Q&A's from the webcast

Q. Do you have any advice on Amp set up?

A. Yes definitely. A good amplifier to me- you should be able to close your eyes and do any setting and it should still sound pretty good, it may not be the sound you’re after but it should still sound good. I remember when I first bought my 5150 years ago, it sounded great – I couldn’t make it sound bad. My advice is make sure everything is up in the middle, so the first you do is put everything in the middle to start with and see how you go from there. . (To see more of this answer - watch the webcast playback)

Q. I’m learning to play guitar again after a while, should I get one to one lessons or can I get further than the 4 chords on my own?

A. You can always get further on your own if you try, I’ve never really had any formal lessons but I’ve had little bits. If you keep at it you’ll get better. If you want to have some formal lessons there’s no reason why you shouldn’t. You’ve gotta love it, and music is about enjoying it so I wouldn’t worry if you’ve been away for it for a long time. Try one lesson with a teacher and see how that goes and go on from there. (To see more of this answer - watch the webcast playback)

Q. What was the first solo you learnt all the way through?

A. The first solo I learnt all the way through was from a song called, ‘One of these Nights’ by the Eagles. (To see more of this answer - watch the webcast playback)

Q. Do you have any tips on improvisation?

A. My main tip on improvisation is doing be afraid to be terrible. The reason that people find improvising is hard, is that the first time you start you aren’t going to sound that great. It’s like chatting up a girl, if you think you’ve said something rubbish you’re not going to want to say anything else and that’s the same with improvising, if you start… and you don’t play something good, you tend to give up. You have to go through that barrier and keep going back. (To see more of this answer - watch the webcast playback)

Q. Who were your first influences?

A. My first influences were drummers as I started out as a drummer, and my first influences were mainly the classic and progressive rock bands of the70s such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes and Genesis, a little bit of Pink Floyd, some King Crimson, I used to play in a band with the keyboard player from Marillion so we listened to alot of that stuff. Later on when I learnt to play the guitar I was into Black Sabbath, AC/DC, and Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen really made me want to play the guitar and that’s what pushed me over from playing drums to guitar. Although I’ve always loved guitars, even before I was into bands I just loved the way they looked. (To see more of this answer - watch the webcast playback)