A driven, eclectic indie guitar player and his post-hardcore pals shatter expectations and the charts with their debut album Stay Lost. His trusty Shawbucker-rigged Les Paul, a stock Strat, and a secret-weapon Orange Rockerverb 100 come along for the ride.
In the world of post-hardcore music, there are few musicians as busy or as prolific as Will Swan. At any time he can be found recording or touring with one of the many bands he’s founded, or running his label, Blue Swan Records. But right now, while continuing to pursue his highly original guitar style, he’s wrapped up in Stay Lost, the latest release from his post-hardcore supergroup Sianvar.
Spastic yet melodic, and ambient yet aggressive, Swan’s songwriting and guitar approach is an amalgam of his extensive influences. He recalls his first musical loves being “funk and weird shit like my dad listens to, like George Clinton.” That quickly gave way to the radio rock of his formative years, and continued on to the intense-yet-melodic post-hardcore sound that he entrenches himself in today. Swan has been successfully employing those influences since the formation of his band Dance Gavin Dance in 2005. While DGD continues to be Swan’s main focus—the band’s latest album, Mothership, debuted at No. 13 on Billboard’s top albums chart in October—it’s Sianvar’s Stay Lost that’s currently creating waves throughout the scene and landed on six of Billboard’s charts.
Swan founded Sianvar in 2013 when he was looking for yet another creative outlet. He launched the band with like-minded vocalist Donovan Melero of Hail the Sun, guitarist Sergio Medina of Stolas, drummer Joe Arrington of A Lot Like Birds, and that same band’s bassist, Michael Littlefield. Another A Lot Like Birds alum, Michael Franzino, who played guitar in that group, plays bass in Sianvar today. Sianvar’s 2014 debut EP and subsequent tour was a surprising success, inspiring Swan and the rest of the quintet to write and release their first full album, Stay Lost.
top what you did last time.”
And while it continues in much the same vein as the Sianvar EP, the album pushes every aspect of the band’s sound, from advanced musicianship to a melodic backbone, much further. To casual listeners, songs such as the first single “Omniphobia” and the title track might seem to be on the edge of falling apart, but they’re actually masterfully composed, with each varied element locked tightly to the others. It’s clear that Swan and his band are in full control of their sound.
Swan took some time out of his overachiever’s schedule to speak with Premier Guitar about Stay Lost, why he always puts artistry first, and how he juggles what seems to be one of the most demanding schedules in post-hardcore.
You’re very busy with one successful band, Dance Gavin Dance, and your record label. How did Sianvar come together?
I wanted another creative outlet, so Sianvar was my brainchild, I guess. I just wanted to find different people from different bands that were all real standouts, and also friends. We wrote and recorded the first EP in two-and-a-half weeks. We put it out and it did way better than any of us thought it would. So we wrote Stay Lost in about a month and recorded it in about a month-and-a-half. Finding the time to do it and getting it done just seems unreal now, looking back. But I love the finished product. Sianvar is a collaboration and everybody is putting in their two cents. It instantly started coming out like it was its own thing.
How would you describe the band’s musical growth from the EP to Stay Lost?
For the EP, I think, we were just trying to go insane. We got together real quick and it was just like bam—guitar insanity. But for Stay Lost we were like, “Let’s sit down and write an album. Not just a bunch of songs.” We wanted the songs to have something that makes them unique—to write a full record of stuff that’s not going to get boring and that’s hard to classify.
The cover of Sianvar’s new album, Stay Lost, more than hints at the psychedelic sounds inside, but the set’s pop sensibilities and abundant melodies make it remarkably accessible. Stream the album here.
While remaining extremely listenable, Stay Lost blends a lot of really challenging time signatures, dissonance, heavy passages, and both clean and grinding guitars. Was this mix something you specifically worked at, or was that just the outcome of your styles?
Underneath all of our wanting to get into some psychedelic and crazy territories, we still want to do something that has some pop sensibility. I think Donny is who to thank for the listenability, because his melodies are so catchy. They make some of those time signatures feel not so crazy.
Were you able to stretch out as a guitar player in any new ways on the album?
