Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama
George Ezra Blame It On Me
Faith’s
affordable new mini-acoustic!
play better now! #281 july 2016
Eddie
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Learn Eddie’s tapping, harmonic & whammy bar tricks!
Van Halen
Bored with your chords?
The Total Guitar interview
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15 easy shapes to bring progressions to life
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Weezer
R
Rivers talks guitar!
in Purple Ra Bambi Kiss
Lynyrd Skynyrd Full tab
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Pendulum Gojira Ben harper Lonely The Brave
Sweet Home Alabama
George Ezra Blame It On Me
acoustic
Radiohead Paranoid Android* *video riffs online
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editor’s letter
Future Publishing Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA Tel 01225 442244 Fax: 01225 822763 Email totalguitar@futurenet.com Website www.totalguitar.co.uk Editorial Editor Stuart Williams Content Editor Rob Laing Reviews Editor Dave Burrluck Production Editor Josh Gardner Art Editor Leanne O’Hara Senior Music Editor Jason Sidwell Music Editor Chris Bird Content Editor, Musicradar.com Michael Astley-Brown Music Co-ordinator Polly Beauchamp Contributors Steve Allsworth, Richard Barrett, Phil Capone, Rich Chamberlain, Sarah Clark, Trevor Curwen, M att Frost, Charlie Griffiths, Nick Guppy, Kerry Haysom Jonathan Horsley, Jamie Hunt, Andy McGregor, Matthew Parker, Adam Rees, Amit Sharma, Henry Yates Music Engraver Simon Troup Audio Mastering Duncan Jordan Video Production Martin Holmes Photography Joe Branston, Adam Gasson, Neil Godwin, Kevin Nixon, Gavin Roberts, Joby Sessions, Jesse Wild, Will Ireland, Olly Curtis Advertising Phone: 01225 442244 Fax: 01225 732285 Senior Advertising Manager Lara Jaggon, lara.jaggon@futurenet.com Director of Agency Sales Matt Downs, matt.downs@futurenet.com Head of Strategic Partnerships Clare Jonik, clare.jonik@futurenet.com Marketing Group Marketing Manager Laura Driffield Marketing Manager Kristianne Stanton Production & Distribution Production Controller Frances Twentyman Production Manager Mark Constance Printed in the UK by: William Gibbons & Sons Ltd on behalf of Future Distributed by:Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT, Tel: 0207 429 4000 Overseas distribution by:Seymour International Circulation Trade Marketing Manager Michelle Brock 0207 429 3683 Subscriptions UK reader order line & enquiries 0844 848 2852 Overseas reader order line & enquiries +44 (0)1604 251045 Online enquiries www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk Email totalguitar@myfavouritemagazines.co.uk Licensing Senior Licensing & Syndication Manager Matt Ellis, matt.ellis@futurenet.com Tel +44 (0)1225 442244 Management Managing Director, Magazines Joe McEvoy Editorial Director, Film, Music & Technology Paul Newman Commercial Sales Director Clare Dove Group Editor-In-Chief Daniel Griffiths Group Art Director Graham Dalzell Next issue on sale 1 July 2016 Printed in the UK by William Gibbons on behalf of Future. Distributed in the UK by Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT. Tel: 0207 429 4000
Welcome… A whopping 272 issues. That’s how long it’s been since we last spoke to Eddie Van Halen for a TG cover interview. That was 1995, and TG was a mere nine months old. Grunge had killed guitar histrionics and was itself in the process being killed off by the arrival of Britpop. Eddie was 38 years old and Van Halen had just released 10th album, Balance. It’s safe to say that a lot has changed since then, for music and for Van Halen. Singers have come and gone and Eddie’s then-toddler son Wolfgang is now a fully fledged member of the band. Entire generations of guitar players have carved their own path to success under Eddie’s influence, and while many have brought new life to the instrument, there’s only one Eddie Van Halen. So, when Total Guitar was invited to visit Eddie at his 5150 Studios in LA for the first UK guitar mag interview in over a decade, we quite literally jumped at the chance. What we discovered is that Eddie is simultaneously a living legend, and a totally down-to-earth normal bloke. Check out the exclusive interview on p34. We’re always striving for balance in TG, and this month is no different. We hope that between Van Halen, Pendulum, Gojira, Weezer and the host of lessons and gear we feature, we’re delivering the best cross-section of what our world has to offer. Drop us a line and tell us what you think!
