KIKO LOUREIRO
Megadeth’s Musical Maestro
By Doug Doppler
Photos: MikeWylot.com
Kiko Loureiro’s journey from Brazil to the biggest my mother bought me a black SG copy. I was [Kiko] I did listen a lot to Greg Howe and to
stages in the world is a tale of talent, passion, thirteen or fourteen. Richie Kotzen in the early days. At that time, we
and a lifetime of hard work. After decades of didn’t have everything being officially released
international acclaim with Angra, Kiko moved in Brazil, so we were always relying on friends
to Los Angeles to find new opportunities, and who went to the U.S. to bring back albums. But
as the lead guitarist of Megadeth he’s done just the mainstream players were being released in
that. Not just a virtuoso of one style, Loureiro’s Brazil, so that’s who I was mostly listening to.
mastery of the instrument is the mark of a true Van Halen and other mainstream bands with
musician, not just a guitar player. We caught great guitar players.
up with Kiko between legs of Megadeth’s
world tour in support of their Grammy-winning [CG] There’s a video on YouTube of you But the shredders, like on the Shrapnel records
disc Dystopia. tracking the solo for “Temple of the Shadows” were more of a niche. We didn’t have those
back in 2004. You were clearly an accomplished records in Brazil and they were hard to get. I
[CG] I understand that you started on a nylon- shredder by that point – not the kind of stuff you remember when a label in Brazil released all
string classical when you were eleven, and would learn from a traditional Classical teacher. of those albums, with Richie Kotzen, Jason
then switched over to electric a couple of years What resources did you turn to back then to Becker, Greg Howe, and others from the late
later. There’s a funny story about how you got develop your technique? Did you have any of 80’s. Joe Satriani and Steve Vai were on bigger
started, care to share that with us? the Greg Howe and Richie Kotzen videos, or labels, so they were easier to get. But suddenly
did you do it all by ear and elbow grease? I was listening to all of those players and it was
[Kiko Loureiro] My sister was taking lessons,
the teacher was coming to our house, and one
day she just decided that she didn’t want to
any longer. My mother had already paid for the
lessons, so she said, “Hey Kiko, do you want to
try?” It just kind of happened, but then I loved
it! I started learning the first chords and then
the first few classical pieces from some of the
Spanish composers, like Tárrega and some of
the other easy Classical pieces for the first few
years of acoustic guitar.
At the same time, I was discovering Iron
Maiden, Kiss, and Led Zeppelin. I was getting
vinyl albums of Rock bands from the library
at school, and I was discovering all of the
Classic Rock music. Then in 1985, they had
Rock in Rio and it was a big event! They had
The Scorpions, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Ozzy
Osbourne, Queen, Yes, Whitesnake, and so
many other cool bands. I was watching it on
TV and I thought, “I want to play guitar!” so
Jul Aug 2017
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