Courtney Barnett hated the sound of picks on acoustic guitar, so she developed her own fingerpicking style. Barnett is shown here performing during the Pitchfork Showcase at Mohawk Outdoor during SXSW 2015 in Austin, Texas.
The rising Aussie guitarist with wonderfully weird tones and an oddball sense of humor.
Courtney Barnett seems to be everywhere. The Australian songwriter's latest release, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, entered Billboard's Independent Album list at No. 1 and Top 200 at No. 20. She is on list after list of must-hear new artists. She is the darling of mainstream and alternative critics. She is featured in a small army of publications online, in print, on the radio, and on TV. She is touring the world and is slated to play a host of important festivals this summer.
In a word, Courtney Barnett is suddenly ubiquitous.
The rock press is smitten with Barnett's quirky rambling lyrics, deadpan vocal delivery, and unorthodox songwriting, but her real charmāat least if you play guitarāis that those qualities sit upon a bed of dense feedback, oddball oscillations, and good-old-fashioned-fuzzed-out-hook-driven riffage. Need proof? Check out the relentless fuzzfest of her single āPedestrian at Best" or the righteous feedback assault amid the otherwise laid-back vibe of 2013's āAvant Gardener." Her guitar chops are formidable, if unusualāshe doesn't use a pick but also doesn't employ traditional fingerpickingāand her guitar-centric approach is fundamental to her sound. āI do my own thing," she says. āWhich is different but still cool."
Barnett usually tours as a trioāher band features Bones Sloane on bass and Dave Mudie on drumsābut in the studio she augments the lineup to include Australian ace Dan Luscombe. āHe is a pretty fucking incredible guitarist," Barnett said about Luscombe's abilities. Along with Barnett and engineer Burke Reid, Luscombe also coproduced the new album. āI wanted a bit of a different perspective because I spent so long inside my own head writing it all," she says.
On the road and bouncing from continent to continent, Barnett spoke to PG from a somewhat rural part of the U.K. to discuss her gear, unusual playing style, songwriting, the challenges of playing covers, and the role of humor in music.
Where did you find your Harmony guitar and what's so special about it?
I found it in this store just outside of MelbourneāI'm left-handed and it's hard to find guitars. It was the first nice guitar I bought myself. Before then I had an acoustic and a shitty old electric that I got when I was a kid. [The Harmony] was always pretty special, but then I took it on tour and it got a crack in the back. It's got one of those floating bridges and it just went out of tune halfway through every song. I started playing a bit harder and it just wasn't right. I keep it at home now and play it there.
Barnett rocks her lefty Telecaster live at The Mohawk during SXSW on March 18, 2015. Fun fact: This lefty can play a regular guitar upside down if she has to. Photo by Chris Kies.
You tour with the Tele now?
Yeah. The Tele was kind of the perfect fix for that. It keeps its tune so good and I just like the tone on it. It's all pretty simple. I just got a Jag as wellāa couple of months agoāand that's pretty fun to play. Dan plays a Jazzmaster on a lot of the new album and I needed that kind of gritty guitar and tremolo to recreate some of the album sounds.
Is it a stock Jag?
I think so. I got it from a friend. It's a lefty.
You've said before that you can play a right-handed guitar flipped upside down. Why don't you just do that?
Well, I can play a shitload better on a left-handed guitar. I play averagely upside down. I learned from so many years of picking up other people's guitars and messing around on them. I probably couldn't do a very good gig on an upside-down guitar. I could if I had to, but it would be a pretty bad gig [laughs].
Do you experiment with open tunings or do you do most everything in standard?
All of the album is in standard, but for years I've mucked around with other stuffāit just hasn't eventuated into songs yet, or not complete songs. I play second guitar with [Australian-based singer/songwriter] Jen Cloher and she uses really weird tunings. I don't even know what they are ... just strange tunings. I also used to play slide guitar in a band, so obviously I did then. I mostly played in open G.
And the songs with Jen use tunings she's invented?
She does weird stuff because she reckons she doesn't know any names of chords, she just does things by ear. Like those weird Joni Mitchell, strange Sonic Youth tuningsāevery song's something different. I never know what she's doing.When I play with her, I just play second guitar in normal tuning and play lead around her parts.
You have a unique playing style that uses your thumb and fingers. Do you ever use a pick?
No. When I started doing gigs I was doing acoustic songwriter shows. I hated the sound of picks on acoustic guitar, so I never used themāI just developed whatever I do now. I feel like it gives me more freedom to do stuff, though I can probably play a shitload better with a pick.
