INTERVIEW: Adrian Belew
The Crimson ProjeKCt is a King Crimson offshoot featuring three current members of that historic, nay, iconic band – Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto – along with Julie Slick, Tobias Ralph and Markus Reuter. And a typical Crimson ProjeCKt concert is a marathon of musical might which shifts through many moods and configurations. Belew explains: “What happens is this: Stick Men (Levin, Mastelotto and Reuter) play a set of their music (which includes a Crimson track or two), then the Power Trio (Belew, Slick, Ralph) plays a set of my music (which also includes a Crimson track), then Tony and Pat and I play a Crimson song (as yet another trio), and then comes the big finale: both trios play more than an hours-worth of Crimson music as a double trio! It’s a helluva show!” And the group is coming to Australia and New Zealand to spread their particular brand of musical majesty in June and July, with shows in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle. Continue reading
Motörhead’s Motörboat
PRESS RELEASE: Megadeth, Motörhead, and Anthrax - three of the greatest heavy metal bands in the world – will perform at the first annual Motörhead’s Motörboat cruise onboard the Carnival Ecstasyfrom September 22-26, 2014. In addition to these three rock giants, “The Loudest Boat In The World” will also feature performances from Zakk Wylde, Jim Breuer, Danko Jones, Fireball Ministry, Wilson, and some big surprises…more bands to be announced soon. Motörhead’s Motörboat will sail from Miami, visiting the ports of Key West, Florida andCozumel just off Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. While onboard, guests will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with band members and will see unforgettable performances on various stages throughout the ship. Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Stevic Mackay of Twelve Foot Ninja
If you’re reading this, perhaps you’ve posted a video of your playing on YouTube. Maybe it’s your band, maybe it’s you playing along to your favourite Megadeth solo, maybe it’s a lesson video. Whatever it is, you’ve probably run across the horror that is the Internet Troll. Twelve Foot Ninja have too. That shouldn’t be surprising: they’re a talented, innovative, driven band who have charted their own course and worked their way into some pretty enviable opportunities. And that tends to bring out the haters, the jealous, the miserable, the sickish: the trolls. So the band decided to do something about it, releasing a video for the song “Ain’t That A Bitch” which pits the band up against an internet troll – an actual, filthy troll – with bloody and not-safe-for-work consequences. Continue reading
Keeley Ships Seafoam Chorus Pedal
PRESS RELEASE:Keeley Electronics today announced it is now shipping its Seafoam Chorus effect pedal. The 100% hand-built Seafoam chorus is a new design built from the ground up that was created for the most demanding modulation effects connoisseurs. The Seafoam chorus offers a wealth of studio-quality musical tones, from pulsating vibrato pitch bending to shimmering chorus doubling effects, all in a compact pedal design. With controls for modulation Rate, Depth, and Tone, the Seafoam Chorus makes it easy for players to dial in a wide palette of sounds. A unique Blend control was also added to enable players to toe the line between pure vibrato or chorus sounds – and explore countless variations at settings in between. Continue reading
COOL GEAR ALERT: Schecter KM-7
If you hang out at sevenstring.org you’ve probably seen that a lot of folks are starting to get their Schecter KM-7s now. This is the Keith Merrow signature model featuring Seymour Duncan Nazgul and Sentient pickups (with a coil split), Swamp Ash body, Graph Tech Tusq Nut, three-piece Maple neck and Hipshot Hardtail bridge. And you can hear it on the debut album by Conquering Dystopia, Keith’s new band with Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore), Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) and Alex Rüdinger (The Faceless), which you can get here.
