BW&BK; spoke to long-time EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt recently for a major feature that appears in issue #109 - available soon! Here are a few excerpts from the chat:

BW&BK;: You must explain how your magical hands refuse to age.

Holt: “Once again it all comes down to having a love for what you do. The best way to put it is this - before Paul’s (Baloff) death, everyone in the band except for Jack (Gibson - bass) was so fucked up on methamphetamine and shit. We would blow off our own soundcheck at local shows. I didn’t love the instrument anymore. I’d pick it up and play it for five minutes then put it down and smoke some more speed. I’d be at rehearsal and stare at a wall of guitars and I’d rather do drugs. Now I absolutely love playing the thing. It’s one of my favourite things in life to do. Once you reconnect with the instrument, you learn how wonderful of a thing it can be. It’s a great escape from all the bullshit in life. Now I’m usually the first one at rehearsal so I can have some private time and I’m the last one to leave. It’s a joy to be by myself and be able to turn my shit up as loud and as insane as I want and just go crazy.”

BW&BK;: So what is the driving inspiration these days?

Holt: “It’s always a hard question,” the guitarist admits. “What really inspires me is seeing other bands play. It’s not necessarily musical inspiration - it’s hard for me to watch a really good band perform live without wanting to go home and play. There can be a bit of competitive jealousy. Sometimes I see a band I really like and I get there and say ‘I can do it better. I’m better than that (laughs).’ It’s not an ego thing, it’s just that I want to go home and play. When I see somebody else up on stage I want to be up there.”

BW&BK;: Does the opposite ever happen - ‘How did they do that?’

Holt: “Yes. (ARCH ENEMY’s) Michael Amott - every time I see him do a solo I say ‘How the fuck did he do that?!’ I just recently told him via email that I finally got my hands on Rise Of The Tyrant and told him I’m retiring. He’s making us all look really bad and I can’t take it anymore. He’s so good it’s scary. There are a lot of great lead guitar players and they are an inspiration for me to practice my lead chops. The end result is that it pushes me, pushes the whole band and makes us want to improve.”