The freaky-fast guitarist for fusion band Consider the Source uses his classical training to create far-out sounds.
Consider the Sourceās music is an eclectic mix of ā70s fusion, traditional Middle Eastern and Central Asian styles, prog weirdness, and metal intensity. Guitarist Gabriel Marin boasts insane chops, impeccable time, mastery of diverse traditional scales, rare fretless guitar fluency, and a gift for manipulating effects. Heās also a hardcore gear junkie who tours with three pedalboards, 17 pedals, two guitar synthesizers, two amps, and a well-worn Jim Kozel custom doubleneck.
New York native Marin started on piano and picked up guitar at 16. A year-and-a-half later he was playing Yngwie licks. He earned a bachelorās degree in classic music from Hunter College, is a disciple of Indian master musician Debashish Bhattacharya, and studied with David Fiuczynski. āI saw a video of [Daveās] band Kif,ā Marin told Premier Guitar. āAnd I said, āThat. I need to get with that guy.āā Marin also plays an assortment of traditional acoustic instruments including ba?lama saz, kamancheh, dombra, dutar, tanbour, ?Ć n b?u, etc.
Marin and his bandmatesāthumpmaster/bassist John Ferrara, and drummer/percussionist Jeff Mannāwork non-stop. They tour relentlessly, and their upcoming album, World War Trio, will feature over two hours of new music. Its predecessor, 2014ās World War Trio (Part 1) EP, showcased the bandās prog chops and included the 25-minute composition āPut Another Rock in That Bag.ā The group recently reworked and recorded their first cover, Radioheadās āParanoid Android.ā āThe same language we use to write one of our own songs, we apply to a beautiful existing song,ā Marin says. āItās a really heavy tune for having been a hit song, so it was really fun to do.ā
PG caught up with Marin on tour in New England to discuss fusing traditional and modern music, fretless guitar, Marinās new custom Vigier doubleneck, Paul Voās innovative new MIDI guitar pickup, traveling with so much gear, and the tao of playing really fast.
Photo by Greg Horowitz.
Who were some of your influences?
When I started off I was more into the rock thing, but I was always into different world stuff too. At first my influences were grunge guys and shredders. Jerry Cantrell and Billy Corgan were the grunge guys. I also liked Yngwie [Malmsteen], John Petrucci, and Steve Vai when I was a teenager. It gave me a lot of chops learning to play like that. I was 17, Iād been playing guitar like a year-and-a-half, and I could play Yngwieās āFar Beyond the Sun.ā I was like, āOh, I can play anything!ā [Laughs]. But then I heard [John Coltraneās] A Love Supreme and John McLaughlin within a two-month period, and it totally changed my music. The chops were so there, but it seemed to mean more. When Coltrane was playing fast lines, it wasnāt, āLook at me playing this fast line.ā It was just a spiritual explosion of notes. I thought, āOkay, thatās what I want to do.ā I was always uncomfortable with the shredders who put on a showāthey would make faces and hold their guitar funny and stuff like that. That didnāt speak to me. And then I heard McLaughlin and Coltrane, and they were playing so well. They meant every note and there was no bullshit, even though they were playing super fast.
You also play super fast.
I talk really fast. I say a lot of words. I play really fast, and I play a lot of notes. Thatās just the way it is. Some cats can say something concisely. It just takes me a while to get everything in.
You play many traditional acoustic instruments. How much of that comes out in your electric playing, in terms of techniques, scales, and modes?
Thatās a good question. The scales and modes, 100 percent. Anything I play ends up sounding like an Eastern instrument because of the trills and slides that are integrated into my playing from the last 10 years or so. Itās just how I play now. But the right-hand techniquesālike from the dombra and dutarāI canāt really put those on guitar. Itās funny, Iāll play dombra or dutar or even saz for a couple of hours, and then pick up the guitar and expect to be ready to play, yet it seems as if I havenāt played at all yet. Itās just totally different.
I think that to do the fusion stuff right, you have to really get inside whatever music youāre trying to fuse. I can perform a concert of Turkish or Persian music authentically, but then [with Consider the Source] I do things that would be considered weird. But I know that Iām doing that. I think itās important to learn to speak the language the right way first, and then do your own thing.
Once when I was studying Indian music, we were playing this raga. I ended it and, without even thinking, I slid from the minor third to the major third and kind of shook it. It was a little bluesy thing, and it sounded awesome. And my teacher yelled at me for 30 minutes about that because he viewed it as almost disrespectful. That really changed me. I decided, āOkay, when Iām learning this stuff, learn it the right way. When Iām performing it away from this, do whatever I want to it. But keep that separate.ā
Photo by Tiffany Kitana of Owleyesonyou.