Future is an award-winning international media group and leading digital business. We reach more than 49 million international consumers a month and create world-class content and advertising solutions for passionate consumers online, on tablet & smartphone and in print. Future plc is a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR). www.futureplc.com
Chief executive Zillah Byng-Maddick Non-executive chairman Peter Allen Chief financial officer Richard Haley Tel +44 (0)207 042 4000 (London) Tel +44 (0)1225 442 244 (Bath)
All contents copyright © 2016 Future Publishing Limited or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored, transmitted or used in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. Future Publishing Limited (company number 2008885) is registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Registered office: Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, BA1 1UA. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware, correct at the time of going to press. Future cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price and other details of products or services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any changes or updates to them. If you submit unsolicited material to us, you automatically grant Future a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in all editions of the magazine, including licensed editions worldwide and in any physical or digital format throughout the world. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Future nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for loss or damage. We are committed to only using magazine paper which is derived from well managed, certified forestry and chlorine-free manufacture. Future Publishing and its paper suppliers have been independently certified in accordance with the rules of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
Stuart Williams, Editor
making this month’s mag: Chris Bird There’s been the constant sound of tapping emanating from Chris’s corner of the office as he’s been beavering away putting this month’s eight-page EVH tutorial together (which you can find on p43). “I can manage the tapping,” says the big man. “Just don’t ask me to jump!”
josh gardner They say you should never meet your heroes, and for Josh, they don’t get much bigger than Rivers Cuomo. Thankfully, he came away from their chat with the with his fandom intact, and the first UK guitar interview with the Weezer frontman in over a decade in the bag, too – read it on p52.
Rob Laing We’ve been seeing tears in Rob’s eyes, but they are spheres of great joy. The author of Panama is on our cover and he could not be happier about it. That said, the passing of Prince has thrown a very dark purple cloud into his sky, and he remembers that other guitar maverick on p30. july 2016
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features Prince In tribute to the late guitar genius, we pick five things guitar players can learn from Mr Nelson ��������������
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COVER FEATURE: Eddie Van Halen Speaking to a UK guitar mag for the first time in a decade, we sit down with EVH to talk gear, technique and why there’s no such thing as mistakes ��������������������������������������� 034
Weezer TG jumps at a rare chance to grill guitarist Rivers Cuomo on shredding, shotgun songwriting and why distortion’s the most important word he ever learned ��
Lonely The Brave We catch up with the UK rockers
Van halen 034 Eddie rock’s greatest living guitarist speaks!
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Weezer
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and their ridiculous gear collection ������������������������������������
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Gojira Joe Duplantier reveals the blood, sweat and tears behind new album, Magma ���������������������������������������
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Ben Harper The US slide guitar legend looks back on three decades of uncompromsing creativity �������������������
Gojira
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Ben harper
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Cover & CD: Kevin Baldes Andy Martin Jr / Alamy Stock Photo Contents: Joseph Branston Will Ireland Michael Ochs Archives / Stringer / Getty Images x2 Owen Sweeney/Frank White Photo Agency
First Look Fano Standard Series �������������������������������������� 006 Riff of the Month Radiohead – Paranoid Android ����� 008 On The Up Broken Witt Rebels, All Hail The Yeti, Muncie Girls ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 010 On The Road Thrice ������������������������������������������������������������� 012 In The Studio Blues Pills ���������������������������������������������������� 014 Five Minutes Alone… Bob Mould ��������������������������������� 016 Me And My Guitar Reba Meyers (Code Orange) ���� 018 Scale Of The Month Minor Pentatonic (Shape 5) ��� 020 Albums This month’s best guitar releases ������������������� 022 Competition Win an EVH Striped Series guitar ����������� 024 Rig Tour Pendulum �������������������������������������������������������������� 025
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006 Gear Godin Session Custom ’59 ������������������������������������������������ Danelectro ’64 ����������������������������������������������������������������������� Boss VE-8 Acoustic Singer ������������������������������������������������
Round-up Martin Westside Custom ��������������������������� Faith Nomad Mini-Saturn Electro ������������������������������������ Vox AC15CH ���������������������������������������������������������������������������
Godin Session Custom ’59
VIdeo riffs: Prince
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Round-up CKK Electronic Pedals ����������������������������������� Quick Tests Electro-Harmonix Lester G / DOD Looking Glass ����������������������������������������������������������������
