This week we have a little something extra to add to FAQ Friday!
Just yesterday, Martin from Fender reached out to us and asked if we would like to try out the brand new Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster! And of course we said yes!
This gorgeous acoustic-electric guitar has a hollow Stratocaster inspired body that is naturally loud and resonant with plenty of projection, so that it sounds as great on your lap as it does live on stage. It also contains the Fender and Fishman-designed Acoustic Engine to power it, and produces a curated collection of acoustic and electric voices never heard in a single instrument before.
It was truly an honor to have the opportunity to try this guitar out! It plays beautifully, is incredibly well set up, and gives me tons of options to play with. I can’t wait to play around with it more and see how it records!
Click here to check out the Fender Acoustasonic Stratocaster!
And now, let’s get into our featured FAQ Friday question: What are your favorite reference tracks for indie/alternative bands?
Everyone knows that I am a huge Queen fan, but what you may not know is that I am also a big fan of a lot of indie and alternative bands! Growing up in England in the late 70s and early 80s, I was surrounded by tons of amazing indie music that still inspires me to this day. One of my absolute favorites is Joy Division. When you talk about indie music, that is the first band my mind goes to.
On top of that, I love Peter Gabriel, The Cure, Genesis, Kate Bush, and so many more! I listen to these artists for inspiration every single day, because their stuff has truly kept me enthralled even after all these years.
Recording technology has changed so much that we now have the ability to use virtual instruments that are perfectly and beautifully recorded and to make every mix sound wide and massive and loud, and we sometimes forget about things that were recorded without these digital technologies because they don’t sound as advanced.
The reason I bring up all of these bands and artists is because I truly believe that some of the music that came out of the indie/alternative genre during the late 70s and early 80s is the best sounding and best produced music of all time. We shouldn’t listen to songs like these with a modern ear and dismiss them because they don’t have the fancy digital technology that we do now.
These songs might not have the low low and hyped highs that we get now, but the ideas of the sounds are still the best ever. To me, these are more than just songs, they are truly art and creativity, mixed with great production and great songwriting. I listen to these to get ideas for guitar sounds, production, and so much more. These are the tracks that I use as reference and inspiration every single day!
For example, the Jay Clifford song, “Paralyze” that I did, was heavily influenced by the sounds I heard from Joy Division! I was inspired by their sound, and I used that reference to do something similar, just with an American artist and with my own twist!
When looking for reference tracks, make sure you are looking back at older stuff too! There certainly is a lot of great music out there right now, but some of my all-time favorites are from the 70s and 80s!
