Orianthi
Christmas time... is about bringing everyone together.Collection: Christmas
Getting to write a song with Steve Vai - he was my first support.
I'm half Greek, half Australian.
I got to jam with Prince, which is amazing.
I was the only kid reading guitar magazines at the back of the classroom.
You have to work hard if you want something, and my parents instilled that into me when I was really young.
Success has been a gradual thing; it hasn't been overnight. So I appreciate everything and never take it for granted.
I'm constantly creating and writing.
So many people have gone through the experience of not feeling good enough.
Growing up, I didn't have a lot of role models - Bonnie Raitt, Lita Ford, Jennifer Batten.
Girls are supposed to sing. It's the guys' thing to play the guitar. Crossing the line is kind of like trying to be a male ballerina. But if you work long and hard enough, are really passionate about it, people will finally shut up and listen.
I was contacted through MySpace to come and jam out for Michael Jackson. I thought it was a joke. I forwarded it to my manager, and it actually was legitimate, so I went the next day.
It's hard to solo when you're walking around, especially when you're in Michael Jackson's presence. There are easier things in life to do.
I aim to inspire a bunch of female guitar players to get out there and take it seriously and never give up.
I've seen some female players, and they get up there and play an A chord and leave... and it's not a good representation. You can take it seriously and love it as much as a guy loves it, not just to get up there and pose.
My outlook on life is to keep looking up. If you're looking down, you don't see the light. For me, it's all about embracing that and thinking positively.
I love all animals. I'm such an animal lover.
I had two roosters at one point ,and that was pretty noisy. Our neighbors didn't like us very much. They would crow at the same time. That's why we had them in soundproof kennels.
I have an aquarium full of fish and some Mexican walking fish.
I love singing my own stuff, but I also love being a guitar player. Doing both keeps things interesting.
I like collecting chickens.
You go with what you 'get,' and I get playing the guitar. It's a challenge because it's not an easy instrument to play. There are so many interesting sounds you can make out of it and so many different elements. I dig it.
One of the first country artists I got to work with was Carrie Underwood at the Grammy Awards.
The great thing about country songs is the storytelling.
In 2007, when I first moved to Los Angeles, I got a call from Prince, and he had been watching my YouTube videos. It was crazy, because I thought it was my friend calling and pretending to be Prince.
I will literally have a whole pot of coffee to myself.
I'm really into Deepak Chopra and self-help books.
I was playing piano at three and started writing songs when I was six or seven, and I've been addicted since then.
Working with Michael Jackson was awesome. He was an incredible entertainer, dancer, singer, magician, everything, and he was really sweet, too.
Music's my life, and it always has been.
To be able to work with my idols is incredible. You learn so much, and they're wonderful as people, too.
We kind of grew up in an environment that enabled us to be ourselves.
It's a huge honour to be able to get on stage and jam with an icon.
Everyone has troubles in their life.
Being a female guitar player back in school wasn't great, and I had to change schools so many times. The male drummers and bass players thought it was cool, but male guitar players said, 'It's a guy's thing. You should be doing something else, like playing the harp.'
I was called a freak because I was so engrossed in music.
It's a crazy industry. I'm not into the partying, I'm a pretty healthy person.
Santana is the reason I play guitar - I studied his style so much, I actually wore out the video tapes.
There's a lot of players I look up to, and I hope that I can be a role model to young female guitar players. Hopefully they can believe in themselves more.
I've always looked for ways to inspire people, especially young people, to play guitar. When I first saw Fretlight, I immediately connected with the vision. Today's kids expect technology to help them on their journey, and that's exactly what Fretlight does.
I've had pigeons, doves, mice. I had a cat, dogs.
'Walk With Me' was written really fast, and that one is about togetherness.
My dad is actually an amazing guitarist, and he always had an incredible record collection, which is how I discovered things like Jimi Hendrix and Santana. I'll always be grateful for that.
'Livin' on a Prayer,' 'Wanted Dead or Alive' - those are iconic songs.
I think you can hear the Delta blues thing in something like the intro to 'Heaven in This Hell,' which has that down-home acoustic riff.
The She Rocks Awards does so much for women in music, and I'm excited to be a part of it.
When you're up on stage, especially being a female guitar player in a male-dominated field, if they just see you're into it, and it's your passion, and you're just giving it your all - it's not, like, an accessory - then it's all cool.
I just like to experiment.
I knew from when I was six that music would be my life, and I used to spend most of my time in the music room.
I'm a fan of stuff that's on the radio that just gets you moving or whatever, and you're in the car.