Pete Covington – iWishISkated

1. Favourite knob or fader or switch on a piece of gear and why?

The switch (and knobs) on my 90s Green Russian EHC Big Muff. I’ve never seen a cooler, chunkier or more bad-ass switch on a pedal. The knobs look like they’re repurposed from poison bottles. Just seeing that thing on the floor next to my amp inspires me to play.

Green Russian EHC Big Muff

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

My Beau Hannam acoustic guitar from 2009. Beau is a luthier from Australia who now builds from the USA. He made this guitar for himself just before he moved overseas and sold it to help fund the move. I found it a couple of years ago in a second-hand guitar store and snapped it up. It’s quite a small body and feels shorter scale – a little bit of a one-off because he based it on a resonator design, but it’s a traditional wood guitar. I don’t think I’d change anything about it. I just want him to build me more guitars.

Beau Hannam acoustic guitar

3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute etc.?

If I can have a guitar in my hotel room that’s enough. On the last few tours I’ve done I brought one of those little Positive Grid pocket-sized amps which is great for practicing.

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

I really like Acustica audio plugins. They really make me want the hardware they’re based off. I’m honestly trying to get as far away from software as I can in my workflow.

Acustica Audio plugins

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I had a really great ’55 Gibson Les Paul Junior which I sold to find the making on a record. I’d love to still have that guitar. I’ve bought a few hardware synths that always end up sitting around because I’m not really a keys player. No I just collaborate with or hire keys players when I need.

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Probably both my acoustic guitars – my Beau Hannam and my ’68 Hagstrom. They’ve both got songs in them.

Beau Hannam and ’68 Hagstrom

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

A Tascam 4-track. I’d love to be able to re-learn recording without seeing waveforms on a screen.

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

I find DI’s annoying/boring to buy but I am addicted to my Pueblo Audio DIs for bass.

Pueblo Audio DI

9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

I love the way the Alesis Quadraverb distorts. That was a nice surprise. It also can sample which I haven’t tried yet though.

Artist or Band name?

Pete Covington

Genre?

Singer-songwriter (mostly)

Selfie?

Pete Covington with his Josephson C705 mic

Where are you from?

Sydney, Australia

How did you get into music?

I was obsessed with Elvis when I was a kid and he started me on the journey.

What still drives you to make music?

It feels like I don’t have a choice. I’ve learned it’s the best thing for me to do in order to be the best person I can for myself and those around me.

How do you most often start a new track?

Rarely right now for my own stuff because I’m working on music with other people.

How do you know when a track is finished?

I have a deadline, then once I suspect that it might be done I take as long of a break from listening as the deadline allows, then listen fresh and pay attention to my emotional reaction and sense of inner knowing. Then it’s just about trusting myself.

Show us your current studio

Pete Covington songwriting space

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

“Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.” Miles Davis.

Promote your latest thing… Go ahead, throw us a link

https://petecovington.substack.com/

Joey Gonzalez – Blush Response

1. Favourite knob/fader/switch on a piece of gear and why?

I love the Octatrack’s Crossfader. Just so satisfying to use. 

Octatrack’s Crossfader

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

The Ableton push 3 would be almost perfect if it offered more options for generative sequencing built in and more ins and outs without using ADAT or an external interface.

3. What setup do you bring on holiday/tour/commute etc.?

Live setup

If I don’t have any live gigs I usually bring my OPXY. If I do then I bring the OPXY, and my live setup which is usually my push 3, 2 row modular, zoom L6, and novation launch control XL. I am currently visiting my family in the USA and brought all that as well as my Tonverk. 

Elektron Tonverk

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

I wish some old effects units – SPX90, SE50, Fireworx, Quadraverb etc were available as plugins, it would be great to have access to multiple instances of those great effects. I’d also love if some software synths were converted to hardware, namely Absynth, Razor, Pigments.

Hardware boxes

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I regret selling many things – Metasonix S1000 Wretch Machine, Machinedrum, Monomachine, STS Serge Modular, Cwejman S1. I regret buying nothing because I need to try things to find out if I like them.  

