LEE MALIA shreds and spills inside Tempe Guitar Center
- Alex Gold
- May 4
- 7 min read
Guitar Center events typically fall under glorified sales pitches, but watching BRING ME THE HORIZON's LEE MALIA effortlessly shred through a mini-set while casually dropping knowledge bombs felt more like crashing a private jam session. MALIA cranked stems through the PA and shredded through a healthy amount of BRING ME THE HORIZON songs before opening the floor to audience questions.
The Q&A had all the unfiltered honesty you'd hope for but rarely get from artists stuck in promo-mode. No PR sanitized questions–just whatever the audience could come up with, and actual answers instead of carefully crafted non-statements. Here's what went down:
Q: How did you get the Fender collab?
A friend suggested reaching out to Fender after seeing him play on stage with their gear already, which led to his signature guitar.
Q: Noodling vs serious practice in his free time?
Prefers fun to rehearsal because of his two children. There isn't a lot of time for serious rehearsal that isn't specifically for something upcoming.
Q: What style of BRING ME THE HORIZON does he like the best?
The style has changed a lot over 21 years, but there's no one era that he's preferred over another. “Sempiternal” was the one that felt like things were coming together, though.
Q: Analog pedals vs plugins?
Prefers analog pedals over plugins, but the Neural DSP can sound very close to your own sound with some tweaking and once it's in a big PA mix it doesn't really sound much different.
Q: How was the hyper pop sound accomplished?
Next gen "hyper pop guitar sound" like on "Bullet With My Name On" was achieved by pitching up to the vocal range from the original recording.
Q: How do you write guitar with somebody who can't play and just has ideas?
When a vocalist who can't play an instrument wants a riff, there's no real secret aside from repetition until it clicks.
Q: What is your ideal custom pedal?
A modded 800W amp in a pedal with an overdrive and IRs would be his ideal custom pedal.
Q: Advice for beginners?
Learn what you enjoy. Don't worry about scales; find a song you like and learn it.
Q: Why the specific body choice?
Body choice because most other shapes have already been done recently. Has jagged shaped ones already; this body sits nicely the way he wants it for his right hand. Looks retro, but has modern features. Unique finish; can see the grain through it. He likes "reliced" guitars. They'll all be a bit more unique.
Q: Would he want to do a big 50th anniversary tour when it gets to that point?
Would rather be doing a 50th anniversary tour than being retired by that point. Wouldn't want to TOUR but anniversary shows would be fun if it's cared about in 30 years. If they're even still alive.
Q: Which songs were born out of a specific riff/guitar idea?
Basically every pre-"That's the Spirit" was built around the guitar but it hasn't been written around it. Oli has such a strong vision you have to just write WITH him.
Q: Were any of their songs inspired by video games?
"Shadow Moses" was directly inspired by “Metal Gear.” Got into music by playing “Tony Hawk” games, which introduced him to rock, so video games have always been influential
Q: Next album? What will the next US tour be like?
Next album is still undecided. Tour is a continuation of the ongoing themed batch as the tour hasn't hit the US yet.
Q: How many guitars does he own?
Owned too many. Has plenty that he won't play but he holds onto for sentimental reasons at home and in a warehouse. Roughly over 40 currently owned.
Q: Go-to riff when he first picks up a guitar?
No real go-to riff just chuggs about and goes into some METALLICA riffs unless he has something specifically to be learning for a show
Q: Big festivals vs stadiums – what's the difference?
Festivals always have the edge of it might go crazy, vs a stadium crowd is THERE to see you so you don't need to win them over. On the other hand though, tons of discovery always happens at festivals.
Q: Musical inspirations?
England had a different hardcore scene that was more old school. Most influences from “Count Your Blessings” era were either American or Swedish (AT THE GATES).
Q: Should we expect any deep cuts on the tour?
No deep cuts from the first few albums during the fall tour expected. Set is very established already and themed.
Q: Writing tips?
If the song doesn't need you to play you need to let your ego be okay with that and not force it.
Q: Upcoming collabs sans BABYMETAL collab?
There's nothing on the radar. They always want to seek more out, but it always just randomly happens and isn't generally something they seek out. When they have a song and it makes sense they'll find them. The band gained more as they grew because they met their featured artists THROUGH touring meeting other bands.
Q: How big did you expect the band to be when you started it?
