“Onstage, I’m like two different people,” says Angus. “To me, the whole show is over in five minutes.”

Do you play all the solos on AC/DC records?
Yeah, my brother is too lazy. It interferes with his drinking.

What is the difference between your role and Malcolm’s role in the band?
I’m just like a color over the top. He’s the solid thing. He pumps it along. His right hand is always going. In that field, I don’t think anyone can do what he does. He’s very clean—very hard. It’s an attack. Anyone that sees him or knows about guitars can tell. He knows what he’s doing with it. Malcolm has his own style and his own sound.

Could you switch roles?
I could copy what he does, but I don’t think I could fill it—not like he does.

Could he play your solos?
Ah yeah, easy [laughs]. That’s the easiest part, the solos. There’s no great thing in being a soloist. I think the hardest thing is to play together with a lot of people, and do it right. I mean, when four guys hit the one note all at once—very few people can do that.

Does being brothers influence the way you and Malcolm play? Others—such as the Van Halens and the Schenkers—have said they can sense what their brothers are going to do.
I don’t know about that. I just think that, as brothers, you can sort of shout each other down. You can go, “Hey, cut that out!” Malcolm does inspire me. He has very high standards in his way of playing and everything. He is very musically minded, but he can go to the extremes. Like, if we are in a studio and I’m doing some solos, he’ll say, “I want this to rock like thunder,” and you’ve got to make it rock. He just says something like that, and you know exactly what he means.

Will he ask you to redo solos?
Yeah, if he thinks they’re not happening— if they’re not rock enough or if they don’t suit the song. It’s mainly the songs that we worry about. I won’t sit there and spend 12 hours on a guitar solo. I couldn’t. That’s pointless. I like to go in and just bang away at it.