In creating the most recent issue of TRANSLATE zine I had to do some editing on a number of the interviews just to make everything fit. I got most of it, but some bits and pieces had to go.
For those who haven't seen the actual physical zine, well, here's a freebie for you. If you want to get a copy (there's a ton of other stuff in there, plus cool design) there's some HERE.
For those that do have it, thank you. Here's the unedited version of the interview with Steve Pike from EXHALANTS.
First off, how long have you been playing guitar and when did you start getting more into gear, amps, pedals, and so forth?
I got my first guitar when I was 7 years old. It was a small classical guitar that my parents bought for me in elementary school so I could take a few lessons that the school was offering. Didn't really pick it back up until I was about 13 though, that's when I was getting into listening to grunge/90's alt rock and really wanted to play more seriously. So I guess I really started at 13.
I didn't really start investing into gear until I had moved back down to Austin when I was 19. I was obsessed with Dinosaur Jr and wanted a Marshall stack and a Fender Jazzmaster so bad. I saved my money and bought a really cheap MG series half stack. Slowly realized that it wasn't the sound I looked for. I've had a lot of friends help point me into various directions over the years. It also helps that my tastes have changed over the years as to what sounds I prefer. Watching YouTube videos of old shows from bands I like really helped me try to find my sound too, seeing what they were using and how they used. To be honest with you I'm not a huge pedal guy, I try not to rely too heavily on them. I'd rather focus on what the amp and guitar are doing. Don't get me wrong, I use them and they're there to add textures n such, but I'm not a pedal nerd who wants 25 pedals on a board and only use one of them for a small part in one song in the set. It's a waste of space and money. I think Bill and myself are very conscience of being economical not only in space, but what we use for pedals.
How much have you switched up your set up since Exhalants started? It looks like you and Bill use quite a lot of gear overall.
Overall not too much has changed in the past two years with our set ups. The first year Bill and myself were trying to find out what works for the sound we wanted to play off of each other. I also had to change my pedal set up after the first 4 months because someone broke into my car and stole my pedal board. But for the most part it's always been a 4x12 and 8x10 on either side of the stage and drums up front in the middle. It's a pleasing aesthetic to us but is also as functional as possible when it comes to being able to hear each other on stage and having the audience being able to hear everything clearly
Right, but it seems you've rotated through several different iterations of amps and cabs
I've always used Sunn Concert Lead heads with exhalants. I had a red knob Concert Lead in the beginning, but that lasted maybe for a couple of months before I switched over to two silver face Concert Leads. I also started on an old Japanese guitar that I had played on for years, but then happened onto a really good deal on a Robot Graves Industries aluminum neck and got sucked into that cult pretty damn quick.
My cab situation hasn't really changed too drastically either. I've always used Marshall 412 1960A cabs. They are cheap and consistent. I just recently built those Worshiper 4x12's that I used for the Safehouse session, so that's the newest thing as far as cabs go.
Bill has always used Ampeg 810's for the same reason I used those Marshalls for so long. His amp situation hasn't changed that much as well over the years. It's always been a Traynor TS-140 thru a power amp. He's gone through a few power amps, but other than that it's been pretty much the same since day one. Bill has always been playing a Travis Bean TB2000 bass for as long as I've known him. He's more of an aluminum aficionado than I am, I mean, he is kind of responsible for me taking that path. He had a short scale TB2000 that he had custom built for him for a short time, and he played on that Six String EGC Bass on that West Coast tour you saw us on. But he always comes back to his tried and true TB2000.
There it is. That’s the stuff the gear nerds want to know. So I was about to ask- You use an aluminum neck guitar, right? Is it custom, or from a certain company and what do you find to be the advantages of using a guitar like this?
Ahhh, so you want the gear nerd shit! hahaha.
Well, I get a lot of questions regarding my guitar. It's a Jazzmaster body with a bolt on aluminum neck made by Robot Graves Industries. I swapped out the original pick ups for Seymore Duncan Custom P90's, ripped out the top hardware, replaced the bridge and tremolo unit with a Mastery system, and added some chrome knobs that do nothing to the tone or playability except help make my guitar look mean as fuck haha.
I like using aluminum neck guitars mostly because of the tone and sustain. There's a very unique sound you get when playing on it that I absolutely love. Another advantage is it resonates a wider range of frequencies, so it helps with the articulation of notes and chords. I also like being able to hold notes for a stupid amount of time too when I'm droning by myself or with Bill at the practice space.
Not being very well-schooled in gear some of that goes over my head, but I have noticed the definite difference in sound of an aluminum neck versus regular guitar.
So Austin has a vast musical community, as well as a long history of really loud and weird bands and it seems like you all carry a bit of that with you in what you do. Who do you see, past and present, as some of the more innovative musicians in town?
For any genre?
Well, I guess insofar as indie/DIY/whatever bands.
I mean I have my favorites, but if you’re looking for me to give Stevie Ray Vaughn a shoutout you’re barking up the wrong tree.
I can see it, especially on the more Trance Syndicate side of things, but we kinda draw from a wider well. As far as innovators of Austin past, I gotta give it up Scratch Acid, Cherubs, Butthole Surfers, Gorch Fock, and Big Boys (I've always considered Jesus Lizard a Chicago band).
My favorite guitar player in the Austin area is hands down Jonathan Horne. He has a wild mixture of freak jazz and surf guitar that's always so much fun to watch, and is also one of the kindest people I know. He's the only one I can really think of that's really out there pushing boundaries in music in general.
That being said, do you think there’s also a history of gear trading, or gear-influence, among bands of a similar ilk in town?
There is for sure. I can't speak to the past, but I can tell you that craigslist and facebook gear swapping pages have really accelerated the process. But it also tends to lead itself to gear hoarding, and people who don't actually play in bands that hold on to a lot of nice stuff, but that's everywhere.
Have you benefited from any of this? Like getting some stuff off of a musician you look up to?
Not really. Most of the gear I've gotten from has been from pawn shops or friends. A lot of the old heads around town still hold on to their stuff. I really don't have any cool gear stories.
I bet some of those pawns at one time were owned by someone cool. we can just use our imaginations for that.
A man can dream.
All former Stevie Ray Vaughn gear. Every last bit.
Welp, time to sell all my gear to a blues lawyer and cash in!
How tight, or insular, do you find the Austin music scene to be? I’m thinking particularly around the idea of long time locals versus newcomers, since it’s a popular place to move to. Is there a protectiveness to it by the locals?
I mean, no one is really a local to Austin anymore. Everyone is from somewhere, and I think that's why most people get along for the most part. There's for sure different scenes and cliques, and my biggest problem is that people don't want to go outside of their circle, but not all of Austin is like that, there's still a lot of people who actually like going to shows not to be scene, but for the music and for finding/supporting new music. I don't care where they come from, but those are the people I fuck with.
Wanna hear what they sound like (in the odd situation in which you don't already know)? Go HERE
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