MXR Celebrates 40 Years
PRESS RELEASE: This year marks the 40th anniversary of MXR’s incorporation in 1974 by engineer Keith Barr and his business partner Terry Sherwood. To musicians across the world, those three letters have come to represent innovation, inspiration, and rugged reliability. MXR has never stopped innovating, and Dunlop’s stewardship of the brand has seen the faithful reintroduction of its most iconic pedals—from the Phase 90 to the Dyna Comp® Compressor—as well as the development of modern classics such as the Carbon Copy® Analog Delay. Continue reading
Epiphone Gives Away A Bunch Of Bluegrass Instruments
PRESS RELEASE: Epiphone, home to the world’s best professional affordable instruments, continues its 2014 monthly giveaways with an unprecedented opportunity for fans to take home everything they need to start an entire Bluegrass Band – just in time for spring! Beginning on Saturday, March 1, 2014, Epiphone fans can enter to win the Bluegrass Band Package Giveaway where one lucky winner in the US, Canada, and UK/Europe will take home four of Epiphone’s premier Bluegrass instruments—the Masterbilt DR-500MCEacoustic/electric guitar, the MB-200 Banjo, the MM-30S Mandolin, and the Dobro® Hound Dog Deluxe Round Neck, most recently featured in concert by GRAMMY winner Gary Clark Jr. Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Killswitch Engage’s Joel Stroetzel
Killswitch Engage are in an enviable position as one of those metal bands who have survived the steady rise to fame of their youth and managed to sustain their audience 15 years into their career without sacrificing their principals or their aggression. If anything the Killswitch Engage of today is more brutal, precise and refined than ever. The band was last here in Australia for Soundwave 2013 just prior to the release of their sixth studio album, Disarm the Descent. Now nearing the end of the touring cycle for that album (and with original vocalist Jesse Leach now firmly back in the line-up after leaving in 2002), Killswitch Engage are headed back to Australia to give the album one last hurrah before moving on to their next project. “Australia’s one place where we’ve had some time to check out some cities and the wildlife and stuff,” says guitarist Joel Stroetzel. “It’s a pretty good time!” Continue reading
Check Out These D’Angelico 2014 Models
PRESS RELEASE: D’Angelico Guitars, the finest builder of archtop guitars and iconic brand in the music space, announces the introduction of its new guitar lineup for 2014. In response to the tremendous success of the D’Angelico Standard Series, the company has expanded the product line with the introduction of the EX-59 and EX-175 models. D’Angelico Guitars also welcomes the Style B model to its “stunningly crafted” (Guitar Aficionado) USA Master-Builder Series. Continue reading The Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Éclair
I love when there’s a cool story to go along with a piece of gear, and the Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Éclair has one of the coolest. The Éclair evolved from the JB and Jazz combo that Seymour likes so much, but the neck is Alnico IV, the bridge is Alnico II and they’re both single conductor. The bridge is wound for more cut and clarity and the neck is smooth and articulate. MJ also underwinds the neck and overwinds the bridge. So what’s the story behind these? Well it started with a Facebook chat between Seymour and guitarist Austin Bryan. “A while back, Seymour and I interacted on Facebook on his birthday and he had told me that MJ had made him a very special Éclair,” Austin told the Seymour Duncan blog. “To my knowledge I stupidly thought he was talking about a special pickup set rather than the tasty desert. I called MJ and asked her how the Éclairs sounded, and she immediately started laughing. So right then and there we started coming up with a pickup idea tailored to creating a new pickup for Seymour that would meet his tonal needs, and which also met mine.” Read the full story here.
You can hear Seymour himself playing the Eclair set below: Continue reading
EVH Revamps Website
PRESS RELEASE: EVH is proud to announce that its already popular website, evhgear.com – the go-to website for all things Eddie Van Halen – has been revamped and now contains many new features designed to enhance the overall EVH online experience. Perhaps the most notable addition to the site is the “Ask Eddie” feature, which allows fans to ask Eddie Van Halen questions about his career, his gear and whatever else comes to mind. Already, Eddie has responded to questions relating to his effects chain, Wolfgang guitar design specifications and his infamous “Shark Guitar.” Continue reading
Hey, Lay Off Misha’s Theory Knowledge, Dude.
Okay, something’s pissing me off and I have to rant about it. Today on Misha Mansoor’s ask.fm page, someone asked, “Serious question, how is one who does not know theory call themselves of musician? You are a guitarist, producer, etc. Not a musician. Not taking any shots, btw.” Misha quite diplomatically replied “Because I play music for a living?” Now, I’m someone who appreciates music theory, knows a lot of it, believes in learning and teaching it, and rather likes it. But there has to come a time where you put music theory aside. When you really get down to it, music theory is not a rule book for how to make music. It’s a catalog of observations of things that sound good. Music existed before music theory was invented to describe it, just as language was around before an external means to document it. If someone can speak but they can’t read or write, does that make their words any less meaningful? Is a nice home cooked meal any less of a meal than one made by Bobby Flay? Continue reading
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com