“A lot of people say we’re their favorite running music”: Josh Menashe of LA post-punk freakazoids Frankie and the Witch Fingers has some advice on riff writing – just up your step count and let them come to you

A black-and-white action shot of Josh Menashe playing his Fender Jazzmaster live.

If you spend just 10 minutes listening to the music of the whacked-out, Los Angeles-based psych-punk rockers Frankie and the Witch Fingers, you’ll undoubtedly think, “How on earth does that guitarist come up with so many crazy-cool riffs?”

Turns out, the group’s lead guitarist, Josh Menashe, has a formula for that, and it doesn’t involve his instrument. “I used to come up with riffs the normal way, which meant I’d sit and play and my fingers would go to all the usual places,” he says. “But now I just sort of walk around and think of riffs, and then I try to play them. It’s really helped me break out of a cage.”