Mark McStea

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.

Latest articles by Mark McStea

Stiff Little Fingers perform onstage
“We just tuned to whoever’s guitar sounded most in tune. That’s how green we were in the studio!” Jake Burns on Wilko Johnson, mistranslations, and Stiff Little Fingers’ punk classic, Inflammable Material

By Mark McStea Published

Stiff Little Fingers set the world alight on their 1979 debut album, bringing the sound of Belfast punk to the world and working through troubled times with high-volume guitar

Guitars
The Buzzcocks live in 1978: [From left] Garth Smith, Pete Shelley, Steve Diggle
“Tony Hicks from the Hollies popped into the studio and said, ‘That’s my guitar.’ I thought, ‘F**k me, I’ve bought a stolen Les Paul!’” Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks on the making of their 1978 punk classic, Another Music in a Different Kitchen

By Mark McStea Published

Fast-paced, big hooks, and one almighty left turn, the Buzzcocks’ incendiary debut is one of the most important punk albums of all time. Here is its story

Guitarists
Girlschool's Kim McAuliffe and Jackie Chambers
“Wherever we travel, people say how important we were in terms of influencing them. When I was growing up, there was only Suzi Quatro to look up to”: Girlschool’s Kim McAuliffe and Jackie Chambers on 45 years of a great British rock institution

By Mark McStea Published

Girlschool is still in session after 45 years, and as McAuliffe and Chambers explain here, there will be no turning down anytime soon

Artists
The Undertones
“I played a Japanese Les Paul copy on Teenage Kicks but, ironically, I still think it’s the best sound I ever got on record”: The Undertones’ Damian O’Neill looks back on the making of the band’s defining anthem – and the lost classic that followed

By Mark McStea Published

The Undertones’ out-of-left-field 1981 album, Positive Touch, was an about turn for the Northern Irish rockers, after Teenage Kicks gave a generation an anthem to rally to. This is its story

Artists
Warren Haynes
“We’ll play up to 200 songs over the course of a tour… it would drive me crazy to play the same songs every night”: Warren Haynes on what drives Gov’t Mule – and why he’s focusing on writing guitar epics

By Mark McStea Published

Gov’t Mule return with Peace…Like a River, a work of long-form rock ’n’ soul inspired by John Lennon, the Doors and the complex masterpieces of Kansas and Queen

Artists
Chris Spedding
“Jimmy Page and Jim Sullivan were getting a lot of work, but I was always getting plenty of calls – and that increased after I did the Jack Bruce sessions”: The confessions of session pro Chris Spedding

By Mark McStea Published

The British session ace on being asked to audition for the Rolling Stones, producing the Sex Pistols’ early demos and recording Robert Gordon’s final album

Artists
McKinley James
“What you don’t play is as important as what you do play. You need the space, as it makes the small things that you do seem bigger”: 5 questions with McKinley James

By Mark McStea Published

The soul/blues/rock ’n’ roll aficionado on how he fills out a duo – and why guitarists using pedals to replicate classic sounds are “shooting themselves in the foot”

Guitarists
Chris Duarte
Chris Duarte: “I sound much better when I practice every day. The guitar gives you back what you put into it – it’s that simple”

By Mark McStea Published

The Texas blues pro discusses the benefit of shutting out all the noise and going by the gut, and why practice always pays out over time

Guitars
Daniele Gottardo
Daniele Gottardo: “I remember thinking Yngwie Malmsteen’s playing was amazing, and I wondered if the scalloped neck was his secret”

By Mark McStea Published

Get to know the award-winning Italian guitar star Steve Vai once called his “favorite new young guitar player”

Guitarists
Sweet, Status Quo, Slade and Dr. Feelgood
The British Invasion that failed: why Slade, Status Quo, the Sweet and Dr. Feelgood never conquered the USA

By Mark McStea Published

Slade’s Noddy Holder and Jim Lea join Status Quo’s Francis Rossi, the Sweet’s Andy Scott and Dr. Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson (in one of his final interviews) to explain what did – and didn’t – go down in the ’70s

Artists
Vinnie Moore
Vinnie Moore: “The SG is a recent discovery of mine – I can’t believe I’ve never owned one. I didn’t realize how cool they were”

By Mark McStea Published

The shred maestro talks getting vocals on new solo album Double Exposure, his newfound love of Epiphone SGs and the future of UFO

Electric Guitars
Wayne Sermon
Imagine Dragons' Wayne Sermon on how his time playing jazz at Berklee formed the foundation of his pop rock approach