Accessories ���������������������������������������������������������������������������
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techniques Prince Riffs Learn to play the riffs to three Prince classics – Purple Rain, Kiss and Bambi ������������������������������ Eddie Van Halen Learn the secrets of this month’s cover star with our huge guide to his revolutionary style – with input from the man himself! ����������������������� Five Ways To Liven Up Your Chords �������������������������� Classic Track Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama �����������������������������������������������������������
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Lynyrd Skynyrd ‘Sweet home alabama’
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George Ezra ‘Blame It On Me’
Open-Mic Songbook
George Ezra – Blame It On Me ��������������������������������������������
Get Your Grades! RGT ������������������������������������������������������
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Subscribe now & Save! Subscribe to Total Guitar on p110 and get a Marshall MS-4 mini-amp
july 2016
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first look…
Standard Bearers Fano brings its prices down with a pair of new Standard Series models
F
ano’s mash-ups of classic guitar designs have won accolades aplenty and turned heads the world over – the only problem is the £2k+ price tags of the builder’s Alt De Facto models. For 2016, however, Fano has announced a more affordable line of guitars, the Standard Series, which features the brand’s signature traits – vintage looks, comfortable playability and, yes, relic’d finishes – off the peg. Two models are available initially: the offset JM6 and SP6 LP Jr/Tele hybrid, each weighing in at £1,699. Here’s why they have us distressed… but in a good way.
Photography: Joe Branston
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“Fano’s mash-ups of classic guitar designs have won accolades aplenty and turned heads the world over”
1 Pickups Fano makes its own pickups for this line: in the SP6, you get a Tele-style bridge single coil paired with a LP Junior-esque P-90 pickup in the neck, meanwhile the JM6 offers the choice of either humbuckers or
2 Distressing Part of Fano’s appeal lies in its worn finishes, and the chips and checking on the Standard Series’ nitrocellulose lacquers are enough to be noticeable, but not so much as to be unconvincing
3 Hardware The aged vibe continues onto the nickel hardware. Again, these are Fano’s own, with a threesaddle T-type bridge on the SP6, and a tune-o-matic bridge/ stoptail combo on the JM6 – a plus for offset players who can’t stand fiddly vibratos
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Radiohead Paranoid Android 5:40
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ollowing the release of Radiohead’s latest album, A Moon Shaped Pool, we’ve decided to look back at the mood-changing, tensionbuilding riff from their 90s classic, Paranoid Android. The song is in standard tuning, so tune to EADGBE to play along. Forming a strong, melodic theme, the riff in question is featured throughout the song. During softer sections, Thom Yorke plays the line on acoustic guitar; later you’ll hear the riff delivered by the overdriven electric guitars of Johnny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien. O’Brien takes a lower octave and holds the last note, whereas Greenwood plays the riff an octave higher and adds a fill over the last bar. Picking-wise, O’Brien mixes alternate picking with downstrokes; Greenwood and Yorke use alternate picking. It’s not crucial, so use whichever method feels most comfortable.
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Greenwood tends to play his humbuckerequipped Telecaster Plus but O’Brien is often seen with a single-coil guitar, so either will suffice. Just make sure to dial in a decent amount of gain and bass for weight and enough treble for bite and note definition. An overdrive pedal will drive your amp harder and produce a hotter tone if needed. Overdrive Gain: 7 Tone: 5 Level: 6 All the video lessons in this issue of Total Guitar are available to view online at www.bit.ly/tg281video
Guitars and backing: Jamie Hunt © epa european pressphoto agency b.v. / Alamy Stock Photo
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Broken Witt Rebels
u E p Words: Matthew Parker Photos: Simon Davis Kristin Vahl Sebastian Wiegmann
Southern-fried riffing from the heart of the Black Country
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r, hot dang? On first listen to Southern-rocking Broken Witt Rebels’ dust-clad outlaw jams, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they hail from the Birmingham, Alabama, as opposed to the Midlands… “We’ve never said, ‘We want to be a Deep South band’,” says guitarist James Tranter. “I joined the band and I introduced a lot of bluesy riffs and this Southern guitar feel. [Back then] lot of their songs sounded very British. Then Dan [Core] found this vocal style and it’s just stuck. It’s a natural thing, which we absolutely love. Now we keep getting more bluesy and Southernsounding and we’re exploring that more and more.” The band’s geographical roots – hailing, as they do, from the seat of Sabbath – are not glazed over though. James and Dan’s real talent is blending their seemingly opposing laid-back Southern vibes, with a harder-edged take on blues rock. Check out the storming Low, from new EP Georgia Pine, as a prime example. “I love the riff from Low,” enthuses James, when we ask him for a favourite. “It’s heavy and I think it’s the perfect start to the EP. It’s so catchy. I can play it to people and days later they’ll come back singing the riff, so I’m really proud of that.”