Yeah. I feel like every time I write, I’m learning stuff, I’m getting better, and I’m doing things I don’t normally do. It’s always fun and exploratory for me. That’s pretty much my mentality going into any record: top what you did last time. I’m writing music
I would want to listen to, and when we’re done with the product I’m usually pretty proud of it.
How would you describe the difference between your playing style and Sergio’s?
It’s very different. Sergio’s been classically trained. He has insane technical ability. We have different influences and we’re going for different things. His vision and my vision aren’t the same, but we are both willing to compromise and make something that is cohesive.
There are a ton of textures and tones on Stay Lost. Did you guys do a lot of experimenting with gear while recording?
I used my live rig. For all my stuff, I swear by my Orange Rockerverb 100. There’s something special about my head, too. I’ve used it for every DGD record and every Sianvar thing I’ve done. It constantly just kills every other amp. Other than that, I use a ’74 Marshall cab with original Celestion blackbacks in it. And I’m rocking a Les Paul Standard, and it’s sounding great.
YouTube It
Beauty and intensity blend seamlessly in Sianvar’s music, as evidenced by the sonically blissful first single from Stay Lost, “Omniphobia.” For guitarist and leader Will Swan and his 6-string counterpart Sergio Medina, the song’s a nonstop but subtle shredfest, ripe with two-handed tapping and fierce riffery. Swan plays chiming tones on his Fender Stratocaster in the bridge position, while Medina lets loose on his Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster.
Will Swan swears by his vintage Orange Rockerverb 100 MKI for his tone, and pairs the head with a 1974 Marshall slant cab with its four original Celestion blackbacks.
I’m also hearing a lot of single-coil tones on the album.
Sergio uses a Fender—kind of a Telecaster. [Editor’s note: It’s a Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster Spalted Maple HH with a coil-tap.] It’s a weird guitar that has humbucker and single-coil tones, and he goes between them. I use either my Les Paul or Fender Strat. So that’s another single-coil guitar. I like those single-coils and how much character they give you on distorted lines.
What about effects?
Just too much stuff, man ... an insane amount of stuff. For this record I probably used, like, 20 pedals. But my Boss SY300 synthesizer pedal is amazing. And the Eventide PitchFactor is insane. The Subdecay Octasynth is also a pedal I love using a lot. Those are probably my big three right now.
What inspired you to start Blue Swan Records, and what’s it like to run a label?
Everything getting pushed by labels was just not selling. It was like they weren't putting any thought into the actual music. It’s just about what’s going to make money. And if everybody is thinking about money, then who is thinking about the art? I wanted to start a label that was only signing bands based on their ability to make good music. There was nobody out there on any labels doing post-hardcore other than us. Now, Hail the Sun’s out there and other bands I have are also growing. I definitely feel like I’ve already succeeded in my original plans for Blue Swan.
What are some of the unique challenges of being independent and on your own label?
Everything is a challenge: getting people to take it seriously, not having a huge corporation backing you, people trying to screw you over. I’ve always been an artist first, so having to take on the business has been interesting. But I have to because I’ve put myself in that position. It’s tricky to make sure I stay true to my roots and don’t get sucked into the numbers game.
Will Swan’s Gear
GuitarsGibson Les Paul Standard with Shawbucker pickups
Fender Stratocaster
Amps
Orange Rockerverb 100 MKI
1974 Marshall 4x12 with original Celestions
Effects
Boss SY300
Eventide PitchFactor
Subdecay Octasynth
DigiTech Whammy
Dunlop Cry Baby
Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo
TC Electronic PolyTune
Strings and Picks
D’Addario XLs (.010–.042)
Dunlop Nylon 1.0 mm
Ernie Ball straps
On your first tours with Sianvar, it seemed like there was uncertainty about the band’s future. With the success of Stay Lost, are you seeing Sianvar as a full-fledged project that you're committed to?
Yeah, I’m totally on board for Sianvar. I don’t see any reason to stop working on it. I think people psyche themselves out, or the expectation of performance gets to people. It’s like, “We have to reach this level. We have to do this.” They forget the heart of it. Isn’t it just fun to make the music—to make something you’re proud of, put it out, and let people listen to it?
Does Sianvar have any more touring scheduled to support Stay Lost?
We’re going to try to stretch it out and do some more touring for sure. We might play some one-off shows on the West Coast before the year is over. We’re trying to get all of our other bands’ tours figured out so we can see when we can slip in some Sianvar dates.
Are there new genres you’re looking to get into or experiment with that might surprise your fans?
Actually, a project I haven’t announced yet is going to be way different than any of the stuff I’ve done. No distortion, no heavy punk. It’s going to be more chill. Maybe funky, maybe indie … just different. So that’s probably going to be a shock for people, not to hear me coming out and trying to melt faces.
Stay Lost is the first full-length from Sianvar and it landed on Billboard at No. 5 on the Top New Artists chart, No. 98 on Top Current Albums, No. 23 on Independent Albums, No. 36 on Top Rock Albums, and No. 13 on the Hard Rock chart. Did you expect it to do so well?
Not at all. The EP did all right, but it wasn’t groundbreaking, as far as the reactions. So for this record, we felt no pressure. We wanted to put in the work, and we didn’t even know if anything would come of it. It was just a labor of love. For people to receive it so well, come out and support us on tour, and buy the record was definitely mind-blowing for us. We all really appreciate it and want to tour as much as we can.
I’m terrible at looking into the future. Something that seems to come up a lot in conversation is projecting future plans. I don’t like looking at what’s going to happen. I like looking at what’s happening now, and what I can do. Then what comes will come.
The final day is here! Enter Stompboxtober Day 31 for your last chance to win today’s pedal from Keeley and finish the month strong!
Keeley Octa Psi Transfigurating Fuzz Pedal with Polyphonic Pitch Shifting
Meet the OCTA PSI Transfigurating Fuzz – The Ultimate Combination of Pitch-Shifter, Octave Generator, and Tri-Voiced Analog Fuzz! Key features include: Instant Effect Order Switching, Flexible Output Configuration, Momentary or Latching Octave/Pitch, and more! Each pitch shift mode includes an up, down, and dual setting, resulting in 24 different modes.
Developed specifically for Tyler Bryant, the Black Magick Reverb TB is the high-power version of Supro's flagship 1x12 combo amplifier.
At the heart of this all-tube amp is a matched pair of military-grade Sovtek 5881 power tubes configured to deliver 35-Watts of pure Class A power. In addition to the upgraded power section, the Black Magick Reverb TB also features a “bright cap” modification on Channel 1, providing extra sparkle and added versatility when blended with the original Black Magick preamp on Channel 2.
The two complementary channels are summed in parallel and fed into a 2-band EQ followed by tube-driven spring reverb and tremolo effects plus a master volume to tame the output as needed. This unique, signature variant of the Black Magick Reverb is dressed in elegant Black Scandia tolex and comes loaded with a custom-built Supro BD12 speaker made by Celestion.
Price: $1,699.
The 6-string wielding songwriter has often gotten flack for reverberating his classic band’s sound in his solo work. But as time, and his latest, tells, that’s not only a strength, but what both he and loyal listeners want.
The guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jerry Cantrell, who is best known for helming Alice in Chains, one of the most influential bands in hard-rock history, is an affable, courteous conversationalist. He’ll apologize, for instance, when he’s been on a PR mission all afternoon and needs to eat something. “I’m sorry. I’m starving. I’m going to make a BLT while we finish this interview,” he says on a recent Zoom call.
“That’s bacon frying, by the way,” he adds, in case his interviewer was wondering about the sizzling sound in the background.
Over the better part of an hour, only a couple of points of discussion seem to stoke his ire. One would be ’90s-era culture writers who felt compelled to brand a wide range of interesting bands from the same city (Seattle) with the same hollow tag (grunge). “It’s just a fucking label,” he says. “But I get it. You gotta have a fucking descriptor.” (When he gets miffed, or especially enthusiastic, Cantrell’s F-bombs can progress from steady punctuation to military fusillade.)
Another pet peeve: Those who seem bewildered by the fact that his solo work often evokes Alice in Chains. “It always trips me out,” he says, “when I hear comments or get questions all the time, like, ‘Well, this sounds like Alice.’ Well, what do you think it was going to sound like? I’m the guitar player and the songwriter of Alice. That’s what I do. Do you want me to not be myself? It’s just a bizarre, bizarre thing.” A big laugh follows.
