“Tom Morello is my idol! The way he approaches guitar in a non-traditional way was really inspiring”: Introducing Glytsh’s Claire Genoud, the London shredder taking “horrible” sounds and turning them into alt-metal bangers
Inspired by Tom Morello and Alexi Laiho, the inventive guitarist in UK duo Glytsh is always looking for weird tones – although her pedalboard is surprisingly straightforward
(Image credit: Rob Blackman)
Formed in 2022 and with just nine shows under their belts and just six tracks to their name – including a stellar cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Closer – London-based metal duo Glytsh are rapidly making a name for themselves with airplay across the UK’s biggest rock stations.
A large part of their appeal lies in the guitar-mangling sounds of Swiss-born player Claire Genoud. Clearly unafraid to experiment with the more avant-garde presets of the world’s finest multi-FX units, she embellishes her riffs with ring modulation, granular delays, harmonizers and oodles of DigiTech Whammy to add thick textures and freaky tonality to the band’s tunes.
“I like taking something that sounds horrible and trying to make something out of it,” she explains, pointing to the track Sav@ge as an example. “When I start writing, I need some kind of sound to inspire me. There’s a verse in Sav@ge that’s simply a ring modulator making noise. It sounds really cool with all the production around it.
“That was kind of an accident, but I really like it. It comes from Tom Morello – he’s my idol! The way he approaches guitar in a non-traditional way was really inspiring for me when we started Glytsh.”
Despite her smorgasbord of unusual sounds, Genoud keeps a tidy pedalboard, limiting herself to a Line 6 Helix multi-FX unit and a Whammy (while the Helix’s version is fine, she finds the expression pedal is “too stiff” for her taste).
She grew up with her doctor parents in Switzerland as one of seven siblings. Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and Eric Clapton often provided the soundtrack to family car trips, sowing the seeds for her love of guitar. As adolescence kicked in, she sought out her own musical heroes and discovered the loud, abrasive strains of heavy metal.
“I started playing because of Alexi Laiho,” Genoud explains. “I was obsessed with Children of Bodom. The riffs and the solos were what I loved the most – his playing is so lead-heavy and melodic.”
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It became apparent that she’d have to switch up from noodling on her dad’s acoustic to emulate her new discovery on electric, and her parents agreed to stump up the cash when she was 13. She’s not looked back since.
Opportunities for budding metal guitarists were scarce at home. “In Switzerland your choices were to study jazz or play classical guitar, she says. “Then one of my guitar teachers said, ‘Why don’t you go to another city?’ I’d never considered leaving Switzerland because the quality of life is so good. People don’t tend to leave Switzerland!”
Genoud dismissed the idea of enrolling at the Musician’s Institute in LA as “too far away and too expensive,” before settling instead on London. She picked up a variety of session gigs – including a spot moonlighting as Angus Young in an internationally revered AC/DC tribute act – before meeting her current musical partner, Jennifer Diehl, when they played together in a covers band.
You can make music that’s truly authentic to you – without needing to fit in a box musically
“I went full stalking mode on her, scrolling back on everything she’d put out,” Genoud says. “It’s hard to find someone who can sing that well and scream that well… and is not a psychopath! We became friends instantly.”
Sharing a propensity for the heavy stuff, it wasn’t long before Genoud and Diehl started writing together. With an emphasis on marrying a siren-like seductive charm with razor-sharp incisive metal riffs, Glytsh was born.
(Image credit: Press)
Genoud’s storied career as a session musician has imbued her style with character and feel. Witness her tasteful guitar solo in the aforementioned Sav@ge, where she combines the soulful playing of Slash with a contemporary take on the ‘guitarist-as-DJ’ Morello trick.
“We want to create badass and empowering music that’s heavy but also catchy,” Genoud says, “and prove you can make music that’s truly authentic to you – without needing to fit in a box musically.
“We want to make our live shows so damn good that people remember them for a very long time – and inspire people to pursue the dream of playing loud music with your bestie on stage!”
