Sophie Lloyd shredding over a Dire Straits classic!
Sophie Lloyd got her start with YouTube videos similar to this one. I remember seeing a few of them back in the day as she turned popular songs into shred versions. The one thing about her is that when she does a shred edition it always sounds good! It breaks the conventional thought that you can’t just shred over any song which is not a thought I agree with as I like to also shred over any song.
The approach she took for this song was to use her signature Kiesel instead of a fender Stratocaster and bring up the gain just a little bit. She still plays the song with lower gain than she would normally which is necessary to still make the shred parts blend with the original composition of the song.
As the first solo hits she turns up the gain and that is when she really begins to explore the fretboard. This of course escalates as she adds more and more intricate guitar parts as the song edges closer and closer to the end. The approach she takes is to blend the original guitar parts with her own compositions to create parts that are still melodic and make sense instead of over playing the song.
“I decided to mix this one up a bit while still paying tribute to the original and the solos are so rocking with distortion. Let me know if you like it or you think I ruined it!” These are the very words she added to her description to the video knowing that it is likely that fans of dire straits may not like the changes.
These kind of videos are the very reason that Sophie Lloyd is now able to go on tour with people like machine gun Kelly and land her own endorsement from Kiesel guitars. In the age of technology, the best way to get started out and recognized is to use technology to your advantage and do something that is more unique than those doing the same thing.