When you're playing single-note lines, it looks like you hold your index finger as if it were a pick.
Yeah, that's right.
What do you use for pedals? I think I saw a Fulltone OCD. What else do you have down there?
I really like the OCD. For ages I've had this cheap delay pedalāI don't know what the brand isābut it's cool for creating sounds. Before I started this tour I got some new pedals and I've been mucking around with a couple of them to recreate some of the many different sounds and levels from the album. I got a chorus pedal, which is really fun, and a kind of Muff pedal. I had a tremolo pedal but I just didn't like it. It's hard to switch because I'm doing rhythm and lead together and it's about keeping that rhythm and consistency going and still being able to do some crazy shit on top of it. Sometimes it's hard to find the right balance.
Barnett recently acquired a lefty Jaguar because she needed a āgritty guitar and tremolo" to recreate some of the sounds from her new album. Barnett is shown here performing during the Pitchfork Showcase at Mohawk Outdoor
during SXSW 2015 in Austin, Texas. Photo by Chris Kies.
Do you bring your own amps on the road?
Not yet. I pretty much just use a Fenderāa Deluxe or Twin or DeVille. That's what I've got at home. It's a pretty standard amp and it's not hard to get.
I saw a concert on YouTube of you covering an entire INXS album. Is that some type of Australian right of passage?
No. [Laughs.] I can't believe that's on YouTube. A record store was doing a summer of gigs and asked musicians to pick an album they love and play it in full. I picked that one [INXS's Kick]. It's so '80sāso much productionāI thought it would be funny to try and play it solo. I played it with a couple of loop pedals. It was pretty unrehearsed, which is why I'm a bit surprised it's up on YouTube and everyone seems to have seen it. But whatever [laughs] ... it was fun and a good challenge.
You won't be doing a concert of AC/DC or Midnight Oil or something like that?
No. I mean, I love those bands and every now and then we do covers of random songs. But playing an album in full is actually quite a challenge. I didn't realize until a couple of days before when I was learning the songs and I thought, āOh no, this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be."
Who were some of your influences growing up?
I listened to Nirvana and Jeff Buckley and PJ Harvey when I was young. And then I discovered Television and Sonic Youth and Talking Heads and stuff like that.
Is that what got you interested in the guitar as well? Or was it more for songwriting?
A bit of both, I think. My influences are from all different places. Television and Sonic Youth guitar-wise, but you know, everyone has their different good parts about them. You pick up different things from different bands.
Courtney Barnett's Gear
Guitars
Fender Telecaster
Fender Jaguar
Harmony hollowbody electric
Amps
Fender Hot Rod DeVille
Fender Deluxe
Effects
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
Fulltone OCD
Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff Pi
Delay box, brand unknown
Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
Behringer Ultra Tremolo UT100
Broadcast Hard On AB switcher
Strings and Picks
Ernie Ball Power Slinky (.011ā.048)
Frank Zappa famously asked, āDoes humor belong in music?" Some of your songs are really funny. What are your thoughts about humor and music? Do you think they go together?
It's totally got a place. I don't overtly try to be funny. I'm not a very funny person, so when people talk about my funny lyrics I find that kind of funny. But I think it's good to be lighthearted. A lot of it is probably sarcastic and taking the piss out of serious situations or using humor or irony to deflect other emotions. It probably borders on subconscious a lot of the time. But yeah, I think there is room for it in music, of course.
It's easy with lyrics to point that way, but do you do quirky things guitar-wise as well?
I do a lot and I think I do it without it becoming trivial or slapstick. Humor in guitar playing is awesome, I reckon. It's up to everyone's own interpretationāit might not even be on purpose. A lot of your own character can come out in how you play guitar. I did a solo on one of Jen's new songsā āNeedle in the Hay"āthat seems to speak of me a lot in the way I play it.
Did you rewrite and reshape some of the songs in the studio or was a lot of what you brought in recorded as is?
It was basically as we took it in. There were a couple of things we pulled apart a little bit and put back together. We tried a couple of different drumbeatsājust as experiments to see how wildly they could change songs. I showed the guys the songs two weeks beforehand. We hired out a rehearsal room, learned them all, arranged them, and when we went in the studio we tracked mostly live. We did a couple of vocal and guitar overdubs and that was it.
And you recorded as a quartet with Dan Luscombe as well?
Yeah.
Are you playing your Harmony guitar on āBoxing Day Blues?"
No, I'm playing a friend's acoustic. I'm playing a right-handed guitar upside down. I thought the acoustic guitar sounded way nicer. I played the rhythm line and Dan did the swirly sounds in the background on the Jazzmaster or something. But the main guitar is the acoustic.
