“I’d go into this antique store every day to play it. One day the owner just gave it to me”: How The Linda Lindas’ Bela Salazer got her first electric guitar for free

In 2021, The Linda Lindas burst onto the global scene with their viral hit Racist, Sexist Boy. Since then, the rock band – composed of guitarists Bela Salazar and Lucia de la Garza, bassist Eloise Wong, and drummer Mila de la Garza – spent this past summer touring with Green Day and Rancid. Not bad for a band whose guitarist, Salazar, started out with an electric guitar she got for free.

“My first electric guitar was a Fender Tele that I got for free,” Salazar tells Guitar World. “I’d go into this one antique store every day to play it. One day the owner just gave it to me!”

The Linda Lindas - "Racist, Sexist Boy" (Live at LA Public Library) - YouTube

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Since then, Salazar has developed a preference for “Gibson Les Pauls, the Modern Lite ones.” Meanwhile, De La Garza’s first guitar played a key role in shaping many of The Linda Lindas’ early songs.

“My first guitar was a Fender Duo-Sonic,” she says. “I kept it in my room during the pandemic, so a lot of the first songs I ever wrote were on that guitar as well. I think my first amp was a Supro. Right now I play a Gibson SG and a Fender Strat.”

The Linda Lindas - "No Obligation" - YouTube

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The Linda Lindas recently released their sophomore album, No Obligation, on October 11 via Epitaph Records. They are also set to perform at the 33rd edition of KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at Inglewood, California’s Kia Forum, alongside Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, 311, Sublime, Jimmy Eat World, and others.

For more from The Linda Lindas, plus new interviews with Grace Bowers and Matteo Mancuso, pick up issue 586 of Guitar World at Magazines Direct.