Dead Rhetoric: Have you ever had the chance to meet some of your guitar heroes like Tony Iommi, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Dave Mustaine – and how do you feel about being a guitar hero to the current metal generation?
Amott: Yes I have. I’ve been fortunate enough to hang out with a lot of my heroes in the guitar department. It’s really quite fun- (I’ve also met) Leslie West from Mountain, and I’ve hung out with Frank Marino from Mahogany Rush as well. When you get to pick their brains a little bit, asking what they were thinking when they did that in 1975 (laughs). That’s a lot of fun. Actually Michael Schenker invited me to play on one of his albums (Temple of Rock), so I did a solo and we traded off solos on an album he did a few years ago, so that was a huge honor of course.
For being a guitar hero now. I don’t really see myself as a guitar hero, I’m just doing what I do. I can see why people would think that, playing in a band like Arch Enemy it’s a very guitar heavy act with a lot of solos. I don’t really think about that stuff that much actually. I’m very natural in the way I perform, the way I write, the way I feel on stage- it’s not premeditated. I’m just following my path and what I love doing.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you foresee Jeff Loomis continuing on as the second guitarist for Arch Enemy, and what do you consider the major differences between his technique and skill set versus your brother?
Amott: Wow. They are both highly-skilled guitar players, but they are both very different. Jeff is doing a fantastic job over the past year, I do foresee him staying with the band and performing on the next album, and so on. He’s very happy in the band, he’s very pleased with playing with Arch Enemy. We are very happy with him as well. I don’t see any reason to change that up.
Dead Rhetoric: What advice would you give to your 20-year old self and 30-year old self – either personally or music related?
Amott: Wow, that’s a great question. That is like one you get at a job interview or something… not that I’ve ever been at a job interview. (laughs) Maybe at twenty I would have said to myself to not take things so seriously. I used to have a bigger ego, my twenty-year old self I was very much into myself I think. I grew out of that, chilled out a bit and I became more-humble as I became older. My thirty-year-old self… I don’t really have a good answer to that. My path has just been very based around making music. Make some time for my family… I missed a lot of time watching my daughter grow up because of my music career. That is the kind of thing that you have some small regrets.
Dead Rhetoric: Does she understand now what you had to do back then for your career?
Amott: Oh yes, we have a great relationship now. She tells me not to worry about that, but it’s of course a little bit of a guilt thing I feel, any parent would have that in that situation.
Dead Rhetoric: Did you have supportive parents growing up when it came to music?
Amott: Initially they were skeptical as to why I was going to play music for a living. They didn’t really like the music I was making, of course it wasn’t really in their tastes. Once they saw how serious I was about it and it kept me out of trouble, I think they supported it. And now they are both still alive, they are very happy for my brother and I very much in terms of our success. We pursued our dreams and made them come true as well, which is quite amazing actually.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you handle the constant influx of information that floods our headspace because of cell phones, the internet, social media, and instant communication technology?
Amott: (laughs). How I handle it? I am very much plugged into it nowadays, sometimes I wish I wasn’t. It’s difficult not to be though, isn’t it? They kind of got you when they made your phone a new computer as well. Because you now have a phone that you can accept calls, read texts, and you have the internet there as well at your fingertips. I’m in between, we saw the whole change as well. There was no internet, social media, – my first US tour I sent two postcards home to my parents (laughs), that was the communication. Things have changed alright.
Dead Rhetoric: What set you on the path to being a vegetarian as a teenager? Are there particular countries touring-wise where finding the right foods can be a challenge, or do you bring your own supplements to aid your diet?
Amott: Good question. One of my childhood friends, he was a vegetarian and his parents were also vegetarians. I’d stay for dinner there sometimes, I asked some questions about why they chose this way of life and why they didn’t eat meat. I became interested, read some books and watched some documentaries on the subject of animal treatment. I felt like that was something I didn’t want to support- so I told my parents at the age of fourteen that I wasn’t going to eat meat anymore. It was surprising to them- I’ve stuck with it. My parents thought it was going to be a phase, quite a few years later I’m still a vegetarian. It’s easier for me than it is for a vegan, that’s for sure. It can be a challenge to find the right food, especially in a country where you don’t speak the language well. Touring in Russia, China- we don’t speak a lick of their language and they don’t speak a lot of English. Communication can be tough, there is probably a whole range of stuff in the vegetarian world that you can eat there, but it’s how to find out about it and explain. I have my iPhone, which comes in handy at that point to translate phrases. You make it work every day. I’ve never experienced it as a problem.
Dead Rhetoric: Any particular goals you feel you’ve yet to accomplish in either a personal or professional manner?
Amott: Sure. On a professional level as a musician you want to do more. With Spiritual Beggars we always want to do nice records and make some tours, in Arch Enemy we do it on a bigger level. I think you are always striving to do something bigger and better I guess. Or do it in a different and exciting way. On a personal level, I’ve never been married. I’ve yet to accomplish a lot on a personal level because I have chosen to dedicate myself so much to my music. A lot of things have not really happened for me- I’ve been very successful in my music, that’s where I chose to go all in.
Dead Rhetoric: And are you surprised with the demand in the Far East for the early Arch Enemy lineup where you’ll be doing some shows soon?
Amott: Yeah, a little bit. We got a fantastic offer to do six, maybe seven shows over there. That’s great, that says something about that particular era of music that stands the test of time. It’s going to be a blast to share the stage with my brother again, and Johan the original singer. We are looking forward to that, that’s going to be great.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you think it’s harder for younger bands to sustain a living through music in comparison to what you’ve gone through?
Amott: I don’t know – for me it’s just been getting better and better. I’ve been fortunate to have such a fantastic fan base all over the world that enables with Arch Enemy to tour successfully and sustains us as a band. I can say I am the least frustrated musician on the planet, I’m very happy.
Dead Rhetoric: You’ll be doing a short tour once the album is released to support the record, are there any festival appearances lined up- and possible North American interest, even if it’s on a limited basis?
Amott: North America, Spiritual Beggars has never visited. Obviously with Arch Enemy we’ve toured over there a lot. That would be something cool to do someday, maybe as you say with a few limited dates. That would be something to look forward to. We are doing a few European festivals, something in Japan later in the year. With Spiritual Beggars we kind of go where people want us to go- where there is interest. We don’t really try to fight our way into new markets- it’s more about booking a few weeks of shows say in Europe where we know there will be an audience that appreciate what we do and we’ll have fun. We go where we know we have a fan base. As you probably know, building a fan base in the United States is extremely difficult. With Arch Enemy we put in all those years with touring, it’s a much tougher place to do- with Europe it’s right on our doorstep so it’s very easy to play here.