The Latest Breaking News from Total Guitar

“I was going for a sound where it’s like, ‘Is this person virtuosic, or do they totally suck?’ That’s kind of where I live”: St. Vincent on channeling Neil Young and embracing a less-is-more approach to guitar solos

St. Vincent took inspiration from one of Neil Young's “one note” solos on her new record, All Born Screaming

Guitar World · May 7, 2024

“If you want to bench press 200lbs, you start at 80... You should concentrate on performing with articulation at whatever speed it is”: Kerry King on how to master thrash metal speed riffing

In a new interview with Total Guitar, the Slayer axeman demystifies his approach to light-speed riffing, and reveals what he loves about AC/DC

Guitar World · May 6, 2024

“It should be – and usually is – pedal-first for us, because pedals can affect your playing so much”: Shoegaze heroes DIIV on how stompboxes formed the building blocks of their new album

After prioritizing pedals in their songwriting process, DIIV reveal how they manage to translate their studio sound to the stage

Guitar World · May 6, 2024

“It was found in the trunk of a car. They had sanded it to make it look like it wasn’t mine”: Tyler Bryant's stolen Pinky One Strat was played by Jeff Beck, inscribed by Steven Tyler – and, miraculously, returned to him five years after it was taken

The blues-rock guitarist recalls the loss – and remarkable recovery – of his most significant six-string

Guitar World · Apr 8, 2024

"If we do this correctly, I think this could be one of the best blues songs ever!": How Joe Bonamassa and Kevin Shirley took an obscure Tim Curry track to a whole new level

"When I first heard it, I was really stricken by the guitar playing, and I was really taken by the whole vibe of it"

MusicRadar · Apr 2, 2024

“You can almost hear The Beatles influence and the Led Zeppelin influence at the front of the song”: How Dave Mustaine channelled unlikely influences for Megdeth's Hangar 18

"These were songs that I took with me to that first band – didn’t get a chance to get them out in my second band – but my third one I did”

MusicRadar · Mar 22, 2024

“It’s like Brian May walked over to his tone booth and just turned it up to 11!” Kirk Hammett names his favorite Queen song – and it’s a seriously deep cut

Metallica may have covered Stone Cold Crazy, but that’s not Hammett’s no. 1…

Guitar World · Mar 20, 2024

"He wrote it for me, but the record company had the power to prevent any other record coming out and they said, ‘This is a number one smash: Beck doesn’t get this’”: The story of the Stevie Wonder and Jeff Beck connection

Denied the song Stevie Wonder wrote for him, he instead gifted the guitarist a composition that would inspire one of his greatest performances

MusicRadar · Mar 16, 2024

“Freddie was a good riffmeister! He was a devotee of Jimi Hendrix. People think he was just concerned with the lighter stuff but it’s not true. He did enjoy the heavy stuff”: Brian May reveals the inside stories behind 13 classic Queen tracks

In a world-exclusive interview, Brian May takes you behind the scenes of the making of 13 iconic Queen cuts, and reveals what inspired his magical guitar playing in Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Don’t Stop Me Now and many more

Guitar World · Mar 12, 2024

“It was just another riff, like Into The Fire. We didn’t make a big deal out of it and it wasn’t being considered as a track for the album": Ian Gillan on the unlikely success story of writing and recording Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water

"The downdraft from the mountains caused the smoke to blow across Lake Geneva, like a film set or dry ice on a stage show. At this point, Roger wrote the words ‘smoke on the water’ on a napkin”

MusicRadar · Mar 11, 2024