We're joined by Ricky Armellino (Ice Nine Kills, Hawk) and Chris Kelly (Ex Ice Nine Kills touring guitarist, Alustrium) to discuss the reality of living your dreams, eating eyeballs, and their brand new band Hillhaven. Chapters: 00:02:54 - Shifting Focus in the Music Industry 00:09:19 - Overcoming Challenges and Changing Definitions of Success 00:1…

Jon Deiley of Northlane joins us to talk about why he uses Ableton, his writing process, what guitarists should focus on, programming insane light shows, and more. Chapters: 00:01:42 - The Cutthroat Mindset in Songwriting 00:03:36 - Unleashing Creativity in Music and Sound 00:07:50 - Nurturing Authenticity in Songwriting 00:11:34 - Enhancing Flow a…

Alyssa Day returns to the Riffhard Podcast to talk about making her puppy-filled video for "Trundle," how she recovered from a debilitating arm injury, and more. Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction and Exploration of Puppy Love 00:12:50 - Breathing Life Into Instrumental Melodies 00:15:01 - Authentic Artistry in the Music Domain 00:17:02 - Reflecti…

Wes Hauch of Alluvial joins Eyal Levi and guest co-host Spiro Dussias. 00:00:00 - Introduction to the Riffhard Podcast with guest Wes Hauch 00:03:14 - Cultivating Consistency in Technique Development 00:07:05 - Mastering the Art of Project Completion 00:10:37 - Navigating the Demand for Continuous Music Releases 00:18:00 - Examining Metallica's Imp…

Tank The Tech is a popular YouTuber by night and guitar tech/tour manager by day. His YouTube channel has grown very fast because of how much truth he spits about reality in the music industry. Chapters:00:02:06 - The Importance of Knowing Guitar Set-up Basics00:06:24 - Stepping Into a Guitar Tech Gig00:08:21 - The Importance of String Height and M…

Nizar Osmani is a frequent Riffhard collaborator, mastermind guitarist, and ER doctor. Chapters: 00:11:00 - Getting More Done in Less Time 00:27:34 - the Value of Music and Art Education 00:33:42 - Music Theory and Language Learning 00:41:58 - the Importance of Listening and Interpretation 00:44:03 - Breaking Out of Tendencies With Modal Interchang…

Dave Ellefson (Ex-Megadeth) and Guilherme Miranda (Ex-Entombed A.D.) play guitar and bass for Dieth. Chapters: 00:03:28 - The Organic Story of Their Band 00:07:36 - The Beginnings of the Collaboration 00:13:18 - The Writing Process and Recording Techniques 00:20:46 - Composing With Vocals in Mind 00:28:25 - Collaboration and Limitations in Drum Pro…

Doc Coyle (Bad Wolves, God Forbid) and Miles Dimitri Baker (Interloper) discuss playing for Ice Nine Kills during their Metallica Stadium Tour. Chapters: 00:03:42 - Learning Ice Nine Kills Songs Under Pressure 00:07:06 - Burning the Candle at Both Ends 00:13:38 - Overcoming Fear and Taking Opportunities 00:24:28 - The Pressure of Learning Songs for…

Justin McKinney, guitarist for The Zenith Passage joins us to talk about the the tech death guitar life. Chapters: 00:02:37 - Communication in music production 00:09:44 - Overcoming Demoitis 00:19:25 - Hot Take: Shorter Albums Are Better 00:21:23 - The Importance of Quality over Quantity 00:28:15 - The Evolution of Cannibal Corpse 00:33:00 - Extrem…

John Nolan is the guitarist and a vocalist for Taking Back Sunday. Chapters: 00:00:00 - John Nolan's Songwriter's Journey 00:04:36 - Crafting the Perfect Tune 00:07:02 - Overthinking vs. Subconscious Flow 00:13:53 - Writing Without Pressure: Nurturing Creativity 00:20:44 - The Art of Songcraft 00:23:09 - Overcoming Setbacks 00:27:38 - A Vision for …

Alyssa Day is a trailblazing guitarist/composer who is in our top 10 guitarists to watch list. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Alyssa Day 00:02:48 - The Drive for Self-Improvement 00:15:31 - The Power of Visualization in Learning a Musical Piece 00:18:39 - Visualizing Rhythms and Melodic Arcs 00:24:44 - The Importance of Broadening Musical Per…

Acle Kahney is the guitarist, writer, and producer for Tesseract. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:27 - Recording at Middle Farm with Peter Miles 00:04:57 - Working with a Producer 00:09:45 - Mastering and CD Delivery 00:12:04 - Challenges of Mixing Metal Music in Atmos 00:17:02 - Troubleshooting Gear Issues 00:24:01 - Mixing and Recording w…