YouTube It
Courtney Barnett and her band perform at NPR's SXSW 2015 showcase at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Texas. Watch a close-up of Barnett's unique playing technique (no pick!) around 2:15 and 5:00.
So āBoxing Day Blues" is actually harder to play with the guitar strung lefty?
Nahāit's probably easier [laughs]. But the acoustic sounded better, so I went for that. When I play it live, I play it on the electric with a whole shitload of delay. It's a pretty swirly kind of song.
Do you write the lyrics firstātrying to craft a song toward the wordsāor is it more that you have a catalog of riffs, chord progressions, and things you're working with that you try to fuse together?
It's both of those things. I don't have a solid formula. I play guitar all the time and mentally store ideas or record them or whatever. I write all the time. When I sit down I try to piece them all together and see what goes where. Sometimes I just play guitar and start singing over the top of it straight away. I haven't found that one way works better than the other or anything. On āAvant Gardener" and āPedestrian at Best"āwhich have been the two singles so farāI wrote the music for both of them first. We recorded them and then I wrote the lyrics and melody over the top of the tracks.
Making It Weird Enough
Australian guitarist Dan Luscombe (the Drones, Paul Kelly) started working with Courtney Barnett about three years ago. He played on her second EP, How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose, which was combined with her first EP to create A Sea of Split Peas. He's all over her new release, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, playing guitar and also as coproducer. āWhen she was making her second EP she was looking for people to help her record and she was on a budget," Luscombe says. āI had all this recording gear at my place and offered. I just loved her songs and thought she was doing some really good stuff."
Luscombe is responsible for the feedback madness on Barnett's unlikely hit, āAvant Gardener." āThat was one of those cigarette packet [micro] amplifiers," he said. āI held it right up to the pickups and recorded that sound with a Shure SM57. It's this tiny mosquitoāthis thing in the mix that you just want to swatāthat feels like it's in front of your face."
A big sound on the new album is an old Boss Vibrato VB-2 that Luscombe found on eBay. āI bought that pedal about a year-and-a-half ago," he says. āI found it on eBay for about $650 USD. It has an amazingly natural vibrato. It arrived from Japan and it was still in the box in the plastic. I took it on the road with me and now it just looks like a piece of shit."
happy accident, really."
He also created the otherworldly backwards sounds on āDead Fox." āOriginally I played this kind of Keith Richards melodic line," he says. ā[Engineer] Burke Reid and I were listening to it in the mix and it just wasn't weird enough. We literally flipped itāwe reversed the partāand when it was reversed it started playing this new melody. For the most part the melody was there, but I had to manipulate it a fair bit to get it to play an actual pleasing melodic line, but backwards. It was a kind of happy accident, really."
Luscombe also notes that Barnett has a strong affinity for a no-name delay pedal she uses. āIt's just this brown box that says āDelay" on the front. She often has that set at a pretty tight slapback. She likes to leave that on. Burke and I were trying to get her away from that a few times, but that's a sound she really loves."
MayFly Le Habanero Review
Great versatility in combined EQ controls. Tasty low-gain boost voice. Muscular Fuzz Face-like fuzz voice.
Can be noisy without a lot of treble attenuation. Boost and fuzz order can only be reversed with the internal DIP switch.
$171
May Fly Le Habanero
A fuzz/boost combo thatās as hot as the name suggests, but which offers plenty of smoky, subdued gain shades, too.
Generally speaking, I avoid combo effects. If I fall out of love with one thing, I donāt want to have to ditch another thatās working fine. But recent fixations with spatial economy find me rethinking that relationship. MayFlyās Le Habanero (yes, the Franco/Spanish article/noun mash-up is deliberate) consolidates boost and fuzz in a single pedal. Thatās far from an original concept. But the characteristics of both effects make it a particularly effective one here, and the relative flexibility and utility of each gives this combination a lot more potential staying power for the fickle.
āLe Habaneroās fuzz circuit has a deep switch that adds a little extra desert-rock woof.ā
The fuzz section has a familiar Fuzz Face-like tone profileāa little bit boomy and very present in that buzzy mid-ā60s, midrangey kind of way. But Le Habaneroās fuzz circuit has a deep switch that adds a little extra desert-rock woof (especially with humbuckers) and an effective filter switch that enhances the fuzzās flexibilityāespecially when used with the boost. The boost is a fairly low-gain affair. Even at maximum settings, it really seems to excite desirable high-mid harmonics more than it churns out dirt. Thatās a good thing, particularly when you introduce hotter settings from the boostās treble and bass controls, which extend the boostās voice from thick and smoky to lacerating. Together, the boost and fuzz can be pushed to screaming extremes. But the interactivity between the tone and filter controls means you can cook up many nuanced fuzz shades spanning Jimi scorch and Sabbath chug with tons of cool overtone and feedback colors.