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James’ personal musical roots lie in a line-up of classic rock guitar’s usual suspects and the band’s own jam-heavy work ethic owes something to those 70s road warriors. “It’s so important that we all know what each other is doing, emphasises James. “I know Luke [Davis] and JD spend a lot of time just jamming by themselves, locking the bass and drums in. Me and Dan [Core, vocals] love to go in our own direction through songs, but we can always rely on that strong rhythm section.” James also picks his gear – an Epiphone Casino and a Fender Blues Junior “in tweed, because it makes it sound better!” – to reflect a similar mix of aural grit and determination. “In terms of pedalboard, I’m quite a minimal person,” reflects James. “I use an Ibanez Tube Screamer, the EHX POG and a Jim Dunlop wah. It’s really basic, but I’ve found it’s really effective. I don’t take this away from any guitarists that like to play behind lots of reverbs and delays, but for me, I want people to hear how I’m playing and hear what I’m doing!” For fans of: Rival Sons, Blackberry Smoke Hear: Guns
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All Hail The Yeti Living the American scream
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he LA nightlife has long been a lure for the weird and wonderful (see: Crüe, Mötley). Likewise, All Hail The Yeti’s guitarist Alan Stokes was born in Ireland, raised in Vancouver and now plies his in trade in Hollywood, chugging filthy, classic rock-inspired riffs. Appropriately his band’s new collection Screams From A Black Wilderness, proves AHTY’s taste for the dark and monstrous, both lyrically and tonally. “I play a Schecter Solo II ATX and the Hellraiser Solo II,” explains Stokes. “Then on the left I have my Mesa Single Rectifier with a vintage, Marshall JCMstyle tone and on the right I have a Dual Rectifier with a modern punchy, bass-y Mesa tone.” It’s a melding of vintage rock and modern metal beef that can
be heard throughout the group’s output – and Alan puts it to innovative use. “There’ll be parts where I switch from left to right, so I can switch them on and off to get that effect,” he says. “I also do some looping, where I send a loop to one amp and then play something else over the top of it [on the other].” It’s one potent component among many for the group. “What stays with me is how four people from four different places can be on the same page about things,” enthuses Alan. ”That’s the hardest part. Spending 300 days with the same three guys and not wanting to rip each other’s heads off – that’s a good quality to have!” For fans of: 36 Crazyfists, Pantera Hear: Daughter Of The Morning Star
Muncie Girls Three chords and the truth
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ensorship is everywhere these days. Whether it’s celebrity super-injunctions or ‘personal branding’ online, it’s often easiest to just say nothing. Thank the gods for Exeter three-piece Muncie Girls then. Since vocalist/bassist Lande Hekt and guitarist Dean McMullen met at the age of 13, they’ve distilled a simpatico relationship, social awareness and Green Day chord book into songwriting that, while not preachy, wears its heart on its sleeve. “Lande’s lyrics are just what she’s been thinking at the time,” explains Dean. “We’re not trying to write songs to be hits or make the band big, we’re just writing the songs that come out and saying how we feel. [Equally] we’re not trying to be controversial or change people’s opinions. It’s just what we’re
thinking at the time and you take from it what you want.” The formula works because nothing is affected. There’s a genuine warmth to Muncie’s music and it runs from Lande’s unfeigned lyrical vignettes, to Dean’s rounded guitar tone. “We’re just a three-piece and it has to fill a big space,” explains Dean. “I use a Fender Telecaster Thinline, because I wanted to make the sound warmer. Then I put it through a JCM900 and an Orange cab, which makes it a bit fatter. I really like that combination of the Thinline, the ’900 and the Orange cab, I think that’s the sound I was looking for.” Catch Muncie Girls on tour in the UK with Beach Slang in June. For fans of: Against Me!, Veruca Salt Hear: Respect
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on the road…
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Words: Michael Astley-Brown © Kennerdeigh Scott
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july 2016
“We’veplayedtogether solongthatitdoesn’t takemuchforustofeel connectedagain”