Earlier this week, Chris Garza of Suicide Silence discussed his ''guitar Mount Rushmore" on his Garza Podcast. And in case you've ever wondered who were the favorite guitarists of Garza, we've got you!
4 – Dino Cazares (Fear Factory)
Garza thinks of Cazares as one of the most creative guitarists. Garza mentions, how while writing riffs, he always finds out that Cazares used them before him:
I'll be writing a riff, dude. Still, I'm like, "Oh, this sounds like Demanufacture," and I'll listen to that record, like "Oh, shit, he was doing this like way before me." Like the low tuning seven string, kind of. Like "Oh, this sounds like a riff I would write," but he already did it.
Garza also talks about how he took tips on playing the guitar from Cazares:
I took a lot of tips from him. Like, he came with the idea of putting weight on your wrist and your fingers to get a better chug. That was a tip I got from him.
The Suicide Silence guitarist also talks about how he continues to jam with one of his favorite Fear Factory albums.
I've heard 'Shock,' 'Edgecrusher,' and then I went to Warehouse Music and bought that record, and I've been jamming it ever since. It's still on constant. I still put it on. I'll be at the gym, and I just get taken back. It's very rare when you put on a record, and front to back is just like, "What the fuck?" Every song, every riff, you're just like, "What the fuck, dude?" That's one of those records.
3 & 2 – Clint Lowery & John Connolly (Sevendust)
Garza also thinks it's past time Sevendust finally gets proper recognition, and that people underappreciate the contributions of Lowery and Connolly on guitar.
No one really talks about their playing style, but man, everyone rips off Sevendust. I remember seeing that years ago, and I was like, "Man, every metalcore band is ripping off Sevendust." So it's kind of cool to see them get their recognition
He went on to talk a bit about learning to play various Sevendust songs when they were first breaking through:
I really loved playing those songs, like, you listen to "Denial." There's these little nuances and intricacies, and I'm a nu metal guy. I'm like, I could barely play them. Same as "Home" and "Waffle." I still can't play "Rumble Fish."
1 – Daron Malakian (System of a Down)
Garza also loved learning songs from System of a Down's 2001 sophomore album Toxicity, even though he knows he did it wrong:
I spent a lot of time learning System [of a Down] songs. I think my favorite one is "Needles," I really liked that clean verse. It's, you know, you listen to it, it's a really catchy song and you're like "Oh, they do like radio hits and stuff." And then, once you actually sit down and tune to drop C, and I'm learning "Needles," and I'm like "I'm not playing it right, I'm missing something." That's what's fascinating me about the whole genre. But that record is just full of riffs. I'm like "Dude, one fucking person wrote this shit?." One person wrote this record, dude.
Check out the full clip below:
