interview | Guitar World

Alain Johannes: "I love the immediacy of acoustic instruments but I love the crazy worlds you can create with pedals - all I’m looking for is honesty and rawness"

By Amit Sharma

The enigmatic multi-instrumentalist talks working with everyone from Chris Cornell to Mark Lanegan, and his breathtaking new solo record, Hum

Kristiine Silinja: "I love exploration, adventures, and freedom. All that comes with a six-string bass"

By Bass Player Staff

Solo bassist Kristiine Silinja reminds us that there’s no such thing as ‘you cannot’...

Brian May: "I will never claim to be a great guitarist in the sense of a virtuoso. I just try to play from my heart"

By Chris Bird

The man recently voted greatest rock guitarist in the world reflects on his heroes and friends, finding his tone, and orchestrating guitar genius with Queen

The story of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, as told by John Mayall, Mike Vernon and Green himself

By Johnny Black

How the British blues-rock powerhouse came together, according to the people who were there

Ida Nielsen: "Prince always pushed us to be better - now I want to make sure I’m the best musician I can be"

By Mike Brooks, Joel McIver

Ida Nielsen talks cheap gear, the Purple One, and explains why her phenomenal new album, 02022020, is slap-free

Darryl Jones: "The Rolling Stones are pretty cool about letting me play what I want - they trust that I'll find the essence of the songs"

By Joel McIver

The in-demand bass player goes deep on nailing the Stones' tones, playing with Miles Davis and the luxuries of touring with one of the world's most commercially successful bands

The history of instrumental rock

By Joe Matera

We look back at 60 years of the electric guitar-driven instrumental, from Link Wray and the Shadows to Dick Dale, Joe Satriani, Polyphia, Roopam Garg and beyond...

Green Day's Mike Dirnt: “My wife bought me a ’58 Olympic White Fender P-Bass - it eats my friends alive that I play it live”

By Mike Brooks

The icon of the low-end talks songwriting, collecting vintage basses and giving others to good causes

Alcest's Neige: "I went with my aggressive feelings and wrote these songs very quickly - they were true to my emotions"

By Jon Wiederhorn

The frettin' frontman takes you inside the cult French blackgazers’ latest album, the turmoil-driven Spiritual Instinct

Hunting psych-soul grooves with the Black Pumas

Black Pumas: "A lot of groups fall into that 'soul revival' thing, but we embrace rock equally"

By Joe Bosso

Adrian Quesada and Eric Burton on their unlikely pairing, vintage gear and letting the ear guide the song

My Dying Bride's Lena Abe: "When you’re playing slow, it’s even more noticeable if your timing’s not bang-on"

By Bass Player Staff

The doom-metal bassist talks playing exclusively with a pick and the creation of the band's latest album, The Ghost of Orion

Kirk Hammett: "I love that Greeny has its own fanbase that’s completely independent of me"

By Jon Wiederhorn

The metal icon details how he came to own Peter Green's legendary Les Paul, where it fits in Metallica's sound, and his own tributes to the Fleetwood Mac co-founder

Larkin Poe: "We want to take roots American music to new places - and not treat the blues like a time capsule"

By Jonathan Horsley

The multi-instrumentalist sister duo discuss recording efficiency and the vintage gear that fed into Self Made Man

John Mayall: "Eric Clapton was totally unique. It’s testament to his command of the blues at such an early age"

By Elliot Stephen Cohen

What do Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce and Peter Green have in common? At one point or another they've graced our ears with the legendary bluesman

Mark Potter: “I wouldn’t have survived in the Motown studio. They’d be like, ‘We’re not getting him in, he takes five hours to start playing!’”

By Total Guitar editors

The Elbow guitarist discusses his weirdest gig, a Brian May meltdown and Elbow's love of Pignoses

MIYAVI: "I love Strats - they are sexier and like an all-around good guy, whereas a Tele is a bad guy, a rebel"

By Bruce Fagerstrom

The adored Japanese guitarist on his incredible string-slapping technique and how he uses a trio of amps to cover both the high- and low-end live

Sadler Vaden: "Some downplay their influences, but I wear them right on my sleeve"

By Joe Bosso

The deliciously melodic guitarist busts out the Roger McGuinn/Mike Campbell vibes for his new solo record, Anybody Out There?

Michael Angelo Batio: "This new generation of guitarists is the best I’ve seen. They're where I was in my 20s but at the ages of 10 or even 5!"

By Amit Sharma

The thousand-notes-a-minute shred hero talks competing with younger players, effects pedal minimalism and his face-melting new album, More Machine Than Man

Lamb of God's Mark Morton and Willie Adler on creative kinship, staying power, and trading heavyweight riffs

By Jeff Kitts

One of the most formidable guitar tandems in metal unpack the story of their explosive new album, Lamb of God

Code Orange: "We've taken guitar headstocks to the forehead, and broken fingers and toes onstage"

By Jon Wiederhorn

Guitarists Reba Meyers and Dominic Landolina on their uncompromising approach to performance and the creation of their digitally influenced masterpiece Underneath