The latest guest for Loudwire's Gear Factor is Dinosaur Pile-Up's singer-guitarist Matt Bigland, who dropped by the Loudwire studios to reflect on some of the riffs that have helped pave his path to where he's at today.

The rocker recalls his pre-musical instrument life consisting mostly of music from the NOW! That's What I Call Music compilation series, but then realizing it was mostly "trashy pop," he ventured to his brother's room to find out what he was listening to.

"I went into my brother’s room and I just basically took his stack of CDs off his desk and in that stack of CDs was Rage Against the Machine’s Evil Empire, Rage’s Battle of L.A., he had [Smashing] PumpkinsMellon Collie, he had Nirvana’s Nevermind and Bleach, DeftonesAdrenaline.

For young Matt, his world was forever changed and he had to learn how to play guitar. "It was ‘Zero’ from Pumpkins, when I heard that my fucking brain exploded," says the guitarist, who plays a bit of "Zero" as well as some Deftones.

As for the band's own music, Matt downplays his own riffs, but does recall "My Rock N' Roll" from the band's first album as a rather "chunky" piece he always enjoyed. He also digs back in the catalog for a bit of "Beach Bug."

While the band does have a song called "Thrash Metal Cassette," Matt reveals that while he did have an interest in bands like Metallica growing up, he never really dug into thrash metal playing. "I could never play like they could. I could never play any thrash metal songs because the guitarist was way better than I was, so I never took any time to learn any thrash," says Bigland. "But I ended up writing ‘Thrash Metal’ as a kind of parody to thrash music in a way. There’s a thrash riff, it’s brilliant, but it’s not like super fast or technical. It’s like thrash for learners or whatever. So yeah, I didn’t learn any thrash riffs by anyone,” he adds with a laugh.

Dinosaur Pile-Up are currently promoting their 2019 album Celebrity Mansions. You can watch their new music video for "Round the Bend" below and find them on tour again beginning in April. Check out the full list of dates below.

Dinosaur Pile-Up 2020 Tour Dates:

04/16 - Cape Coral, Fla. @ Dixie Roadhouse
04/17 - Tampa, Fla. @ Amalie Arena*
04/18 - Orlando, Fla. @ Central Florida Fairgrounds*
04/20 - Baltimore, Md. @ Metro Gallery
04/21 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ The Foundry
04/23 - Syracuse, N.Y. @ Lost Horizon
04/24 - Newark, N.J. @ Prudential Center*
04/25 - Worcester, Mass. @ DCU Center*
04/26 - Atlantic City, N.J. @ Anchor Rock Club
04/28 - Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Baby's All Right
04/29 - Harrisburg, Pa. @ HMAC
05/01 - Norfolk, Va. @ Lunatic Luau*
05/02 - Charlotte, N.C. @ Epicenter*
05/03 - Atlanta, Ga. @ Shaky Knees*
05/05 - Johnson City, Tenn. @ Capone's
05/06 - Hunstville, Ala. @ Sidetracks Music Hall
05/08 - Jacksonville, Fla. @ Welcome to Rockville*
05/09 - St. Louis, Mo. @ Point Fest*
05/11 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Mercy Lounge
05/13 - Toronto, Ontario @ Hard Luck
05/15 - Lansing, Mich. @ Overdrive
05/16 - Columbus, Ohio @ Sonic Temple*
05/18 - Kansas City, Mo. @ The Truman ^
05/19 - Wichita, Kansas @ Cotillion Ballroom ^
05/20 - Colorado Springs, Colo. @ The Black Sheep
05/21 - Denver, Colo. @ The Marquis Theater
05/22-23 - Pryor, Okla. @ Rocklahoma*
05/24 - Dallas, Texas @ Dos Equis Pavilion*

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