April 2013
Bands: Lullabier, Firetail
Websites: www.lullabier.com & firetailmusic.blogspot.com
Listen to Firetail "End = Beginning"
QRD – What was your first guitar & what happened to it?
Andrea – An Eko Ranger acoustic. I still own it.
QRD – What’s your typical set-up from guitar to effects to amplifier?
Andrea – Epiphone Dot, TC Electronic Flashback delay, Fender Super Champ XD. Sometimes I put a Korg Ax3g multi-effect before the Flashback delay.
QRD – What’s the most important part of your rig - guitar, amplifier, or effects?
Andrea – Without delay I feel like naked, so... effects I suppose.
QRD – What’s your main amplifier & why?
Andrea – Fender Super Champ XD. It's a tube amp with a wonderful crystal clean tone, it has a 2nd channel which emulates Tweed Bassman or Blackface tones, and it's light enough to be carried around without breaking my back.
QRD – What’s your main guitar & what are the features that make it such?
Andrea – Epiphone Dot Ebony, good mix between electric & acoustic sound & long sustain.
QRD – If you had a signature guitar, what would it look like & what would some of its features be?
Andrea – A black semi-acoustic model by Gibson.
QRD – If you had a signature pedal, what would it be & what would some of its features be?
Andrea – A long digital delay, with analog simulation & a reverse mode.
QRD – How many guitars do you own?
Andrea – One semi-acoustic, one acoustic, one bass.
QRD – How & where do you store your guitars?
Andrea – In their bags or on stands around my apartment.
QRD – What do you wish guitar cases had that they usually don’t?
Andrea – No weight.
QRD – What features do you look for when buying a guitar?
Andrea – Ability to stay in tune, long sustain, acoustic-like sound.
QRD – How much do you think a good guitar should cost?
Andrea – My guitar costs about 300 € & I’m really happy with that.
QRD – Do you upgrade & customize your guitars or just stick with what you get?
Andrea – Previously I had a Squier strato that I’d customized with a lot of stickers... but my Epiphone is still immaculate.
QRD – How thoroughly do you research or test a piece of equipment before buying it?
Andrea – First of all, I count seconds of sustain.
QRD – Do you change your rig around often?
Andrea – No.
QRD – Are you after one particular guitar tone & locking into it, or do you like to change your tone around a lot?
Andrea – During live shows, my tone is locked. When I record I change lots of VSTs.
QRD – What are some guitars, amps, & pedals you particularly lust after?
Andrea – I’ve lusted a lot after the Epiphone & the TC electronic pedal before buying them.
QRD – What do you think are some important features to be on a person’s first guitar that aren’t always there?
Andrea – Ability to stay in tune.
QRD – What have been the best & worst guitar related purchases you’ve made?
Andrea – I’m satisfied with every guitar-related purchase I’ve made. My bass amp is fairly crap instead.
QRD – What are some effect, amp, & guitar brands you particularly like or dis-like & why?
Andrea – I like Gibson-like stuff.
QRD – What’s the first thing you play when you pick up a guitar?
Andrea – “Waiting for You” by Rivulets.
QRD – How old were you when you started playing guitar?
Andrea – Seriously at about 20.
QRD – At what age do you think you leveled up to your best guitar playing?
Andrea – Hope to level up in the next few years!
QRD – Why do you think a guitar fits you more so than other instruments?
Andrea – Really don’t know. I started playing bass at 15, but I didn’t fall in love with that. Simply when I started playing guitar, I felt comfortable.
QRD – Do you think guitar should be people’s first instrument as often as it is?
Andrea – Piano lessons are probably more useful.
QRD – Do you see your guitar as your ally or adversary in making music?
Andrea – Ally, off course!
QRD – Who are the guitarists that most influenced your playing & sound?
Andrea – Alan Sparhawk, Nathan Amundson, Mark Kozelek.
QRD – Do you think people anthropomorphizing their guitars is natural or silly (e.g. naming their guitar)?
Andrea – It could be natural, even if I don’t do that.
QRD – What’s the most physical damage you’ve done to a guitar & how did you do it?
Andrea – None.
QRD – What do you do to practice other than simply playing?
Andrea – Practice for me is mainly messing around with delay effects.
QRD – How many hours a week do you play guitar & how many hours would you like to?
Andrea – I’d like to play at least one hour a day, but I usually play about four hours a week.
QRD – What type of pick do you use & why?
Andrea – Medium, but I don’t really use pick a lot.
QRD – What gauge strings do you use & why?
Andrea – Medium.
QRD – How often do you change strings?
Andrea – Very rarely.
QRD – How often do you break strings?
Andrea – Almost never.
QRD – Which do you feel is more proficient, your strumming hand or fretting hand & how does that effect your style?
Andrea – Both are really equally important.
QRD – Do you set-up your guitar yourself or send it to a guitar tech (or not set it up at all) & why?
Andrea – When I bought my last guitar, a tech had set it up.
QRD – What tunings do you use & why?
Andrea – Standard tuning & little bastardizations of it.
QRD – Do you prefer tablature, sheet music, or some other notation system for writing down your own ideas?
Andrea – I simply write down the name of the chords.
QRD – How high do you hold your guitar when playing (strap length)?
Andrea – Lately I’m sitting down while playing.
QRD – What’s a bad habit in your playing you wish you could break?
Andrea – Be a bad guitarist!
QRD – Playing what other instrument do you think can most help someone’s guitar playing?
Andrea – Bass.
QRD – What’s a type of guitar playing you wish you could do that you can’t?
Andrea – Soloing.
QRD – What’s a guitar goal you’ve never accomplished?
Andrea – Quick arpeggios using 5 fingers.
QRD – What’s the last guitar trick you learned?
Andrea – Drone.
QRD – What’s your favorite guitar gadget (ebow, capo, slide, string cutter, etc)?
Andrea – Capo - it’s indispensable.
QRD – What’s a guitar technique you’d like to master, but haven’t?
Andrea – Feedback.
QRD – Did you ever take guitar lessons & if so, what did you learn from them?
Andrea – Never.
QRD – What would you teach someone in a guitar lesson that you don’t think they would generally get from a guitar teacher?
Andrea – I’m a bad guitarist - couldn’t teach anything!
QRD – What’s something someone would have to do to emulate your style?
Andrea – Inaccurate arpeggios.
QRD – What’s your take on tremolo systems?
Andrea – I don’t use tremolo - too many problems with tuning.
QRD – How often do you adjust your tone knob?
Andrea – Never - always full up.
QRD – What do you see as the difference between lead guitar & rhythm guitar players?
Andrea – It’s all about creativity I think. I’ve always admired guitarists soloing.
QRD – If a band has good guitar work, can you ignore the rest of the band not being good?
Andrea – Absolutely not.
QRD – What famous musician’s guitar would you like to own & why?
Andrea – Wouldn’t like to own anyone’s.
QRD – Who do you think is currently the most innovative guitar player & why?
Andrea – Jeff Martin of Idaho, with his 4 strings custom guitars.
QRD – Where can people hear your best guitar work?
Andrea – On my next albums I hope.
QRD – Anything else?
Andrea – Thanks. Hope the readers will like my stuff.
