How does a Welsh rock band that trades in “filthy, nasty guitar tones” end up writing a song with Brian Johnson of AC/DC? Himalayas’ Mike Griffiths explains the story behind their “unexpected gift”
When Cardiff-based rockers Himalayas received an “unexpected gift” in the form of lyrics penned especially for them by AC/DC singer Brian Johnson, they knew they’d have to bring their A-game to do it justice.
Guitarist Mike Griffiths talks us through new single V.O.V.
How did this collaboration with Brian Johnson come about?
“Our manager is the monitor mixer for AC/DC. He played Brian Johnson a few of our tracks and he loved them. He sent over some lyrics and said: ‘I really like what you do. See what you can do with this.’
“We got that just before we did our first album and we put it on the backburner a little bit, which we’re all glad about because – after doing the album – we got a lot better at what we do. This is the third incarnation. We weren’t completely happy the first couple of times, but it feels like we’ve managed to get it to a really good place.”
What was it like writing to his lyrics?
“We had to find a way of fitting everything in with what we do. That’s partly why it took a few takes to get it right. It’s very difficult, I find, having lyrics and then writing around that. We usually have a bit of both going on as the song develops. You need to have an immense amount of respect for where it’s coming from. It adds an extra element of importance and we needed to get it right. You don’t mess something like that up!”
How would you describe your guitar sound in Himalayas?
“It’s quite wild a lot of the time. With the boys, there’s a lot of low-end going on, so I’ve got a lot of space to cover. I like really filthy, nasty guitar tones, so that’s what I normally go for.”
What’s your guitar of choice?
“I’ve got an Epiphone Casino, which I absolutely love and it’s a really nice ‘house’ guitar to sit around and jam on. But it’s P-90s on a hollowbody, so as soon as I put a couple of pedals on it, it just makes noise.
“For live, I’ve got a Telecaster Thinline that I’ve had for five or six years, and that’s been a proper workhorse. I also use an Epiphone Les Paul Custom and I love playing that, but it’s not doing my back any favours!”
What are you plugging into for those glitchy fuzz tones?
“I was using an Ibanez Overdrive for quite a few years. There’s something really horrible about it and I loved that. I’ve always gone for a POG2 and that’s on constantly. That helped cut through with the Ibanez, but I got a Warp Drive from Stone Deaf last year and that pedal’s just incredible.
“You can EQ it and the gate is really solid. As much as I like noisy feedback, it’s always nice to be able to rein it in as quickly as possible, so that helps. I use a Boss Tera Echo for making the sound a bit wider, and I recently got a DigiTech Whammy that I can’t stop playing with – which is exactly what I feared would happen!”
From Hell to Here is out now via Nettwerk Music Group.
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