Attempting a Crazy Solo I Wrote When I Was 16 *Backstory and Lesson at the end* 

as a 15 year old guitarist i hope to write some epic solos that i can relearn as a seasoned guitarist on youtube years later

I can hear kirk hammet influence

If you're wearing a shirt from 1992 and it still fits, you've won the game.

You were a die hard kirk hammett fan, weren't you? The solos are so good! That is some INSANE skill for a 16 year old!!

I hope to one day be as good as you were when you were 16 lol

1992!!!? Man I didn't knew you were 44! You look great And tbh your song Fail To Be sounds like a Metallica song ( judging from intro and solo)

Teenage angst has paid off well

Imagine being a teen band and having a demo with better quality than many popular bands’s final albums. To say I’m jealous is an understatement.

Dude, your songwriting skills are insane. You should release a solo album, it would be awesome.

3:24 sounds just like the end of Kirk's solo in Battery

I think those are just lost Metallica tapes lol. Those solos and riffs are killer man

As a 13 year old drummer this motivates me to write some more drum parts for my band. Wow this is impressive especially for how old you were. I hope I am this good at drums when I am 16. This is very motivating and inspiring thanks for sharing!

It's like Alex Skolnick and Kirk Hammett had a baby, those solos were sick!

Holy crap dude, you're on another level even at 16 years old

As a 15 year old, playing for almost 2 Years, lemme tell y'all a great mistake of mine, Im very impatient and I never had the discipline to learn a whole song, I practiced and knew many riffs/parts of songs but never a whole one, now, I see the damage of it and I feel it's too late to fix, I have no influences and it's really annoying me, it was really inspiring and eye opening to see that, it was really nice to hear you're solos, you're still amazing man. Keep that shit up

SICK!!’ Your approach to music is really encouraging dude. You’re a hell of a musician and a really effective teacher. I LOVE your channel my dude.

All these solos sound more thought out than any slayer solo lol

That tapping lick at the start of the 3rd solo was really cool

2:20 strikes me as a very kirk hammett lick

The more you learn the less "raw" you end up sounding. Kill 'Em All is the best example of such, as is your amazing old band Sanctus. It's not that you're lacking, you're still a fucking badass dude! You've just evolved. :-)

You had those melodic chops for your leads like EVH and Iommi. The essence of a memorable solo is melody and a natural progression from easy to balls out bananas. Well done. I actually prefer the 92’ mix, though! Tech sounds so much cleaner, along with your playing, but man that old school tape tone instead of digital is unmatched...

Ahhh yes, more Sanctus content!

Now, I want to be like Mike.

I’m sitting here at 28, just a bedroom guitarist practicing maybe a couple hours a day wondering why 16 year old you is better lol. But you truly have a dedication to your craft and it shows! 🤟

If that would be a Metallica song back in the day, it would've been a huge hit.

As a fifteen year old who's just about to get his first electric guitar this weekend, I hope to experience something like this

I love the quick cuts of the focus face

It's crazy going back in time. I have songs that I demoed 20+ years ago that I can't even remember the chord progressions to them. I was playing around with some weird chord structures back then.....lol. Sounded good, keep shredding.

Wow this is so cool!!!!!!!!!!! How did you come up with that at that age!?

You're demos sounds better then some albums! I'm only beginning to be on fire and I'm 19!

You wrote that as a 16 year old? Damn. I feel my inferiority complex itching haha

Great solos, wow. Such talent. Total Kirk Hammett influence I can hear it.

Hey its Jacob the dude that won the fuzz pedal, this is such amazing work dude especially being that it's such old shit that sounded so new yet classic. also I was guessing you were at most 35

"Auto Legato" 😍 I thought that was just me. 🤣 I envy you having a drummer who played like that as a teen...

You ain't old, These are your prime years as an artist. This nostalgia faze is a natural culmination of your studies. Next is when the real magic happens... ;)

Holy shit man that was insanely advanced for a 16 year old to be writing!!! Well done

hey mike, love watching ur videos man... these solos are incredible for a 16 year old to be playing much less writing, im 25 and ive been playing guitar since i was 12 but never got that serious til the past couple years, and now i want to start learning to play faster shreddier type stuff. it blows my mind watching u play, sounds just like kirk hammett .. also blows my mind that this stuff is from the early 90s u look mad young for ur age

I'm not a musician at all, can't play anything, but the whole building of the 2nd Solo really reminds me of Ride The Lightning. So I think that structure of the solo could be a huge inspiration - the single sections then you dissected in the video. :D

I cant imagine writing a solo like that. I would feel very accomplished in life if I did. Congrats!

Tha fact that this sounds like a metal classic and was written by a 16 year old blows my mind

Gosh how do you remember the solos from years ago true talent Mike. I hope some day I can solo fast like you I really like your channel and your talent.

Absolutely killing it with the content lately. Keep it up!

Dude you are so inspiring. I'm around the same age as you, and this brings back so many memories for me also. Nothing wrong with being nostalgic, I would love to go back to those years.

Damn dude, there's a lot of personality in the phrasing. There's a clear Metallica influence but without sounding like a copy. Well done!

Damn, that was really cool... Tons of melodic bits on that first solo which is usually not a priority for younger players... Favorite part though is that run on the second solo between 2:36 and 2:39, seems like a very unique way to resolve it, the note choice and all... I like that you mentioned the recurring motif thing, between all the familiar licks it's these subtle melodic components that often help tremendously in building a style...

