Alexandre Ernandez Nice, France Anasounds anasounds | handmade with love in france How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Starting playing guitar with my dad when I was 13! And played with friends some rock music. Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? When starting guitar, I was fan of various band that influenced me on my tone quest. The ones I have in mind were...
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Ben Deane Overland Park, KS (Kansas City Metro) Monarch Musical Devices https://reverb.com/shop/monarchmusicaldevices How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve always had a connection with music. From my dad’s outlaw country vinyl LPs to my mom’s affection for artists like Paul Simon and Billy Joel, music always spoke to me and I wanted to speak back. I had a couple of years of piano lessons...
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Michael Weavers Christchurch, New Zealand Flux Effects www.fluxeffects.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar and drums when I was 15. We had a crappy nylon-string acoustic guitar with a cracked neck lying around which I began playing around with. I’d try to play U2 songs off the Joshua Tree album with the 3 chords I had learned. In my late teens I bought a...
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Michael Parker Seattle, WA – The People’s Republic of the USA I play guitar & keys in the band Pickwick www.pickwickmusic.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar when I was in the 8th grade on a whim. I had a friend who was a drummer and needed some people to jam with. He recruited me basically because I was in the room and had nothing better to do. He...
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Kevin Wilson Guilford, Indiana Wilson Effects www.wilsoneffects.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar in the 4th grade and dropped it for a while. I picked it back up when I was around 17 and have been playing ever since. I was an 80’s metal thrash kid so Metallica, Slayer all contributed to my willingness to pick it back up. Ultimately Pearl Jam became one of my...
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Efren Castro Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Paradox Effects www.paradoxeffects.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Since I was 11, I’m currently 30. I started playing bass on my own and then got together with a few friends to play some Misfits covers. I think one of the reasons I got through most of the days playing instruments was to keep myself away from the streets of my hood,...
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Clayton Donofrio Pittsburgh, PA American Wizard Toneworks americanwizardtoneworks.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I think I was 12 or 13 when I got my first guitar, but I always wanted to play. Growing up my parents always had a great record collection (Black Sabbath, CCR, Led Zeppelin, Queen, etc.) so Rock n Roll was in my blood from the beginning. My mom in particular was very...
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Lance Seymour Atlanta, GA Gear Talk www.gear-talk.com www.youtube.com/GearTalkChannel iTunes: Gear Talk Podcast Instagram @GearTalk Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/geartalk (one of dozens of Gear Talk groups on FB) How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I have been a musician for over 20 years. Not near professional that long. LoL. I started playing drums and piano. In high school, I moved on...
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Mihali Savoulidis Vermont Twiddle twiddlemusic.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar since I was 14, but I really had just been playing in my bedroom and writing songs and working on my lead playing. I went to college to form a band and play all these songs I had written during high school, and the end result is Twiddle. I started really gigging out when I was 18,...
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Joshua Scott Kansas City JHS Pedals www.jhspedals.com Instagram @jhspedals Twitter @jhspedals Facebook @jhspedals How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I got into guitar when I was about 14, I think. I can’t remember the year, but I was young enough to be in junior High. My brother, who is ten years older, had the biggest cassette tape collection on God’s green earth. I was at his apartment,...
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Jamie Stillman Akron, OH EarthQuaker Devices www.earthquakerdevices.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been a musician since I got my first drum set around 5. I didn’t pick up playing guitar until I was about 12. I’ve always been into music as long as I can remember. A couple of my uncles were musicians and taught me some basics and I just took it from there. Who have been some of...
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Chris Benson Portland, OR Benson Amps www.bensonamps.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been a musician since I first started banging on a piano and found a simple melody to pick out. I think it was at a Christmas party when I was 5 at a neighbors house. Music has been a huge part of my life, and has been huge part of my identity for as long as I can remember. Building amplifiers...
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Ben Bloom Seattle, WA Polyrhythmics www.polyrhythmics.com We had the honor of chatting with Ben in person when the Polyrythmics played here in Boise during Treefort Music Fest last month – here’s our conversation: [Pedal of the Day] Where are you guys from? [Ben Bloom] Seattle. I grew up in New York, but we all met and live in Seattle. I’ve been there since 2001. [POTD] What got you into music in the first place?...
