JASON NEWSTED On VOIVOD: “Piggy Mathematically Outsmarted The Guitar And Tuned It Differently Than Anybody; Voivod Came First”

Source: Bravewords.com

Jason Newsted (NESTED, ex-VOIVOD, ex-METALLICA) is featured in a new career-spanning fan Q&A session posted by GuitarWorld.com. An excerpt is available below:

Jason Newsted

Q: I really dug the albums you did with Voivod. I’ve always thought Piggy [Denis D’Amour, who passed away in 2005] was a super-underrated guitarist that never got enough recognition. What was it like to work with him?

Newsted. “Piggy was one of the most underrated guitar players in hard-rock music. Voivod have been playing longer than METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH or whoever else you want to pull up in our generation of thrash-metal music. Voivod came first. Piggy put all that sideways dissonance in those songs first. Everybody needs to remember that. Piggy mathematically outsmarted the guitar and tuned it differently than anybody. He was a nice, gentle, absolute genius type of person. But when it came to the music, there was absolutely zero tolerance for fucking around. You do not make a mistake.

The first time you play a song, you don’t make a mistake. He’d give me my parts and I’d go and practice. Then I’d come back and play it. About three minutes in, he’d go, ‘No! Wrong!’ I’m like, ‘Fuck, dude. It was my first time playing it with you!’ He was that far in it and that good. I mean, playing with Hetfield was always a challenge. And you have to be on your toes playing with guys like Warren Haynes or Zakk Wylde. But Piggy was a different thing: a very prolific, intelligent, well-read cat.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.