of balancing the heavy with the light

Artists

Bria reveal how a 1963 Epiphone Casino and their decade-long musical relationship led to their "accidental" debut EP

By Gregory Adams Published 15 December 21

Bria Salmena and Duncan Hay Jennings talk swapping Strats for semi-hollows, recording on a farm and why they don't plan on pursuing a career in country music – contrary to what their debut EP, Cuntry Covers Vol. 1, would suggest

Guitars

Man With a Mission's Jean-Ken Johnny: “I’m not really a technical guitar guy: it’s all about the emotion – how you descend your soul into the sound”

By Gregory Adams Published 14 December 21

The wolf-headed Japanese guitar-slinger on his love of '90s rock, and digitizing AC/DC's Thunderstruck with some howling Whammy-flavored leads on new album Break and Cross the Walls I

Artists

Creeping Death's Trey Pemberton: “It used to be, ‘Let’s write a bunch of riffs, throw ‘em together, and go hard.’ Now we think about how it flows together”

By Gregory Adams Published 8 December 21

The Creeping Death guitarist on why the band opted to re-record tracks from their 2016 EP for this year's The Edge of Existence, and how Muay Thai has amped up his stage presence

Artists

Circa Survive: "It used to be difficult not to fill up every space with guitar – this record shows how our ability to restrain ourselves has grown"

By Gregory Adams Published 2 December 21

Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom dissect their less-is-more approach on A Dream About Love and confess their newfound affinity for the Line 6 Helix

Guitars

Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson: “Sometimes a bit of chaos is what you need to get things moving when they’re going stale”

By Gregory Adams Published 29 October 21

The creative driving force behind the Norwegian extreme metal stalwarts on why the guitar solos had to return, and why shorter doesn't mean less progressive when it comes to songs

Artists

Alien Weaponry’s Lewis de Jong on leading the Haka for New Zealand metal, broken bones, and why being heavy is still the goal

By Gregory Adams Published 27 October 21

The prog-metaller's new album, Tangaroa, pushes the envelope once more, incorporating Maori chants and heavyweight grooves

Guitars

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