Welcome to AFS vol.57 with Shinedown guitarist Zach Myers.

It's no big surprise to our regular Extreme Guitar readers that Shinedown has been one of my personal favorites for a while now. You just don't get full speed ahead rock like the rock Shinedown delivers! With an all new line-up that includes Zach and former Silvertide guitarist Nick Perri on guitar, Eric Bass on Bass, Barry Kerch on drums and Brent Smith singing. Shinedown still delivers that same trademark rock with the release of their "The Sound of Madness" due in stores June 24th 2008 featuring "Devour", "Cry for Help" & tons of other great stuff. Now let's get on with our latest installment of Extreme Guitars' Ax Facts & Stats with Zach Myers.

# My name is:
Michael Zachary Myers

# Myself described in 5 words:

-Driven - Clever - Quick - Thoughtful - ++Sexy - - That Was Brent Smith our Singer++

# My current job is:
Guitarist for Shinedown - & - Singer for the Fairwell

# My hometown:
Memphis

# My current album or project is:
Shinedown - The Sound of Madness - - OUT June 24th

# Former bands:
Saliva , Zach Myers band

# My guitar influences growing up were:
Hendrix , S,R,V , Jimmy Page , Adam Duritz , Bono , Phil Lyonett , Damon Johson

# The guitars I use are:
PRS Guitars , ST Blues Guitars , Taylor Guitars , Parkwood Guitars

# The strings and tunings I use are:
SIT - Nickelwounds - Standard * 11-52* - 1/2 Step Down * 12 - 54* - Whole Step *13-58*

# My current rig setup consists of:
Orange Rockerverb 100 , Diezel Herbert , Bogner Uberschall , 4 Orange PHP 4 x 12 Cabs , Bradshaw,dunlop,Voodoo Labs ,Digitech and MXR Effects - With a Midi Controller

# The greatest invention for guitars is:
Hoogie - My Guitar Tech

# My normal songwriting process consists of:
Theres not really any normalcy to it .

# My favorite all-time guitar solo:
Machine Gun - Jimi Hendrix , Little wing - S.R.V version

# Favorite all-time song (any artist) is:
With Or Without you - U2

# Favorite song by our band:
Call Me

# Favorite song to perform in front of a live audience:
Sound of Madness

# My Career highlight thus far is:
Playing with Buddy Guy and B.B King . . Or Memphis in May Festival 06

# My most embarrassing moment on stage:
Falling

# Other than my guitar and amps, the one piece of my gear that I cannot live without is:
1974 TS-808 Tube Screamer

# The first song I ever mastered on guitar:
Cold Shot - S.R.V

# My first guitar was:
Series 10 - Strat

# The first time I ever heard our band on the radio was (when and where):
Don't Remember

# If I am only sure of one thing in life, It's:
. . You cant take it with you when you go .

# The one ritual I always perform prior to going on stage is:
Stretching , Getting my Michael Myers Mask

# The exact moment I knew I would pursue a career in music was:
First time I Played guitar

# The one thing most fans don't know about me is:
I'm an avid Cook

# The best advice I could give beginning guitarists:
Practice till you can't feel your hands

# CD(s) I'm listening to right now:
Placebo - Meds *** Thriving Ivory -Self Titled*** Butch Walker - Leavin the Game on Luckie Street

# My 3 all-time favorite albums:
U2 - Greatest Hits *** Otis Redding - Live and Uncut*** Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak

# Best gig:
Memphis

# Favorite junk food:
Skittles / Cheez Its

# My biggest pet peeve:
Ignorance

# The word or catch phrase I say too much is:
F**K

# The hardest part of my job:
. . haha .. theres not one . .

# What I like to do in my "off" time:
Play with my dog . . Play Golf , Watch Basketball

# The first thing I do when I come home from touring is:
Play with my dog , Take a S**T in my own toilet

# Previous or first day job:
Never had one . . "Knocks on wood"

# Right after this interview I'm going to:
Work out

# I couldn't imagine being on the road without:
Laptop

# If I wasn't doing the musician thing, I could really see myself working as:
Chef / Producer

# Favorite movie:
Halloween

# My mission in life:
Be happy while making anyone i can smile

# My guilty pleasure band or artist:
The Outfield

# My next goal is:
Take over World

# The greatest contribution guitars/music have brought into my life is:
Making someone who had a shitty weeks life a little better .. if only for 2 hours

# Check out our Website at:
Shinedown.com

# The musician I would love to work with that I have not yet had the chance would be:
Bono / Stevie Wonder / Adam Duritz

# If I could have three wishes, they would be:
Play Music for the rest of my life, Happy and Healthy Family & Everyone to get along and love one another

# When it's all said and done, I want the world to remember me for:
That I and this band would go to any length to make someone who had a shitty days life a little better

thanks for posting nice to see an interview from him

Good interiew, thanks for posting it up.

Ur welcome. I feel like starting to call Zach Michael.
Hey Michael can I call u Michael if there is no problem with that and ur interview's cool and sadly this is the only one I can find...

its cool that both zach and barry like to cook. And both Brent and Zach are a fan of Ottis Redding

Was I the only one picturing Zach in a really big chef hat and apron?? Maybe he'll try out for Hells Kitchen

No you weren't
and for some reason I imagine him standing in a blue kitchen.

Oh for some reason I pictured it more of in the bus, and Zach dropping stuff because of them hitting bumps and turning lol eh idk

Great interview! Thanks for posting. Coincidentally, I was eating skittles while reading it. haha

quote:

Originally posted by sdzofmadness:
Was I the only one picturing Zach in a really big chef hat and apron?? Maybe he'll try out for Hells Kitchen

I could totally picture that too.