Nick Johns & J.B. Brisendine
Atlanta, GA
Brother Hawk
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How long have you guys been musicians? How did you get into it in the first place?
Nick: I had always been surrounded by a family of musicians my whole life and started picking songs out on the piano by ear when I was 4 years old. I started piano lessons soon after that. I was mainly learning classical piano and didn’t get into rock music until JB and I met in elementary school, and formed our first band with my brother Myke.
JB: I’ve been obsessed with music as long as I can remember. My whole family is really but no one played except my Dad played harmonica. I met Nick and we shared that obsession and he wanted to play drums, around the same time that I first saw SRV on Austin City Limits and got my little mind blown. So I got a guitar for Christmas a few months later and started trying to figure it out so we could start a band together. We were 9.
Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present?
Nick: I can’t discount the major influence that decades of classical piano and organ studies have had on me. Rachmaninoff, Chopin, César Franck, and Maurice Duruflé have been some of my favorite composers to play. As far as bands/artists go my biggest influences would be Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, and Jonsi from Sigur Rós.
JB: Neil Young is my all time favorite artist and biggest influence. The Black Crowes are another huge one for me. David Rawlings is a huge influence on the way I play guitar. He’s the best there is in my opinion.
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?
Nick: I hadn’t ever played keyboards with pedals before we started Brother Hawk. From the beginning though, I knew that I wanted to play a Fender Rhodes electric piano for the project. When we started, JB played through a Fender Twin Reverb amp and with how loud it was I knew I’d want to play the Rhodes through a powerful guitar amp as well. When he kicked into a guitar solo I always wanted our sound to keep its girth, if you will. So pretty early on in the band I knew I’d be looking for some pedals to fill out our sound. There are also keyboard solos every once in a while and I need it to cut as well. Over the years of writing songs, my board has grown as my ears began wanting various sounds.
JB: I’ve gone back and forth a few times. I think the first pedal I ever got was a boss dd-3, once I realized I needed a delay to sound like Cave-In. Since then I’ve used tons of different pedals but lately I try to keep it as simple as possible. Really I just try to sound like Neil Young and Marc Ford so that influences my pedal choices. I fail miserably at both so it ends up sounding like me. A roundabout way of being original, I guess.
What’s your current pedal setup look like? Take us through your rigs (feel free to include amps and instruments as well if you’d like):
Nick: I have a 1972 Fender Rhodes Seventy-Three electric piano that was one of the Buz Watson modded pianos. I’ve bypassed the volume and tone knobs and voiced the pick ups almost as hot as they will go. I use a Furman SPB-8c pedalboard and this is my signal chain: Rhodes > Boss FV-500L(tuner output bypassed) > Greer Amplification Hammer > Greer Amplification 390 Vintage O.D. > Catalinbread Talisman reverb > Strymon Deco (w/ Copper Sounds tap) > TC Electronic Alter Ego delay (v2) > Boss PN-2 pan/tremolo > to a 50W Plexi clone.
It goes into an Avatar G212 Vintage open back cabinet loaded with Eminence Swamp Thangs. I also play a Korg CX3 (v2) for my Hammond sounds. It goes into a Neo Ventilator Leslie simulator pedal, into a Fender PA100, and into an identical Avatar G212. For expression on the Korg I use a Dunlop DVP3. There’s also an Ashby Solutions footswitch to change the speed of the Leslie with my right heel. Every once in a while I add a Monstersynth Persephone ribbon synth to the rig for a couple songs. It goes through a TC Electronic Mini HOF and into the PA100 with the Korg. When we get a bigger van, I’ll start taking my Nord Electro 5D on the road for piano sounds. It also goes into the PA100.
JB: I play a ’78 Les Paul Deluxe Pro, I’ve swapped the P90s for mini hums. From there I go into a Turbo Tuner, a Salvation Mods Vivider, a Creepy Fingers Sugar Boost, an Analog Man Delay, then a Subdecay Super Spring Theory Reverb that stays on. That goes into a 100 watt Plexi clone, kind of a Superbass/45/100 bastard that sits on an Amplified Nation 2×12 with WGS Reaper HP 55hz speakers.
Favorite type of pedal (drive, delay, fuzz, etc. – more than one answer is always acceptable!):
Nick: My favorite type of pedal would be a drive, they’re so satisfying to stomp on! I would say though that my favorite pedal on my board right now is the Strymon Deco. It has the saturation side that can drive it a little, and you can do slapback as well as some full on delay with the tape side. I love using the wobble setting on a couple of our songs. Tapping into what JB says about fuzz, I’ve always wanted fuzz on the Rhodes, but couldn’t find a pedal that would work well with all the thick ass chords I play. I tried a Greer Hammer fuzz/distortion pedal that JB had and had finally found one that worked the way I wanted it to. It’s badass.
JB: I love fuzzes, but really I love octave pedals. They always take shit to another level for me, I use them on almost everything we do.
You’re stranded on a desert island – which three (3) pieces of gear do you want to have?
Nick: My Rhodes, a Plexi (and cab), and the Strymon Deco.
JB: My Les Paul, a Princeton Reverb, and a looper.
What’s up next for you/your band(s)?
Nick: We recently finished mixing our new album “The Clear Lake” and will start hitting the road more frequently again. We have a bunch of shows lined up, including a leg with Blackberry Smoke in April, and then we’ll be releasing the album in May. We’re super proud of this record and we can’t wait for y’all to hear it!
The Klon hype: Love it or Hate it?
JB: Never tried one!
Nick: Never tried one either!
Any last comments, promos or anything you’d like to talk about?
Our new record “The Clear Lake” is out May 11! We currently have a single out from it called ‘Quittin’ Time‘, check it out and keep your eyes peeled for the next single!
Thanks so much to Nick and JB for taking the time to answer some questions! Make sure to go visit brotherhawkatl.com, and check their tour page to see when they’re headed to a town near you! Cheers!
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