Patrick Garland
Houston, Texas
GARLAND FX
garlandfx.bigcartel.com
How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place?
I’m 33 years old, and started playing guitar at age 10 – so about 23 years. 20 on electric guitar. The first guitar I ever played was my mom’s Guild Madiera from 1970. My mom uses it for playing music to pre-schoolers – she’s quite talented and can play and sing. I also still can’t finger-pick like she does! But of course – like most 13 year old kids in America you can’t metal on a classical – so I ended up with a Squier Strat from the original Guitar Center West Houston. I’ll never forget that my Dad bought it for me because I had made good grades in school, and his rendition of ‘Wild Thing’ when we brought it home – through a DOD Grunge pedal! I can still remember that weird smell that the guitar case had from the glue and plastic. It’s amazing to me that I’ve ended up where I am sometimes – building the pedals that first fascinated me when I began playing electric guitar.
Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?
Back in my high-school days I was into the classic metal menu of Metallica, White Zombie, Pantera, Slayer, and other typical stuff. But what blew the whole thing open were the older kids at school, and my best friends older brother who helped to get our angsty adolescent hands on bands like Venom, Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Cannibal Corpse, Death, Blind Guardian – all the obscure metal bands that normally a kid in suburban America wouldn’t have had the usual exposure to. Later I found myself drawn to bands like Sonic Youth, Joy Division, Melvins, Godflesh, Ministry, Early Man, Buckethead, Muse, Entrance Band, and any and all bands I can come across that are doing cool stuff with guitar. I also began to develop a further interest in the classic rock that I loved throughout my earlier school days by discovering more obscure bands beyond the typical Yes, Zeppelin, and Sabbath. I’ll always have a thing for guys like Zappa, Hendrix, Eno, Bowie – the usual suspects of amazing rock music. Finally topping the mix would be my love for electronica/new wave/chill out/hip-hop like Massive Attack, Northcape, Clams Casino, Boards of Canada, Zamilska, Blutech, and others. I’m always listening to SomaFM which is an awesome commercial free internet radio station out of San Francisco – they have a channel for everyone; even a metal channel where I have heard a ton of awesome new bands like Conan, Speedwolf, Tau Cross, Windhand and so many more. Ultimately, the song that made me want to play electric guitar and really rock out was ‘Master of Puppets’.
What led to the start of Garland FX? How long have you been in business? How big is your operation/how many employees do you have?
Garland FX began originally as Garland Guitar Services in 2010, when I was still doing mostly guitar-tech related work. I had always been fascinated with guitar pedals and had done a few kit pedals by Build Your Own Clone, etc. as well as building my main guitar that I still play to this day in pedal demos. During that time I was going through some rough experiences; mainly depression from a failed relationship and still trying to figure out what I wanted to do in life while transitioning out of a music-store job that had run its course. Building pedals was a new journey for my creative talents; and it became a form of catharsis as I lost hours under a lamp and soldering iron with electronics on an intimate level. The real fun began when I got bored and began to scratch build my own stomp-boxes. I used a lot of really cool paint schemes, exploring my artistic side and bringing to life the sonic creations I had in my head based on the music I loved along with looks that I desired.
Before long, my friends were asking me to build them pedals – and I began to see the profitability of these fine soldering/electronic skills I had. Over the next few years I built hundreds of interesting pedals based on classic designs and circuits for gearheads across the globe. Since 2016, I have been focusing on a more consistent and marketable lineup, allowing users to get the best of my work along with the best customer service. Garland FX is the culmination of my years of grinding out pedals, eliminating what wasn’t working and listening to what clients want – and now the menu is finally getting to exactly where I’ve always wanted it. The operation is all me, with recent financial help from my Dad as a main business partner. I really owe him a lot of gratitude and thanks for where things have gone in the past year as my brand continues to grow. Besides that, YOU – the clients – are the only other people involved in this operation!
Did you have formal schooling, or are you self-taught? Take us through that story:
A broken pickup. That led me to wiring guitars. One of my best friends in 2004 attempted to wire my Charvel Fusion with a new Seymour Duncan pickup and he wired it incorrectly. At the same time, he somehow broke the pickup. I quickly discovered that there were not very many places I could take my guitar to be fixed in a timely manner and with affordable pricing, so I did what I could – got a basic soldering iron and tried to wire in my old pickup. I succeeded and began to do this work for friends and eventually got hired doing this type of work for a music store in New Braunfels when I lived in San Marcos/Austin. From there, I fixed hundreds of guitars over almost 3 years, and that led to the pedal building through kits and boredom. Thanks for breaking my pickup, Tommy!!