Great, great technical prowess, Mike. You obviously worked very hard as a kid- of course that's not to say that your conscientiousness has diminished in any way. Really killer stuff!!

These are cool tunes and thanks for the vid and sharing them. I love finding old recordings of my playing. It reminds me of simpler times, before music theory creeped in and I learned that there were actually rules. The first song I posted on my channel was a tune I wrote in my teens. I added an outro solo part and drum break, but it is pretty much as I wrote it back in the day when my HM Strat was new. All the best from the Bay Area. MK

I absolutely love it! That intro riff is very dark, I can definitely hear the Kirk Hammett influence in your playing, and just that all round metallica thrash sound 🤟🎸🔥

So cool! All good, but that second solo was awesome. Thanks for sharing!

Serious Metallica vibes goin on in this, and I'm definitely loving it!

You are a awesome guitarist I wish I could play as half as good as you love watching and learning you 🎸 🎸 🎸

Sounds like Kirk Hammett soloing over a testament song and I love it! I aspire to be half as talented!

Love the second solo when the song speeds up

Hey Mike. I’m not even a guitar player, I play bass, but your videos are entertaining as hell. Epic solo, I wish I could write one this good..

Man those were some amazing solos.

You guys need to upload your music to Spotify. I’d jam out to that.

These solos are FIRE, and you wrote them when you were 16? I've had goosebumbs listening to them :D

I wish I could play like that when I was 16! 🤘

Those solos and lead parts are excellent!

holy smokes dude that 2nd lead part was killer, soo melodic and cool damn

Man I love these solos, especially the first one! You were a great guitarist! Still are of course ;)

I can hear def a ride the lightening era influence, very impressive playing matey 👏

15 year old you was writing songs better than anything on the top 40 today. Lol

Sounded really nice even way back in the day too! Keep up the live streams really enjoying them!

Love your videos you have great addtude and break things down really well

This video is so impressive it motivated me so much to keep on going and to get to levels like this. I'm 16 but still learning to improvise solos! Awesome video and Rock on!!!

For 16 that was impressive soloing - and you kept the demo tapes (something all us guitarists do I think)

Bro.. Keep this up, I love every bit of it!

I could here the ride the lightning era KH feel, but still very much your own work. Great soloing!

This thumbnail is one of the best things I've seen in a while. 😄

This whole Sanctus revival that you are doing is dope. Sanctus live concert after the world opens?

You were younger and having Fun seeing all your practice coming together and shredding is in your blood let it out to play more and that forearm will quit burning !! I been playing 40 yrs pretty much straight through the 80's and already had my go back moment and decided to shred for awhile every time I play keeps me young and interested in keeping on playing for my enjoyment !!

Those were your solos at 16? Very impressive!!! I was born in ‘72 so we are close in age and probably listened to a lot of the same music. I hear a lot of Kirk Hammet in those solos minus the wah pedal. :)

Man, if this had been released in 1983 instead of 93, you could have become pretty big

id love to see him learn a trivium song, i think he'd really enjoy playing their music too

As someone with a grasp of theory that can best be described as negligible, these solos sound really good!

Holy **** watching you perform to your own music - I'm freaking impressed dude!

Ya that's actually really good of course for. A 16 year old but also anyone writing that it's pretty well composed in sense of music theory for someone that age

Jesus Christ! You did that when you were 16?!!! Crazy man! Love it

Amazing dude. I’m about the same age range rn so I’ll do something similar. Write some crazy songs and solos and then rewrite them

You certainly knew where to draw from for awesome influences and inspiration 😁

I hear a lot of Metallica and Megadeth in those solos, at least to my ears....and that of course is not a bad thing

Always glad to hear that NWOBHM influence in someone's playing.

Dude! That’s you at 16? That’s incredible playing! Whole new level of respect man! 🤘🤘

Dang Dude you were ripping on it! I actually really dig the music too!

If it's fun to play it must sound good. That mistaken idea really resonates with me

Wow man I would not have guessed your age. Aging like a fine wine

Those demos are fire

Your old metal band has a real 80s San Fran Bay thrash metal scene feel

I recently rediscovered a solo I wrote when I was about 18 and had trouble playing it tbh, I think I just did shit that didn't always make any sense musically but sounded good. Now I know more of the "rules" of music it feels weird to play. learning theory I think helped my playing a lot, but I do feel I was more creative sometimes when I knew less if that makes any sense.

You sounded like early Kirk in your childhood but much more melodic. I cannot repeat my youth solos, I don't f..cking get how I came up with all of this complicated shit. Now I play much simpler

Mike that’s awesome work you guys had potential

It's insane, that you could play so well at the age of 16. I'm 21 but I couldn't play those fast parts

This is fantastic 👏

If I didn't know you wrote these solos I would've assumed it was Kirk Hammett. Insane

You're so incredible. Nice guitar Big Fan here

I hear a lot of METALLICA in that solo. Amazing work!

What key and scale is used? I wanna know hehe

Dude this is badass

that initial shred lick in the first solo is like the Paul Gilbert lick (you know which one) but backwards and with legato. I don't have my guitar at the moment but I wanna try it when I get home. Just by looking at it I already know that it's gonna fuck with my brain because I'm so used to doing it the way Paul does it. Awesome lick.