For 15 years the Afghan Whigs contributed their brand of darkly-themed alt rock to the music scene. After a 13 year hiatus they have returned with a bang, a new album and Jon Skibic on guitar. Jon has a long history on the music circuit playing with the likes of Rock of Ages and Twilight Singers with Greg Dulli. The new album has shown that the group still has what it takes – evolving and maintaining the passion, musicianship and tortured lyrics. Here’s our chat with Jon Skibic on what it has been like and on his gear.

How did you come to be in The Afghan Whigs?

I had just moved to Los Angeles from Boston and I started playing in this thing called “Club Makeup.” It was a monthly live show and we had a different theme every month. It was really fun, the band was killer, and we had three guitarists, Xander Smith, myself, and Gilby Clarke from Guns N’ Roses. We had special guests for each show and I met Greg Dulli at rehearsals for the “Beatles” themed show. We had a lot of the same musical tastes so we started playing together in his other band called the Twilight Singers. When the Afghan Whigs decided to make another record, Greg invited me down to Cincinnati to record with Afghan Whigs’ bassist, John Curley. It coincided with a trade show I was doing for Electro-Harmonix. I had no idea I was recording for an Afghan Whigs record; I thought it was Twilight Singers.

Do you have a favorite song or solo to play on Do to the Beast?

I like playing “Royal Cream” live. My parts sounds like a synthesizer and I think not about notes but about energy and flow. It gets me out of the “guitar-head” briefly. I also enjoy the duel solos I share with the other guitarist, Dave Rosser, on “Algiers” and “The Lottery.” In regards to the classic Whigs material, I think “My Enemy” is my favorite.

You recently got turned on to the Whole Lotta Humbucker. What have you found in those pickups that you like?

I like how the high E and B strings sound thicker. They sound like a great classic humbucker with a little special something in the high end. I play really loud in the Afghan Whigs. I use a Mesa Royal Atlantic RA 100 head on the clean channel. That’s a 100 watt head and a 4×12 cab almost all the way up that stays clean when it play lighter and distorts when I dig in. I use three different overdrives for different gain stages.  Another thing that is important to me is that humbuckers need to sound good when used with Fender amps and the Whole Lotta Humbuckers sound great with all of my amps.

And you’ve been using the new Dirty Deed Distortion. How do you find that fits in with the sound of the Afghan Whigs?

Both Greg Dulli and I use the Dirty Deed. Greg uses it for his most saturated sound and because it has an EQ, it can stick out of the mix and really beef things up with the bass control. I use it as a solo boost. It works well anywhere you put it in the chain.

You currently have a very intense tour schedule. How do you keep the vitality to put on a killer show each night? Do you have a ritual or routine?

I try to get a lot of rest and stay healthy, at least that’s the goal. We need to be 100% for two hours each night so whatever you need to do to make that happen is what you do. The Whigs have a pretty strong fan base so it’s easy to put on a good show for smiling fans night after night!

What does your current live rig consist of?

I use various Seymour Duncan-equipped guitars. I use the Mesa RA100 and bunch of pedals. Signal chain is CAE wah – Hudson Electronics UK Gospel Bomb – Malekko Sloika – Ernie Ball volume pedal – Lehle d.Loop – EHX SuperEgo – Empress Tremolo 2 – EHX POG2 – TRex Mollar – Seymour Duncan Dirty Deed – Boss TU2 – Malekko Ekko616 – WayHuge SupaPuss. Pedaltrain makes the pedalboard and Voodoo Lab powers it.

Most of my non-vintage guitars have Seymour Duncan pickups in them. I like low output pickups mostly. I find you can get the most versatility out of them.

What advice would you give for those trying to make it in music?

Have no back-up plan whatsoever.