Beware of Darkness's Kyle Nicolaides delivers part guitar class, part stand-up, part coaching session
We get a lot of playthroughs sent to us here at Guitar World, but it's fair to say none are quite so instructional or, indeed, amusing as this must-watch clip from Beware of Darkness main man Kyle Nicolaides.
In October 2019, the California alt-rockers released their latest single, Bloodlines. It's a track that features infectiously catchy singalong moments, an awesome electric guitar solo and most importantly, a simple, but powerful fuzz-driven main riff.
In this Guitar World exclusive, Nicolaides has shown you how to play the riff in full… plus a whole lot more besides, including why tuning up is the single most important thing you can do as a guitarist, delivered with the kind of dry sense of humor we can really get onboard with.
Recording the guitars for Bloodlines was so intense it made the guitar fight scene between Steve Vai and Ralph Macchio in Crossroads look like a Yanni soundcheck
The frontman builds the lesson from the ground up on techniques such as sliding and vibrato, this lesson will be easy to follow for players of all skill levels.
In addition to Nicolaides, Bloodlines boasts special appearances from guitarist Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins), bassist Mark Stoermer (The Killers) and drummer Jon Safley (CRX, Bleached).
"Recording the guitars for Bloodlines was so intense it made the guitar fight scene between Steve Vai and Ralph Macchio in Crossroads look like a Yanni soundcheck," jokes Nicolaides.
"I’m just kidding! It was so chill. Jeff Schroeder was a dream to work with, and such a close friend. He came in with the solo and chorus parts written. He cut a hand full of solos and I comped a few together.
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"I used an Ampeg Gemini II, a Silverface Princeton, and a Blackface Champ for the rhythm tracks, and recorded them all at my house. For guitars, I used Tom Kelley custom Telecasters, and my Music Man Silhouette, which I adore for its versatility and unique tones.
"For the leads, in the chorus I went D.I. into a Neve 1073, and an EP booster. Pedals used were EP Booster and a Boss Octave. I used a DigiTech Whammy to scoop up chords in certain parts, which is my favorite trick.“
No stranger to collaborations with huge rock acts, Beware of Darkness have toured with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, AWOLNATION, The Wombats, Deftones, KORN, Eagles Of Death Metal, Thirty Seconds To Mars and Social Distortion, to name just a few.
You can hear the full track below - for more info, check out Beware of Darkness on Facebook.
Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.
