UPDATE - 5/15@1:58PM: John at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the entire interview and made it available online here (thanks RushFanForever).
UPDATE - 5/15@1:58PM: John at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the entire interview and made it available online here (thanks RushFanForever).
UPDATE - 5/15@9:06AM: Alex gives an update on his signature gear, and teases a possible ES-335 "Whitey" reissue in this excerpt:
"... we had the [Lerxst] Limelight come out, the Grace, and now we have the Freewill, which is the original modified Strat I had in 1979. So, that's the black version of all these three guitars. That's coming out next. And Epiphone has a few things they want to release; they'd like to do a reissue of the ES-335, and Gibson wants to do an acoustic and some other things. On the pedal front, we have the [Lerxst] By-Tor and the Snowdog. We're working on a chorus and probably a delay. I have some ideas about an amp pedal, you know, incorporating what we do with the Lerxst amps but in a smaller enclosure. So yeah... there's always something in the world of gear. I've always been a gearhead! ..."
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The July 2025 edition of Guitar World magazine features a new interview with Alex Lifeson where he talks about Envy of None's Stygian Wavz album, Rush and more. Here's Alex talking about his different approach to guitars on Stygian Wavz compared to Envy of None's debut release:
... With the first record, I was very reticent about being too flashy or too much of a guitarist, you know? I made an effort to create sounds that we un-guitar, which was a great challenge, fun and suited the record. But with this record I felt more confident I could play a more traditional role. My response was to start including more solos and being more open about the guitar parts that I was writing. ...
Here's Alex on getting back into playing shape:
... I'm 71; I'm not going to play like I did when I was 21 - or 51, for that matter. [Laughs] But I've found that my fingers are coming back; they're grateful to me for doing this and getting them back into shape. It's a long road when you're at this age and battling the things that come with advanced years, but my fingers feel so much better than they did six months ago. I feel so much more confident in my playing. I feel confident. I feel happy. I feel reborn in terms of playing. It's a good place for me right now. ...
Alex also goes into more detail on several of the tracks on Stygian Wavz, gets into some gear talk, and also chats a bit about Rush's recent Rush 50 compilation box set:
... We [Alex and Geddy] don't get involved too much in how that's all put together. Everybody knows what we want to do, and we have good people who know what we want to create. And the record company, Anthem, has been amazing. They don't have to get our approval; they can just go ahead and do all this stuff. But they always ask us. They want to make sure we're happy and satisfied with everything. So we do engage, and we do change things up, and we do get clarification on stuff and all of that. But this particular package is pretty remarkable. It's a beautiful package with great, great stuff in it. ...
You can read the entire interview in the July edition of Guitar World. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.
