Angine de Poitrine’s powerhouse guitarist Khn has carved out a unique path in 2026, exposing the masses to the weird wonders of microtonal music. He says his early guitar teacher is partly to blame, and he’s a man most guitarists would be terrified of.
“The music school in town had this little venue called Le Ménestrel, where I’d go to watch concerts by students,” Khn tells Guitar World. “I’d see these hedonist teenagers who were part of this stoner-speed-freak social microcosm known for its alcohol-induced misdeeds.”
He felt the music they played was a “high-effort, low-payoff deal.” It was highly complex and would alienate “the vast majority of people.”
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Yet this wasn’t something he observed and then subsequently avoided. No, he dived right into equally unforgiving realms. In his last year of high school, he signed up for classical guitar lessons. It saw him cross paths with quite the character.
“[He was the] kind of teacher a lot of kids would be a bit scared of,” Khn says. “Someone who always looked mad and had quirky habits like keeping his tuner in an old Ziploc bag.”
Quirky is AdP’s forte. Khn was right at home.
“This short and highly strung man in cowboy boots lit a hand-rolled smoke in a little room, asking me to play something,” he recalls of his first lesson. “He stopped me after 15 seconds, visibly irritated and disgusted by my shit, before grabbing my hand and filing down my nails to a good angle.
“He then proceeded to install an old taped-up metal ring to keep my right hand’s pinky close to its neighbor. He made me play a variety of finger-picking patterns on open strings while heavy-handedly correcting my posture and bombarding me with information.”
The lessons underscored his shortcomings. But he enjoyed how pushy a teacher he was. He reveled in his discipline.
“Those kinds of teachers will kick the living crap out of your ego if they feel like you don’t push yourself, because they feel strongly about music,” he explains. They’d also reward hard work.
Frank Zappa’s zany music is a key part of AdP’s musical DNA. Khn’s teacher was also a fan and encouraged his students to form bands to play his arrangements.
“He made us improvise noisy, chaotic, atonal transitions between the songs, directing with hand signals,” he continues. “Someone passing down knowledge and sharing a passion with such generosity would be my definition of a guitar hero.
“Outside of his school duties, he pushed us into our first gigs where we were getting paid to play to a real audience. It made us feel proud, but also self-conscious, opening for 50-year-old fellas with experience. I keep strong memories of those years.”
The Canadian revelations have previously said their first forays into microtonal guitar playing began as a joke but quickly became a viral smash. Their first guitar had extra frets crudely sawn on; now their glow-up is complete with a custom-built Godin double-neck. But how did they get here?
Khn’s full interview features in the October ’26 issue of Guitar World, with Paul McCartney gracing the cover. Copies can be ordered from Magazines Direct.