IK Multimedia is pleased to announce the release of new premium content for all TONEX users, available today through the IK Product Manager.
The latest TONEX Factory Content v2 expands the creative arsenal with a brand-new collection of Tone Models captured at the highest quality and presets optimized for live performance. TONEX Tone Models are unique captures of rigs dialed into a specific sweet spot. TONEX presets are used for performance and recording, combining Tone Models with added TONEX FX, EQ, and compression.
Who Gets What:
TONEX Pedal
- 150 crafted presets matched to 150 Premium Tone Models
- A/B/C layout for instant access to clean, drive, and lead tones
- 30 Banks: Amp & cab presets from classic cleans to crushing high-gain
- 5 Banks: FX-driven presets featuring the 8 new TONEX FX
- 5 Banks: Amp-only presets for integrating external IRs, VIRā¢, or amps
- 5 Banks: Stompbox presets of new overdrive/distortion pedals
- 5 Banks: Bass amp & pedal presets to cover and bass style
TONEX Mac/PC
- 106 new Premium Tone Models + 9 refined classics for TONEX MAX
- 20 new Premium Tone Models for TONEX and TONEX SE
TONEX ONE
- A selection of 20 expertly crafted presets from the list above
- Easy to explore and customize with the new TONEX Editor
Gig-ready Tones
For the TONEX Pedal, the first 30 banks deliver an expansive range of amp & cab tones, covering everything from dynamic cleans to brutal high-gain distortion. Each bank features legendary amplifiers paired with cabs such as a Marshall 1960, ENGL E412V, EVH 412ST and MESA Boogie 4x12 4FB, ensuring a diverse tonal palette. For some extremely high-gain tones, these amps have been boosted with classic pedals like the Ibanez TS9, MXR Timmy, ProCo RAT, and more, pushing them into new sonic territories.
Combined with New FX
The following 5 banks of 15 presets explore the depth of TONEX's latest effects. There's everything from the rich tremolo on a tweed amp to the surf tones of the new Spring 4 reverb. Users can also enjoy warm tape slapback with dotted 8th delays or push boundaries with LCR delay configurations for immersive, stereo-spanning echoes. Further, presets include iconic flanger sweeps, dynamic modulation, expansive chorus, stereo panning, and ambient reverbs to create cinematic soundscapes.
Versatile Control
The TONEX Pedal's A, B, and C footswitches make navigating these presets easy. Slot A delivers clean, smooth tones, Slot B adds crunch and drive, and Slot C pushes into high-gain or lead territory. Five dedicated amp-only banks provide a rich foundation of tones for players looking to integrate external IRs or run directly into a power amp. These amp-only captures span clean, drive, and high-gain categories, offering flexibility to sculpt the sound further with IRs or a real cab.
Must-have Stompboxes
TONEX Pedals are ideal for adding classic effects to any pedalboard. The next 5 banks focus on stompbox captures, showcasing 15 legendary overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals. This collection includes iconic models based on the Fulltone Full-Drive 2, Marshall DriveMaster, Maxon OD808, Klon Centaur, ProCo RAT, and more.
For Bass Players, Too
The last 5 banks are reserved for bass players, including a selection of amp & cab Tone Models alongside a few iconic pedals. Specifically, there are Tone Models based on the Ampeg SVT-2 PRO, Gallien-Krueger 800RB, and Aguilar DB750, alongside essential bass pedals based on the Tech21 SansAmp, Darkglass B7K and EHX Big Muff. Whether it's warm vintage thump, modern punch, or extreme grit, these presets ensure that bassists have the depth, clarity and power they need for any playing style.For more information and instructions on how to get the new Factory
Content v2 for TONEX, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/products/tonex
Darkglass Electronics unveils ANAGRAM, a flagship bass platform designed to redefine tone, flexibility, and performance. The pedalās extraordinarily deep feature set includes multiple effects and modeling, an on-board looper and tuner.
Best of all, ANAGRAM brings together these creative tools in a streamlined, rugged format thatās designed for ease of use. Onstage and in the studio, bassists can quickly access and fine-tune their sound via the ANAGRAM interface:
- 7-inch high-brightness touchscreen for clear and intuitive control.
