Gregory Adams
Gregory Adams is a Vancouver-based arts reporter. From metal legends to emerging pop icons to the best of the basement circuit, he’s interviewed musicians across countless genres for nearly two decades, most recently with Guitar World, Bass Player, Revolver, and more – as well as through his independent newsletter, Gut Feeling. This all still blows his mind. He’s a guitar player, generally bouncing hardcore riffs off his ’52 Tele reissue and a dinged-up SG.
Latest articles by Gregory Adams
![Jean-Ken Johnny of Man With a Mission](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GRPco57fe8wT4qGvGN6UdG-320-80.jpg)
Man With a Mission's Jean-Ken Johnny: “I’m not really a technical guitar guy: it’s all about the emotion – how you descend your soul into the sound”
By Gregory Adams published
The wolf-headed Japanese guitar-slinger on his love of '90s rock, and digitizing AC/DC's Thunderstruck with some howling Whammy-flavored leads on new album Break and Cross the Walls I
![Creeping Death](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NbSLzfrvLJQNHrANJLEEZo-320-80.jpg)
Creeping Death's Trey Pemberton: “It used to be, ‘Let’s write a bunch of riffs, throw ‘em together, and go hard.’ Now we think about how it flows together”
By Gregory Adams published
The Creeping Death guitarist on why the band opted to re-record tracks from their 2016 EP for this year's The Edge of Existence, and how Muay Thai has amped up his stage presence
![Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QPuyYgD5g82GphSMB5WFvP-320-80.jpg)
Circa Survive: "It used to be difficult not to fill up every space with guitar – this record shows how our ability to restrain ourselves has grown"
By Gregory Adams published
Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom dissect their less-is-more approach on A Dream About Love and confess their newfound affinity for the Line 6 Helix
![Ivar Bjørnson](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6pEpCHT7AacWAnrJiebCBd-320-80.jpg)
Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson: “Sometimes a bit of chaos is what you need to get things moving when they’re going stale”
By Gregory Adams published
The creative driving force behind the Norwegian extreme metal stalwarts on why the guitar solos had to return, and why shorter doesn't mean less progressive when it comes to songs
![Lewis de Jong](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RbyPbaqnEz9v4Dkn7H7EtZ-320-80.jpg)
Alien Weaponry’s Lewis de Jong on leading the Haka for New Zealand metal, broken bones, and why being heavy is still the goal
By Gregory Adams published
The prog-metaller's new album, Tangaroa, pushes the envelope once more, incorporating Maori chants and heavyweight grooves
![Every Time I Die](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2VGUaKW5V7nZ2ATPVWBPJV-320-80.jpg)
Every Time I Die on their tag-team guitar approach, no-holds-barred songwriting philosophy and tweeting fans for gear
By Gregory Adams published
Guitarists Andy Williams and Jordan Buckley wax lyrical on their multi-faceted new album, Radical
![Ben Bruce of Asking Alexandria](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mZxPTPjs6wtsFB8DtubzNC-320-80.jpg)
Asking Alexandria's Ben Bruce: "Recording this album was the easiest time I’ve ever had because I was so excited to hear a raw, loud guitar riff again”
By Gregory Adams published
How the UK rockers reconnected with each other – and with the elusive mojo of their early years – on their blazing new album, See What’s On The Inside
![Katatonia](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EgheG6Rqdn6DnCVRAUmMyS-320-80.jpg)
Katatonia's Anders Nystrom and Roger Ojersson on finding creative rebirth in the electronic textures of City Burials
By Gregory Adams published
30 years into their career, the Swedish doom stalwarts are still looking to subvert expectations
![Bernth](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6TNKPa7v3tReWSNdGohN2d-320-80.jpg)
Bernth: "Maybe blowtorching my guitar was a bit dramatic, but it was a statement about all these articles saying 'guitar music is dead!'"
By Gregory Adams published
The Austrian shred whiz takes blazing the fretboard literally on his new six-string spectacular, Elevation
![Lou Barlow](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BK5ZNJp9q9MwpAFhHKMPmD-320-80.jpg)
Lou Barlow: "Every time we make a record, I hope to find some magic combination that approximates the growl of what we get live. I don’t know if I’ve done that yet"
By Gregory Adams published
The Dinosaur Jr. bassist and co-founder on the unending quest to capture his live sound on record, and swapping instruments with J Mascis
![Kiko Loureiro](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4aJeHPNqWt5VXVR5x8dGmi-320-80.jpg)
Kiko Loureiro: "I thought the greatest message would be to have Marty Friedman on Open Source, not only because he was the Megadeth guy, but to show that music is not a competition"
By Gregory Adams published
The Megadeth shredder on taking an open-source approach to making music so that anyone with internet access can remix his new album
![Trever Keith](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bxJTHhBgzAZNgEBdGZQmni-320-80.jpg)
Face to Face's Trever Keith: “This album focuses on the best tones and emotions from the records we’ve made throughout our career”
By Gregory Adams published
The long-serving frontman walks us through the gear behind No Way Out But Through, recording guitars in his closet, and why the LP doesn't fit into the traditional punk-rock mould
![Wolves in the Throne Room](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7aDF8HhyUHQyajAQgkvfAY-320-80.jpg)
Wolves in the Throne Room: "We try to skirt the line sonically between brutal and beautiful"
By Gregory Adams published
With their new album Primordial Arcana, guitarists Kody Keyworth and Nathan Weaver deploy a near-endless supply of knockout black-metal hooks from their “master riff sack”
![Between the Buried and Me](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fr5a2bXg32kpxsy5XtuJWR-320-80.jpg)
Between the Buried and Me: "We took everything we do, and we notched it up a bit. It’s everything that everyone either loves or hates about BTBAM!"
