I'm Nile Rodgers – producer / guitarist for CHIC / Diana Ross / Madonna / David Bowie / Daft Punk plus many many more. Back for my 2nd AMA, live from Abbey Road Studios. Ask Me Anything!

Hey, Nile! Loved your work with Daft Punk and everything before! What was it like working with the robots? Any interesting stories from the studio of RAM? Thanks for the tasty jams and keep rocking!

They were shocked when they found out that the studio they were working in was where my group `chic had recorded our 1st single. It was Hendrix's Electric Lady Studios. They freaked when I said "yo Thomas, you're standing in exactly the same spot Bernard Edwards was standing in when we did Dance Dance Dance". They both flipped and asked "How did you guys do CHIC records?" I basically explained the technique to them and they said "do that to this". It became Get Lucky. Then they said "do that to this!" And it became Lose Yourself To Dance. Then they said "do that to this!!" and it became Give Life Back To Music. I then told them "yo guys, I have to split cos I can't do anything else". But all 3 of my songs made the record.

Dude, your work on HALO was incredible! Do you have any cool stories from working on it? We recently got a short video from Martin O'Donnell from the initial recordings of the mjolnir mix, and it looked like such a fun session.

Yeah man, I love fucking HALO, and Marty and Michael. Whilst I was out at Bungie I called Steve Vai who happened to be in town doing a gig. He ditched soundcheck and came over and sightread the first violin part. Then we proceeded to just jam over the theme to give it a more edgy personality. He told me it's the first time his kid ever really cared about anything he'd done. They were first in line at Midnight Madness to buy the soundtrack.

My time is up and I didn't get to half of these unique and incredible questions. Thank you for the love and support and I'll definitely be back soon to answer more. You guys are awesome

Who are your Top 5 guitarists?

In no particular order...

John McGlaughlin, George Benson, Narciso Yepes, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, but truthfully there's about 30 more.

When you were working on "Let's Dance", what was the experience like with Stevie Ray Vaughan? I've always wondered about this since the song is different from his usual blues-rock territory. Did he need a few passes to get the hang of it? Sure, he's a phenomenal player. But this was somewhat out of his wheelhouse. And worked out great!

Yeah it was amazing. I only wish we had cellphones in those days so I could have captured the look on Stevie's face when he first heard the track. He knew it was so important that the first hing he played was one single note - a Bb - to stay out of the way of the groove. He then ripped as he got more comfortable with the band and everyone in the room. We became lifelong friends and I produced The Vaughan Brothers and gave the eulogy at his funeral.

Nile, your guitar playing is what got me to start seriously learning! I'm at Berklee College of Music now so thank you!

My questions are: Who were your idols when you were learning? And what should I do to teach myself how to compose funk and disco?

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My idols were and still are West Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Hazelton. My technique is based on the George Van Epps technique combined with smooth voice-leading based on McCoy Tyner's technique. I use lots of 4ths to play melody while keeping a funky chordal structure and harmonic stability through diatonic modality.

Hi Nile, how many suits do you own, and do you have a process for picking stage outfits?

I've had to say - hundreds. I have every suit that's been on my body since 1977! Three full lockers of them and just about as many shirts, pairs of shoes, hats, and guitars

Hey Nile!

How do you handle all the traveling and performing that you do? Seems very physically and emotionally draining. Love your work

With great difficulty. BUT.. we love playing so much that the payoff is unreal when we see people jumping up and down and losing their shit

You suddenly have the power to magically transport yourself through time and space to any recording/jam session with any band for 1 hour. Where do you go?

I'd probably go back in time and play with Duke Ellington and give them all charts to my arrangement of Gershwin's "Bess You Is My Woman Now" and I'd take the first ride (and it would be at least 64 bars). And by the way when we get to the solo section we go into double time.

Hello Nile! Really looking forward to your new album, especially the song I Want Your Love (ft. Lady Gaga). What was it like working with Lady Gaga? and also what was it like working with Madonna on her sophomore album?

I adore Gaga. Her talent is not measurable. Her respect for the composition forced her to force me back in the studio so she could sing what I dreamt. Though I didn't even care it meant the world to her.

As for Madonna, from the moment (well the second moment), I worshipped the ground she walked on. She worked her ass off harder than anyone I'd ever met at that time. She had more style than anyone I'd ever encounter other than Bowie and Grace Jones. I love her, she's the shit.

What's your favorite chord? And why is f minor the worst?

There's no such thing as "f minor worst chord". Who came up with that bullshit? :D