Category Archives: Artists

“Knowing what to say and what to play is the easy part; the part you have to work on is your people skills. You’re going to be dealing with lots of different personalities in many different parts of the world so knowing how to get along with the rep you’re traveling with, the dealer you’re doing the clinic for (along with their employees) is sometimes the most challenging part of the clinic.”

Joel Hoekstra is quite possibly the busiest guitar player you’ve never heard of….yet. Joel has been touring the world alongside Brad Gillis, Jack Blades and Kelly Keagy in Night Ranger for the last 4 years. When at home, he is in the hit Broadway show Rock of Ages 8 shows a week and as if…

When Black Sabbath announced plans for a reunion album and tour last year, the metal world went into a frenzy. The legends were back! But then Tony Iommi announced his diagnosis with cancer, and the band scaled back its planned appearances to small number of dates. To fill the void left in the wake of…

On April 25th, Seymour Duncan Custom Shop manager Maricela Juarez (MJ) and art director Andreina Diaz attended a historical concert by the legendary Maná at Los Angeles’ Staples Center.   Maná is the most influential band out Latin America since the late 80s  – the equivalent of U2 or The Stones for Spanish speaking countries. They set…

Firewind and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G has checked in with us from preparations for the Ozzy & Friends Summer European tour, where he’ll be performing as the main axeman in Ozzy’s band, with special guest appearances by Zakk Wylde, Slash and Geezer Butler. Here’s his message to fans of Ozzy, Gus and Seymour Duncan:…

Amorphis has a long history of intense music that draws inspiration from Finnish folklore. In the season finale of Voices of Metal we talk with the guitarist, songwriter and founding member of Amorphis, Esa Holopainen. Tell us about The Beginning of Times and the inspiration behind this album. “The writing process for TBOT started already…

Neil “Spyder” Giraldo has a reputation as a great guitar player for Pat Benatar, coming up with riffs and solos for “Love Is a Battlefield”, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, and “We Belong” among many others. In this interview Seymour gets down to Neil’s gear, string gauge, amps and his wild on-stage antics (including biting his guitars).

Oz Noy begin his proffesional career at the age of 13 and within years was playing with some of the top acts in Israel. By the age of 24 he had become a highly sought after studio musician. In 1996 he set westward to New York City and has since released five studio albums and…

Victor & Penny hail from Kansas City and have combined the tone of the 1920’s with their own modern take to form what they call “Antique Pop”. Featuring the musically trained Jeff Freling playing an old Kay Archtop and Erin McGrane, the talented singer and Ukulele player who also stars on the silver screen. The two combine their talents…

In this week’s edition of Voices of Metal we turn to Simon Johannson who plays alongside Mike Wead in the Swedish band BibleBlack. You have a pretty long history in the Swedish death metal scene, including playing in Abstrakt Algebra and Memory Garden, how do you believe the metal scene has changed in the last several…