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My name is Trevor Shelley de Brauw. I’m from Chicago, IL and I perform in: Pelican: http://pelicansong.com/ RLYR: https://www.facebook.com/RLYRband/ Chord: https://chordgroup.bandcamp.com/ And solo: https://trevordebrauw.bandcamp.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar since junior high school. At some point around age twelve or thirteen or so music became a complete...
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DEVON ALLMAN The Devon Allman Band: ST.LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA, EARTH THE SLAYS: MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, USA, EARTH devonallmanband.com theslays.com (coming soon) How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? At 5, the vinyl bug bit me and it was love at first spin. At 9, the live music bug bit me when Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick pulled out the 5-neck guitar at my first concert. But as for me playing…I...
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Matt Jalbert New York TAUK http://taukband.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been a musician pretty much all of my life. My mom had me and my brothers learning how to read music and play from a young age. I started out on the violin and it lasted maybe a couple of weeks before I decided it wasn’t for me and asked if I could try guitar. Right away there was a connection...
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Chris Houser Dayton, Ohio The Werks thewerksmusic.com We’re trying something new today – our first face-to-face Interview! We were lucky enough to sit down and chat with Chris when he was in Boise for Treefort a couple weeks ago, here’s what we talked about: [Pedal of the Day] Where are you guys from? [Chris Houser] I’m from Dayton, Ohio. Overall, we’re just from Ohio – half the band lives in Columbus,...
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Johnny Hiland Nashville, TN http://www.johnnyhiland.net/ It is a sincere pleasure, and honor, to be doing this interview. I am a huge fan of Pedal of the Day, on Twitter, as I am truly a pedal nut. I just want everybody to know that you can find out anything you may want to know about me on my website, www.johnnyhiland.net. How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I have been a musician now for...
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Scott Kannberg Merida, Yucatan, Mexico Spiral Stairs Preston School of Industry Pavement www.spiralstairsofficial.com/ pitchfork.com/artists/3389-preston-school-of-industry/ www.matadorrecords.com/pavement How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? 30 years or so… SM and I had a band in college, 1987 or so. Bag O Bones was the name. Instrumental jams. I bought a bass (red Ibanez roadster) at my...
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Sef, lead guitarist in the band Your Favorite Enemies. Montreal, Quebec, Canada www.yourfavoriteenemies.com www.facebook.com/yourfavoriteenemies www.instagram.com/yourfavoriteenemies www.youtube.com/yourfavoriteenemies www.twitter.com/yfeofficial As you can see in some of the pictures, we have the crazy privilege of living in a former catholic church that we turned into our own professional studio a couple of years ago. It’s pretty...
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Sean Wright Traverse City, Michigan Co-owner of Lollygagger FX www.lollygaggerfx.com info@lollygaggerfx.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I first started out as a frustrated drummer who would keep time like a broken clock….at least twice during the song I’d be in time. I think I was 16 when I started playing an instrument. A year later we moved into an apartment and that was...
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Eric Junge Maggie Valley, NC (via Cedar Falls, IA) Hungry Robot Pedals www.hungryrobotpedals.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I have been a musician since I was 14 years old. I started out on bass and slowly added instruments. I would still consider bass my main area of proficiency, but can play quite a few instruments fairly well. Who have been some of your major musical influences,...
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Rob McConnell Papadosio Badger ATF papadosio.com asianteacherfactory.bandcamp.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been singing since I can remember, but I’ve been playing bass for 15 years. My dad is a bassist but I wanted to be a guitar player initially. Some friends in high school needed a bass player so I took one of my Dad’s Fenders and here we are. Pretty generic story but...
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Mike Beigel Mu-FX Encinitas, CA www.mu-fx.com [Mu-FX by Beigel Sound Lab is a division of Beigel Technology Corp.] facebook.com/BeigelSoundLab How long have you been a musician? How did you get into musical effects in the first place? My main musical training was classical music on clarinet, but I also played Saxophone for a local high school dance band (“The Crescendos”), and for some local rock & roll bands and guitar just for...
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Matt Johnson Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Tortuga Effects www.tortugaeffects.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar and bass for 26 years, but started as a musician on cello, three years before that. I remember wanting to play cello because being in the school band meant you had to blow into things. I didn’t want to do that. I also didn’t want to sit in my classroom during...
