HOWIE LITTLE

A minute's all it takes to discover what makes a great guitarist tick. Before he jumped into his limo for the airport, we grabbed a quick chat with the guitarist from north England's classic to modern rock band, ATLAS.

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GT: Do you have a type of pick that you can't live without?

HL: I pretty much exclusively use a Dunlop Jazz III. When I first discovered them in my late teens, it felt like my playing elevated overnight. I keep a Jazz III in all my guitar cases and even my wallet. You never know when a guitar might appear in front of you!

GT: If you had to give up all your pedals but three, what would they be?

HL: I gave up with pedal boards quite a few years ago. I got sick of the dreaded tap dance every time I had a guitar solo coming up. I use a rack mounted Fractal Axe FX at the minute, where I regularly have pedals in my signal chain. If I went back to physical pedals, I would absolutely be putting an Ibanez TS9 in there, ideally the TS808 version. They tighten the bottom end up so well, which is great when using seven-strings which I use live for most ATLAS tracks.

GT: Do you play another instrument well enough to do so in a band, and if so have you ever done it?

HL: I don't. I have always fancied giving the drums a go though. I'm always tapping away on the steering wheel when driving, which drives my girlfriend crazy.

GT: If a music chart were put in front of you, could you read it?

HL: I could, but I certainly couldn't sight read. I did music at A level for a year before I realised that college wasn't for me.

GT: Do guitar cables really make a difference? What make are yours?