“It’s something I never wanted to do”: Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood admits he was a “lazy” guitar player in the band’s early days
As a guitarist, have you ever felt not particularly motivated to practice? You’re not alone – in fact, you’re in the company of Radiohead lead guitarist and all-round six-string legend Jonny Greenwood, who confesses in a new interview that he hasn’t always been totally disciplined when it comes to guitar practice.
Greenwood – who also plays guitar in The Smile, a three-piece also featuring his Radiohead bandmate Thom Yorke – tells The Independent [via NME] that while he’s now “hooked” on guitar practice, that wasn’t always the case in the early days of Radiohead.
READ MORE: How Jackson and Charvel broke new ground for Sleep Token’s double signature models: and created 2026’s biggest artist launch
“I will sit and play guitar every day now,” he explains. “It’s funny. It’s something I kind of never wanted to do. I used to distrust any sort of fluidity and think that was somehow part of that thing of technical playing. But now I just feel different about it. And it feels lucky that my fingers do these things.
“I’ve got a certain facility with it, so I’ve decided to accept it, and have realised that I really love playing the guitar.”
Despite helping pen some of British rock music’s most enduring hits alongside Radiohead, Greenwood admits he “always felt like a clumsy guitar player” who was “always lazy”.
“Now, just through repetition, I’ve got hooked,” he adds. “I’ve just got addicted and want to play all the time.”
Radiohead reunited last year to embark on a tour of the UK and Europe, their first shows since 2018. While the reunion led some fans to speculate about new material from the Oxfordshire five-piece, we’ve not heard anything to suggest new music is planned or on the way.
Speaking to The Times in February, Jonny Greenwood reflected that “it was great to revisit songs” on tour, but that he “found it strange not to be doing anything new”.
“I guess we are all doing new music elsewhere now so that’s where our creative energies are going.”
Asked about the possibility of a new album from the band, he replied, “I’ve no idea. I mean, I’m surprised that the tour actually happened and that we all enjoyed it so much. But venues get booked so far in advance. To do another we would have to decide now, and even then it wouldn’t happen for 18 months.”
Well, they’ve agreed to continue performing shows, and are scheduled to play 21 shows in 2027 across Perth, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and Saitama, Japan.
Learn more at Radiohead.com.
The post “It’s something I never wanted to do”: Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood admits he was a “lazy” guitar player in the band’s early days appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