What drives you as far as new pedal creation is concerned? How long does it typically take for an idea to come full circle and become a demo pedal? What’s the process behind new gear, and the eventual release of it to the public?
A few things come to mind – and very recently I have had a rapid acceleration of product releases and upgrades. Mainly I am listening to the clients, and watching the market. At the same time I try to stay grounded and not over-reach beyond my skills – I look around me at what I have to work with and do my best to tinker until a good sound evolves. Once it can make my crappy test amp sound bad ass, I feel like it can be boxed up and sent out to people to try out. The inspiration is my favorite part – my favorite music, history, movies, the city I live in, they all inspire me to create cool musical devices for people to be creative with themselves. A few of the pedals on the menu were ideas that clients brought to me, and they were too good to be one-offs.
What are some of the biggest concerns facing your profession today?
Personally I don’t have many concerns or see many out there. I do see some small builders struggling to get their products heard and played next to the heavy hitters in the industry; but in all honesty I love where I am at in my career. As much as I’d like to be on the elite level of selling out a mass produced pedal, there is still something about my build process that captures that feeling of Saturday mornings in the garage tinkering with my first pedals – just trying to make something cool to rock out with. I am confident that musicianship and guitar will continue to evolve, and our industry will continue to offer awesome toys to play with!
Where do you see pedal building going in the future?
I think there are going to be more and more pedal builders popping up as the popularity of the work of so many great people is exposed via the technology of social media, YouTube, etc. The cool thing is I’m part of it, sort of in between the pre- social media builders and the current new wave. I see more and more demo guys everyday with new and exciting formats and concepts in their approach that keep the market fresh and fun. I think the creation of more and more pedals and musical devices will create more and more music by inspiring creativity in the generations of players and builders to come. At the same time with technology rapidly evolving – who knows what kind of wild stuff we’ll see within the next 10-20 years!
Who are some of your favorite builders in the industry right now?
A local favorite of mine is IdiotBox Effects located in College Station about 2 hours from here. He makes insanely cool fuzz and distortion pedals for the stoner-esque and crust-seeking gain lover. His other pedals are amazing as well – I can’t wait to get a hold of his Darkwaves Chorus/Echo to satisfy my cravings for those syrupy 80’s, Flock of Seagulls/The Cure/Joy Division-type sounds. Other builders that I fully support and love : Coppersound Pedals (yo, Alex!), Sonic Stompers foot-buttons, Steamboat Amp Works (H-Town Proud!), Love My Switches pedal parts (Thank you so much, guys!!!), BS Custom Knobs, Like My Pedals, Hello Sailor Effects, Dr. Scientist, the list goes on and on – many of these guys are linked to me via Instagram. Besides small builders/people, I love pedals from Mr. Black, EHX, TC Electronic, Walrus Audio, Game Changer Audio, Chase Bliss Audio and EarthQuaker Devices. You should also check out the GuitarCaster Podcast which broadcasts right here from Houston. There’s great demo guys on my site that you should also give a watch and sub to – I’ve already listed so many; just go to our site and Instagram!!
Name the last 5 records you listened to:
Always listening to SomaFM.com’s channels – but these are a few of my latest picks:
1. Black Sabbath – Sabbotage
2. Miles Davis – Get Up With It
3. Bethlehem – Bethlehem
4. The Cure – Pornography
5. Buckethead – Electric Tears
The Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?
If a pedal is awesome, it’s awesome. There are different types of players – some people have to have a certain pedal, to achieve a sound or complete a collection. Some people just want to rock and they don’t need a Klon, and that’s ok! At the end of the day, it really shouldn’t matter what you are using – what matters is; are you making music? Are you having fun? Are you making other people happy with your music? Those are the things that should be concerning players. At the end of the day, can’t we all just get aKLONg?!
Any last comments, or anything you’d like to talk about?
I’d just like to take a moment to thank you, Pedal of the Day, for allowing me to share my story and pedals with your audience – it’s people like you that help small builders get the word out on their cool gear. I’ve met great clients from having my pedals featured here – and it is also my go-to for learning about all the latest pedals with un-biased reviews and demos. That being said, ROCK ON, AXE-SLINGERS!!
Thanks so much to Patrick for taking the time to answer some questions! Make sure to go check out garlandfx.bigcartel.com to peruse all of his gear – Cheers!
Check out some of our other interviews here:
Robert Walter of The Greyboy Allstars/Mike Gordon
Scott Metzger of Joe Russo’s Almost Dead
Clint McDuffie of Deep Space Devices
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