By Gregory Adams published
Guitarists Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring talk philosophically doubling down on 2007's Colors with epic, hugely diverse new full-length Colors II
![Walter Schreifels](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/drNzjz7VqjmWt87wbLDjuX-320-80.jpg)
Quicksand's Walter Schreifels: "I love playing expensive things, but I'm also totally down for street-level garbage!"
By Gregory Adams published
The post-hardcore vet on his love of Fender offsets, switching up his playing for new album Distant Populations, and why he named a song after the MXR Phase 90
![Ayla Tesler-Mabe](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/LUdwYaZJt78di6PEDYV57Z-320-80.jpg)
Ludic's Ayla Tesler-Mabe on classic rock epiphanies, stylistic detours and funk guitar as a “bed of sound“
By Gregory Adams published
With her new band, the former Calpurnia guitarist (and Weezer music video star) heads for understated groove-forward water
![Jade Puget from A Fire Inside (also initialized as AFI) performing at a sold out show in Toronto.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2LLGFTrPVrJzvYCCH2eZhP-320-80.jpg)
AFI’s Jade Puget: "I do a lot of effects in-the-box, because there are infinite things you can do – you can create unique tones that have never been done before"
By Gregory Adams published
The goth-punks' mercurial guitarist on shaping his guitar sound with plugins, writing with Billy Corgan, and how Peter Hook influenced the band's new album, Bodies
![Amenra perform live](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qTaGMfCmib8XxcXmWu6kbH-320-80.jpg)
Amenra: “We try to limit how much we play. That's the essence of the band: when you’re playing the right notes, your impact is bigger”
By Gregory Adams published
Lennart Bossu and Mathieu Vandekerckhove on the playing and philosophy behind new album De Doorn, and what it's like to perform post-metal at a fire ritual
![BIG|BRAVE](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vHS4LdApfyhdA7DxEa5qWS-320-80.jpg)
BIG|BRAVE's Mathieu Ball: “Whenever we play something too musical, I feel it’s almost a cop out. We have to get rid of any traditional guitar playing!”
By Gregory Adams published
Ball talks open tunings, eschewing leads and using a hand-built guitar on Vital, the Montreal trio's biggest and bravest drone-metal offering yet
![Voodoo Glow Skulls](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oCSNP7ci3VuxPSTF5gPLg3-320-80.jpg)
Voodoo Glow Skulls' Eddie Casillas: “This record is the most ska we've ever been – we've never had clean guitar tones on any of our albums before this”
By Gregory Adams published
Nine years after their last album – and one vocalist later – the Riverside, CA outfit take aim at a host of topical issues with new ska-heavy effort, Livin' the Apocalypse
![Rob Baker of The Tragically Hip](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WT4Ju3fJrGtkQMGSeatpLE-320-80.jpg)
The Tragically Hip's Rob Baker on how the Canadian rock icons unearthed their long-lost sophomore sessions for surprise new EP, Saskadelphia
By Gregory Adams published
The Hip's guitarist explores the gear that helped create the new archival release, how his playing changed over time, and why you're unlikely to hear the band's Mötley Crüe cover any time soon…
![Andrew Watt](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KtQsH3wmMc8M48cvgUMExH-320-80.jpg)
Andrew Watt: “I’m making music with no deadlines – It’s a lot freer. Because of that, cooler choices are being taken”
By Gregory Adams published
A year-plus after his debut GW cover appearance, we find out how the Grammy-winning producer/guitarist goes from working with Ozzy Osbourne to Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber – and back again
![Juliana Hatfield](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qoqjeobVnqpPxRYw6wVXFo-320-80.jpg)
Juliana Hatfield: “There’s some biting stuff on this album – the Fender Mini Twin is cute, but it makes really great fuzz sounds”
By Gregory Adams published
The veteran singer-songwriter details the unconventional recording techniques behind her 19th solo album, Blood
![Serena Cherry of Noctule](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EQZSoqHDkXSis3CLtsnuTL-320-80.jpg)
Noctule's Serena Cherry: “The leads on this album are a window into my personality – they're euphoric, but also heavy”
By Gregory Adams published
The Svalbard guitarist explains how her love of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim informed her debut solo album Wretched Abyss, and why she's a huge power-metal nerd
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