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Kyle Sipress Niles, Michigan The Devil Wears Prada God Alone tdwpband.com godaloneband.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I was in choir when I was super young, then played saxophone briefly in 5th grade band. I’ve been playing guitar since I was about 12 or 13, so for about 15 years or so. My dad got me a cheap Cort acoustic for Christmas one year and i’ve been playing ever since. When...
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Joe Anastasio San Marcos, Texas Lone Wolf Audio www.lonewolfaudio.bigcartel.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Been messing around with guitar and bass for over 20 years, but only really got serious after high school when I bought a high end P bass. Then I started playing guitar shortly after, so I play both. Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? This is a...
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Mike Hranica Chicago, IL The Devil Wears Prada God Alone www.tdwpband.com www.godaloneband.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing guitar for about twelve years now – whether that comes with the “musician” label, I’m not sure. Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? Rowland S. Howard, Duane Denison, Steve Albini What drew you to using...
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Leon Wright Portland, OR Pelican NoiseWorks www.pelicannoiseworks.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Music has always been a part of my life. My dad played piano and guitar ever since I can remember. He passed away when I was 8. After that I inherited his guitar and set out to figure out how to play. Since then, it has been a constant thing in my life, not that I have ever actually...
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Jeremy DePoyster Chicago, IL The Devil Wears Prada www.tdwpband.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I got my first acoustic at 10, and have played ever since. I took a quick interest in keyboards, synths, and sequencers and have been making music with them since around the same time. I started with a KORG Polysix running a curly cable into a Fender Champ Amp. Who have been some of your...
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Chris Michetti Raq www.facebook.com/raqmusic/ Conspirator www.conspiratorband.com/ Michetti michetti.bandcamp.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? Around thirty years. Was obsessed with drums as a youngster, progressed from there. Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? Anyone who plays the guitar incredibly… SRV, Van Halen, Jeff Beck, Trey Anastasio, Chet...
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Peter D’Amore Waukesha, WI www.peterdamore.com www.facebook.com/peterdamoremusic www.youtube.com/peterdamoremusic How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I always enjoyed making skits and songs on cassette recorders since I was five. Recording and editing is still my very favorite thing to do, and it always feels like a privilege. Besides Marty McFly and Van Halen references that heavily...
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Brent Rademaker aka B_RAD GospelbeacH https://www.facebook.com/GospelbeacHband/ GospelbeacH The Tyde https://www.facebook.com/The-Tyde-119382698079518/?fref=ts Beachwood Sparks www.subpop.com/artists/beachwood_sparks How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing music since the 4th grade…My Dad is a musician (one of the best on the planet) There was always instruments and music in the...
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Luke Miller Denver, CO Lotus www.lotusvibes.com Luke The Knife (DJ/Produce/Remix) soundcloud.com/luketheknife How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been a professional musician for 12 years. I’ve been a musician for about 20 years. I took piano lessons as a kid, but I consider my true origin as a musician when I started teaching myself guitar freshman year of high school. That’s when my...
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Joel Korte Anoka, MN Chase Bliss Audio chaseblissaudio.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar when I was 15 or so (17 years ago). I’d like think I have been a musician for much longer. I’m biased of course, but I remember composing some pretty cool music on “Mario Paint” for Super Nintendo (they had a cool little music making tool on that). I think I’ve pretty much...
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Jesse Aycock (Tulsa, OK) www.jesseaycock.com / www.facebook.com/jesseaycockband Hard Working Americans (everywhere USA) www.thehardworkingamericans.com Paul Benjaman Band (Tulsa, OK) www.paulbenjamanband.com / www.facebook.com/paulbenjamanband Lauren Barth (Tulsa, OK) www.laurenbarth.com / www.facebook.com/laurenbarthmusic How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I guess I’ve been a...
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Rafferty Swink Evolfo: www.evolfo.com Low Noon: lownoon.bandcamp.com Oyinda: oyinda.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started taking piano lessons when I was about seven years old and never stopped. In middle school, I started playing in garage bands with my friends, as well as taking jazz piano lessons with a private teacher. I think having the balance of a serious music education...
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decker. Sedona, AZ deckermusic.org Twitter: @deckermusic Facebook: @deckermusic How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I suppose I’ve been a musician for roughly 16 years. At first I just wanted to play songs and sing songs. Singing for girls was a factor if I’m honest. Then I came out of a decade long tumult and I wanted to kinda process that and I started making records eventually....
