1. You’re quite the eclectic guitarist. How do you coalesce all of your musical interests?
From an early age, I was drawn to jazz and other music from the Beatles to Beethoven. Rock, jazz, classical, reggae, blues, and most forms of Western music use the same 12 notes. To me, style is less important than musicality and heart. As Duke Ellington said, “There are two kinds of music: good and bad.”

2. Rumor has it Helmet is releasing a new video. Is that true?
Years ago, I wrote and recorded a song called “Low Expectations.” A director named Brian Metcalf asked for some unreleased music for his upcoming film, Fading of the Cries; I gave that song to him, and he fell in love with it and will feature it in the movie. He also directed the video to introduce the film.

3. Tell us about your gear, particularly your updated ESP signature model guitar.
We released a version of my original ESP Horizon Custom from the late ’80s, complete with distressed magenta finish. It has a neck-thru body design with a Floyd Rose bridge, Gotoh tuners, and the Air Zone pickup designed for me by Steve Blucher at DiMarzio. The quality is outstanding and I am proud to have my name on these instruments. As for other gear, I still use my trusty 100-watt Ultra Lead heads designed by Steve Fryette as well as a couple of Bradshaw rigs. I am very fond of Tech 21’s XXL and Double Drive, as well as the TC Electronic 2290 and anything by Boss, and I use D’Addario strings.

4. Your new instructional DVD contains sections on whole tone and diminished scales. Is it safe to assume you dislike the stereotype that musical knowledge impairs creativity?
Yep. Utter bull. It is up to the musician to be musical. I study, practice, listen, play live, record, and share ideas with fellow musicians because music is what inspires me to wake up every day. It is a lifelong pursuit so limiting myself to one discipline would bore the crap outta me. Music is the master, not the operators of the musical instruments. John Coltrane once said that he learned from every player he ever heard, novice or expert.

5. Did you really get booed off the stage the first time you played “Unsung” on Guitar Hero?
One of my dear friends is an emergency room doctor and he was dying to kick my butt on my own song. He scored 15,000+ and I ... a mere 5,000. I will never make the Guitar Hero finals!