“Shredding is an amazing thing to be able to do, but when you can really write a feeling with a melody, like Johnny Marr did so well, that’s the goal”: Conor Curley of Fontaines D.C. on his love of Deftones and why he’s writing riffs like a beginner

Conor Curley of Fontaines DC performs on stage on the second day of TRNSMT Festival at Glasgow Green on July 09, 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland.

“It’s very nice to be in Total Guitar – I’ve always been a fan.” Conor Curley is sitting in a café near his London home. “In my mum’s attic, there’s a big stack of Total Guitar from when I was a teenager – I’ve held on to them.”

In the four years since TG last spoke to them, few – if any – guitar bands have had the same meteoric rise as Fontaines D.C.