There’s a great line in your bio: “I’m moving
forward with one foot in the past.”
“The tradition is always going to be there.
That’s the root for everything. But I feel
if you want to attract young people to the
blues, how about mixing in some of the
modern elements that we have, such as rap
and a few other styles? Once we get them
in, then we can show them the real deal
and show them the history. That’s what
I’m trying to do.”
You started out on drums, moved on to
bass and then to guitar. How did those
instruments shape you as a guitarist?
“It teaches you discipline and you have to
have pocket. So I incorporate that in my
rhythm-guitar playing. When I’m playing
funk riffs, I try to keep that pocket and keep
that groove on without being too fancy.”
How has your playing developed?
“My singing has grown, for sure, because
I have more confidence in my voice. It’s
bassier now and more smooth. I’m not
a shredder like I used to be. I play more
tastefully now and my musical knowledge
is growing every day. I’m learning theory,
so everything is coming in better than it
had been three years ago.”You were a shredder? What reined you in?
“Listening to all the lectures I was getting
from all the OGs! That, and looking at
people’s comments and stuff like that. I
was getting a lot of, “Man, you’re good, but
you need to slow down.” Even players who
played fast were telling me to slow down!
I counted it as [constructive] criticism.”Your Mike Chertoff Custom has been
your number-one guitar since 2016...
“In 2015, when a video of me went viral, I
started getting a lot of different companies
coming at me and sending me stuff. Mike
Chertoff was one of those who contacted
me, and I liked what he was doing. He
kept saying: ‘I’m going to send you a guitarONES TO WATCH
KINGFISH @_THEYCALLMEKINGFISH
INTERVIEW ALISON RICHTER PHOTOGRAPHY RORY DOYLE
The 20-year-old guitar prodigy tells us how growing up in the birthplace
of the blues makes him the perfect candidate for modernising the genre...
one day, man!’ He had that LP-style guitar
built already and he finished it for me and
sent it to me a week before I had to play
in Germany. I loved it. That’s what got me
back into LPs and it has been my number
one ever since.”What do you look for in a guitar?
“For one, it’s got to have weight. I’m a big
dude and if I play something light, I don’t
want to break it. I’m hard on instruments,
so it has to have weight and the neck has
to be wide – and that [Chertoff] guitar had
all the qualities. It’s beefier than Strats and
Teles and that’s a sound that I’m drawn to.
The Teles are more trebly. I want that when
I’m playing for quiet moments, when I’m
playing clean or light or really funky.”What were the recording sessions for
your debut album Kingfish like for you?
“I’ve always liked putting a baffle on my
amp. I had studio experience, but this
was the second time in my life that I was
actually going in the studio and recording
something for me, so I was a little bit
nervous. It took us three days on the music,
one day on all the vocals and a whole lot of
overdubbing: I like to overdub my solos.”What else did you use on the album, and
what’s in your live rig?
“I used a Peavey Delta Blues 210 and a
Fender Twin. I used my Chertoff Custom
because I wasn’t playing Strats at the time.
I used a Goldtop Les Paul on some of the
solos. For pedals, I used the EWS Brute
Drive and I was stacking it with an Ibanez
Tube Screamer; I used a Klon clone as well.
Live, I use a Peavey Delta Blues 210 or a
Peavey Classic or any Fender Twin, an MXR
Sugar Drive and a Cry Baby Mini Wah with
a Boss tuner. I’m just starting back to adding
delay, a Way Huge Aqua-Puss, Pig Hog
cables, Strats and my Chertoff Custom.”What’s your definition of ‘tone’?
“How you sound, how pleasing it is to your
ears. I’m drawn to a beefier, fatter, Gary
Moore type of thing. Before that, I was into
lighter tones. I was using the bridge pickup
on the Strat and I was turning the tone up
in my pedals, so who knows – in the future,
I might go back to the lighter things. It’s
all about what you’re comfortable with.”Kingfish’s eponymous debut is out now on
Alligator RecordsONES TO WATCHGUITAR MAGAZINE 15