Johnny Marr, one of the most important and pivotal guitarist in modern rock had to start somewhere. Although The Smiths no longer play, Marr is still active in many different projects as a musician and producer including bands such as Modest Mouse, Electronic, and The Cribs. In an interview with NME, Marr talks about making Seymour Stein take him to New York to buy a red Gibson ES-335 as part of an agreement to sign with Sire Records. Here we have Marr talking about his initial reaction and how he would go on to write songs from the very first chords he strummed on the new guitar.
Marr is now working on his career as a solo artist. He has announced the date of the release of his album, "The Messenger" on February 25th. "Upstarts," a single from his debut album will be released one week before on February 18th.