EarthQuaker Session: Relaxer - "The Warlord"
Aaron Rogers
In addition to being the EarthQuaker Devices house band, Relaxer may very well be the world’s first (and only) “Passive Progressive” rock band. I don’t know what it means, either...
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Board to Death Ep. 12: Paramore's Taylor York
Aaron Rogers
“[Pedals] inspire me to do things differently. It’s such a big part of what I do and how I create,” says Paramore guitarist Taylor York.
We caught up with the guitarist of Nashville pop-punk sensations Paramore to check out the gear he uses to bring to life the band’s stadium-sized hooks stuffed with enough ear candy to make every day feel like Halloween.
Read MoreShow Us Your Junk! Ep. 9 - Mario Caldato (Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson)
Aaron Rogers
It’s not every day we get invited to kick it with producers immortalized in Beastie Boys lyrics. We met up with Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty engineer / producer Mario Caldato at his Hollywood home studio to dig through his endless collection of gear, in search of the perfect party rockin’ piece. And we found something...
Read MoreBoard to Death Ep. 11: Pallbearer's Brett Campbell & Devin Holt
Aaron Rogers
“For live stuff, I stick with pedals that are going to be the most useful,” says Pallbearer’s Brett Campbell. As the frontman for the Arkansas sludgelords, Campbell’s ideal tone is much like his powerful vocal delivery, “heavy…warm, and clear.” To achieve his signature sound, Campbell needs gear that can keep up with his low A-E-A-D-F#-B tuning. “[The Hoof] is very controllable for a fuzz,” he says...
Read MoreEarthQuaker Session: The Beyonderers - "Science Friction"
Aaron Rogers
Akron, Ohio gets a lot of credit for being LeBron James’ hometown. More impressive still is the fact that we’re also home to the world’s heaviest surf band, The Beyonderers. Not too shabby considering Lake Erie is our only surfable body of water. Put a championship ring on that, why don’t you?
Read MoreEarthQuaker Session: Kaitlin Wolfberg - "Lazy Bones"
Aaron Rogers
Kaitlin Wolfberg’s violin transcends time and space. The prominent Los Angeles-based musican (whose recording credits include spots on albums by Dweezil Zappa and The dB’s) was kind enough to dazzle us with this performance of her tune “Lazy Bones,” recorded live at Juan Alderete’s 5 Starr Sound Labs...
Read MoreBoard to Death Ep. 10: Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age)
Aaron Rogers
Finding a guitar sound that sits well in the mix is vital for Queens of the Stone Age multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita. He takes flight on the (now discontinued, sadly) Monarch overdrive, using its active Treble and Bass controls to cut and boost his way into the dense three-guitar conversation without speaking out of turn, so to speak...
Read MoreGet In Line: Pedal Order 101
Aaron Rogers
A little knowledge of color theory and perspective never hurt an aspiring painter, and the same applies when thinking about the basic audio concepts influencing signal routing and pedalboard layout.
Read MoreEarthQuaker Session: RYAT - "Resonation After the Earthquake Improv"
Aaron Rogers
When we visited RYAT in Los Angeles, she treated us to this somber improvisation titled, “Resonation After the Earthquake Improv.” Here McGheehan’s dreamy vocal floats among subtle reverb-laden Fender Rhodes chords, courtesy of the Afterneath, while the Rainbow Machine (with all knobs set to noon) acts as a tasteful double tracking effect...
Read MoreYob’s Mike Scheidt Has Ninja Powers
Anna Blumenthal
I don’t think Mike Scheidt is going to like that we’re calling his interview “Ninja Powers”, because he is pretty much the most humble person I’ve ever met in my life. He’ll never utter a bad word about any person, band, or piece of gear, bristles when anyone says Yob is better than any other band, and even assured me at one point that he knows “exactly jack and shit...”
Read MoreBoard to Death Ep. 9: Michael Schuman (Queens of the Stone Age, Mini Mansions)
Aaron Rogers
“That Bias knob is everything,” says Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael Schuman, pointing at his Dirt Transmitter. Since discovering the Dirt Transmitter as a suitable stompbox replacement for the timeless sound of the Ampex 351 preamp, it has earned a place in his rig in with both QOTSA and his band Mini Mansions...
Read MoreShow Us Your Junk! Ep. 7 - Custom Vintage Keys feat. Lisa Bella Donna
Aaron Rogers
Luke Jones’ Custom Vintage Keys sits inside a nondescript industrial building just off the 5 in North Hollywood. A pinkish eggshell door reads, “CVKEYS,” in the kind of stick-on letters you might see on rusted out mailboxes dotted along rural Ohio roads. There’s no other signage. “This is my crazy shop of keyboard horrors,” Jones says, laughing. From where we’re standing, it looks more like the bottom of the rabbit hole and Jones is the Mad Hatter of vintage keyboards...
Read MoreBoard To Death Ep. 8: Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age, Gone is Gone)
Aaron Rogers
The Evil has landed. We caught up with Queens of the Stone Age guitarist and lap steel player Troy Van Leeuwen to take a look at his multi-amp setup combining the best of modern signal routing with the immediacy of old-school, “pedals on the floor” plug-and-play rock and roll raunchiness...
Read MoreBoard To Death Halloween Treehouse of Tone Ep. 7: Goblin Cock
Aaron Rogers
What a bunch of jerks. Goblin Cock totally stood us up and had their guitar techs do the interview, but those guys don’t know anything.
Seriously, what is Nick Reinhart thinking trying to put a fuzz on Lick Myheart’s pedalboard?
Read MoreShow Us Your Junk! Ep. 8 - "Evil" Joe Barresi
Aaron Rogers
“You want people to be comfortable, which is why my studio looks like my bedroom when I was seventeen,” says Joe Barresi.
Despite having nearly every piece of gear under the sun, there is little room for child’s play at Joe’s House of Compression. It’s strictly business. Even the fart mic. We’ll let “Evil” Joe explain...
Read MoreShow Us Your Junk! Ep. 6 - Dan the Automator (Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, Dr. Octagon)
Aaron Rogers
We visited the Automator’s San Francisco studio to watch the master at work doing what he does best - make sick beats...
Read More“Mistakes Are Great!” - George Pajon, Jr. (Cairo Knife Fight, the Black Eyed Peas) on His Musical Evolution
Aaron Rogers
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...
Read MoreWhitney Petty: Grabbin' 'Em by the Thunderpussy
Anna Blumenthal
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...
Read MoreAaron’s Bass Hole: Decoding the Data Corrupter
Aaron Rogers
The Data Corrupter’s analog circuitry gives it a rich, harmonically complex, and expressive musical voice with stable, instantaneous tracking, courtesy of its rock solid oscillators. How you use it is up to you. Below are audio examples of five cool sounds I’ve unlocked...
Read MoreEarthQuaker Session: Earthless - "Violence of the Red Sea"
Aaron Rogers
What a trip. We invited San Diego instrumental riff worshipers Earthless to EQD HQ to tear through this ripping performance of “Violence of the Red Sea” off their album From the Ages, and the sound was monumental...
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