Geordie Walker (Killing Joke) on his unique guitar tone

Archive #27 goes back to 2016 when Killing Joke were touring in Europe behind their latest record "Pylon".
Had the pleasure to spend some time with Geordie Walker that day and I dug deep with him to find out how he creates such a unique guitar tone cause nobody sounds like Geordie on the guitar.
We talked about his gear including his beloved and iconic Gibson ES-295 and his use of Automatic Double Tracker as well as him favoring 10" speakers and also some other stuffs such as KT77 tubes, Framus Dragon amps, his fav Connie Plank's compliment, the Phil Spector trick and last but not least how he started to play the guitar.
Geordie Walker not only got a unique sound, this good lad is also one of a kind.
Please note that the guitar we refer to at the 3:20 mark is the Gibson ES-295 he's been using forever and at the 12:30 mark, Geordie speaks about the BluGuitar preamp (probably the Amp1).
Full article in french was featured on Audiofanzine : fr.audiofanzin...
#GeordieWalker #KillingJoke #Pylon #Gibson #ES295 #Framus #Jensen #ADT

[@progrockjock]

R.I.P. Geordie. You were definitely one of my guitar heroes.

[@kookoothebirdgirl1]

I can hear Jaz’s unmistakable maniacal laughter in the background.

[@gr3y_eminence]

Gotta love it. Hahaha.

[@arnowillekes7979]

Still one of my faves! So good to hear how he tried to keep the clearness in chords while playing with KJ…one of the best walls of sound ever! Rip Geordie 🙏🏽🎸✊🏽

[@derkultvontrump]

Gotta say…. Geordie’s tone is obviously because of his playing. In the 90’s he sold me one of his Burmans and they are amazing amps. We chatted during Pandemonium sessions. I’ve used the Burman on many albums since, but never to recreate Geordie. It’s not the gear. It’s the player that creates the feel. His attitude to playing is why Killing Joke are so eclectic and mesmerising. Be inspired. Don’t copy. He will continue to use any amp he wants, but he’ll still sound like himself. Inspiration helps us to be ourselves ✊️

[@heavy-music]

Sure, Geordie is a unique guitar player !

[@anem1733]

RIP to the greatest guitarist, Geordie Walker

[@ManoSaarinenCarmanen81]

I've only been into KJ for few years (better late than never, right?) but Geordie Walker is already one of my favourite guitarists of all time ❤️ Such unique style and VERY diverse guitarist. Aggressive, atmospheric, beautiful... you name it! He can do it all.

[@bobmitchell6775]

A guitarist who is passionate about his sound! Vastly underrated player, unique slant on guitar and majestic sound had me hooked when I heard 80s 👍🎸🎶

[@djinn1918-ue4le]

RIP Geordie Walker

[@frankiesaenz7265]

one of the most unique tones ever,utterly to die for. love killing joke.

[@Alfienoakes-jo1wh]

Clapton, Paige, hendrix, knopfler, Wilko J, Brian may All have their own unique style & way of playing AND Geordie is certainly up their with them too

[@hornyconvict]

Clapton overrated

[@sheilasydneynotyerbizniz2933]

Wow I always got the impression he was the silent type. Guess that was simply because he couldn't get a word in edgewise when sitting next to Jaz during interviews 😊

[@deletebilderberg]

True story! 😁

[@mikesilva5085]

I discovered KJ when I was 11 and played their first 2 cassettes on a shitty Panasonic one channel tape player. I was hypnotised by Geordie’s guitar playing especially the chorus on Fall of Because - I had absolutely no reference point for this kind of music when I was a kid.

[@siggifreud812]

say them play at the Whisky in 1982. I hadn't really heard of them. amazing.

[@badlieutenant536]

This interview is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing it, it's very inspirational to hear this master's thoughts on guitar. Cheers!

[@heavy-music]

Thanks ! Yeah he's very interesting and got an unusual approach !

[@cicadax5886]

His guitar work in the song ,Sanity just blows me away I can't even listen to that song just one time cuz I want to hear his guitar in that song over and over again.

[@andyc787]

The instrumental mix is amazing, i think it was the "b" side of the 12".

[@nmacog]

He will be sadly missed, my fave guitar player of all time.

[@jeffreyday4004]

would love to hear Geordie play his Gibson through a pair of Twin reverbs wound up

[@Moneygrip]

I saw killing joke open up for tool it was a solid set r.i.p

[@simonbailey2754]

Inimitable. And a fascinating listen - thanks 👍

[@kalevinieminen7742]

It was Walkers guitar sound that drew me to KJ. I believe the song I first heard was War Dance, still one of my favourites out of many favourites

[@KrwiomoczBogurodzicy]

Zennon, though...

[@gabrielmorton8054]

First killing joke album is so damn cool..

[@killingjon]

God bless Geordie's mum :)

[@alexhope6007]

Legend

[@freddiefries]

Hello to Geordie , what an interesting interview 😊

[@waskerbasket9601]

very enlightening

[@TeamPinespirit]

R. I. P. Geordy. You was my absolutley Master with your Guitar. I'am so sad.

[@ef7480]

Yep, everyone wants to sound like 'Slash' these days, or million miles an hour 'shredding'- boring!!! The good 'ol pentatonic scale. Sounds great,of course, but, you sound the same as any other guitarist!!

