By: Rick Landers
Isaac Holmes – Photo credit: Sarah Ryan
Isaac Holmes is a masterful young guitarist of a new generation of musicians that is emerging with much of their mastery of their instruments in full bloom.
Older guitarists recall days of reading through Mel Bay guitar books and dropping styluses on their 45 rpm records repeatedly, working their way through songs a few measures at a time.
Today, with on-line guitar instruction videos available instantly and often free, accelerated learning is the name of the game.
Don’t get me wrong, to learn to master the guitar still takes hours and hours of disciplined practice and dedication to the instrument. But, the tools that are available now are excellent and offer a clarity unknown or at least hidden in a fog of sorts in the days of the Filmore East and West.
Isaac earned his stripes and he’s been recognized by the legendary rock photographer, Robert M. Knight, who co-founded The Brotherhood of the Guitar to help us discover the young guitar-slingers, who’ve grown up listening to the legendary guitarists who have cast their shadows over the course of decades, and studying a broad variety of musical styles.
Hailing from Hope, North Wales, along the Alyn River and a short drive from Liverpool, England, Isaac hangs with his young mates in a quartet they call, Lies. The group got together in 2017 and include Isaac (guitar/vocals), along with Louis Crank (drums); Evan Spray (bass); and Adam Clark on rhythm guitar.
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Rick Landers: What music were you listening to when you first picked up guitar and what were the first songs you learned to play?
Isaac Holmes: I first picked up a guitar when I was six years old. The first songs I learned to play were “Horse with no Name” by America and “Hey Joe” by Hendrix. We always had a lot of music playing around the house from as long ago as I can remember and I instantly loved metal and rock music, particularly the Guns N’ Roses album, Appetite for Destruction. The album really inspired me and definitely shaped my guitar playing as I took a lot of Slash’s techniques, developed them and incorporated them into my own style of playing.
Rick: Did you find it came natural to you or did you have to work hard to nail down things to the point where playing things in a natural fluid way?
Isaac Holmes: Playing guitar came naturally to me. I listened to music all the time and developed a pretty good ear for relative pitch, pitch memory and relationships between different notes, at a young age. Learning music is a bit like learning a language, the earlier you get exposed to it the quicker you pick it up. It took some work to get the theory aspect of music nailed, but I had an amazing teacher, Ben Griffiths, to help me with that.
Isaac Holmes – Photo credit Sarah Ryan.
Rick: First guitars haven’t always been the best to learn on, but more recently lower end guitars are decent, don’t go out of tune much and can help inspire learning. What did you start out on, do you still have it and do you perform with it?
Isaac Holmes: I learned to play on an ESP LTD guitar which I got for Christmas aged seven, I call it ‘Red Cherry’. It wasn’t an expensive guitar but played beautifully and still does despite all the bashings it’s taken over the years.
It’s my number one guitar and I still play it every day and use it for performing live and in the studio. You can see it in a lot of my earlier videos. I love that guitar to death just because of how much time I’ve spent playing it over the years.
Rick: What are you noodling around with most of the time at home – acoustic and electric?
Isaac Holmes: My fake Strat which I bought from an antiques shop for £70. I use it all the time, as I’m not afraid to bash it around. It has lots of scratches and dents but this only adds to its character. It plays very well as I spent a lot of time adjusting and customizing it to my playing, the action of the guitar and sanding the lacquer down off the neck for smoother playing, and replacing pots. It’s surprising how great you can make a bad guitar sound., I play by adjusting certain things.
My Grandad also bought me an acoustic guitar from a car boot sale when I was five, which I play a lot. It is pretty basic and goes out of tune all the time, but it’s guitar that inspired to write a tonne of different riffs.
It’s a total myth that having expensive gear will make you a better player. For example, just look at Slash, he started out on a one string Spanish-style acoustic and also Tom Morello who’s first guitar was only $50!
I think a lot of people get too caught up in the gear that they are using or aren’t using. You can give a beginner a really expensive guitar and amp and they are not going to sound any better than they do with a cheaper gear.
However, if you give Steve Vai or John Petrucci the cheapest gear in the world they are still going to sound just as amazing. Sure cool gear is great to have, but the tone is all in the fingers. Just work with whatever you’ve got.
Rick: Finding your away around the fret board can be a chore and a lot of players never learn it so they never know where they are, as far as scales and modes, they play intuitively. Assuming you’ve figured it out, were there any short cuts to learning it faster?
Isaac Holmes: I kind of just picked things up as I went along. When you play every day of your life you eventually get the hang of things. Most guitar players struggle as they are unable to use theory in a creative way which puts players off.
As Victor Wooten said “Theory only comes in if there’s a problem”. So I learnt the sound of each mode, so much so that I don’t have to think about theory and I can just play.
Modes have become second nature to me because I wanted to be able to use the notes in the scales that make that mode unique, but not fall into any patterns and have any limitations on my playing. Playing the “wrong notes” is what makes your playing unique and sound less generic and better expresses what the song needs.
Rick: We all tend to be inspired by the legends of guitar these days so tell us about yours, but also let us know who have you recently discovered (contemporaries) that are doing some cool stuff that you get a kick out of or find you’re learning new things from?
Isaac Holmes: I am inspired by a lot of legends such as Slash, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Dave Grohl, Steve Vai and John Petrucci to name but a few. Dave Grohl is a massive inspiration to me as he inspired me to also pick up the drums, bass and piano.
Hearing the Foo Fighters debut album where Grohl played all the instruments really inspired me. This has really helped with my song writing as it encouraged me to look at the whole structure of the song rather than just my lead guitar/vocal parts.
