Features archive

August 2025

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31 articles

August 26
- “To those that have said I inspired them to start drumming, the first thing I say is: ‘I apologise to your parents!’”: A rare interview with legendary drummer Neil Peart of Rush
August 25
- “Much like its predecessor, the 909 was also a commercial flop, and arguably more so than the 808”: How the drum machine grew into a viable alternative to real drummers
- "I wanted to make the greatest rock record that I'd ever heard. I wanted it to sound enormous, to grab you by your throat": How Bruce Springsteen saved his career with Born To Run
August 23
- “One night Zeppelin were all going down the boozer and I said, 'You guys bugger off but Bonzo, you stay behind because I've got an idea’”: The genius behind John Bonham’s towering When the Levee Breaks drum sound
August 22
- “We came off stage and looked at each other in amazement, because all that singing from the audience was so extreme. And I said to Freddie, ‘Maybe we should be harnessing this kind of energy’”: How Queen created the mother of all rock anthems
- “His influence is referenced by many contemporary drummers and he has no doubt spawned his fair share of copyists”: 6 of the most inspirational drummers of all time
- TAMA STAR at Drums Week 2025: Unmatched craftsmanship, iconic sound — the strongest name in drums just got even stronger
- TAMA Kick Pedals at Drums Week 2025: Precision, Power, Performance — engineered for drummers who demand the fastest, smoothest response
- Zildjian Alchem-e Kits at Drums Week 2025: The feel of real drums meets limitless electronic expression – redefine your sound
- Vic Firth Terra Drumsticks at Drums Week 2025: Natural feel, unrivalled balance – crafted from sustainable hickory for drummers who play with purpose
August 20
- “Thom sat down and played it in three takes, then just burst into tears afterwards”: How Jeff Buckley saved Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees
- “I was playing the Fender Strat that Jimi Hendrix gave me. We wound up plugging the guitar straight into the board. That’s why it’s such a clean tone on that track”: Billy Gibbons on the making of ZZ Top's greatest blues song
- “They all thought it was a bonkers idea but it worked. It was already a great song, but that one little thing made it different”: How the Eagles made somebody else’s song their own – and defined the sound of country rock
- “It’s disorienting, impractical and slightly dystopian – but it's like nothing I’ve ever done before”: I tried making music in VR and I’m never going back
August 19
- “I said, ‘It’s really beautiful – why would you say it’s not for the Chili Peppers?’ And he said, ‘That’s not what we do’”: How the Red Hot Chili Peppers broke new ground to create their life-changing hit
August 17
- “The piano just started speaking to me”: How Kate Bush stunned David Gilmour with a masterpiece of songwriting she made at just 13 years old
August 15
- “He stopped what he was doing, went to the fridge, gave the guy a beer and continued, completely in the zone – I've no idea how we did what we did but it became magic”: The rowdy live sets and field recordings behind Monolake's dub techno classic Hongkong
August 14
- “When times are very uncertain, people really love to go back to when they felt secure - a more reassuring time”: We speak to the company aiming to repopularise the personal cassette player
August 13
- “It’s impossible to make a record if you’re having to clear a horse noise”: How The Avalanches assembled their surreal monument of weird, Frontier Psychiatrist, from a huge range of samples
August 12
- “They were unfairly dismissed by critics and listeners with ‘good taste’ as mindlessly primitive”: A music professor breaks down the theory behind Black Sabbath's Iron Man
August 11
- “If you’re given the choice between boxing kangaroos and John Lennon you choose John Lennon”: The strange, brief existence of the John Lennon-fronted supergroup hidden for decades
August 8
- “It's a really good chord progression, I couldn't believe no-one else had used it”: How the Cure sidestepped the gloom and wrote one of the most uplifting songs ever recorded
August 7
- “It’s safe to say it has become the talk of the town every time it is used”: Gibson teases release of the P-90-equipped Les Paul Noel Gallagher has been playing at the Oasis reunion shows
August 6
- “An irate fan pulled a gun on them in their dressing room. They stopped using our name immediately”: How a fake version of a popular British band managed to deceive American fans
- “When the bubble bursts, the grandiose claims about the technology will be shown to be massively overblown”: AI in music production – where should we draw the line?
August 5
- “BB held one note for 12 bars… I set my guitar down, and I walked off the stage. That was the biggest musical lesson I’ve ever learned”: Zach Myers on Shinedown’s secret weapon, the limitations of shred, and that time he got schooled by BB King
- “It's like he reached into a place that even he'd never got to before”: How Freddie Mercury took on mortality itself for Queen’s majestic final single
- “I got up and started walking round the room, singing 'Walking round the room, ya, ya, walking round the room’”: The surprising origins and intricate musical theory behind an iconic Police masterpiece
August 4
- “How could you have been so stupid? You’re a Beatle, boy, a Beatle. Your face is in every damn corner of the planet”: The embarrassing blunder that caused Paul McCartney to be jailed for nine days
August 1
- “This is a number one smash record. Let’s not put it on a B-side and lose it”: How one of Madonna’s most iconic hits grew from cheap filler to international chart-topper
- “We never became so famous that we hated each other or fell out”: Saint Etienne on longevity, studio technology and recording their final album, International