Scott Metzger
New York City
Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
WOLF!
The Showdown Kids
www.scottmetzger.com
Photo by Andrew Scott Blackstein
How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place?
I started playing saxophone in the third grade and I kept that up all through high school. A love of early Metallica led to the guitar when I was about 14-ish.
Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?
Tons of Motown & Stax records, Richard Thompson, Sly & The Family Stone, Sonny Rollins, Django Reinhardt, Roy Buchanan, Rage Against The Machine, Danny Gatton, Jim Hall, Morphine, Ahmad Jamal, Stuff, Albert Collins, Chris Thile, Ween, The Boredoms, Julian Lage…
What drew you to using pedals initially? Have you been using them throughout your playing career? How have pedals helped to shape your sound, or influence the style that you’ve created?
For years I was playing almost exclusively in NYC where I’d go to the gig with only what I could carry up/down a four story walk-up & fit in a cab, and this was when I was gigging all the time, 4 or 5 nights a week, and beginning to really find a sound I guess you’d say. I was also running with a crew that didn’t think much of having a bunch of gadgets, so I never used that many pedals and I’ve never really felt the need to expand on what I came up with in that phase. Hopefully I use what I do have in creative ways. Guys are always looking at my pedalboard like, “Isn’t that cute – where’s the rest of it?!” But it gets the job done. I have a ton of pedals at home and am always looking for more – fuzzes, loopers, ring mods, vibratos, you name it – that I use to practice and that get a lot of use in the studio, but for playing live I’m really a ‘less is more’ guy. Too many options make me nervous.
What’s your current setup look like? Take us through your pedal rig (feel free to include amps and instruments as well if you’d like):
Sarno Steel Guitar Black Box ->Boss Tuner -> overdrive -> Monsterpiece STUD -> Strymon Flint (reverb/tremolo) -> Strymon Brigadeer (delay)
Which overdrive I use depends on which guitar I’m playing and what gig I’m doing, so I have three that I go between:
-Sarno Solar Flare (w/my Ronin Songbird)
-Analog Man King of Tone (w/my Creston Black Bound T style)
-Skreddy Screw Driver (w/my Ronin ‘Betty’ T style)
What gig I’m doing also dictates what amp I use. Some usual suspects are:
-my Fender Vibroverb or Fender Twin (for bigger rooms)
-my beloved Reverend Hellhound or Princeton Reverb tricked out by Adam Amps (for smaller places)
Favorite type of pedal (drive, delay, fuzz, etc. – more than one answer is always acceptable!):
Reverb & Tremolo. Turns out, you can get a LOT of different moods happening with the right amounts of these two mixed in different ways when you get creative.
Photo by Rob Schmidt
You’re stranded on a desert island – which three (3) of the following do you want to have?
Instruments: My Martin CEO7, Carpsteel pedal steel, Creston Black Bound Tele
Amps: My ’64 Princeton Amp (non reverb), Silvertone 1482
Pedals: Strymon Flint, Analog Man Sun Bender, MXR Analog Delay
What’s up next for you/your band(s)?
I’ve got a one off with MonoNeon, Cory Henry, & a few other killers later this month at a festival called BK Comes Alive – really looking forward to that one. I’m releasing a 10” record with my gypsy jazz-inspired group called The Showdown Kids in October. Lots of gigs – tons of stuff I’m psyched about on the horizon…
The Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?
I guess it’s all relative, but I don’t realistically think any pedal is gonna be worth two thousand bucks. I feel like if you wanna spend that kinda money to improve your playing, you could buy a great “klone” and still have $1700 left over to go see your favorite players play live or take a bunch of guitar lessons with guys who inspire you. One man’s opinion. Still, I do wish I had an original Centaur – just for bragging rights.
Any last comments, promos or anything you’d like to talk about?
Thanks for having me!
Thanks so much to Scott for taking the time to answer some questions! Make sure to go check out www.scottmetzger.com, and check his tour schedule to see when they’re headed to a town near you! Cheers!
Check out some of our other interviews here:
Dave Schools of Widespread Panic
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