Not only that, but learning another instrument such as piano has helped me to grasp music theory a lot quicker. I recommend that every guitar player should try and learn another instrument; it has helped me a lot.
As far as new bands go, I’m a big fan of the progressive metal bands such as Animals as Leaders and Periphery. They really get your brain working. I also enjoy a lot of John Mayer’s blues inspired songs particularly his albums Room for Squares and Continuum. I will listen to pretty much everything, as that helps me further expand my knowledge in music.
Rick: Pulling a band together, with members you like and you find you work together well on stage, can be challenging, sometimes awkward. Have you found bandmates that you click with? Tell us about them and what kinds of projects you have going?
Isaac Holmes: I currently front the four piece band Lies and play lead guitar. We formed in 2017. We are lucky as we all met in school so all know each other very well. I’ve known my Bassist Evan since I was four years old. He’s my closest friend and we constantly talk about music and bounce ideas off each other. We have been writing songs together since we were 10 years old.
I met Louis our drummer on my first day at high school when we were put in the same class and immediately became friends through our love of music. Adam the rhythm guitarist joined the band in 2019.
Ultimately, we all love nothing more than performing live and have organized several gigs for Cancer Research U.K., a charity very close to my heart.
Rick: Do you have a favorite guitar at the moment?
Isaac Holmes: My favourite guitar is my Ernie Ball JP-15.
The guitar is easily the best guitar I have ever played. It is perfectly built and does everything I need it to do and more. I particularly love the Mag Boost, as anytime I want to solo instead of having to switch a pedal I can just tap the mag boost on.
I also love the Piezo switch; it is a very cool feature as it provides a tone like no other. It is definitely the best guitar for my live performances as it’s super easy to re-string. It has locking tuners which makes the guitar stay in tune incredibly well. I love John Petruccis’ playing and it would be awesome to meet up with him some day through the Brotherhood.
Rick: Everyone I know is dealing with the impact of COVID-19. Famous and not so famous have lost all of their scheduled gigs. How are you approaching this new environment and have you come up with any unique ideas that are working for you?
Isaac Holmes: These are very challenging times for the music industry but I’m really proud of the way music is still carrying on through online performances etcetera, and socially distanced outdoor events.
We had a lot of live gigs planned for this year which cannot now go ahead, but I have focused more on writing new songs which I’m really excited to release soon.
We have also performed our own cover of “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters to raise money for our National Health Service (NHS). We all recorded our separate parts from our own homes during lock down.
Rick: Robert Knight co-founded The Brotherhood of the Guitars that you belong to. How did he approach you and what kind of process did you two go through before you got on board?
Isaac Holmes: I am really honoured to have been asked to join the Brotherhood of the Guitar. There are so many amazing musicians that are already part of the group. Robert saw my guitar playing online and contacted me to discuss joining.
Robert is an amazing guy and legendary rock photographer. He is friends with so many legendary guitar players. He has been a great mentor to me and given me some really great advice in relation to the music industry and how it works. He helps so many young musicians.
Rick: What are some of the benefits of belonging to the Brotherhood of the Guitar and have you made friends with some of the others, who may be on the other side of the world?
Isaac Holmes: The Brotherhood helps young players from all around the world connect and collaborate, which is awesome. It is great for me, coming from a small village in North Wales I don’t often meet many people who share my passion for guitar and music in general.
I have spoken with a few of the members already, such as Jacob Rees Thornton and Zach Glantz who are both awesome musicians. It would be great to meet up with some of the members and jam at some point in the future, or maybe even collaborate on some projects.
The Brotherhood is sponsored by some amazing brands such as Ernie Ball, Magnatone, Guitar Centre and Taylor. I have also heard rumours that Red Witch Pedals may be teaming up with the Brotherhood in the near future which is really exciting
Isaac Holmes – Photo credit: Sarah Ryan.
Rick: Do you have any mentors who help you with maybe a musical career strategy or who are good sounding boards for ideas or decisions you find you need to make to make progress in your goals?
Isaac Holmes: Robert Knight has helped me a lot and has provided some great advice in terms of options that could be available to me. I can always talk to him in relation to any ideas I have. My family, especially my Mum and Dad, have also always been a great support to me over the years and really encouraged me to keep believing in myself and push myself forward musically
Rick: So, what’s happening now with you and your band as far as projects to get your music out there for people to hear, something maybe more than sitting it on YouTube and waiting for people to find you, less passive more aggressive or assertive?
Isaac Holmes: We have a lot of great tracks that we are waiting to further develop when Covid 19 restrictions ease. We plan to home record the album as this provides a more creative and relaxed environment.
We feel very lucky to have the equipment and space to record in my house,
Having such a live sounding room is great. We are trying to capture the energy that we have on stage together as a band.
Rick: Are you planning on furthering your education with an eye toward music or have you other aspirations where music ends up as an avocation and not a career?
Isaac: The ultimate goal is to be able to make a living out of my passion which is playing music. This has been my goal from a very young age and I am determined to make that happen.
My biggest goal is to become successful with my band. I also hope to further my education by studying music, music production and mixing at University. I love the roles of both the producer and mixing engineer.
I like the idea of working with other young musicians to help produce and mix their work. I remember how overwhelming it was for me looking for studios and learning about the recording side of things. Alongside my own projects, this is a big future aspiration of mine
Rick: So, where do you want to be a year from now?
Isaac Holmes: I have big ambitions for the future. I am hoping to have had success with the album and I would love to be back performing live again.
As a band we would love to be playing bigger venues and performing in front of a larger audience. I am always striving to find new techniques and ideas to further expand and develop my sound. As a musician I am always trying to develop my musical knowledge and keep learning.