“I’m always collecting ideas, and you never know when they’re going to come, or what they’re going to turn into. I look at it like depositing money in a bank.”
Cantrell, 58, has a right to feel irked by such exchanges. After all, he and the classic Alice lineup of vocalist Layne Staley, bassist Mike Starr, and drummer Sean Kinney invented a mesmeric, instantly identifiable sound that continues to stand alone in heavy music. On paper, the Alice formula doesn’t indicate multi-platinum success outright: off-kilter vocal harmonies shared between Staley and Cantrell, which can call to mind arcane American folk music or the classical avant-garde; parts written in odd time; lyrics about the most wrenching depths of drug addiction, a black cloud that followed the band throughout its ascent and tragically claimed Staley’s life in 2002 and Starr’s in 2011.
But Cantrell and Alice were also dedicated students of hard-rock history, who, along with their Seattle peers Soundgarden, helped to reinvent chart-topping metal for the alternative-rock era. To be sure, the guitarist ranks among the great riff maestros, and his solos, whether all-out wailing or comprised of a few bluesy bends, always had weight and meaning within the context of the song. And with all due respect to Extreme, no other hard-rock act explored acoustic music with more brilliant results.
Boasting nine tracks and coproduced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi, I Want Blood keeps the guitarist’s expert riffs and lyrical solos front and center.
On their masterpiece, the 1992 album Dirt, Alice in Chains managed to take Black Sabbath’s template for molten riffs into stranger, more artful, and more desperate territory, yet they also crafted tracks chock-full of hooks. A seamless meld of pop moves and bone-crushing heaviness is something of a holy grail for hard-rock songwriters and producers, and Dirt nabs it. Think of tracks like “Them Bones,” with its 7/8 intro riff and aslant vocal-harmony verses that resolve into a punchy, satisfying chorus—among the pithiest assessments of mortality in rock ’n’ roll. Or “Rooster,” an homage to Cantrell’s Vietnam-veteran father, with its left-field R&B harmonies and molasses-drip tempo. Somehow, these are songs that can rattle around in your brain throughout entire road trips or workdays; as of this writing, Dirt has sold five-million copies in the U.S.
“Let the players find their songs, and the songs find their players.”
Cantrell’s new album, I Want Blood, is his fourth solo release, and it’s a strong argument that he should continue to sound like himself and his legacy. Coproduced by Cantrell and hard-rock studio wizard Joe Barresi, its nine tracks tap into the Alice in Chains aesthetic in a way that will hit a sweet spot for longtime fans. As on the albums that Alice has released since Staley’s passing, with vocalist William DuVall, that indefinable sense of unease, that smoky ambiance of dread, isn’t so enveloping. But Cantrell’s most crucial gifts—the riff science, the knack for hooks, the belief that solos should be lyrical, musical, singable—are front and center, and razor-sharp.
What’s more, he’s recruited fellow hard-rock royalty to fulfill this vision. In addition to Barresi, whose credits comprise Kyuss, Melvins, Tool, QotSA and many, many others, the album’s personnel includes bassists Robert Trujillo and Duff McKagan, and drummers Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Gil Sharone (Marilyn Manson, the Dillinger Escape Plan).
Through Alice in Chains’ rise in the early ’90s to recent years, Cantrell’s hard-rock presence has remained unshakeable. Here, he strikes a timeless rock 'n' roll pose.
Photo by Jordi Vidal/PhotoFuss
I Want Blood is a ripper. “Vilified” couples a chunky metal riff with wah and talk-box accents and a wandering, Eastern-tinged melody; “Off the Rails” matches a line à la John Carpenter’s Halloween score with a groove-metal thrust, before a radio-ready chorus kicks in. Ditto the chorus of “Let It Lie,” whose verse riff is pure Sabbath bliss. The earworm title track is the stuff music-sync-licensing dreams are made of. When he dials the tempo back toward ballad territory, as on “Echoes of Laughter,” “Afterglow,” or “It Comes,” Cantrell’s instinct for songcraft seems to get even stronger. As with Alice’s best LPs, I Want Blood stays with you and grows on you until it’s in steady rotation.