Cory Arford and Neal Teimann are the guitarists for Carnifex. Their new album, “Necromanteum” comes out October 6th, 2023. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:36 - The Same Problems at Every Level 00:08:06 - The Importance of Saying Yes 00:16:08 - Your personality matters 00:21:25 - The Flow of the Writing Process 00:24:05 - Using Writing Exerc…

Josh Middleton is a guitarist/producer best known for his band Sylosis and former band, Architects. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:25 - Manifestation and Serendipity in Career Paths 00:04:39 - Second Wind for Thrash Bands 00:07:15 - Becoming your own favorite band 00:11:49 - Writing Simple but Impactful Riffs 00:18:25 - Learning Arpeggios …

Rob Barrett is a guitarist for the legendary Cannibal Corpse. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:02:59 - How Rob writes for Cannibal Corpse 00:06:46 - Burning out from touring 00:08:40 - Explosive creativity during quarantine 00:10:39 - Hitting the Ground Running 00:12:25 - Meeting crazy deadlines 00:14:15 - When to stop writing 00:15:58 - Violen…

Misha Mansoor, Jake Bowen, and Mark Holcomb joined us to discuss why Periphery nuked their own album, how video game addiction is good, and the terror of playing huge shows naked. Chapters:00:00:00 - Introduction00:04:44 - Trust And Respect Among Band Members00:09:18 - Working with Spencer Sotelo On Vocals00:13:58 - Overcoming Challenges As A Team0…

Erik Rutan is a legendary guitarist and producer best known for his work with/in Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, and Hate Eternal.Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to the Riffhard podcast with Erik Rutan 00:03:14 - Seeking Improvement in Guitar Playing and Life 00:06:40 - Prioritizing and Focusing on Career Goals 00:10:25 - The Ability to Adapt in M…

Stephen Taranto is an innovative guitar virtuoso from Australia. Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Stephen Taranto and his Guitar Skills 00:05:01 - Leaning into Your Strengths 00:10:06 - Deciding What to Focus On in Guitar Skills 00:15:02 - The Delusion of Talent and the Importance of Feedback 00:20:29 - Dealing with Risk and Perfectionism 00:25…

Keyan Houshmand is a guitarist who has made a name for himself with his in-depth YouTube and quick-fire Instagram and TikTok videos.Chapters:00:00:00 - The Modern Definition of Being a Musician00:04:10 - Finding the Right Balance in Guitar Playing00:07:59 - The Importance of Pickups in Guitar Tone00:11:56 - The Importance of How Playing Feels and S…

Logan Young is a musician, songwriter, and content creator who is known best for his guitar acrobatics on TikTok and Youtube. Logan's current projects are Dal Av and Scarlet Rot and he has worked with bands such as Reflections and I, the Breather.Want to level up your guitar game? Check out Riffhard.When you sign up, you'll get access to:Over 100 v…

Dan Sugarman is a guitarist in Ice Nine Kills.Want to level up your guitar game? Check out Riffhard.When you sign up, you'll get access to:Over 100 video tutorials with tabsA chance to enter our monthly King Of The Riff contestLivestream Q&As and other eventsOur private communityBe sure to follow Riffhard on Instagram and Facebook.Follow Eyal Levi …

Ian Waye is the guitarist in Soreption. Spiro Dussias is a guitarist, engineer, and teacher.Want to level up your guitar game? Check out Riffhard.When you sign up, you'll get access to:Over 100 video tutorials with tabsA chance to enter our monthly King Of The Riff contestLivestream Q&As and other eventsOur private communityBe sure to follow Riffha…

Chris Wiseman is the guitarist for Currents and Shadow of Intent.Want to level up your guitar game? Check out Riffhard.When you sign up, you'll get access to:Over 100 video tutorials with tabsA chance to enter our monthly King Of The Riff contestLivestream Q&As and other eventsOur private communityBe sure to follow Riffhard on Instagram and Faceboo…

Devin Shidaker is a guitar player and songwriter best known for his work with The Acacia Strain and previously Oceano. Want to level up your guitar game? Check out Riffhard.When you sign up, you'll get access to:Over 100 video tutorials with tabsA chance to enter our monthly King Of The Riff contestLivestream Q&As and other eventsOur private commun…

Chase Wilson is a guitarist and songwriter for the band Ov Sulfur.Want to level up your guitar game? Check out Riffhard.When you sign up, you'll get access to:Over 100 video tutorials with tabsA chance to enter our monthly King Of The Riff contestLivestream Q&As and other eventsOur private communityBe sure to follow Riffhard on Instagram and Facebo…