Peter Anspach
Connecticut
Goose
goosetheband.com
Peter Anspach of Goose ©Jay Blakesberg
How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place?
My mom would say I’ve always been a musician. She’s a music teacher, so before I could walk, I was being taught to play rhythms on drums and dance. I started playing cello when I was 9, then graduated to the electric guitar when I was 12, which I have been playing seriously ever since. I picked up keyboards more seriously when I joined Goose in 2018.
Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?
My mom, aunt and sister are my biggest musical influences. They all have unique skills and big personalities that make them wonderful performers. My aunt is a classically trained pianist and she can bust out any song anytime, in any key! It’s especially great to hear her play around Christmastime, she knows every Christmas Carol and we all gather round the piano and sing. My sister is a music teacher like my mom, but she started in theatre throughout high school and college. Through her I discovered the magic of musicals, something that really shaped my childhood. In a more professional sense, I get a lot of inspiration from Vulfpeck, Tame Impala and Vampire Weekend.
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?
I started using pedals with my high school band, Great Blue (we still play occasionally). For a while, we were a three-piece band, and in order to jam I utilized a lot of delay and reverb in order to fill sonic space, my pedalboard was quite large at one point. Since joining Goose, I’ve slimmed it down to accommodate the effects I need within the songs we play and maybe one or two weird sounds. There’s a few songs I’ve written using a specific delay setting (dotted 1/8 note), I’d say it’s one of my signature sounds.
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):
Signal Chain: TC Electronic Polytune 2 > Dunlop GCB-95 Wah > Ibanez TS-9 (Silver modded by Analogman) > Analogman King of Tone > Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser > Digitech Whammy 5 > TC Electronic Flashback X4 Delay > Chase Bliss Audio Dark World Reverb > Strymon Flint Tremolo/Reverb (w/ Strymon switch for tap tempo)
I play a 2011 Paul Reed Smith Hollowbody II into a Fender Custom Deluxe Reverb ’64 Reissue (Handwired).
Favorite type of pedal (drive, delay, fuzz, etc. – more than one answer is always acceptable!):
My favorite pedals are my EH Phaser, modded TS9, Flashback and Dark World. It would be hard to choose one effect as my favorite, but if I only had one, it would be some type of reverb pedal.
You’re stranded on a desert island – which three (3) of the following do you want to have?
Instruments: My PRS Hollowbody
Amps: Something solar powered!
Pedals: Boss RC30 as a looper so I can record the songs I write
Covid-19 has obviously affected us all – how have you as a musician been able to stay positive and upbeat? What’s up next for Goose, as far as concerts/live streams/etc,?
We’ve been able to tap into a bunch of different kinds of projects that we otherwise wouldn’t have had the time for, so COVID has had a lot of positives for us in that respect. Obviously we were supposed to play a bunch of shows, but those will happen eventually. Personally, I started off the quarantine by joining an app called Cameo. It allowed me to connect with our fans while things were most stressful for our country. I gained a lot of respect for all the essential workers at that time and sang numerous songs for them via requests on that platform. We are so thankful to everyone who has worked tirelessly through the pandemic to bring us all back to normal. Our next move is a few social distant outdoor shows around our region. We are so excited to get out and play some shows this fall, though limited and in a different fashion than usual, it’ll be great to be with our fans in person. We have a lot of energy we’re ready to release, it’s going to be a blast.
The Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?
Ha, well I’ve heard about it, but haven’t really read too much into it. I’m all about limited edition stuff, though, so love it.
Thanks so much to Peter for taking the time to answer some questions! Make sure to go check out goosetheband.com, and check their tour page to see when they’re headed to a town (or virtual venue) near you! Cheers!
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