"I want to make a love song that's like when Arnold Schwarzenegger has to kill himself at the end of Terminator." - Cameron Avery
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Har Mar Superstar are experts when it comes to gettin’ weird. We met up with Mr. Superstar himself, Sean Tillman, and trumpeter Jake Baldwin to see what might happen if we paired up a handful of our wildest Devices with trumpet and vocals...
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You know George Pajon, Jr. Whether he’s co-writing platinum hits with the Black Eyed Peas, producing, writing, or playing guitar for artists as varied as Sting, Ricky Martin, Macy Gray, Sérgio Mendez, or “Weird” Al Yankovic; touring the world with Fergie, or bringing down the house with his new hard rock band Cairo Knife Fight, you’ve heard his music...
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Whitney Petty, guitarist extraordinaire of Seattle’s Thunderpussy, is the first musician we’ve interviewed whose livelihood has been threatened by the Supreme Court, who counts Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready as a super fan, whose first stint playing was with Deerhunter – not too shabby for a first band – and who not only absolutely shreds on guitar but also kills it on bass and drums...
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There’s no doubt about it: Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos, Big Walnuts Yonder) is one of the most innovative guitarists working today, able to pull a dazzling array of never-before-heard sounds and dizzying glitch-inspired textures from his instrument, tap dancing away at a pedalboard while playing finger-twisting punk/prog riffs in odd time signatures like a mutant hybrid of Adrian Belew, Tom Morello, and Aphex Twin’s Richard D. James...
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When we asked Juan Alderete (Halo Orbit, the Mars Volta, Racer X) what he planned to do for his clinic at EarthQuaker Day 2017, his response was “transverse the effected low end spectrum of the electric bass into your band’s sound.” We’re happy to say he delivered as promised.
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Life on the road may be something that many musicians aspire to, but no one ever said it’s an easy life. Instead of listing the litany of horrific things we’ve heard from friends or lived through ourselves, we figured we’d gather some tips from Alicia Bognanno of Nashville grunge rockers Bully on how to survive the touring life...
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Brian Fallon, solo artist and singer, songwriter and guitarist of The Gaslight Anthem gives us his 20 favorite uses of guitar effects in songs. Effects nerds, rejoice!
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Shortly after the release of Big Walnuts Yonder, I met up with Watt at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom, where before and after soundcheck with his band the Jom & Terry Show, we talked about gear, collaboration in the internet age, and the making of Big Walnuts Yonder...
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Dave Catching, Eagles of Death Metal and earthlings? guitarist and the owner of Rancho De La Luna studio picks 20 songs that’ve influenced him. Dave is probably the first person to use the phrase “sexiest Memphis pastor alive”, and that is just one of the many reasons he is the coolest...
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It wouldn’t be farfetched to imagine that the title of Saves The Day’s 1998 debut album, Can’t Slow Down, was inspired by Arun Bali. Bali, guitarist for the long-running New Jersey-based emo band, is one busy dude.
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The brainchild of saxophonist Warren Walker, the Kandinsky Effect creates dark, groove-oriented, downtempo Jazz soundscapes anchored by the steady pulse of bassist Gael Petrina and drummer Caleb Dolister. The trio blends modern Jazz improvisation with electronic textures and beat-driven composition driven in part by Walker’s pioneering use of effects pedals with the saxophone...
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We caught up with the Circa Survive guitarist at the legendary Agora Theater in Cleveland, Ohio, where the band celebrated the 10th anniversary of their album On Letting Go to nerd out on gear. And nerd out we did...
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It is the Monday after the weekend haze of Desert Daze and we are all, justifiably, in slow motion. Jonathan Hischke, our landlord and tour guide for the weekend, makes us coffee and we lounge on his porch watching him toss bird seed out into the desert that surrounds his secluded oasis...
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Nick Semrad is a sonic titan blazing new trails for keyboardists. Whether he’s onstage with Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles or ticklin’ the ivories with Ms. Lauryn Hill, Semrad is an audio explorer, a mad scientist conducting ultra-funky experiments in a laboratory of keyboards and a few well-chosen effects pedals, synthesizing new compounds scientifically proven to enhance your groove...
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After a string of Northeast solo tour dates last month, I met up with Greg Cartwright in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights, just down the block from Norton Records’ HQ where he was staying. If there’s such a thing as garage rock royalty, Cartwright is it. He formed The Compulsive Gamblers in Memphis in 1990 with Jack Yarber, and then The Oblivians just a few years later...
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Cleveland’s Christa Ebert is a one-woman choir. As Uno Lady, she’s dazzled, confounded, and delighted audiences since 2007 with loop-based compositions for voice, found sounds, and effects pedals. Her avant-garde pop tunes combine doo-wop harmonies and ethereal soundscapes...
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David Catching’s Rancho De La Luna sits atop hallowed ground. The recording studio (which doubles as Catching’s private residence, so keep out!) is the musical oasis from which flows the sandy lifeblood of Southern California’s thriving desert rock scene, giving rise to albums by the likes of Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, and Eagles of Death Metal. The new sacred texts of rock n’ roll...
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“This is probably my favorite EarthQuaker pedal” says Isaiah Mitchell, pointing to his Dispatch Master.
“I think Daniel Lanois would like it. And I like Daniel Lanois...”
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Every cloud has a silver lining. Cliché? Sure, but it seems to ring true for Los Angeles (by way of Louisiana, Austin, and Brooklyn) based guitarist and composer Sarah Lipstate.
Better known as Noveller, Lipstate has a habit of spinning the straw of her personal tragedies into the golden threads with which she weaves her musical tapestries...
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