When they started they had no clue they'd be one of the biggest bands in their genre. It's a long hard road of hard work and they've been booed and "bottled" (throwing bottles at the band) off of plenty of shows that drives them to prove people who doubt them wrong.
Q: How does producing on tour work?
DAN LANCASTER was producing, and Oli was producing. Dan has a scary good skill at spitting out vocals exactly as asked the first time. They'll regularly write, demo, and mix on tour on the bus or plane.
Q: Why the specific pickup design?
Pickups specifically have a cover because he'll hit strings too hard and get them stuck underneath the pickup itself with a caseless one.
Q: Best tour partners?
First euro tour KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and THE HAUNTED (Swedish band w/ AT THE GATES members) in 2007 was one of the coolest tours, but having KNOCKED LOOSE and SPIRITBOX as their support was a fun experience.
Q: Does his wife let him buy anything he wants now that he's famous?
Simply “doesn't tell his wife about purchased gear.” No free pass for buying it. Boxes just show up and she can't stop it once they're delivered. (King.)
Q: Will upcoming albums feature strings and other "non standard" instruments again?
Always wants to add more than just the instruments the 4 of them play, and we should definitely expect more like that.
Q: Asked to play “YOUtopia”
Hasn't played “YOUtopia” since the album recording and cannot do a demo. The riffs were played only once and ended up on the album. Adding a new song into the set usually means re-learning his whole song by listening to the stems on the original recording.
Q: There was a big style change on the album "That's the Spirit" specifically the track "Oh No" from metalcore to emo rock. What was that like?
It was very fun because it gives you room to do new things that you couldn't do in other genres. It's easier to be creative with less restrictions.
Q: What's the best recording experience he's had?
“Sempiternal” was his best recording experience because it was on Greek islands. They picked the best sounding studio with good views to help feel good after.
"There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret" in Sweden was also a lot of fun with FREDRIK NORDSTRÖM. With "Count Your Blessings" they were young and had no idea what they were doing. It was pure chaos.
Q: Currently listening to?
Pretty boring, listens to mostly the same thing he did at 18. METALLICA. KNOCKED LOOSE. Post-Rock, Ambient music, MK.GEE is a very cool guitar player.
Q: Best new band advice?
Tour as much as possible when new, even though it's difficult for smaller bands. The scene is vastly different with the internet and social media changing so it's hard to give advice on the matter.
Q: What are post-show antics like?
The band used to go out to a bar after shows. Now they watch movies or play games on the bus. More reserved, but they all get along together so they just hang out together like anybody else would with their friends.
Q: When was the big "I made it" moment?
Doesn't feel like he's "made it" because tomorrow it could all go to shit, but when you're asked to headline a festival with other bands from around the world and getting a signature guitar is crazy and he never would have dreamed it would happen.
Q: Monitor setup on stage?
No live sound on stage. Side fills for feeling but everyone is on in-ears. Big screens make it hard to have amps, because things get blocked. Uses a "loud rock mix." Lots of drums, lots of guitar. Has ambient crowd mics so it doesn't sound like a studio to him. Video, tracks, and lights are all running on timecode. Two pedalboards that show the changes so it can be manually overridden.
Q: How did the LIL UZI collab happen?
Oli wound up speaking to him and Uzi wanted something done so ended up being favor for favor.
Q: Is the sound on “Teardrops” an elephant?
Probably, and it's probably pitched funny.
Q: What's different between now and when they started? How has technology changed?
Production can happen with $200 at home without being indebted to a label for paying to go to a studio, that was entirely unheard of when they started.
Q: How did they react to the negative reactions?
Found it funny when they were booed off stage. Might be an English trait, but they enjoyed winding people up. If the audience is gonna boo, they just keep going and sometimes by the end of the gig, because they reacted the same way the crowd did, they find it funny.
As the meet-and-greet line formed and fans clutched albums and newly-purchased signature models for signing, there was a refreshing lack of rockstar bullshit. Here was a guy who's been through the entire trajectory, from dodging bottles on stage to designing signature axes, still approaching his craft with the same straightforward enthusiasm as the kids waiting in line to meet him.
Twenty-one years into a career that's seen more stylistic pivots than most bands have total albums, and MALIA still talks about guitar like someone who just wants to go home and noodle around with METALLICA riffs. Maybe that's the real lesson from the event: behind every innovative metal guitarist is just another music nerd who happened to survive getting bottled long enough to headline festivals.
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