So you make a real distinction between the traditional way of playing and the way you interpret it with Consider the Source?
Well, mostly because Iām the only one whoās really studied these traditions. I play the melody for [my bandmates] and let them write their own parts. They both are such good musicians that I want them to bring their own things to the table. For example, I donāt want Jeff, our drummer, thinking, āOkay, a Turkish guy on darbuka would play X, so Iām going to play that.ā He isnāt a Turkish guy who grew up playing darbuka. Heās a Western guy whoās amazing on drum set. Heāll hear that Turkish rhythm and do his own awesome thing to it, and I like that. Weāre not doing traditional music. I study traditional music, but weāre a fusion band.
Can you tell me about playing in odd meters?
When I first started understanding odd meters, it was playing along with a Dream Theater song or something like thatāprog rock songs where the odd meters are purposely odd-metered. And then I started playing Balkan music, and that really hit me deep. I took to itāall those ornaments and trillsāand I thought, āOkay, hereās a song in nine.ā But if you go see it live, you see old women in babushkas dancing. And you think, āHow are they dancing in nine? How are they dancing in eleven and seven?ā But itās because the music is broken up into sub-groupings. That made real sense to me, so I started to divide everything into smaller groupings. It doesnāt even seem weird anymore to me. We do a couple of traditional Balkan dance tunes in five, and you see some people getting down and grooving, not even caring. The other night we played a song where the verses are in 15āalternating seven and eightāand this little girl said, āOh, this is my song!ā That felt really cool.
Gabriel Marin's Gear
Guitars
Jim Kozel custom doubleneck (fretless/fretted and equipped with Roland MIDI pickups)
Vigier custom doubleneck (fretless/fretted and equipped with Paul Vo MIDI pickups)
Amps
J&E 30-watt, 2x12 custom combo
Roland keyboard amp (for synth sounds)
Guitar Synth
Roland GR-20 (for fretless neck)
Roland GR-55 (for fretted neck)
Effects
Road Rage Loop Selector
DigiTech Whammy
Boss octave pedal
Customized DigiTech Space Station
Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Boss Super Phaser
Ibanez Chorus/Flanger
Ibanez Weeping Demon Wah
Boosta Grande clean boost
Radial Tonebone Classic
Line 6 M9 Stompbox Modeler
Korg Kaoss Pad
EBow
Various volume and expression pedals
Strings and Picks
DR Strings, 010-.046
Clayton Triangle Picks, .80 mm
When you play fretless, are you thinking specific microtones, or are you just going for a feel?
No, itās very specific. There are different microtonal traditions. For example, the Turkish tradition and the Arabic tradition are very different. If youāre playing a maqam [a set of traditional pitches and their associated melodic figures] in Turkish music, you flat the second to one extent. If you are playing it in Arabic music, you flat it to another extent. Intonation is something Iām very conscious of while playing.
How about with the whammy bar? Are you also specific in how you hit it?
Yes and no. Certain times I just want to make a flutter, or slap at it and see what happens. The whammy bar is a real wild card. It allows you so much room to manipulate the guitar after you play the note. So Iām aware of that aspect of it. With the bar you should be able to bend it to the precise pitches you want, but also be able to just do cool stuff with it.
Watching you play, you dance around the pedalboard a lot. Do you treat pedals as another instrument?
Yeah. When I was a teenager I spent a lot of time messing with pedals. Iām huge sci-fi nerd. One of the things that made me want to play guitar was that my dad took me to Sam Ash and I saw the phaser pedal. I was like, āWhatās that? A phaser!?ā So the whole nerd music aspect is a big thing to me. I love crazy science-fiction sounds. I went through years of being a huge free jazz guy. I love listening to 20 minutes of guys making squawking sounds on saxophones and stuff like that. I donāt get to do that as much in Consider the Source, but I love making crazy soundscapes with pedals.
There are no keyboards on our albums. People always ask, āWho played keyboards?ā No one played keyboards. I use a MIDI guitar. I use a zillion pedals. Rehearsal for me is like, āThe third beat of this measure I have to hit this pedal, fourth beat I hit this one, and then the downbeat of the next measure I hit this one.ā I donāt use an Axe-Fx or something, where you press one button and everything changes. If I want to turn things on and off, I do them one at a time. There are a couple of points where I have to hit this pedal, spring off, and jump to this pedal. Itās pretty funny looking.