So what of that songcraft? It’s been over three decades since Cantrell debuted on record, and he’s still mining heavy gold. What’s the strategy, and what’s the secret? Does Cantrell’s work get harder or easier as he edges toward 60? “There’s a duality to it,” he says. “So in one way, I can answer that it’s pretty easy for me to make music. And then also, it’s fucking incredibly difficult to make something good. It can be both.”
He details the three-part work cycle that has defined his adult life: “There’s the demo process of writing. There’s the preproduction and actual recording of a record. And then there’s the period where you go out and tour it, along with all your other material, in a set. During that last third of the process, I’m really not writing, but through all the phases I’m always collecting riffs.” He’s also continually listening to great music, and allowing it to seep in. In the previous week, Cantrell says, he’d “rocked a bunch of Bad Company, UFO, AC/DC, some Maiden, some Hank Williams, some Ernest Tubb, some ‘Jungle Boogie.’”
Jerry Cantrell's Gear
This photo, taken from underneath the stage, shows Cantrell in his element, performing with Alice in Chains at Lollapalooza in the early ’90s.
Photo by Ken Settle
Guitars
- G&L “Blue Dress” Rampage
- G&L “No War” Rampage
- Gibson “D Trip” Les Paul Custom
- Gibson Les Paul Junior
- Gibson Flying V
- G&L ASAT
Amps
- Bogner Fish preamp
- Friedman JJ-100 signature head
- Snorkeler (Bogner-modded Marshall JCM800)
Effects
- Dunlop Jerry Cantrell Firefly Cry Baby Wah
- MXR Jerry Cantrell Firefly Talk Box
- MXR EQ
- MXR EVH Flanger
- MXR Smart Gate
- MXR Timmy
- MXR Poly Blue Octave
- MXR Reverb
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- Boss CE-5
- Boss DD-500
- Strymon Ola dBucket Chorus & Vibrato
Strings & Picks
- Dunlop strings
- Dunlop picks
“I’m a fan of the riff,” he adds. “I’m always collecting ideas, and you never know when they’re going to come, or what they’re going to turn into. I look at it like depositing money in a bank. Like if I’m in a dressing room somewhere and I’m just warming up, and I see [one of my bandmates] react to something that I’m playing—put it in the bank. If I have a superpower, it is being able to hear something that might be a cool thing to work up and develop into a full-on song.
“When I’m slugging out riffs and just jamming out, if it feels good to rock out and your head starts moving and your foot starts tapping and you got something good—you know. It’s got to hit on a primal level first, and satisfy in that way.”
Writing, then, is often the more cerebral duty of assembling the best of what Cantrell has accrued and documented. “Like Lego pieces,” he says. “That used to be one of my favorite toys when I was a kid—Legos. Building stuff, block by block.” But, Cantrell points out, the process can also be more straightforward; he’ll start with a single riff and attempt to build the song’s infrastructure out from there, “throwing options at it, and ideas,” he says.
Cantrell, pictured here at 27, has carried on his hard-rock legacy with confidence, defying those who question his support and continuation of Alice in Chains’ influential sound.
Photo by Ebet Roberts
“I don’t necessarily know where I’m going a lot of the time. I just know that I have an intention to get there, and I’ve been able to take that journey to completion and make some pretty decent albums and songs over the years. And so I have the confidence to know that I probably can do this again—if I just put my mind to it and go through the process and work my ass off in concert with a group of people who have the same thought process.”
“There should always be the threat that the train is going to come off the rails.”
Cantrell is most certainly a “band” guy. For I Want Blood, he decided to play through a bunch of the material with his famous friends in preproduction, rather than simply assigning them one or two songs to guest on: “Let the players find their songs, and the songs find their players,” as he puts it. “It might’ve been with a little bit of frustration, because they got day jobs in some pretty impressive bands.” Time wasn’t exactly plentiful, but he did get in some living-room jams and other sessions with Trujillo, Bordin, and McKagan that ensured each track had its best possible lineup. Fortunately, Cantrell’s coproducer, Barresi, is similarly averse to cutting corners. Cantrell describes him as “a long-haul trucker” who “doesn’t suffer fools.”
“I’m an architect who is also a builder. You know what I mean?” says the guitarist, alluding to the relentless, often tedious work of record-making.“There should always be the threat that the train is going to come off the rails,” he says. For both men, Cantrell explains, “When you’re done with the record is when you think you couldn’t have done it any better.” Or, as Barresi likes to say, “How do you know you’ve gone too far unless you’ve already been there?”
