Let’s talk gear. Mike, during Social D’s Mommy’s Little Monster and Prison Bound eras, you were using SGs. In the ’90s, you made the switch to Les Paul Deluxes. Why the switch?
Ness: I always thought Les Pauls would be too heavy and restrict me when I was onstage, so I just stuck with what worked—my SGs. But once I tried the Les Pauls, I just fell in love with their sustain right off the bat. It’s incomparable. And the tone of those thick, mahogany Les Pauls is something I really took on as my new sound. In a way, it reshaped Social D’s sound.