In a new interview with The Metal Mixtape, ATREYU guitarist Travis Miguel confirmed that he has “heard a little bit of” the music from DEAD ICARUS, the new project of former ATREYU lead vocalist Alex Varkatzas. He said: “I think his new stuff is absolutely sick. And I’m one hundred percent stoked fo…

The prominent session guitarist lived the dream at the top of the charts, and he can tell you all about it on his YouTube channel.Zach goes it alone on this episode to interview session guitarist, 6-string storyteller, and prominent YouTuber and online guitar instructor Tim Pierce. As a player, Pierce’s guitar has spent decades at the top of the charts by way of songs by Bon Jovi, Goo Goo Dolls, Phil Collins, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan—whose recent Shadow Kingdom features the guitarist holding down the rhythm—and so many others.Pierce discusses his biggest influences and favorite guitar sounds, seeing ZZ Top in their early stages “at their finest”—“I was floored”—and tells how he learned how to play rhythm guitar “on the job.” He also shares advice for crafting excellent guitar parts.These days, Pierce says his session work is mostly for friends and family. Instead, he focuses on his popular YouTube channel, where he posts interviews, tips, and more. It’s a passion for the guitarist, and he and Zach get deep into the nuts and bolts of his YouTube life—from how many thumbnails can he makes for each episode (a whole lot) to how he comes up with his ideas for videos.“I did one thing for decades,” Pierce says of his life as a guitarist for hire. “That I knew I could do … I just wanted to be a recording guitar player.” About 15 years ago, he says he reevaluated his goals and says he “discovered some people who were doing business online” who inspired him to give YouTube a go. “It just seemed like something, with all my limitations, that I could pull off.” After a decade doing full-time sessions and building his online presence, Pierce eventually switched to becoming a full-time YouTuber.Thanks to Sweetwater for sponsoring this episode! Head to sweetwater.com for your musical gear needs.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson has released a new video message in which he offered a bit more information about his upcoming solo album, due in early 2024 on BMG. Titled “The Mandrake Project”, it sees him reunited with long-time musical collaborator and producer Roy “Z” Ramirez.
“The Mandrake…

A stereo, high-fidelity ambient reverb designed to allows musicians to tailor three original spaces—Theatre, Temple, and Cosmos—as well as the ability to oscillate between two different reverb sounds in real time.“Cosmosis is a new chapter for Pigtronix,” says Bond Audio CTO and Pigtronix Founder, Dave Koltai. “We worked on this pedal for years, and breakthrough after breakthrough, we kept refining and reaching so that we could offer one of the finest sounding and coolest digital reverb pedals ever made. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to achieve.”This is the very first pedal that Dave and I discussed making when we began working together,” says Bond Audio EVP of Product Ryan Kershaw. “This is an inspired product. The amount of detail and imagination that went into developing this pedal is beyond my wildest dreams. It was so much fun to make—I cannot wait to see what artists do with it.”In addition to controls for the size of the reverb, wet/dry blend, and filtering, Cosmosis features a unique Morph function that allows musicians to alter their reverb settings in real-time by engaging the Morph footswitch. Players can set both “red” and “green” values on their Tone, Blend, and Size knobs, then engage the Morph footswitch to oscillate between the two reverb tones at their desired rate, controlled by the Morph Rate knob. Any combination of knobs can be assigned to morph. Create elegant morphs for subtle movement or sweeping, cinematic morphs for dramatic sound design effects. Save up to four custom reverb presets, including morphing.Unlock a World of Ambient Reverb with Cosmosis | PigtronixFeaturesEach of the three spaces within Cosmosis is a completely unique algorithm—a combination of impulse responses and imaginative, heady mathematics.Theatre puts the player in a variable room that ranges from cozy to highly reflective using multiple parallel short reverberators, offering vintage-inspired recording studio tones.Temple offers a dramatic, large indoor space by implementing numerous long reflections in both parallel and series. Perfect for the sweeping cinematic reverb associated with worship spaces.Cosmos creates an enormous spectrum of heavenly reverb derived from the harmonic content it’s fed. The spiritual center of the pedal, the Cosmos space is a rich and smooth harmonic reverb with none of the grainy octave generation or glitching that many ambient reverb pedals suffer from. Just soaring, beautiful reverb that shadows your playing.More info: pigtronix.comPigtronix Cosmosis Stereo Morphing Reverb Effects Pedal

In a new interview with IndiePower.com, KROKUS frontman Marc Storace confirmed that he is working on the follow-up to his debut solo album, “Live And Let Live”, which was made available in Switzerland in December 2021 and was released in North America in February 2022. He said (as transcribed by BLA…