Joe Kerry - Pest Control ‘A Proud Lineage of Whammy Bar Abuse’
Playing a key part in Jackson’s campaign for their excellent new American Series Soloist SL2, you’d be hard-pressed to find two guitarists more suited for the job than Joe Kerry and Joe Sam Williams of fast-rising UK thrash metal/crossover act Pest Control. With their group’s love of old school thrash and death metal - two genres built upon dive-bombs and Floyd Rose wreckage - fed through a modern hardcore sound, the Leeds lads' shredding and riffage make for the perfect foil to sell a beastly new guitar bred for heavy music.
Wall of Sound were lucky enough to chat with Pest Control’s top-tier shredder and guitar maniac Joe Kerry in between his band’s utterly hectic current touring schedule. We got to talk about their experience with the new Jackson series, the band’s love of the legendary guitar brand, Pest Control’s plans in 2025, and how the most basic tasks can seem unnatural under the scrutiny of the camera eye.
Thanks for chatting with us at Wall of Sound! Let’s start from the beginning; who initially inspired you to first pick up the guitar?
A pleasure, thanks for having me! My dad was the first one to inspire me - I grew up with him playing the acoustic guitar around the house and he got me started with my first chords when I was 10 or 11.
Once I started getting into heavy music, the first guitarists who really inspired me to play were Tony Iommi, Daron Malakian, James Hetfield - then when I heard Dimebag for the first time, it was game over!
You were lucky enough to get your hands on the new Jackson American Series Soloist SL2 DX - what are your thoughts on the instrument?
I still have to pinch myself whenever Jackson sends me a new guitar, and it was no different when the SL2 DX arrived. It’s my first American-made Jackson and honestly, it’s so awesome. I particularly like the feel and look of the stainless steel frets, especially how smooth and nicely finished the fret-ends are. The little details make a big difference to me too: the Dunlop® dual-locking strap buttons, the Gotoh® MG-T locking tuners, the push-in arm on the bridge, being able to adjust the truss-rod with the heel-mounted adjustment wheel. Aside from it feeling and playing like a high-performance guitar, it just looks so cool as well!
The reverse shark fin inlays are sick. I went for the Arctic White finish (or “Hetfield White” as I prefer to call it) and I love the look of the black Jackson logo against the headstock - no nonsense, striking and iconic, just like the guitar!
What was it like working with the Jackson team on the promo video for the line of axes?
It was a bit of a whirlwind! It was shot in one day, on film, so there was a bit of pressure to get it right. Me and Joe [Williams, the other guitarist] were both shattered as we’d just flown into London from a festival in Barcelona a couple of days before, then pretty much straight into a visa interview at the US embassy, then the Jackson shoot the next day! Poor Joe was also really under the weather as well but he gave it his all and headbanged all the way through. It was a lot of fun. It’s funny how being in front of a whole camera and lightning crew can make the act of taking a guitar out of its case and putting it on feel really unnatural and awkward! It was a great experience though and the shoot came out great.
The new 2025 Soloist comes with a pair of classic Seymour Duncan pickups - so the age old question must be asked; do you prefer active or passive pickups?
I’m going to be diplomatic and say I love them both! I feel that way about a lot of guitar technology: solid state versus analogue, active versus passive, captures / amp sims versus “real” amps - it’s all awesome!
Historically though I’ve been an active pickup guy for metal / hardcore - I feel like they get a lot of undue hate and are more versatile than people give them credit for. But I’ve enjoyed playing with passive pickups ever since Jackson sent me a Pro Plus Dinky a couple of years ago. The new SL2 DX has the same pickups as that (a Seymour Duncan JB and ‘59 set) and I love how they sound. The JB is super responsive, tight and punchy in the bridge, and I often find myself switching the ‘59 in the neck for shreddy parts.
Having the option of coil splitting the pickups with the 5 way switch is great too, I find myself hitting those sounds a little more when I’m soloing!
One of the key features of Soloist SL2 DX is the premium Floyd Rose - how important is the whammy bar in both Pest Control’s sound, and thrash/crossover style?
It’s definitely a big part of Pest Control’s sound. Having a high-quality, well set-up bridge system means we can get away with abusing the tremolo bar, then go straight back to riffing with peace of mind about the tuning stability.
