Jack Gardiner Interview - People Like Me

Jack Gardiner's story reads like a modern guitarist's dream: bedroom shredder turned genre-blurring virtuoso who grew up on Britpop and funk, practiced for hours with the best in the game, and now releases Spotify singles with names like “The Forging of Jim’s Multigalaxy Sword of Flame and Death 9.0 (Beta).” In this interview with American Musical Supply, Jack opens up about his inspirations, musician ethics, gear, and what's on the horizon. It’s an interview you don’t want to miss! 

Born and raised in Liverpool, Jack had strong aspirations as a young lad to be an English literary scholar. He was put in the Oxbridge program, which helps students from low-income backgrounds get into Oxford and Cambridge. But once he turned 13, his focus started to shift to something a lot shiner than a book; Jack started playing the guitar a lot! He started playing functions and cover gigs to earn a little money. Once he got the taste, it completely took over his life.

Jack's father was a musician in his younger days and was in bands in the ‘70s but told Jack that playing guitar isn’t a career path. Jack’s parents encouraged to study in school and keep focused on the books. Once YouTube became a thing and Jack got his first endorsement deal, Jack’s father became a little bit more comfortable with the idea — even if he didn’t quite understand it yet.

When Jack was 16, Mayones guitars invited him to NAMM, and his father said “People like us don’t go to Los Angeles.” Jack’s father didn’t want to let him go! Little did anyone know Jack was paving his way to success at just 16.

Jack was surrounded by an English contingence of guitar players. Tom Quayle gave him private lessons, and he even got to practice with Rick Graham. Jack would go to Leeds to jam with Tom and Rick, which was just an hour's train ride from Liverpool.

As Jacked watched these talented guitarists, he felt like he was truly starting to learn the secrets of the greats. Watching a video was no comparison to being in the room and seeing how possible it was to be that good. Jack would play on the same backing track for eight hours as they all took turns jamming.

At 16, Jack was certainly not better than Tom Quayle or Rick Graham. If anything, next to them Jack felt like a complete beginner. As they took turns in their long jam sessions, they always encouraged Jack. He considered them his support system.

When Jack was playing cover gigs, he always tried to add little quotes and impressions while he was playing to keep it fun. Jack says it might have been a little sacrilegious to put impressions over a Beatles song, but this sense of humor when playing followed him into an EP he wrote with a good friend Owane, “The Forging of Jim’s Multigalaxy Sword of Flame and Death 9.0 (Beta)."

Fun fact: Jack Gardiner isn’t the biggest fan of Allan Holdsworth! He recognizes him as a talented player, but Jack can’t listen to him for a long period of time. Jack says that over the years he found that when he connects with a song, it's usually through the songwriting of it. He just doesn’t feel like he can connect with Holdsworth’s style. However, Jack does admit that “Frank Gambale is the king for me.”

Jack and Laney go way back. They have always gravitated toward each other at trade shows, almost like a northern alliance. When Jack got back into YouTube around 2020, he was checking out a lot of Laney gear — notably the Laney Ironheart.

But his stint with “real” amps didn’t last too long. Jack Started making the switch to the digital world in 2020 due to… well… you know — the pandemic that shall not be named. During the lockdown, digital was taking off in the music space because of its space-saving size and recording efficiency. Once gigging came back into style, Jack was looking for the same tones he was messing around with in his digital recording space, so he needed to build a digital live rig.

The biggest transition issue Jack had was that he missed the feeling of tube amps and he couldn’t feel air movement with in-ears. One thing about in-ear monitors that most people don’t understand is that getting feedback is nearly impossible, and there’s nothing to interact with. When Jack Gardiner met up with Laney at a gig in Japan, they asked Jack if he wanted to try out some 2x12’s FRFRs. Jack was pleasantly surprised; he says it felt like the gigs of old.

When you have a lot of fly dates, the Laney cab completely eliminates the mystery of the backline because you’re always dialed in. The LFR-110 has that bedroom volume, stage volume, bluetooth, and headphone output, so it’s ready for literally any space.

ALSO… IT LIGHTS UP!

The guitar community is typically super respectful, and everyone looks out for each other. When an issue comes up, it’s usually solved immediately, says Jack. When a certain high-profile controversy came up, so did a ton of questions like, “Do we need to upload our youtube videos to distribution services to get copyright to stop this from happening?”

Jack had no idea that a solo he uploaded in 2013 would cause this much trouble for himself, as well as other creators. “Stuff is being sold illegally… Where does it fall in terms of copyright law… It's a hard thing to navigate.”

The biggest issue was that smaller YouTubers were getting ripped off, and there was nothing that they could have done. The guitar community banded together and called out a big influencer in the guitar world. This creator's fans insulted people like Jack, telling him to cut his hair, you need to sort your image, and you should be thankful that this happened because no one would have heard your solo’s outside the bedroom.

Jack talks about how most people are too scared to come forward for the fear of being labeled a hater. When the community came together, people started realizing “Oh it happened to you, too.” The issue was that the plagiariser had such a big following that it could easily ruin a smaller creator like Jack Gardiner to combat such a force.

Thanks to Danny Sapko so many people have found smaller creators like Jack. He is thankful the whole controversy came out because it supported smaller creators and gave them a few of their followers back. But it was definitely a rough period to go through.

Jack has a ton on his plate, per usual! The creative energy is flowing, and Jack is making it happen as a solo artist. He was just in Japan filming a music video with Ibanez for the new album. He is also collaborating with a ton of artists.

Jack’s first single drops June 20, 2025, featuring best friends Gianluca Pellerito and Riccardo Oliva. Jack is aiming to drop a new single every 6 weeks, so stay tuned to all his social channels! There will be an EP at the end of the year, followed by more singles. Then he’ll finally drop the full album in February 2026 with a tour. And even with all this going on, Jack still finds time to put out his master classes.

Jack's story is a reminder that the path to artistry is rarely straight and that what you learn from a bedroom jam or a shared backing track session with the greats can be just as valuable as an education in literature! Whether he’s shredding with fusion legends, speaking on musical ethics, or writing his new album, Jack is doing it his way and proving you can take music seriously without losing your sense of humor.

If you liked this interview, don’t forget to subscribe to the AMS YouTube channel for more content just like this. And, of course, don’t forget to subscribe to Jack Gardiner’s YouTube channel and follow him on your favorite social media channels. A huge thanks to Jack for making the trip to hang out with us in the studio, and another huge thanks to Laney for setting it all up. Pick up some wonderful Laney gear for yourself, right here at American Musical Supply.