I have a piano and a guitar, and I tend to switch back and forth between those two instruments to help me get inspired.
I watch films. I play the guitar: me and some mates - I wouldn't dignify it with the term band - get together and play.
The bass should be the note of the bass drum, and then you've got the engine of the band that everything else builds on. Everything else, the guitar, the keyboards, is a colour.
Guitar is just something I can do. So much of it now is muscle memory, just instinct.
One of my songs was on a jazz station for awhile. It was a song that I wrote for a jazz sax player friend of mine, and I sang and played the guitar on it.
In a way, I created Utopia as a platform for me to become more of a guitar player and less of the kind of balladeer that people were taking me for.
I own a '66 Jaguar. That's the guitar I polish, and baby - I refuse to let anyone touch it when I jump into the crowd.
I get why people want to come see me play guitar, but I still don't understand why people want to interview me.
When I was 13, I asked for a guitar. And that's how I really started explaining my point of view.
I thought it was too 'glam rock' to practice. The problem is that now I'm a pretty bad guitar player.
I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth.
I taught myself how to play the guitar, so I basically learned by a system of making mistakes.
Rock stars should be able to tune their own guitars, apply their own eyeliner, and pick out their own leather pants.
'Ten' by Pearl Jam is still by far one of my favorite albums and is a big part of what inspired me to learn guitar.
My mum's family would all get together, with guitars, harmonica, mandolins and upright bass and play old blues and folk songs. That was normal to me.
With Pearl Jam, everybody is so good at what they do, it's hard to get up the courage to say, 'Can I sing this part,' or, 'I want to play guitar.'
Cool things happen. Ace's guitar flies through space, goes through a hole, and blows up. I throw drumsticks and they come flying at you.
But, what did happen is I went to Woodstock as a member of the audience. I did not show up there with a road manager and a couple of guitars. I showed up with a change of clothes and a toothbrush.
I come home from work, and depending on the day or depending on what was going on, if I needed to adjust, I'd just meditate or play guitar or watch some 'Monty Python.'
Gibson has been making the finest electric guitars the world has ever witnessed for over 70 years. They are as American as God, guns and rock and roll.
To me, the hook of the riff is what makes a great guitar recording. It's the backbone of the whole song. When you have a strong riff, it's the rocket fuel for the track.
