 I guess, as with most people, the thing that probably got me into music would have been my old man's retro collection. Just being totally fascinated by whatever it was that he kind of happened to be spinning at the time. The Beatles being a big one, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, I guess Clapton was one of the kind of first guitar plays that I really lashed on to. If I wasn't a musician, journalism has always fascinated me, whether or not I'd be cut throat enough to be a journalist, I don't know, you know, be creative with language is something that's always fascinated me. I'm using the Blackstar Artist 30 as my kind of main gigging up and studio artist as well, but if the situation would allow the stage is big enough and I can get away with it, I'd use the S150 as well at the same time, running the box together, perfectly, complimentary amps. Sounds incredible together. I guess, tonally, the kind of first thing that really appealed to me about the Artist 30 was specifically the second channel, just that kind of gorgeous Chimey Clean, especially with Strat kind of really stacks very nicely with overdrive pedals and kind of irrespective of kind of where you set the ISF or even the EQ for that matter, just always seems to kind of cut through a mix very nicely. Whether or not it kind of maybe should be a factor or not, I don't know, it's probably vanity playing a certain role, but one of the reasons that Blackstar really kind of attracted me aside from the sound, obviously first and foremost, was the fact that they just look cool. The Artist 30, especially kind of having that very sort of boutique appeal about it, it looks great, you know, whether it's on a small stage, whether it's a download festival, you know, it just kind of looks cool behind you. I guess my first experience of being a guitar owner was being sat in the back of my parents' car on the way home from the music shop that we'd driven to to get the guitar. And my old man actually had been pulled over by the police for speeding and just me being sat in the back of the car, I'd totally terrified that the reason that we'd be pulled over was the fact that I had this telecaster on my lap with my fingers firmly planted in a G chord strumming away and playing guitar for some reason prohibited in the back of a car. First experience with a guitar and a relatively rock and roll one at that, I guess. I used the S150 out to hard rock hell a couple of years ago and was just totally blown away by it. And again, a big factor in that is the reliability, knowing that you've got something that you're going to be able to take out on the road with very minimal worry about whether it's going to kind of last on a run of dates, whether it's going to make it through the next tour, you know, just knowing that it's going to be there night after night and sound as good as it did the first. I'm a bit of a bugger for not warping that as much as I should. The world's worst culprit for standing there with a cold drink in my hand and then wondering why my fingers don't work when I get out for the first song. But I've been trying to kind of really incorporate that into my sort of routine before a show. Just a case of running a couple of songs, kind of making sure you're warmed up, making sure your fingers are flew in, kind of moving, and just making sure that you're ready to go come the moment you walk on the stage, you know. I guess the best bit of advice that I would give to a beginner is just, you know, kind of play whatever it is that you love, you know, kind of jam along to it, whether it's Grand Green or Guns N' Roses, you know, whatever, just kind of turn it up, play along, just enjoy it, you know. The moment it gets too studied is the moment that it loses its appeal for me. Music is meant to be a release, you know, again, whether it's jazz, whether it's death metal, whatever you were playing, it's meant to be something that, you know, you're kind of passionate about and that you enjoyed. So turn it up, play it loud.