Shred Sessions Podcast

Death metal, competitive bodybuilding, an absolutely insane guitar collection, and a story that goes much deeper than what you may have seen online. In this massive 3-hour episode of Shred Sessions, Drew sits down with guitarist and competitive bodybuilder Kevin Frasard for an in-depth conversation about his life in music, lifting, working construction, guitars, and YouTube. Kevin takes us all the...

I finally got to meet and talk to Dallas Toler-Wade, who is a highly requested guitarist here on the Shred Sessions Podcast. This interview was conducted on the patio at The Cobra in Nashville, TN while Narcotic Wasteland was on the "Fentanyl Zombie Apocalypse" tour with Visitant, Vile Light and Blood Coven. This conversation gives fans an inside look at the progression of his sound and...

We sat down with Derrick Schneider of Tallah for an in-depth conversation about his journey into one of modern metal’s most chaotic and exciting bands. Derrick takes us all the way back to his Tallah audition, including the wild story of auditioning with a Dream Theater song, and explains what it took to land the gig in the band founded by drummer Max Portnoy. From there, we get into what life in...

Legendary neoclassical shred guitarist Joe Stump joins the Shred Sessions Podcast for an epic two-hour deep dive into the world of high-level guitar playing, neoclassical metal, vintage gear, and a lifetime dedicated to the instrument. Joe takes us inside his new solo record “Lord of the Strings,” dropping October 16th, 2026, and breaks down the guitars, amps, strings, picks, and techniques behind...

Serge Droban has quickly become one of the most talked-about guitarists in the YouTube guitar space. The neoclassical shredder known for insane technique, unapologetic opinions, and calling out “fake guitarists” joins me for nearly TWO HOURS on the Shred Sessions Podcast. And yes… we talk about Yngwie Malmsteen. Serge has a fascinating perspective on Yngwie’s career, from the groundbreaking neocla...

Get ready for an in-depth Shred Sessions Podcast with Max Damske, guitarist, songwriter, and founding member of Chicago progressive death metal band Warforged. Over the course of nearly two hours, we dive deep into the creative mind behind one of the most exciting up-and-coming bands in modern progressive metal. Warforged has built a reputation for blending crushing technical death metal with cine...

Brett Stine is a Dallas, TX based guitarist known for playing in Haji's Kitchen as well as the guy that cracked the code for how Allan Holdsworth thinks about scales, harmony and composition. In 2023, "In the Mystery: A Deconstruction of the Harmony, Melody, Compositions and Improvisations of Allan Holdsworth" was released in digital format. Since that time, Brett has updated the boo...

Rusty Cooley is the original online Shred Guitarist. From his early days of YouTube shred videos, to his "Betchya Can't Play This" Guitar World licks, his Chops From Hell lessons and his solo records, Rusty has been an inspiration to every guitarist who tried to push the instrument beyond what it was currently capable of. Rusty is the OG extended range godfather of shred and he's here with us to d...

Christian Donaldson is the guitarist, mixing engineer and producer for the legendary technical death metal band Cryptopsy. I caught up with Christian on the Decibel Magazine tour with Fulci, Necrot, Blood Monolith and Spirit Adrift on their stop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was able to ask Christian about the tour, their newest record "An Insatiable Violence," playing in a band with Flo...

On this episode of the Shred Sessions Podcast, we sit down with legendary guitarist Dave Nassie for a deep 2-hour conversation covering his incredible journey through rock, punk, blues, soul, and heavy music. From performing with bands like No Use for a Name, Infectious Grooves, and Bleeding Through to touring with country star Kip Moore, Dave shares stories from the road, insights into guitar ton...

Eric Hill is the definition of multi-disciplinary mastery, and this episode proves it. Music producer. Guitar designer and builder at Element Guitars. U.S. sales rep for Skervesen Guitars. Dental implant designer. And somehow… also a legit pizza craftsman. Eric doesn't just wear multiple hats, he's achieved a great deal of success in everything he's involved in. In this episode of the...

We let a girl interview a technical death metal band!!! Can you believe it?!?! Claire did an incredible job asking some of the top guitar players in the game some questions about the craft. It was truly amazing catching these guys on the "Chronicles of Lunacy" tour with Organectomy, Scasm and Defeated Sanity. All these bands have top tier musicians and deliver the material on their recor...

