Steve Hill – described by Guitarist magazine as “the 21st century’s answer to the traditional one-man band” – is a wildcard guitarist. With a drumstick stuck to the headstock of his electric guitar and a dogged DIY spirit, there are few players like him.
Recently, Hill took a trip to Foo Fighters’ famed Studio 606 to track his latest album, Hanging On A String – and he had to navigate multiple disasters to get it over the line.
Naturally, Hill made full use of Studio 606’s suite of gear while he was there, and found himself drawn to two of Chris Shiflett’s favorite guitar amps. Alas, he proved too hot to handle for one, sending it to an early, charred grave.
“I’m using Dave Grohl’s bass drum and I’m using their amps,” Hill reveals of the new album. “Chris Shiflett has this great [Vox] AC30 from the 60s; that’s the main amp on the album. That and a Princeton Reverb – until I blew it up and replaced it with a black-panel Deluxe. He probably doesn’t know...”
While the amp trade-off isn’t a terrible one, it seems unlikely that Shiflett – a gear nerd who recently pitted his skills against Joe Bonamassa, and failed – wouldn't notice. But, for now, at least, he seems to have gotten away with it.
It helps his case that Shiflett, who recently received a brand new signature Telecaster, has been experimenting with amp modelers for his latest solo tours. He's bought a Quad Cortex, despite admitting that “It feels like total blasphemy.”
The stealth replacement of the busted Princeton was just one calamity in a long line of fateful mishaps that took place during the tracking of Hanging On A String. The first occured when Hill narrowly escaped death after his tour manager’s house burned down.
“I was sleeping in the basement on a mat that really was not comfortable, but it saved my life because I couldn’t sleep properly,” Hill recalls. “I was dreaming of barbecue and when I opened my eyes there was smoke everywhere. The house was on fire.”
Soon after, Hill was given the chance to record at Studio 606 through his friend Brian Loudenslager, and found himself with “three months to write the album” while juggling a 9-to-5 job, weekend gigs, and writing over a frantic period.
To make matters worse, hours after he landed in LA, the next disaster struck as Hill was involved in a car accident that broke several of his ribs.
“I tried to record the album, but every day, a new nerve would pinch and it was getting impossible,” he says. And so the album’s tracking was postponed. Fortunately, after all that, Hill’s Hanging On A String is out now.
Pick up a copy of Guitarist from Magazines Direct to read his interview in full. It features alongside chats with Orianthi – who is joining Alice Cooper's live band for select shows – and Phil Manzanera.
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