Latest articles by Sam Drower
"He always felt like one of us": Five seminal records Steve Albini worked on
A sound engineer and Albini fan honours an inspiration
"As producers, you struggle to get inspired if you're using the same thing. A lot of times, a piece of analogue gear can break you out of that rut" – Shaun Lopez on crafting synth sounds for the long-awaited second album from Crosses
"I think there's just so much more you can do on a piano or a synth with voicing and stuff like that, which you can't do on guitar"
"For me, full length or even medium length just never made sense" – Royal Blood's Mike Kerr on his Fender signature Jaguar bass and love of short-scale
"I got so used to playing short scales that even now, putting on a full-length bass feels like I'm trying to play the wing of a plane or something!"
Coheed & Cambria guitarist Travis Stever on his love of Van Halen, the 10 albums that changed his life and new band L.S Dunes
"I got to play on the two best records that were released this year – that's how I feel about it"
8 tips to help bassists to stay inspired and freshen up their playing
Staying creative as a bass player, both solo and with other musicians
10 honest live soundcheck tips for musicians from a sound engineer
Real-world advice to improve your soundchecks and gigs
Interview: Perturbator's James Kent and Cult Of Luna's Johannes Persson on their synth / guitar post-metal crossover Final Light
"Rather than trying to redefine what we do individually, we put our strengths together"
Alt-J’s Joe Newman: “My relationship with playing guitar has changed... in lockdown I got really into guitar YouTubers. I started readdressing how I wanted to play”
Ahead of the February release of Alt-J’s new album, The Dream, Newman joined us to talk songwriting, his rekindled love for guitar, and the revolutionary Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster
Video: Jon Gomm talks us through his signature Ibanez guitars
The UK acoustic maestro talks us through his Ibanez JGM10 signature acoustic and explains the differences with the JGM5
Chris Broderick interview: "I've always had an affinity for Jackson since even before I knew how to play guitar"
The Age Of Defiance and former Megadeth guitarist on his new signature models
Skindred bassist Dan Pugsley talks Laney Digbeth amps and recording a new album
"I'm trying to do something on this record where once the main guitars and vocals are done, I'm listening back to my bass parts for moments where I can potentially move things"
Dirty Loops' Jonah Nilsson interview: "I think that's the most important thing about being a musician; together, you're stronger"
As the Quincy Jones-approved Swedish vocal and instrumental maestro releases his first solo album, we talk covering Michael Jackson and writing the soundtrack of his life so far
Emily Wolfe interview: "Knowing a lot about the gear side of things can really help you accomplish the sound you have in your head"
The Epiphone artist talks marrying fuzz blues with pop hooks
Blood Red Shoes’ Laura-Mary Carter: 10 albums that changed my life – “Pixies are one of our biggest influences. That's why Steve and I both sing“
The vocalist/guitarist talks new EP Ø and the inspiration of Elliot Smith, Nirvana, Hole and Babes In Toyland
The future for live music and 7 tips on performing online with Tesseract bassist Amos Williams
Back To Live: Insights and ideas on how bands can redefine their live performances
"It sent my guitar playing, or the thought of what I could do, in a new direction" – AFI's Jade Puget on the 10 albums that changed my life
From Depeche Mode to Jawbreaker and Robert Johnson
K.Flay: "Collaboration decreases pressure, and when you decrease pressure and expectation you make better music"
Interview: As the crossover artist returns with a rock-driven EP featuring Tom Morello and Travis Barker, she explains why guitar is the instrument she knows best
Tetrarch guitarist Diamond Rowe: "We're really looking forward to doing some big things"
The US four-piece are metal's ones to watch in 2021 with their new album Unstable
"We feel we managed to reach the rock sound we've been looking for for many years" – MONO's Takaakira 'Taka' Goto talks new live album and 22 years together
Beyond The Past captures the Japanese instrumentalists with the Platinum Anniversary Orchestra
"This album is just crushingly sad" – Emma Ruth Rundle chooses the 10 albums that changed her life
Best of 2020: This pick of key albums from ERR's life reflects her musical diversity
"I love exploring and channelling these different pieces of me from these different eras" – Nothing,Nowhere on Trauma Factory and the 10 albums that changed his life
“I still get tripped out when reading comments from people saying that my music saved their life," admits Joe Mulherin
Interview: The future for live music and 7 tips on performing online with Tesseract bassist Amos Williams
"I think you could see a lot more solo artists and singer songwriters come up through this, as well as instrumentalists who may not have yet had that opportunity"
Thou guitarist Andy Gibbs: 5 players who blew my mind
Matt Pike and Billy Corgan are among the guitarists who lit the fire under Gibbs' downtuned, slo-mo riffing and songwriting
