Pat Smear names his two favourite guitarists
With the amount of experience under his belt, Pat Smear deserves to be put alongside hard rock royalty. Not many artists can claim to have been a part of three separate legendary bands, with Smear turning in time in The Germs and Nirvana before settling into working with Foo Fighters. While he might have a style all his own, Smear has also been indebted to many guitarists that have come before him.
For most musicians of his age, Smear was shaped by the first wave of punk rock that swept through his native California. Although acts like Ramones and The Clash had their place in history, Smear gravitated more towards the snarling sounds of Steve Jones in the Sex Pistols.
Although there was the common myth that no one in the band could play their instruments, Jones’s way of weaving power chords together was the perfect foil to Johnny Rotten’s snarl on songs like ‘Anarchy in the UK’. Upon hearing the opening sound of ‘Holidays in the Sun’ for the first time, it feels like Jones is breaking down every single piece of rock that has come before.
That punk rock spirit informed the earliest parts of Smear’s career, looking to make something equally as raucous when he put together The Germs. Teaming up with another local star named Darby Crash, Smear wanted their band to take the intensity to the next level, telling Sonic Highways, “Everyone kept saying that punk rock music was nothing but noise and screaming. I heard that all the time. When we put together The Germs, we thought, ‘What if we make a band that actually is nothing but noise and screaming?'”.
For all of his punk credibility, though, Smear’s other favourite guitarist is from the opposite side of the spectrum. As punk was starting to sink its teeth into the world, the progressive side of music was making some of the most ambitious music known to man, with songs that would sprawl out into ten-minute exercises.
While most punk fans would have gladly spat in the face of anyone from bands like King Crimson or Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Smear always had a soft spot for the guitar work of Steve Howe. Being a fixture of the band Yes, Smear once called Howe “the best guitarist ever” when speaking with the Nirvana Fan Club.
Despite playing two completely different styles of music, Howe is also the master at his brand of playing, crafting songs the same way most classical musicians would approach the medium. Though it’s not easy to find any traces of Howe’s intricate work in Smear’s playing, his fascination with Howe is a good indication of how eclectic his tastes are.
That eclectic mix of influences has only grown when working with Foo Fighters. While coming from a punk rock background, Dave Grohl once talked about Smear having a major fascination with Mariah Carey’s music, all while being completely in the dark about some of the biggest current pop stars like Sia and Adele. Whereas some punk fans want to put parameters over what’s truly and what’s sell-out garbage, Smear will always follow his muse regardless of whether it’s the “cool” choice.