- Three footswitches for live performance control.
- Six high-resolution endless rotary knobs for precise parameter adjustments.
- Flexible input and output configuration.
With ultra-low latency, extensive customization, and seamless integration into the Darkglass ecosystem, it supports both studio precision and stage performance. Combining 15 years of innovation with cutting-edge processing power, ANAGRAM offers a purpose-built solution for bassists seeking unparalleled sound-shaping capabilities.
Anagram
Powered by a state-of-the-art hexacore processor and 32-bit/48kHz audio processing,ANAGRAM delivers ultra-low latency, pristine clarity, and studio-grade sound. Its intuitive blocks-based architecture lets players create signal chains in series (12 blocks) or parallel (24blocks) using a high-resolution touch display. ANAGRAM features three control modesāPreset,Scene, and Stompāfor instant switching, parameter adjustments, and traditional pedalboard-style operation. With a curated collection of distinct preamps, 50+ customizable effects, a looper, tuner, and user-generated IR support, ANAGRAM delivers unmatched creative flexibility.Seamless integration with the Darkglass Suite allows for expanded control and functionality. Additionally, Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) integration provides access to thousands
of high-quality amp and effect models, expanding tonal possibilities from analog warmth to futuristic textures.
"Anagram represents the culmination of years of research and development," says Marcos Barilatti, Managing Director of Darkglass Electronics. "We set out to create a product that not only pushes the boundaries of bass tone but also inspires musicians to explore new sonic territories."
Housed in a rugged anodized aluminum chassis, ANAGRAM is road-ready, compact, and powered via 9V or USB-C (PD). With flagship features at a compelling price, ANAGRAM represents the new standard for bassists seeking a modern platform for their performance.
Street $1199.99 USD
Alongside Nicolas Jaarās electronics, Harrington creates epic sagas of sound with a team of fine-tuned pedalboards.
Guitarist Dave Harrington concedes that while there are a few mile markers in the music that he and musician Nicolas Jaar create as Darkside, improvisation has been the rule from day one. The experimental electronic trioās latest record, Nothing, which released in February on Matador, was the first to feature new percussionist Tlacael Esparza.
Taking the record on tour this year, Darkside stopped in at Nashvilleās Brooklyn Bowl, where Harrington broke down his complex signal chains for PGās Chris Kies.
Brought to you by DāAddario.
Express Yourself
Harrington bought this mid-2000s Gibson SG at 30th Street Guitars in New York, a shop he used to visit as a kid. The headstock had already been broken and repaired, and Harrington switched the neck pickup to a Seymour Duncan model used by Derek Trucks. Harrington runs it with DāAddario NYXL .010s, which he prefers for their stretch and stability.
The standout feature is a round knob installed by his tech behind the bridge, which operates like an expression pedal for the Line 6 DL4. Harrington has extras on hand in case one breaks.
Triple Threat
Harringtonās backline setup in Nashville included two Fender Twin Reverbs and one Fender Hot Rod DeVille. He likes the reissue Fender amps for their reliability and clean headroom. Each amp handles an individual signal, including loops that Harrington creates and plays over; with each amp handling just one signal rather than one handling all loops and live playing, thereās less loss of definition and competition for frequency space.
Dave Harringtonās Pedalboards
Harrington says he never gives up on a pedal, which could explain why heās got so many. Youāre going to have to tune in to the full Rundown to get the proper scoop on how Harrington conducts his three-section orchestra of stomps, but at his feet, he runs a board with a Chase Bliss Habit, Mu-Tron Micro-Tron IV, Eventide PitchFactor, Eventide H90, Hologram Microcosm, Hologram Chroma Console, Walrus Monument, Chase Bliss Thermae, Chase Bliss Brothers AM, JHS NOTAKLĆN, two HexeFX reVOLVERs, and an Amped Innovations JJJ Special Harmonics Extender. A Strymon Ojai provides power.
At hip-level sits a board with a ZVEX Mastotron, Electro-Harmonix Cathedral, EHX Pitch Fork, Xotic EP Booster, two EHX 45000 multi-track looping recorders, Walrus Slƶer, Expedition Electronics 60 Second Deluxe, and another Hologram Microcosm. A Live Wire Solutions ABY Box and MXR DC Brick are among the utility tools on deck.
Under that board rest Harringtonās beloved Line 6 DL4āhis desert-island, must-have pedalāalong with a controller for the EHX 45000, Boss FV-50H volume pedal, Dunlop expression pedal, Boss RT-20, a Radial ProD2, and another MXR DC Brick.