[@scherzomortale]

Thanks for the upload although i haven't a frigging clue what he is on about !!!

[@jamesstokes3361]

That's yet another brilliant thing about him, he could tell you exactly how he gets his sound and it'd still be impossible to recreate it

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

Killing Joke. How many guitarists? 1 How many guitars? 2 or 3.

[@alexanderhudson47]

I don't recall the name of it, but he has a modified doubler effect device that triples his output signal. So it sounds like three.

[@MothHouse]

@@alexanderhudson47 I know I'm a year late, but chiming in to say that they're Bell ADT units. He always ran a stereo rig, too.

[@sydmonteiro6189]

Um Monster on quitar Geordie the best quitar.

[@shawnduffy5766]

This is the man that Kurt nobrain of nirvomit stole the majority of his riffs from.

[@thebunk8588]

I know Kurt ripped of Eighties, are there more?

[@shawnduffy5766]

@@thebunk8588 quite a few nirvomit tunes are blatant rip offs,,if it wasn't for Killing Joke,, there never would have been nirvomit.

[@TOMG12XU]

It's okay, everything is stolen OR borrowed... 2 GREAT bands.

[@shawnduffy5766]

@@TOMG12XU the only thing great about nirvomit is they aren't around anymore. Kurt was a whine ass talentless junkie theif. They also copped the name Nirvana from a 60s psych rock band,,,grohl was definitely the only talent in that band. A solid drummer who had to deal with a whiny junkie who couldn't come up with something original. So it's safe to say that the Foo fighters are the best thing that nirvomit ever did.

[@simonjames1964]

@@shawnduffy5766 jeez man , such anger . Did Kurt run over your cat ?

[@northernman3457]

RIP Geordie.

[@r0ssi666]

One of the most unique guitarists ever, RIP

[@missk1942]

Lovely Man, huge talent, one of a kind. RIP

[@michaelchadwick6424]

Thanks for uploading! Been loving Geordie's guitar work since well...the mid Eighties. He is one of a kind.

[@TheWolfsnack]

Yeah...I have been a KJ fan since 81 esp that combination of Geordie's lovely harmonics with Youth's bass riffs

[@pandorski35000]

When will someone finally decide to do a full videdo gear inspection with this man ? he deserves it

[@MrAddisonpp]

Such a cool guy, master of guitar noise, very knowledgeable with equipment.

[@Kevin-the-Just]

Another icon of electric guitar gone. RIP fella. You'll be missed.

[@lupenmann]

RIP Geordie😭

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

I went through a huge Van Halen phase this past year, which started me onto heavier and heavier music again, then I started looking for new unique guitarists to listen to, as Eddie's legacy and sound is well known by everyone. I was awestruck to find newer Killing Joke is just unbelievably heavy while still unique. Geordie's guitar sound is in large part why, in combination with Raven's heavier bass tones at times. It's honestly really hard to find unique high gain guitar tones. I can't really find any, at least in league with Geordie's uniqueness. I'm on a quest, looking into how hollowbodies and semi hollow guitars react with different pickups at high gain. I'm not a limp bizket fan by any stretch, but the guitarist with his yamaha signature guitar almost taps into similar ideas, with a semi hollow guitar and vintage style hybrid humbuckers through high gain. We need some new, unique heavy bands innovating like Killing Joke!

[@heavy-music]

Yeah really hard to find a guitar player as unique as Geordie ! You're right, Wes Borland is also one of a kind. Does he play on a Yamaha semi hollow ? I can see him with a Jackson King V or Rhoads if I remember well, don't remember about the Yamaha one, but trust you though ! Ahah!

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

@@heavy-music Yes! It was a while ago, but Wes Borland put out a signature semi hollow yamaha. It's an incredibly unique instrument. It has this traditional japanese style carved body, vintage voiced hybrid humbuckers, and a unique floating locking tremolo that locks and unlocks by a convenient latch. It was a consumer production model that you could buy for a time. They're still on the used market.

[@heavy-music]

@@Aaron-zh4kj gonna check it out !

[@COwens]

Eddie Van Halen was reputed to be a big fan of Geordie.

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

@@COwens No way! Really?

[@silentalliance3269]

Geordie was a great inspiration to me because I did classical guitar aswell and instantly knew he was drawing inspiration from classical training Wich gave him an AMAZING EDGE when it came to killing jokes guitar sound.so ahead of his time!!

[@-Atmos1]

Love Like Blood is such inspiration

[@TheWolfsnack]

.......it has grown on me over the decades, but after the 81 KJ album I hated Love like blood....the promotional video was so New Wavy

[@-Atmos1]

@@TheWolfsnack Interesting , thanks .

[@pietroc.6935]

Rest in peace Brother 😢🎸

[@carolynse4723]

Geordie is the best guitarist ever

[@KrwiomoczBogurodzicy]

You're thinking of Dominic Miller... Geordie is not far after, though...