indiePulse

Q&A with Marissa Nadler

Boston-based singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler recently released her fourth studio album. "Little Hells" was released on the Kemado label. She recently took some time out of her busy tour schedule to tell us about her latest project. Thanks, Marissa!

Your music has been described as “intimate and melancholy". How do you describe your style and approach to making music?
Thank you. I would say those adjectives are accurate descriptions. My style is free and my approach is free.

Gear: Bosque Brown

Texas-based band Bosque Brown released its sophomore record, "Baby", on March 3. Mara Lee Miller is the band's principal songwriter and she recently spent some telling us about their gear. Thanks, Mara.

Can you tell us about your touring instruments?
i have been really happy with my blueridge acoustic guitar.  probably the most affordable and most accurate reproduction of a pre-war style martin i've found.  Jeremy got some organ style bass pedals that we will use for some new songs that sound really great.  overall we are not a real gear oriented band. 
  
Do you use any specific instruments in the studio?
mostly just the instruments we use live.  our drummer did reluctantly played on a cheap japanese drum kit for most of the songs on the record.  he is very particular about his drum sound an has a real nice vintage rogers kit with calf skin heads.  he later agreed that we were able to get a more unique drum sound for the recording with the cheap set. 
  
What can you tell us about your -
Strings: they need to be changed.  every year or two...it's about that time. 
Tunings: i tune my guitar a whole step down...can be frustrating for the band.
Picks: never used one

What is one thing we would find on your nightstand?
a glass of water

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RELATED LINKS

Q&A with Bosque Brown:
http://www.indiepulse.net/2009/02/qa-with-bosque-brown.html

Buy from Insound:
http://www.insound.com/search/results4.jsp?from=23890&query=bosque+brown

Q&A with Tom Fuller

The album is called “Abstract Man”. Why?
IT’S A COOL THOUGHT PROVOKING TITLE.

What was the overall tone you were going for on this record?
TO RAISE THE BAR FROM THE “CHASING AN ILLUSION” CD.

Were you inspired by anything specific while you were making this record?
MAYBE BY WHAT IT COULD BE…….A GREAT PROJECT.

Did you record the record in Chicago?
MOST OF IT WAS DONE IN NASHVILLE.

Why the decision to go with producer Rick Chudacoff?
HE’S REALLY A GREAT PRODUCER AND KNOWS HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF ME.

How have people been reacting to it so far?
90% FABULOUS. YOU EITHER GET IT OR YOU DON’T.

What was the most challenging part of this project?
GETTING THE WORD OUT.

Can you tell us about your touring instruments?
SAME AS STUDIO. I USE A TAYLOR 845-CE( CAN NEVER REMEMBER THE MODEL #, GRETSCH DUO JET, AND AN EPIPHONE CASINO. LOVE PLAYING OUT OF VOX AC 30 OR ANYTHING FENDER.

Do you use any specific instruments in the studio?
YES, SOMETIMES A RIC 12 STRING OR MY GIBSON J-45 ACCOUSTIC.

What can you tell us about your -
Strings: ELIXER FOR ACCOUSTIC, EXPERIMENTING WITH ELECTRIC.
Tunings: LOVE OPEN D
Picks: LUCKY 7 AND 13
Slides: NONE
Effects/Pedals: TRY TO KEEP TO A MINIMUM. HAVE ENOUGH TO REMEMBER AS IT IS. MY LATEST FUN TOY IS THE “RAT” PEDAL.

Who has influenced your playing style most?
JAMES WOLD

Do you have any superstitions?
TOO MANY TOO LIST HERE. YES WITHOUT A DOUBT. WHICH PICK TO USE IS ONE. I DON’T LIKE SWITCHING PICKS DURING A SHOW.

Gear: Heartless Bastards

I recently got turned on to this Dayton, OH-based band and am now a big fan. Erika Wennerstrom recently took time from the insanely busy touring schedule to tell us about her gear. The new record is called "The Mountain" and was released on the Fat Possum label.

Heartless Bastards recently appeared on Letterman
http://mailsend.vectorcomp.com/t/r/l/jtidjy/xiijrb/y

Can you tell us about your touring instruments?
I use a Vox AC30 and a Fender Rever Deluxe. I use a Whirlwind AB switch with them. I use an old Korg Triton keyboard also

Do you use any specific instruments in the studio?
In the studio we used my Vox AC30,  Fender Bassmen, and Fender Blues Jr. Mike also had just got an old Silvertone amp. i can't think of the name of it, but it's awesome, and I want one.

For guitars we used my Les Paul Custom Gold top reissue,  Gibson ES125 hollow body, and Gison J45 reissue. We also used Mike's Kay Red Devil,   Harmony Rocket, and an old Harmony Sovereign

What can you tell us about your -
Guitars:
On the road I bring my Gold Top, J45, the ES125, and I have another Les Paul Custom  from 76 I use as a spare.
Strings:
Earnie Ball Slinky 10's
Tunings:
I just use standard
Picks:
Dunlop nylon 73's
Slides:
I use a nickel slide
Effects/Pedals:
I use a Big Muff, 2 Boss Loop Stations for guitar, and 1 for my piano, Boss delay pedal, and an Whirlwind AB switch.
Other favorites?:
I have fun with Mermory Man's, but I don't use them

Who has influenced your playing style most?
I honestly only know one cover. We do Done Got Old by Junior Kimbrough on the 1st album. I mainly play bar chords and I learn as I go along. I have a lot of  guitarists I admire, but I think I have my own limited primitive style I developed on my own.

