Fredrik Pihl: guitar international interview

Fredrik Pihl: There are many great players out there for sure! I try not to compare myself with anyone, and just do what I love, which is to play guitar and make music. With my new album, it was my intention to make music that wasn’t just shredding or guitar oriented, like the music that I made in the past. I tried to focus on songwriting and arranging instead. Of course there is some fancy guitar stuff happening in the songs, but I wouldn’t define the music as pure shredding.

So I’m not really sure whether I fit in with the top names or not. That’s up to the listeners to decide. As for myself, I wouldn’t dare compare myself to some of the great players. I just want to make music and push my limits as much as possible, which I really did when I recorded this album.

Matt: Who were some of your major influences growing up?

Fredrik Pihl: When I was twelve years old, me and some friends were watching a live concert with Guns N’ Roses on TV. We all played air guitar, and we wanted to look as cool as Slash. I guess that’s when it started. Slash was a huge influence as well as James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. Later I discovered players such as Marty Friedman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. I was also a huge Iron Maiden fan. Since then my list of influences has expanded a lot, but I still like many of the guitar players I grew up listening to as well. more