“He’s probably, for my money, one of the finest guitarists in the world”: Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood on who he considers the best rhythm guitarist he’s ever played with
Colin Greenwood has had an illustrious career as Radiohead‘s bassist and is currently moonlighting with Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Standing side-by-side for decades with his brother and Radiohead’s lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, and multi-instrumentalist frontman Thom Yorke, Greenwood is well-versed in the two guitarists’ differing – yet complementary – styles, which form the very essence of Radiohead.
“[Thom] takes it very seriously,” he tells Rolling Stone‘s Brian Hiatt. “He’s probably, for my money, one of the finest guitarists in the world.
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“He’s one of the best guitarists I know, like rhythm guitarists, because of the way he plays the guitar. The way he rolls with his shoulders when he plays, it’s sort of [the guitar] part of his body. He’s just incredibly physically connected, and always [has] been.”
Hiatt comments that Jonny Greenwood, on the other hand, has a more “cerebral” approach to guitar, to which the bassist replies, “Yeah, I agree. They’re very different, how they work, which is probably why they complement each other so well.”
“[Jonny’s] first record was Cool for Cats by Squeeze on pink vinyl that my mother threw away because she thought it was obscene,” he recalls when reflecting on how his brother’s eclectic playing style developed. “But he listened to anything, and I think he learned guitar by [listening to] the Pixies and Lou Reed’s album New York.
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“Then he was in the Thames Vale Youth Orchestra playing the viola, which I always forget because I don’t know how many times he went. So you know, he’s one of these people who can just pick anything up and make something cool out of it.”
And as for whether we can expect any Radiohead shows next year to coincide with the 30th anniversary of breakthrough record The Bends, Greenwood replies, “Genuinely, I’ve been so focused on Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds for the last two months. I don’t know what plans are afoot in Radiohead land.”
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