“I don’t know if he’s totally metal, either, but I would have to say George Lynch is right up there. I kind of missed out on what he was doing when I was a kid, because I was into straight metal and wasn’t into the whole hair metal thing, but for the past couple of years, Lynch has been a real influence on me.

“I’ve seen him live a few times, and what I like about him is the fact that he sounds like himself and nobody else. You can’t teach somebody how to do that, and you probably couldn't teach somebody to play like him. To me, he’s a little like Jeff Beck – he plays what he’s feeling, and what he’s feeling is very personal.

“It’s funny: I used to hate whammy bar stuff, but I kind of got into it and did more of it than I was planning to on the new record, and it’s because of guys like Lynch.”