Here's my interview with one of the icons of death metal, Jack Owen from Six Feet Under. Jack was a founding member of Cannibal Corpse until 2004 when he decided to leave for personal reasons. From 2004 to 2016 Jack played guitar in Deicide but then left to join Six Feet Under with original Cannibal Corpse vocalist. The band released their new record "Next to Die" on Metal Blade Reco...

Levi Clay is a Glasgow based guitarist, transcriptionist and YouTuber known for his incredible guitar transcriptions and sometimes controversial takes on the online world of guitar. In this video Levi tells us about his guitar journey where he got his start in the world of shred and metal, to his approach to guitar education as well as some areas of the guitar community that he takes issue with. T...

On this episode of the Shred Sessions Podcast, I had the distinct honor of interviewing someone I've known for a long time, Luke Granered. Luke is the guitarist and vocalist of alt rock band Better Off. Over the years I've seen Luke work tirelessly on his many music projects from Cash Basket to Twin Stacks and more recently Gorge, a hardcore infused death metal band and his most recent pro...

Metal music truly has the power to bring people together, and it's typically always a net positive for the musicians and the fans. Since I started Shred Sessions, I've rekindled lost friendships and reconnected with some of the coolest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Such is the case with my friend Brian Leh, drummer of Chicagoland death metal band Art of the Flesh! Brian...

In this episode of Shred Sessions, we sit down with Zack Simmons, the powerhouse drummer of Goatwhore and current drummer for the legendary Acid Bath for a raw, unforgettable interview recorded INSIDE A CAVE at The Caverns in Pelham, Tennessee. That’s right… this entire conversation goes down underground, just hours before Acid Bath’s highly anticipated return to the stage, alongside death metal i...

What does it actually take to play guitar in Defeated Sanity? In this exclusive episode of Shred Sessions, I sit down with Vaughn Stoffey, guitarist of the legendary slamming brutal death metal band Defeated Sanity, to break down the real mechanics behind his playing. We go deep into riffs from “Accelerating the Rot” — one of the standout tracks from the band’s 2024 release Chronicles of Lunacy —...

This episode features my longtime friend and mentor Frank Pasquale of Pasquale Custom Guitars. Our friendship first started when Frank built me my first custom made guitar when I was 16 years old. Frank, being a godly man, always had really great advice and encouragement for me when I was a budding shredder in the Chicago suburbs. Come along for the ride as Frank shares his story of moving to LA f...

On this episode of Shred Sessions, I sit down with Ryan Rado — host of the podcast/show Make It Perfect, vocalist of the cult Nashville hardcore band WORKER, and a visual artist known for his powerful large-scale abstract paintings. Ryan is one of those people who naturally pushes conversations into deeper territory. In this discussion we explore everything from childhood trauma and mental health,...

I’ve wanted to take a guitar lesson with Karl Sanders for a long time, and in this episode that finally happens. The conversation begins with an in-depth discussion about some of the key chords and riffs in the song "Chapter for Not Being Hung Upsidedown..." including techniques, songwriting tricks with Cubase, and Karl’s approach to creating the brutal and intricate riffs that helped de...

Brutal hardcore meets technical precision 🔥 In this episode, Drew Creal interviews Fliora, an abrasive and technical hardcore band from Asheville, North Carolina, to talk touring, songwriting, live energy, and the evolving Southeast heavy music scene. Fliora has been tearing through winter tour dates and quickly building a reputation for their tight musicianship, chaotic intensity, and insanely m...

Kick Out at Two is a melodic hardcore band from Chattanooga, TN. They stopped by the Shred Sessions studio on their southeast tour with chaotic metalcore act Fliora. Kick Out at Two is currently wrapping up a follow up to their 2024 EP "20th Century Static" which will be titled "Choke." Expect to see that EP out sometime in April or May of 2026. Join us for an interesting conve...

Yo Shred Sessions viewers, Cody was kind enough to share some of his time before the Volcano set at the Vinyl Lounge in Nashville on Feb. 7th 2026. This was a special appearance for the band during a break from Sanguisuggabogg's busy touring schedule. Cody shares with us how he got into music and how he thinks about approaching hardcore and death metal. What a fascinating and inspiring musicia...

In this episode of the podcast, I sit down with JT Anderson from Cold Hard Steel, a band consisting of members from all over the Southeast. JT reflects on the impact of how playing hardcore music has made a positive impact on his life, connecting with his friends, family and community through music. Cold Hard Steel opened for Volcano at the Vinyl lounge on Feb 7th, 2026, which turned out to be one...