Andy LaRocque
Swedish guitarist and record producer
Andy LaRocque (born Anders Allhage, 29 November 1962) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of the heavy metal band King Diamond since 1985.
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Quotes
edit- I was very influenced by mid-‘70s music. I loved Uriah Heap and Status Quo. Those were the reasons that I picked up the guitar. I was very inspired by the guitar playing within glam rock like Sweet, Slade, and T. Rex, Later there was Michael Schenker, who has such amazing melodic sense, along with Randy Rhoads and Steve Vai.
- When I first heard the music, I thought it was great because I had always been interested in darker, dramatic music with horror elements. I liked and was inspired by that neoclassical style, so I thought, ‘Oh, wow, this seems like a perfect combination of all those things.
- I’ve always been a Marshall guy. Back then, I needed a bit of a boost, and I generally leaned on my Ibanez Tube Screamer [TS808], which I still think is one of the best pedals ever made. So, the Tube Screamer and the Marshall amps were just a great combination. And then, of course, you had to have good-sounding speakers, which I used a bunch of. I was always looking for a good lead tone; I wanted that warm feeling that could still cut through but had a lot of sustain, which is important when you play a lot of melodies.
Quotes about LaRocque
edit- Given his ability to kick your teeth in and leave you smiling, it’s easy to lump LaRocque in with other ‘80s shredders. But his drenched-in-melodicism licks were outliers, and hinged on tone above all else. LaRocque could shred with the best, but he came from a different place, eschewing theory and relying purely on instinct.
