Foto: Adriana Zak
This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists. What are their favorite guitars and how is it related to them? This time with the nameless guitar player from the black metal band Angstskríg.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I was around 10 years old, and it was actually my drum teacher at the time, who showed me some of the first chords. I played classical the first few years on my mom’s old Oscar Teller. However, as I became a tween and more rebellious, classical wasn’t loud enough and my dad, who loves Jimi Hendrix, took me out to buy me a Fender Stratocaster with a 15w Cheri Amp. I was so in love.
What are your influences and which guitar players are your faves?
I’m my father’s son, so my biggest influence early on was Jimi Hendrix. But then riff masters like Dimebag, Tom Morello, Jeff Loomis and Devin Townsend turned up on my radar. Lately, I’ve enjoyed players like Brad Paisley and Steve Lukather.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I have 4 electric guitars at the moment. Nothing too fancy. All fairly cheap, so I’m not afraid to modify them myself. I like different stuff, so I have a Solar Type A, a Dean Explorer, an Epiphone Explorer and an Ibanez RG Series. My favorite at the moment is the Solar. It’s just so easy to play, and we’ve written a lot of great stuff together.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?
The perfect guitar is the one that’s a good friend and a great creative companion. If you can’t write a riff on the world’s most expensive guitar, then it’s not worth much. And the best amp is the one that can play the exact sound you’re looking for. For me right now it’s the amp that can handle my Boss HM2 pedal. I’m very pragmatic, when it comes to guitars and amps. If it plays and sounds right, then it’s most likely right. No matter brand or price.
Photo by Vaiva Kriaučiūnaitė
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I kid myself that I’m able to hear the difference between the two, and that I like tube amps the most. But honestly I’m not sure anymore. However, as you can hear on our records, I’m very fond of a bit of a wild and untamed guitar sound, and in my experience the modelers are still struggling, when the sound is too much all over the place.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
The Solar was used for all rhythm tracks and the Dean was used for leads and effect guitars. As it was still COVID by the time of the recording, we were tracking in our producer Frederik Brandt Jakobsen’s home studio. We didn’t want to make too much noise, so we tried a BluGuitar Amp1 Iridium Edition, which is a pedal-sized 100w nanotube power amp. It handled my Boss HM2 surprisingly well and gave us the exact right amount of crazy buzzsaw tone we were looking for.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
My Ibanez no doubt. It’s the first guitar I bought with my own money, and we’ve written a lot of great songs together.
