Megadeth’s Chris Broderick on Learning Guitar, Loving Eddie Van Halen

Like many great guitarists, Megadeth’s Chris Broderick clearly remembers the first time he picked up his choice instrument. At the time, Broderick was just a little tyke and shelved out a whopping (not really) $40 for his first guitar.

“[My friends] all played in a band together, and I was like, ‘Oh, that is interesting [laughs],’” Broderick told Glide Magazine. “I’d always go over to my friend’s house and constantly nag him to play his guitar all the time. And he’d be like, ‘No, no, let’s go ride motocross’ or something else.

“But I’d be constantly nagging him, so finally I bought a guitar from one of his friends, spray-painted it red, threw some black electrical tape on it and tried to become Eddie Van Halen [laughs].”

Van Halen, Broderick says, is the first band that really turned him on to heavy music. “It was not only [Eddie Van Halen’s] tapping, but also he knew a little finger style as well on the guitar with like ‘Spanish Fly’ and stuff like that. I thought that was really cool. I mean, it was everything about his playing; it was very unique and had a lot of fire behind it.”

Broderick joined Megadeth in 2008, and he says that past four years have gone by fast. “You know what, in a way it feels like an eternity, because it’s almost like a different life since I’ve joined Megadeth,” he said, laughing. “I do remember what I was doing before them but it is so different. It’s almost like the difference between when you’re touring and when you’re not touring. It feels like two different lives that you have.”

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Coldplay's Chris Martin Tosses Singing Intruder Out of His Garden

Coldplay’s Chris Martin was forced to defend his property when an intruder decided to stage an impromptu performance of Coldplay material at Martin’s residence. As reported by London’s Daily Mirror, Martin first gave singing tips to the aspiring vocalist before asking him to leave the premises.

“I had a guy the other day who climbed over the gate of our house and started singing Coldplay songs to his friends on the street,” Martin said.

The Coldplay frontman told the uninvited visitor, who had climbed a garden wall at the residence, that he wasn’t singing the songs correctly. “Listen, you’re just not doing that right,” he said. The trespasser complied without argument when Martin asked him to leave. “He politely left,” Martin said. “It was bordering on intrusion. Still, it’s nice that people like the songs.”

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Chris Cornell on Soundgarden, Movies and Guitars

Chris Cornell has been a busy man of late. For roughly the past year, the veteran rocker has been dividing his time between performing solo acoustic shows--portions of which are featured on his new live disc, Songbook--and putting the final touches on the first new studio album from Soundgarden in 16 years. In addition, there's talk in Hollywood circles that Cornell might earn an Oscar for "The Keeper," a beautiful solo ballad he wrote and recorded for the acclaimed film, Machine Gun Preacher. Recently he spoke about his love of acoustic albums, his favorite guitars and his goals, going forward.

Is releasing an acoustic-based album something you've wanted to do for a long time?

An acoustic-based studio album, yes. That’s something I’ve thought a lot about, and it’s something fans seem to want me to do. I’m happy about that, because some of my all-time favorite albums are essentially stripped down to one or two instruments, with vocals. Early in my career I spent a bit of time doing that type of songwriting, but much more time writing music with Soundgarden--which is not that, obviously. My next solo record will probably involve new material that’s similar to what I did on Songbook.

Did you write the film song, “The Keeper,” in the midst of doing the acoustic tour this past spring?

I wrote it after doing those shows. The acoustic shows didn’t really feed into “The Keeper.” It had nothing to do with the tour, or with Songbook, in terms of my focus on what it is, or how I wrote it or what it sounds like. I was just trying to write what I felt would be most appropriate for the movie, given that I was writing just one song. There were so many different options, musically, that I could have taken for that film. There was a lot to draw from. At some point it just felt like the right direction would be something as stripped down as possible.

Is writing songs as a solo artist different from writing songs within a band?

There’s a certain amount of reacting that goes on in the context of a band, if you’re mainly co-writing. If I’m writing lyrics and vocal melodies to someone else’s arrangement, or someone else's guitar part, my ideas won’t be the same as they would be for my own song. In the context of Soundgarden, there’s a very stylized way that I approach that process. It may be a subconscious thing, but it's based on how I think the band should sound, and how I think I should respond to what they do creatively.

You've characterized the break from Soundgarden as more of an extended vacation than a breakup.

That’s right. I think if there’s a lesson to be learned, it’s that it wasn’t even necessary to announce a breakup. We could have just said we were going on indefinite hiatus, and that would have been fine. There didn’t have to be some sort of finality. It certainly didn’t change anything from the standpoint of the media or even Soundgarden fans. Every time I did an interview, I was asked, “Is Soundgarden ever going to get back together? Will the band ever do anything again?” Had we just said we were going on hiatus, the question would have been “When?” instead of “Will?” (laughs) And the answer would probably have been the same:  “I don’t know.”

You’re in a good place in your life now, which wasn’t always the case. Is writing songs easier when you’re happy?

I definitely feel a difference now. I’m able to do more, to contemplate more, to hear more, to understand more and to be more focused. People sometimes go through periods where they’re very self-destructive, and some sort of artistic, or emotionally intense, attitude, musically, may come out of that. And that’s great and brilliant and wonderful. But that tends to be short-lived, and it can sometimes be the only vital thing someone does. I’ve never felt like that was me. The really tumultuous, self-destructive period for me wasn’t the part of my career that seemed to yield a lot. I think I wrote some great music in that period, but I also think it took me a lot longer than it needed to. It wasn't my most prolific time.

You play a wide variety of guitars. Of those, which are your favorite Gibsons?

I’m playing ES-335s on-stage a lot with Soundgarden. I’ve also used them in the studio a bit. I really love that guitar. And I play a Les Paul here and there as well. It would be difficult for me to choose just one electric guitar, if I had to do that. There are so many different personalities that come out of each electric. It's all about getting different textures.

 How far into the future do you look?

I just want to be busy. Whatever that turns out to be, it will be fun. It’s a privilege to be able to follow your most passionate pursuit, to have that as your job. I don’t feel that it’s necessary for me to figure out what that might be, say, five years from now. I don’t want to be the sort of person who wants to know what that might be. That would mean I’m closed to the possibility of a change of heart, or changes in circumstances, or unpredictable events that might change how I feel. As long as I’m busy doing music, that’s all I care about.

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Coldplay’s Chris Martin Does Oasis (with Video)

Coldplay’s Chris Martin played “Wonderwall” at a tribute tribute gig at a London pub Wednesday night (April13). Simon Pegg organized the concert in memory of the pub’s late landlord John Parkhouse. The pub, The Boogaloo in Highgate, supposedly inspired The Winchester in his movie Shaun of the Dead.

Martin asked the audience what song they’d like to hear next and someone requested “Wonderwall.”

Martin replied, “[Expletive] it, I’ll do it! But only if you do it with me.”

Pegg later tweeted: “Big ups to The Boogaloo on Archway Road. What a great night and a lovely send off for a lovely man. Safe travels John.”

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