Do you have any superstitions?
I save all my fortune cookie fortunes.

Gear: Marykate O'Neil

Marykate O'Neil is a NY-based singer-songwriter who has just released her fourth solo record called "Underground". Marykate recently told us a little bit about her instruments. For more on Marykate please visit www.marykateoneil.com.

Can you tell us about your touring instruments?
I have a Demeter tube direct box I use for my acoustic. For smaller venues I usually use my toy drum kit. I also have my laptop set up for the live set so we can use samples of mellotrons, banjos, or whatever fake sound is needed. 

Do you use any specific instruments in the studio?
I tend to stick to toys and vintage equipment. Roger’s studio is pretty great. It has all kinds of toys both new and old and he is a master at being creative with sounds. 

strings: I use d’addario custom lights. I don’t change them much because I am lazy. I only change them when I notice that my guitar is sounding bad.

tunings: I used to use all kinds of open tunings when I first started …lately I have been sticking to standard tunings.

picks:  I don’t use a pick.

slides: Ken Maiuri did all that slide guitar work on the record. Roger had a cool old Hagstrom set up for it …so Ken just used whatever Roger had it the studio.  And on the song Nashville, that slide work was done by James Mastro. James is playing in Patti Smith’s band right now. He used to be in the Bongos.

effects/pedals: Besides my Demeter, I use Frantone pedals. My friend Fran who owns the company made me a couple of cool ones – I used the Vibutron on this record.

Who has influenced your playing style the most?
I don’t think I am good enough to be influenced. I really just think in terms of the song and what it needs. If I am not good enough to play it, I ask someone else to.  My favorite guitar player is George Harrison. I like the way he came up with melodic lines that both supported the song and yet could be as memorable as the song itself.

Do you have any superstitions?
I always have a gin and tonic before I get on a plane. I also think if I change strings before a show they will break during the show.  I also don’t walk under ladders. I guess I don’t believe in superstitions but at the same time, just in case they are true – I don’t want to take any chances.

Related Posts:
Q&A with Marykate O'Neil
http://www.indiepulse.net/2009/01/qa-with-marykate-oneil.html

Buy this album:
From Insound
http://www.insound.com/search/results4.jsp?from=23890&query=marykate+oneil

Gear: Russian Circles

Brian from Russian Circles recently told us about some of the band's gear. He plays bass, Mike plays guitar. Thanks, a lot Brian for spending time with us. Russian Circles' latest record is called "Station" and is very nice.

For more on the band and the new record check out the indiePulse Q&A with Russian Circles:
http://www.indiepulse.net/2008/09/qa-with-russian-circles.html

So, tell us a little about your set up:
Mike plays a Peavey 5150 amp through a Crate 4x12 cabinet. He uses a Digitech Death Metal pedal for distortion and a rack-mount digital processor for all his delay sounds. He plays an Ibanez 7-string guitar. we tune as follows, from low to high:G#, B, C, F, E#, F flat, D. It's the sickest tuning ever. He runs everything through flanger and chorus to get a true stereophonic effect.

Can you tell us about your touring instruments?
They're all totally awesome. Except for my stuff, which is constantly breaking. Actually, come to think of it, Mike's stuff has a lot of phantom problems too. Mo' gear equals mo' problems.

Do you use any specific instruments in the studio?
One writer credited Morgan Henderson with playing cello on Verses, which is pretty awesome, because he didn't play on that song, and there's no cello on the record. But i did manage to dial in my delay and fuzz pedals to sound like a cello, so i'm glad I was able to trick a few people into thinking there was some actual classy instrumentation on the record.

Strings: I use Dean Markley strings, because they're free.
Tunings: Some people like 'em tight. some people like 'em loose.
Picks: Honestly, I use whatever I find leftover on stage. Then i put them in my mouth. I probably have a lot of communicable diseases
Slides: We don't use slides
Effects/Pedals: Never trust amp distortion. Always rely on the guy from Guitar Center to sell you the sickest distortion, bro.

Who has influenced your playing style most?
Mike Watt from the Minutemen and Rob Wright from nomeansno.

Superstitions?
Tap your glass to the tabletop before you take a shot.

Gear: Dressy Bessy

Tammy Ealom is the band's leader, songwriter, singer, guitar and seamstress.

Touring instruments:
1 2x12 speaker cabinet
1 Musicman 65 amplifier head
1 Hagstrom ’65 gitter

Do you use any specific instruments in the studio?
I used an Ibanez tube screamer pedal (modified by Keeley) for the first time this record … mmmm …

Strings:
Ernie Ball Slinky 10’s

Effects/Pedals:
1 Sovtek(Russian made) Big Muff distortion pedal ~ Spray painted bubblegum pink(for extra sass) ~!

Who has influenced your playing style most?
I’d have to say my bandmates, they move me!

Do you have any superstitions?
If you talk about breaking a string, you probably will

For more on Dressy Bessy check out the indiePulse Q&A:
http://www.indiepulse.net/2008/10/qa-with-dressy-bessy.html