Barresi also has a kind of encyclopedic recall of rock sonics. “He’s a guy who knows where all the bodies are buried,” Cantrell says, “and any combo of stuff you want to achieve: ‘Like, you know that song in The Departed, the Stones tune where it sounds like the guitar is going through a Leslie?’ [“Let It Loose,” off Exile on Main Street.] ‘Yeah, I know that pedal, man. Let’s grab it.’ You give him a reference and he knows how to replicate it.”
“I love working with a lot of different colors,” Cantrell says. “So I’ll use any guitar or any amp or any pedal to get a certain sound, and that all comes with experimentation. But it always starts with the basics.”
“When you’re done with the record is when you think you couldn’t have done it any better.”
If you’re a faithful reader of Premier Guitar, you may already know what that means: two mid-’80s G&L Rampages and the Les Paul Custom that Cantrell relied on to write his 2002 solo album Degradation Trip (the instrument with the custom blowtorch finish job). In amps, his go-to was the Bogner Fish preamp that he immortalized in Alice in Chains, in addition to his Friedman JJ-100 signature head. Cantrell also mentions the Bogner-modded Marshall sound he’s known for—aka the fabled Snorkeler—alongside tones from Orange and Laney. Among the guitars that made the cut: a butterscotch Les Paul Junior that was a gift from Billie Joe Armstrong a couple years back. When asked about effects, picks, and strings, Cantrell responds that he’s “a Dunlop guy”—which includes his MXR Jerry Cantrell Firefly Talk Box and Dunlop signature Cry Baby wah pedals.
YouTube It
Live at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles in 2021, Jerry Cantrell testifies to his status as one of the most iconic guitarists in hard-rock history.
Cantrell is a fount of anecdotes, and talking guitar is a great way to hear some of them. He first saw the Rampage onstage in a club, after moving from Washington to Dallas, Texas, in the mid-’80s. Later, he began jamming with some guys who played Rampages, and picked up a job at a music shop that their father managed. The shop was a G&L dealer, so Cantrell paid for his instruments in part by working there. The Rampage, he adds, “just felt right.”
“The guy who built the necks and bodies that Eddie used to build his guitars was right in my backyard.”
“You gotta give a lot of credit to Eddie Van Halen,” he adds. “[The Rampage] was basically Leo Fender’s answer to Frankenstein, to the Charvel/Jackson model. One tremolo, one knob, one humbucker; that’s it. No-nonsense, just a meat-and-potatoes rock ’n’ roll guitar.”
A few years before the Rampage—Cantrell pinpoints 1979, because Van Halen II was out—he obtained a neck that was originally intended for EVH, and used it on a Strat he built himself in woodshop. The neck was payment from Boogie Bodies, the legendary guitar-parts manufacturer where Lynn Ellsworth and Jim Warmoth laid the foundation for the Superstrat era. “That shop was in Puyallup, Washington,” Cantrell says, “and I lived in Spanaway, which was right next door.The guy who built the necks and bodies that Eddie used to build his guitars was right in my backyard.”
Cantrell was barely in his teens when he got a gig helping out around the shop, and earned a “beautiful bird’s-eye maple neck” that didn’t make it to Eddie because it had a small divot in the 3rd fret. Cantrell recalls today that his duties included sweeping up sawdust. Then, as now, it was all about the work.
Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine is one of the loudest guitarists around. And he puts his volume to work creating mythical tones that have captured so many of our imaginations, including our special shoegaze correspondent, guitarist and pedal-maestro Andy Pitcher, who is our guest today.
My Bloody Valentine has a short discography made up of just a few albums and EPs that span decades. Meticulous as he seems to be, Shields creates texture out of his layers of tracks and loops and fuzz throughout, creating a music that needs to be felt as much as it needs to be heard.
We go to the ultimate source as Billy Corgan leaves us a message about how it felt to hear those sounds in the pre-internet days, when rather than pull up a YouTube clip, your imagination would have to guide you toward a tone.
But not everyone is an MBV fan, so this conversation is part superfan hype and part debate. We can all agree Kevin Shields is a guitarists you should know, but we can’t all agree what to do with that information.