Eurorack

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Without a doubt my eurorack system that I’ve been building since 2010. It completely reshaped everything I knew about sound and production and has been an endless journey of discovery and elation.  I’ll add in Elektron devices as a close second.  

More eurorack

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

I would start with an Ableton Push 3. It is an amazing and underrated device, every type of synthesis with extremely capable sequencing and control in a box, and for whatever reason the synths in it sound better to me than when they are built into Ableton.  

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

The computer of course. It’s great, but I hate sitting in front of a screen and using a mouse and editing, I much prefer to just jam something out and leave it as is. 

Contemplation in the studio

9. Most surprising tip/trick/technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

More of a general tip, but I believe there are unconventional ways to use every piece of gear and finding that way whether intentional or not is what leads you to find the coolest sounds. Most people buy synths to make the same sounds they make on their other gear, just with a new coat of paint. I strive to find the things each piece of gear can do that is unique to itself.

Roland R-8 vs Elektron Octatrack

Artist name

Blush Response

Selfie

Genre

Experimental / Industrial / Techno / IDM / Metal

Where are you from?

Miami, FL by way of New York and Berlin

How did you get into music?

I was deeply into electronic music when I was 15-16 and after my family moved to upstate NYC, I got a Microkorg as my first synth to take a shot at making my own stuff

What still drives you to make music?

I love making music and need it to feel sane, it’s a part of me as much as breathing or eating is.

How do you start a new track?

I usually start by playing with sounds and reacting to what I hear and shaping further until I touch on a vibe that feels special and then develop from there.

How do you know when a track is finished?

When it is as good as I can possibly get it to be i the moment.

Show us your current studio

Blush Response studio

Best advice you ever heard?

Don’t be afraid to be a Z in an X and Y world – Morton Subotnick (as told to a friend of mine).

Promote your latest thing, go ahead, throw us a link

My latest things are my solo album Ego Death and my new collab project with Iggor Cavalera called Cyphonist

Ego Death: https://blushresponse.bandcamp.com/album/ego-death

Cyphonist: https://naturalsciences.bandcamp.com/album/cyphonist

MLEsynth – Snakestyle

1. Favourite knob, fader, switch, on a piece of gear and why?

Doepfer A-103 filter

I have to say the cutoff frequency on the Doepfer A-103 filter. It captures something of the spirit and concept of the Roland TB-303 without being a clone, and within that it has its own character which I like very much.

2. Do you have an ‘almost’ perfect bit of kit? What would you change?

I love my Doepfer A-100. I would say that it’s almost perfect, or as perfect as it can be. It has a clear and practical design which I appreciate. What would I change? There’s always a battle for space in the rack, and I’m always having ideas about how I want to expand it with additional modules, but that goes with the territory. I’m going to have to think about a new case soon.

Doepfer A-100

3. What setup do you bring on holiday or tour or commute, etc.?

If ever I am on any kind of holiday I take my laptop with me, so I can work on composing, arranging, and processing beats. When I’ve played live I’ve kept it simple with a laptop, the Alesis Multimix 8 USB mixer, and a synth for live tweaking, like the Doepfer, or the Roland JP-8080 when I owned one.

Alesis Multimix 8 USB mixer

4. What software do you wish was hardware and vice versa?

It would be amazing to see Reaktor in hardware form, but to be able to zoom in and out like you can in the software, you’d need to be able to bend the laws of physics. I can’t think of any hardware that I’d like to see as software though. The amount of software plugin versions of different classic synths available now is amazing.

Native Instruments Reaktor

5. Is there anything you regret selling… or regret buying?

I borrowed a Roland SH-101 back in 1995, and I briefly owned one in 1997 before having to sell it several months later. It was the first analogue synth that I managed to get my hands on, and I learned so much from using it, putting the theory into practice, etc. I love its clear visual structure. I tend to do a lot of research into equipment before I buy it, so I don’t really have any regrets. That said though, maybe I would not have bought the Roland JP-8000 and waited for the JP-8080 rack version to come out.

