Sophie Lloyd may not be the first person you think of when naming David Gilmour-influenced contemporary guitarists.
However, the shredder has recently revealed that the celebrated Pink Floyd guitarist, known for his feel-driven style, has played an important role in shifting her perspective on what makes an exceptional guitarist – and, with that, timeless solos.
“I was never really that into Pink Floyd growing up," she tells Guitar World in an upcoming interview. “I knew Another Brick in the Wall and stuff, but I never really delved into them until I decided I wanted to do a shred version of Comfortably Numb on my YouTube channel.
"Before studying his playing, I was doing a lot of like, ‘Look at all the notes I can play, look how fast I can play!’ and there wasn't that much feel behind my music, I think.”
Delving deep into Gilmour's guitar parts for her shred cover served as a revelation for Lloyd. “That was a really pivotal point in my playing where I kind of switched from wanting to play all the notes and show everyone what I can do to like, ‘No, I want to serve the song,’” she admits.
“I want to create an emotion and a feeling and a story. That really came from him. Now I try to allow breathing space like he does, and create a sense of emotion.”
In a recent interview with Rick Beato, Gilmour did in fact dissect his lauded ‘feel’ playing technique, revealing that it all stemmed from the fact he “wasn’t gifted with enormous speed on the guitar.”
As for Lloyd, she’s gearing up for her debut US show on January 16 at LA's iconic Whisky A Go Go – setting her up for a busy year that includes a highly coveted slot at the UK's Download Festival.
Head to TicketWeb for tickets for her LA show show, and to Sophie Lloyd for special VIP packages.
Guitar World's full interview with Sophie Lloyd will be published later this month.