By Mark McStea Published

The guitar star addresses the Rick Rubin-produced Mercury – Acts 1 and 2, and why there won't be a third installment of the Mercury collection

Guitarists
Tyler Bryant
Tyler Bryant: “Ever since we did the Rock or Bust tour, whenever we get together to jam, it’s impossible not to want to play like AC/DC”

By Mark McStea Published

The Shakedown leader talks riffing, production and why DIY is the way to go in the music business

Concert, Gigs & Tours
Kirk Douglas
“Captain” Kirk Douglas on the link between technique and songwriting, and what made Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen different

By Mark McStea Published

The Tonight Show stalwart's latest solo album is a little psychedelic, a little trippy, and always about the songs. Here, Douglas tells us how he gravitates towards “mind expansion”

Artists
ames Walbourne of The Rails performs with The Pretenders at Portsmouth Guildhall on October 14, 2017 in Portsmouth, England.
How jamming with Pretenders, Sex Pistols and Stray Cats inspired James Walbourne to take his high-voltage rock ’n’ roll outfit His Lordship to the next level

By Mark McStea Published

The Pretenders guitarist channels the elemental rock fury of Johnny Thunders with his new band – but don’t call it a side project

Guitarists
Orianthi
Orianthi breaks down 10 standout guitar tracks from across her repertoire

By Mark McStea Published

The Aussie guitar star takes a deep dive into her discography, and unpacks her approach to writing, recording, soloing and more

Music Releases
Johnny Thunders
The life and times of Johnny Thunders: the New York Dolls and Heartbreakers guitarist who crystallized the essence of street-cool rock ’n’ roll

By Mark McStea Published

Brilliant, self-destructive, hugely influential, Johnny Thunders was a voice of nature who made helped make the TV Yellow Les Paul Junior one of the coolest electric guitars ever

Guitarists
Robin Trower
Robin Trower: “The secret to the warm tone I get, whilst still retaining the clarity, is due to a combination of heavy strings and a high action”

By Mark McStea Last updated

The British master of the Stratocaster discusses his new album No More Worlds to Conquer, dissects his masterful solo strategies and reveals why he changes his strings every night when playing live

Guitarists
David Bowie and Mick Ronson live onstage in 1973.
Producer Ken Scott on the making of David Bowie and Mick Ronson’s most iconic albums

By Mark McStea Published

Scott takes us back to a febrile moment in rock history when David Bowie and the trailblazing Mick Ronson’s talents combined for Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust

Music Releases
Reef’s Jesse Wood
Reef’s Jesse Wood: “We worked in the way Keith Richards describes as ‘the ancient art of weaving’”

By Mark McStea Published

Jesse Wood – son of the Rolling Stones’ Ronnie – on sharing guitar duties with Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor on their rollicking new album, Shoot Me Your Ace

Artists
Sylvaine
Sylvaine spirits us away to share the guitar secrets behind her dreamy, shoegaze-inspired atmospheric metal sound

By Mark McStea Published

Sylvaine’s latest LP, Nova, is a hypnotic, cinematic work of blackgaze that came together under a singular creative vision, with a little help from EarthQuaker Devices and Fender offsets

Artists
Tracii Guns
Tracii Guns: “Everything I played on the new L.A. Guns record was recorded direct through a HeadRush – I didn’t use a mic’d-up amp for anything”

By Mark McStea Published

The hair metal survivor talks L.A. Guns' hard-riffing 2021 album Checkered Past, his Kramer Gunstar Voyager signature model and why he's content playing smaller venues over arenas

Artists
Hello
Curse of Lono’s Felix Bechtolsheimer: “Punk and Pink Floyd showed me there was so much more to say in a song than ‘I love you, baby’”

By Mark McStea Published

On their third album, the moody UK rockers take endless inspiration from some hard-hitting deaths and the darker side of life

Bands
Emily Wolfe
Emily Wolfe: “Modern pop songs are immediately stuck in your head. To me, that’s the point. I would defend pop music to my grave”

By Mark McStea Published

The Austin, Texas-based rock maverick reveals how she gets her super-hot guitar tone and explains why the hooks are all over new album Outlier

Guitars
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana: “I’ve always really loved B.B. King and Peter Green, and I wanted to combine that with Tito Puente and Mongo Santamaria”

By Mark McStea Published

The guitar legend reflects on the making of his star-studded new album, Blessings and Miracles, and explains that for an artist, the universe can be the wind beneath your wings

Guitarists
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