Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro is featured in a new interview with VWMusic discussing Megadeth’s creative process, his ever-evolving relationship with Dave Mustaine, riff writing philosophy, modifying his nuanced style to correspond with the band’s blueprint, his approach to interpreting the solos of his predecessors in a live setting, and more. Following is an excerpt.

VWMusic: How have you gone about interpreting the solos recorded by Chris Poland, Marty Friedman, and Chris Broderick in a live setting?

Kiko: "It’s funny; I was never a guy who learned solos note-by-note; I never had the patience to learn note-by-note. And I still do it like this with those solos; I learn the main things, like the solo sound – very similar, I don’t improvise and don’t change the solo – but some stuff, I do the way I feel like. If the player does the arpeggios a specific way, but if I feel more comfortable doing it another way, I do it the way I feel like. That works, live, too, because live, you’re running, you’re moving; you’re doing your own stuff. So, it has to feel comfortable as well. But again, you have to practice – I have my way of practicing guitar – so solos like 'Trust' and 'Tornado of Souls' they’re very recognizable, so I have to be very accurate on those solos. Some of those solos, less; it really depends.

The Chris Poland solos are pretty hard, to be honest. The way he plays and his techniques I was not familiar with, so it was a bit harder to understand and play. Marty Friedman is more from the generation that I was studying. I’m a bit younger than him, so I was listening to Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Paul Gilbert, and Steve Vai, those guitar players from that generation. So, I was a bit more familiar with his phrasing. But he’s unique, Marty Friedman. And I had to be smart enough that I had to play the solo the way it is, but also, I don’t wanna copy because it’s impossible. The way I think about music, I think everybody has their own individuality and personality, so I don’t wanna be somebody else. I can play the notes, but I play the notes, and the way the notes come out, it’s gonna be my way.

And then, regarding the solos, of course, the fans can say whatever they wanna say – some people love it – I don’t get a lot of haters, so I’m fine with that. But the band or Dave, nobody ever said anything about the solos. Dave is really picky regarding the rhythms, to the details that you cannot imagine, because, for him, that’s what makes the sound of a band. And it’s very important because I have to play with him; we have two guitars together. The solos, he’s more open to, but of course, I’m not creating new solos."

Read the complete interview here.

Loureiro recently checked in from the road with another fan-fuelled Q&A. Check it out below.