Beddy Rays: “I think the music does a lot of speaking for itself” By Ellie Robinson published 24 August 22 Too many bands sweat the little things when it comes to making their debut albums. But as Beddy Rays tell Australian Guitar, they didn’t even think too hard about the big ones
Spotlight: Kate McGuire of VOIID By Ellie Robinson published 17 August 22 The new single, ‘Lexapro’, is out now
Dune Rats: “We’ve been able to fine-tune our songwriting – we’re not a one-trick pony” By Ellie Robinson published 12 August 22 Album #4 might see Dune Rats put down the bongs, but they still throw one hell of a party. Australian Guitar has an invite, too – let’s make our way in…
Beach Bunny: “The songs resonated with me a lot, but I’m happy to be on the other side of them” By Ellie Robinson published 10 August 22 Behind its shimmery, space-themed sheen, Beach Bunny’s second album is an emotional rollercoaster. Australian Guitar takes a ride
The Kooks: “I think the best thing you can do as a songwriter is be authentic and honest” By Ellie Robinson published 5 August 22 The Kooks’ new album is both their most elated and their most experimental. Frontman Luke Pritchard tells Australian Guitar how they pulled it off
Spotlight: Matt Preen of Great Gable By Ellie Robinson published 3 August 22 The new LP, ‘On The Wall In The Morning Light’, is out now
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
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
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 16 May 22 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
Ann Wilson on enlisting Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Warren Haynes and Tom Bukovac for new solo album Fierce Bliss By James Wood published 25 April 22 Wilson talks covering Queen, Eurythmics and Robin Trower at Muscle Shoals, and recalls her fondest memories from a decades-long career with Heart
King Garbage's Zach Cooper details his tricked-out Coopercaster hybrid guitar setup: “The potential for the hybrid rig is such a deep well” By Chris Schwarten published 31 March 22 The alt-soul guitarist talks building an instrument that organically covers the frequency spectrum, and the Mike Patton-backed band's carefully crafted sophomore album, Heavy Metal Greasy Love
Zach Myers on Shinedown's new album, Planet Zero: “It's the sound of a band in a room playing rock 'n' roll – I think a lot of our fans missed that” By Chris Schwarten published 29 March 22 The guitarist talks using “milk crates” full of pedals on the Florida hard-rockers' forthcoming concept album, why they steered clear of reverb, and how a stock Kemper preset crept onto the final recording
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
Sasami: “Metal may be mostly a white man's genre, but the emotions that go with the sounds of metal guitar are emotions that all humans experience” By Matt Parker published 25 February 22 The classically trained songwriter on undergoing a metal transformation and hiring Megadeth's drummer for her second album, Squeeze – a record that is vicious and virtuous in equal measure
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
Matt Pike: “I wanted this album to sound different to my previous work. But everything I play on is going to sound like me, in a weird way, shape or form” By Amit Sharma published 14 February 22 The Sleep/High On Fire guitarist on his love of Les Pauls, and recruiting the likes of Brent Hinds, Todd Burdette and Jeff Matz for his debut solo album, Pike vs The Automaton
Wallows: “There's that fine line of ‘I want to know where the guitar can take me’ and ‘I don't know where it can take me’” By Bruce Fagerstrom published 4 February 22 Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston on why the guitar is their "comfort instrument", their favorite six-strings and the tracking secrets on new album, Tell Me That It's Over
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
Black Label Society: “When you rehearse too much before recording, you take away all the spontaneity, all the magic, all the fire. You suck the life out of the thing” By Richard Bienstock published 7 January 22 Doom Crew Inc. is the first-ever complete Black Label Society album to feature a second guitarist. Here, guitar duo Zakk Wylde and Dario Lorina escort you deep into the temple of doom...