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Tim Bluhm San Anselmo, CA The Mother Hips www.motherhips.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been singing since I was a kid, in church choirs and in school choruses. I started playing guitar right after high school. In my second year of college I started the Mother Hips with Greg Loiacono and we started getting gigs really quickly. Who have been some of your major musical...
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Joel Cummins Venice Beach, CA Umphrey’s McGee umphreys.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing piano at the age of 8 when my parents told me I had to pick an instrument and practice 30 minutes a day. Umphrey’s McGee started in late 1997 and we haven’t looked back since. I started with sight reading, mainly focused on classical music, but also did some ragtime, blues...
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Jesse Miller Philadelphia, PA Lotus – www.lotusvibes.com Octave Cat – www.facebook.com/OctaveCat Beard-o-Bees – www.facebook.com/Beard.o.Bees How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? My folks had me in piano lessons when I was young. I think I did that for 5 or 6 years. It did give me a head start on reading music, music theory and basic keyboard skills. In high school, I started...
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Andrew Scherzer aka Goody aka Dewey aka StheNFA aka Daylicker aka Bruce Loy Portland, Maine JAWGEMS – facebook.com/JAWGEMS/ Sara Hallie Richardson – sarahallierichardson.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been playing for about 13 years. I literally started playing bass because my best friend Lee Crossen got me a ticket to see George Clinton and the Parliament...
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Drew Shirley Switchfoot.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? My mom made me take piano lessons. I quit when I got into high school and she said “you’ll thank me some day.” She was right. I picked up my older brothers guitar and taught myself a few chords to play in church youth group. After that I discovered Led Zeppelin and went on to write some songs, start a band and...
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Jason Boland Oklahoma Jason Boland and the Stragglers http://www.thestragglers.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’m 41 now. I started banging around on a guitar around 7th grade, writing songs senior year, and playing out at 21. The band and I started in September of 1998 and released our first album in January of 2000. I figured if Ralph Macchio could cut heads with...
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Chris Vos The Record Company Los Angeles, CA www.therecordcompany.net facebook.com/therecordcompany How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been obsessed with music since before I can remember and I’ve playing it since about 8th grade. I was a dairy farm kid so I didn’t really have access to electric guitars until I reached a certain age and knew I wanted one. By the end of...
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Neal Casal nealcasal.com Chris Robinson Brotherhood www.chrisrobinsonbrotherhood.com Hard Working Americans www.thehardworkingamericans.com Circles Around The Sun Skiffle Players (with Cass McCombs) Phil Lesh And Friends Gospelbeach How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing guitar in 1981. I was obsessed with the Rolling Stones and the bands I saw in the Gimme Shelter film....
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Chuck Garvey Cincinnati, OH moe. www.moe.org Ha Ha The Moose @chukg on Twitter moechukg on Instagram How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started playing instruments when I was young, just hammering stuff out by ear on acoustic guitar and piano, but started lessons for Tenor saxophone when i was in 5th grade. Played sax for 8-9 years and also started to play more acoustic and electric guitar...
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Scott Hachey Denver, CO I play guitar and make faces with The Magic Beans: magicbeansmusic.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve been a gigging musician for almost 6 years now. Been playing music for over a decade now. Probably 15 years. Started on trumpet and moved on to guitar soon thereafter. Who have been some of your major musical influences, past or present? Growing up in...
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Andy Fuchs Fuchs Audio Technology/Plush FX Pedals Div. 407 Getty Ave Second Floor West Clifton NJ 07011 973-772- 4420 www.fuchsaudiotechnology.com/ How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I started messing with a broken old Eminee plastic guitar I found in the basement of my families music store when I was about ten. I guess around 14 or 15 years old I’d been playing flute in the school band...
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James Granuzzo Main.Ace.FX Colonia, NJ, not far from NYC www.mainacefx.com How long have you been a musician? How did you get into it in the first place? I’ve played the guitar for almost as long as I can remember. When I first started discovering new music on my own as a kid it was the days of late 80s / early 90s alternative and grunge. I saw the people in these bands a normal accessible people, and not the rock-gods of the 70s and...
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