Exodus guitarist Gary Holt recently shared insights about his musical influences and early aspirations in an interview with Rock City Music Company.
When asked about whether Exodus deliberately positioned themselves as the opposite of San Francisco’s classic hippie rock scene, Holt reflected on his formative musical influences and how his career path developed.
“We never really thought about that,” Holt said. “Because that’s like a several years older than my world. I grew up on hard rock and all I ever wanted to do was be like Ted Nugent.”
The guitarist elaborated on his childhood musical heroes and how they shaped his ambitions.
“I wanted to do what he was doing,” he continued. “He seemed like he was 10ft taller than me. As a kid, Angus and Malcolm Young, and million other awesome bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Montrose, Black Foot, and Nazareth. I just wanted to do that.”
Holt also revealed how a chance encounter led to his thrash metal career path.
“Circumstances led me to meeting Kirk Hammett,” he said. “And Kirk one day said, ‘You wanna play guitar?’ And the rest is history.”
Holt’s journey with Exodus began in an unexpected way that highlights the serendipitous nature of his musical career.
Loudwire reported that before Holt officially joined Exodus in 1981 at age 17, he was actually a roadie for the band and didn’t even touch the guitar initially. Kirk Hammett, who co-founded Exodus and later joined Metallica, gave Holt his first guitar lessons, starting with a Rolling Stones song to teach him basic chords.
This early mentorship helped cement their deep bond and Holt’s eventual role as the band’s lead guitarist. The relationship between Hammett and Holt proved crucial in shaping the future of thrash metal, as both musicians would go on to influence the genre significantly through their respective bands.
CBS San Francisco noted that Exodus itself originated in 1979 when Hammett and drummer Tom Hunting started playing covers of AC/DC, Scorpions, and Judas Priest before evolving into one of the pioneering thrash metal bands on the East Bay scene. Holt’s arrival marked a key turning point as Exodus shifted toward a more aggressive, punk-influenced style.
Over the decades, Holt became the principal creative force behind Exodus’s signature sound, demonstrating how his early influences from classic rock legends like Ted Nugent eventually evolved into something entirely different yet equally powerful in the metal world.
