The Playlist: Mark Morton

Lamb Of God’s Mark Morton talks about his new solo project, inspirations and flying with Crowes

The first song I remember noticing… Eruption – Van Halen

“I have a brother who’s eight years older than me. I vaguely remember being about six or seven and hearing him playing Van Halen on eight-track. I remember hearing the sound of the guitar on Eruption and imagining that being what a UFO sounded like. It sounded like it was from another world and that was intriguing to me. I owe a lot to the music coming out of my older brother’s room; a lot of AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aersomith, Van Halen, Boston... a lot of cool rock.”

The first track I learned… Should i stay ors houldi go–The Clash

“I picked up the guitar for the first time when I was 12. It was just a really simple nylon-string, cheap acoustic guitar but it had strings and it made a sound. I remember hearing The Clash’s Should i stay ors houldi go and thinking ,‘ This is probably a pretty simple song, it shouldn’t be too difficult to play.’ So I would try and pluck that song out thinking I was playing it correctly. I built it up from there.”

A solo I love… Sometimes salvation–The Black Crow es

“One of my favourite recorded guitar solos is Mark Ford’s solo on this. That particular take has so much life pulsating, it’s so delicate and uncomfortable, right on the edge of falling apart. Every time I hear the solo I get goose bumps. I was fortunate enough to be able to have Mark Ford make a guest appearance on my solo album, he’s the only other guitar player to play on the album. He played on the song Axis and he did a great job. And Steve Gorman from The Black Crowes plays drums on that song. I’m a huge Black Crowes fan.”

The most challenging Lamb Of God song to play live…

Ghostwalking – Lamb of God

“The most challenging are often the newest ones. Some of them, particularly with Lamb Of God, can get pretty technical, but over time when you play them repetitively night after night you sort of get trained to play it. It all depends on your skill set. The solo in Ghost Walking can be tricky for me because it’s got the sweep picking, which for some guys is second nature but for me it’s a little out of my comfort zone: some nights I blow it, some nights I nail it.”

The new one I’m most looking forward to playing live…

Axis – Mark Morton

“It’s kind of like picking your favourite kid, I’m so attached to all of them and I’ve worked so hard on them. They each have their own character and personality. But the song Axis is one of my favourites and I think that’s going to be particularly fun to interpret live.”

The track I’d play to someone who had never heard our band… Walk with me in hell – Lamb of God

“Either Walk with me in hell or 512. I think both of those songs are really good examples of all things Lamb Of God. They’ve got all the colours and flavours in there. They’re two of our strongest songs and what most directly represent what we do well.”

The songi currently have on repeat… What’s Free–Meek mill feat rick ross& jayz

“I’m a real big fan of the new Meek Mill, I’ve been listening to that album [ Champions] quite a bit, particularly What’sfree. I’m a big fan of hip-hop. I think that element of groove is always there in Lamb Of God and, for lack of a better word, a swagger. It’s very much a product of a hip-hop influence. That’s not to say Lamb Of God is a rap metal band, and neither is my solo album. But there is that kind of head bop, groove, pulse that a lot of our music has, which is related to hip-hop. Not just for myself but some of the other guys as well.”

Mark Morton’s album Anesthetic is out now via Spinefarm