Introduction
The "Riff Playbooks" column is designed to make you a better player. By gleaning some insight into the technique, composition, and execution of these fine riffs by fine SH artists, you are bound to make headway in your own playing. We cordially invite you to steal a page from our books in order to expand your own diabolical playbook of musical wizardry.
Posted — June 30, 2023
On his way through Toronto, our pal Craig Gowans (call him "Goonzi" though), guitarist of Scotlands #1 riff export - Bleed From Within - was kind enough to stop by the office and say hello. The band were playing up the road from our office while on tour with August Burns Red, and we invited Goonzi to check our our space, learn how we make books, and to play us some of his finest BFW riffs.
He kindly obliged on all fronts, but as interesting as our 'behind the scenes' might be, we were focused on capturing the important stuff - namely, his impeccable Metal guitar stylings.
While we had him at our space, we filmed Goonzi playing through some of his favourite parts from BFW's latest "Shrine”, and after he’d made short work of said parts, we ran a 'quick-fire' interview with the Scotsman to pull back the curtain a bit on his gear, his influences, and himself.
Before we get started, we’d highly encourage you grab the FREE TABS HERE so that you can follow along!
The first video below demonstrates the intro from "Levitate”, and the second video goes over the main/chorus riff from "Stand Down". Goonzi does a great job of explaining what he's up to in the videos, so we'll let him take it from here...
When you've got your mind and fingers around these amazing riffs, be sure to check out a full video interview we did with Goonzi below. We cover his favourite pieces of gear, Dimebag Darrell, working two jobs on the road, and much more!