Roland SH-101

6. What gear has inspired you to produce the most music?

Getting into analogue modular gear changed the way I approach producing music. I started off with modules that would give me a decent monosynth for synth leads, but as I have expanded, my approach has also widened. Sometimes a single experimental sound you discover can give a new tune its own unique character. You can think more widely about what sort of sound you want to build and test out ideas.

Eurorack modular Behringer

7. If you had to start over, what would you get first?

My first piece of gear was the Roland MC-303. It was a very good starting point. From that I got to familiarise myself with the Roland style of user interface. Sometimes I think I should have started out with a laptop with software for sequencing instead, but then I would not have gained the experience I did with the MC-303.

Roland MC-303

8. What’s the most annoying piece of gear you have, that you just can’t live without?

My laptop can be frustrating at times when it takes longer than expected to start up, especially when I have an idea in my head that I want to get down as quickly as possible.

9. Most surprising tip or trick or technique that you’ve discovered about a bit of kit?

Having four programmable input velocities on the MC-303 made me think about velocity levels, and by extension dynamics. From that I started to think about proportion and balance in everything from velocity and level in the mix to stereo panning, and I began to think of every element as relative to everything else in proportion and balance.

Roland MC-303

Artist or band name?

Snakestyle

Genre?

Electronica, ambient, chillout, downtempo, IDM, psychill, with melodic progressive textures.

Selfie?

Matthew Leigh Embleton aka. Snakestyle

Where are you from?

I’ve lived in and around South East London for most of my life.

How did you get into music?

When I was around 7 years old, I was given my first keyboard, and a vinyl copy of Oxgene by Jean Michel Jarre. It all started from there. I saw additional artwork and photos from the album with Jean Michel Jarre surrounded by all his analogue synthesisers and equipment, and I thought “I want to do that”. Electronic music seemed to offer a world of creative imagination that had not been previously possible, it looked like a world I wanted to be a part of.

First keyboard Yamaha PSS-133

What still drives you to make music?

It’s part of who I am and what I do. I still have things that I want to say with music, atmospheres I want to create, and sounds I want to experiment with, and to develop my sound ever further.

Moog Subharmonicon

How do you most often start a new track?

Most often I tend to build a track from the rhythm up. I get an idea in my head for a groove I want to create and build on. Then I add things, and then take things out until I’m happy. I’m interested in bridging the infinite space of potential with different patterns, schematics, logics, and systems. I create a framework with which to navigate the unknown. Sometimes I’ll pick a series of random BPMs and keys, and see what happens.

How do you know when a track is finished?

2600

When I am working on a track, I live and breathe it. It’s all I think about all day. I am constantly listening to it over and over again, thinking ‘what needs changing?’, ‘what is it missing?’, ‘what does it need?’.
When I listen all the way through without finding anything that I would add, remove or change, I think ‘yes, that’s done’, or at least that it’s time to take a break from it, and come back to it again with fresh ears 24 hours later.

Show us your current studio

I worry that keeping all my gear set up in a particular way might inadvertantly limit or narrow my approach somehow. I often keep everything packed away until I get a strong idea of what I want to work on, and then I set everything up around that idea, using only what I need and keeping it simple.

Best creative advice that you’ve ever heard?

It’s not the amount of gear you’ve got, but what you actually do with what you’ve got. Try to favour building your own sounds over using presets. Don’t worry too much about sounding like artist X or Y, sound like YOU.

Promote your latest thing, go ahead, throw us a link

My most recent single ‘Deeper Understanding’ is on Alex Tronic Records: https://snakestylemusic.bandcamp.com/album/deeper-understanding

Deeper Understanding by Snakestyle

Website: https://www.matthewleighembleton.co.uk/snakestyle.htm
Bandcamp: https://snakestylemusic.bandcamp.com/
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