CHILDREN OF BODOM Frontman ALEXI LAIHO - "'Guitar Hero' Is One Term I Wouldn't Use To Describe Myself"

Following is an excerpt from the CHILDREN OF BODOM feature appearing in BW&BK #110, due out in April:

As a guitarist Children Of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho is ranked as one of the best of his generation. He remains humble, however, and fairly cringes at the suggestion some fans regard him as a guitar god. He’s still the wide-eyed metal fan that can’t believe he did a cover shoot for Guitar World Magazine with Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde (in 2005) or performed on stage with Jeff Waters.

"Guitar hero' one term I wouldn’t use to describe myself,” Laiho says of the accolades. “It’s great if someone digs my playing and it’s flattering, but that was crazy doing a photoshoot with Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde. And being on stage with Jeff Waters and Annihilator was great. I’ve been an Annihilator fan since I was a kid and he’s always been one of my favourite guitar players, so doing the Metal album thing and being stage with him playing ‘King Of The Kill’ was awesome. Now those are the fucking guys and they’ve been my idols forever. It’s great when you get some recognition after years and years of practice and hard work. It’s pretty crazy, actually, but it’s better not to think about stuff like that too much. When you get to the point where you start calling yourself a guitar hero, I think you’re done.”

Hero tag or not, Laiho is all about playing guitar. He’s turned up on other productions over the past few years offering up some choice riffs or solos, but he’s been careful not to turn into an axe-wielding whore.

“It depends on the situation,” he says of his escapades outside Bodom. “Obviously I like playing with different people, and I just like to play in general. As far as the guest appearance thing, it’s not something that I do for money; I do it for the bands that I really like or for friends of mine. I’ve had to say no to a lot of things because there was just too much of it coming my way. Bands that I didn’t really know were offering me money to play on their albums and I told them that wasn’t the issue. It’s never been about money for me.”

Video footage of Laiho in action outside COB is available below:

Alexi Laiho - 'Sioux City Sasparilla' (Finnish Guitar Heroes recording session)




Annihilator with Alexi Laiho (live):




Kylähullut - 'Kääpiöt'