As much time as I spend learning new techniques, music theory and new approaches to lead playing, I still believe that the divebomb is simply the coolest sound you can make on the guitar.
How important it is to thrash, whether it’s crossover or just straight up thrash metal, is undeniable too: Kirk Hammett, Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King back in the day, through to today with Ryan from Municipal Waste. A proud lineage of whammy bar abuse!
What are the current Jackson guitars in your touring rigs?
On the Knocked Loose run I was using my Concept Series RR24 as my main guitar, with my Pro Plus Dinky as a backup. I’ve got a revolving cast of characters with me at any given time though - my go-to in 2023 was my X-Series Warrior (the first one Jackson ever sent me) but my Brandon Ellis Kelly felt like the main guitar in 2024.
For our tour with Obituary in the US this year, other Joe and I will be flying the SL2 DX flag and using them as our main guitars for that!
Jackson guitars have been a mainstay in the metal scene now for over four decades now - who are some of your favourite Jackson players of the past and present?
Where do I even begin? My favourite Jackson playing legends have to be Marty Friedman, Phil Demmell, Scott Ian, Corey Beaulieu, Wes Borland, Kirk Hammett, and of course Randy Rhoads! In terms of more recent additions to the Jackson roster, Debbie Gough from Heriot shreds, Konan Hall from Malevolence rules, Diamond Rowe from Tetrarch is killing it, and Alyssa Day blows my mind with her playing every time she appears on my feed. Obviously, Brandon Ellis and Dave Davidson as well: unreal players.
You’ve not long gotten off the road with Knocked Loose, Basement and Harms Way - how was playing some pretty massive venue with an equally massive band?
That was such a fun run, so grateful for Knocked Loose for having us. That felt like a really special tour - all the bands got on great, everyone in every crew was awesome and friendly, and the shows were crazy. Getting to start the tour at a sold-out Brixton Academy and finish it with another sold out show in Munich was amazing.
For those of us outside of the country, what is the current state of the thrash metal scene in the UK?
There are some great thrash metal bands in the UK right now! Grove Street and Overpower are cool bands with great guitar players (all recent Jackson artists too), Hellripper from Scotland and Asidhara from Wales are sick as well.
The Year of the Pest EP dropped back in late October ’24 - how was the reception, and have the band got any new music on the horizon?
The reaction was really positive, which is always great when you’ve worked really hard and put something out there you feel proud of already. The new tunes have dropped into place nicely in our set amongst the older songs and have been getting a great reaction live. We chose ‘Time Bomb’ for the Jackson video shoot for the SL2 DX because it’s the one with the most guitar acrobatics!
Between us we’re always jamming and writing new stuff on our own and bringing it to practice, but we’ve been so busy that getting together and writing has been tricky to make happen!
The next new music you hear from us will hopefully be our second full length, so keep your ears open.
What are Pest Control’s plans for the rest of the year?
Hit the states with Obituary, Terror, Nails and Spiritworld from April to May, finally get to play HellFest too! We’re also doing Superbowl of Hardcore in France, 2000 Trees in Cheltenham and of course our favourite, Outbreak Fest in Manchester.
For the rest of the year, hopefully we’ll be writing our next full length but I’m sure we’ve got it in us to hit the road a couple more times, whether that’s the UK, the US again or somewhere further afield.
Can Australian Thrash and Hardcore fans expect a Pest Control tour in the future?
There are no concrete plans yet, but it’s only a matter of time…
Interview by Andrew Kapper @andrew_kapper
Follow Pest Control via Facebook | Instagram
Suss the Jackson American Series Soloist SL2 DX here
Features:
- Alder body
- Through-body three-piece maple neck with graphite reinforcement
- 12"-16" compound radius rolled ebony fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets and inverse mother of pearl sharkfin inlays
- Seymour Duncan® JB/59 pickups
- Five-way blade pickup switch, single volume control and single tone control
- Floyd Rose® 1500 Series double-locking tremolo bridge system
- Luminlay® side dots
- Heel-mount truss rod adjustment wheel
- Dunlop® dual-locking strap buttons
- Gotoh® MG-T locking tuners
- Jackson Foam-Core case included