I use EBow a lot, and I have a Korg Kaoss Pad on a stand. I have 17 pedals around me. I have two necks and a billion switches. Thatās the aspect of the music that has to be the most conscious. The playing comes from the heart, but you have to have part of your brain on all the time to remember, āOkay, change this setting. Open your eyes now to make this happen.ā That requires a lot of conscious thought.
YouTube It
Watch insanity ensue on Gabriel Marinās doubleneck during a rendition of Radioheadās āParanoid Android.ā Look for some violin-inspired fingerwork around 4:25.
With all that gear, do you run into problems traveling overseas?
I generally end up bringing the most essential pieces of gear: four or five essential pedals and the guitar. The real problem is the amp. I remember the last time we played in Haifa. Our rider says, āTube amp at least 40 watts, 2x12 cabinet.ā They gave me a Pignose amp. Three hundred people showed up, and I was playing an amplified Pignose miked on a chair. The chair was much bigger than the amp. So I said, āLetās do a soundcheck. Can you hear it in the house?ā And they could. āThat was a very interesting tone you had,ā they said. Iām sure it was! [Laughs.]
Can you explain your approach to jams and solos?
The song structures remain pretty similarāthat doesnāt change. But when the jams come, I consciously try to make them different. For example, if I remember that last night I started a solo up high, I start it down low the next night. Itās hard, because sometimes the night before I did something I really liked. Itās easy to be like, āThat was smokinā, let me try that again.ā But I try to do the opposite. Iād much rather start from scratch and improvise, even though I might play a terrible solo. That happens sometimes when youāre improvising. But at the same time, itās necessary, because the next night it may be amazing because of that. I would much rather fail while trying than play something I know and succeed.
Your music reaches a diverse audience.
We play long songs without vocals in odd time signatures with crazy stuff. Everything we do is the opposite of the advice youād give an aspiring new band. Weāre kind of hardheaded in that respect, but we really believe that what weāre doing has the potential to reach a lot of people. We believe that we can go to other countries, play music from another country that they may not have great relations with, and theyāll love it. I remember the first time we went overseas. We went to Israel and then to Turkey, right after theyād had some sort of diplomatic beef. We were in Israel, and we announced that we were going to play in Turkey. They booedābut then we played a Turkish song and they went crazy for it. [After that] we went to Turkey and we said we were just in Israel. They booed. Then we played a klezmer tune and they went crazy for it. Everyone loved everyone elseās music. Thatās how it should be. Our crowd is super mixed: old, young, all different ethnicities, metal heads, jam cats. Itās really nice to see that.
Gabe Geeks Out
Gabriel Marin travels with just one guitar: a custom fretted/fretless doubleneck built by Cleveland-based luthier Jim Kozel. Both necks are headless. Both portions of the instrument feature Steinberger bridges, single-coil neck pickups, and bridge humbuckers. Each neck also has a Roland MIDI pickup. Three cables run from the guitar: a standard audio out, plus a cable connecting each neck to its own synth. The guitar weighs in at just under 10 poundsāand itās been loved. āAll that damageāexcept for one incidentāis from me playing on it,ā Marin says. āItās worn, but I like that.ā
But after 10 years, Marin is getting a new guitar. āVigier made a doubleneck for Bumblefoot. They put it on their website and asked, āWho do you think this is for?ā A lot of people thought it was for me, so Vigier contacted me.ā At first Marin was hesitant because he loves having a headless guitar. āThey brought a fretless to my house and I played that metal fretboard,ā Marin recalls. He was blown away.
One important upgrade will be new Paul Vo MIDI pickups. āOne of the modes is infinite clean sustain. Iāll be able to play the fretless neck like a violin, something Iāve always wanted to do. It also has a mode where it sucks the energy out so the notes have no sustain. There are many Eastern instrumentsāespecially East Asian instrumentsāthat have that sound. Between these new pickups and my big arsenal of pedals and MIDI stuff, there will be years of discovery.ā
Marin started using guitar synths a decade ago and has overcome most of the tracking and latency problems many guitarists encounter. āYou canāt play fast with a mix of slurs and hammers. You canāt economy pick fast. But for certain sounds, if you alternate pick fast and play precise, it tracks fine.ā
Marin points out that different sounds track differently: āIf Iām playing with my vibraphone sound on my fretless neck, my intonation has to be so precise. If I intonate slightly sharp, the thing is going to freak out.ā He rarely uses presets, preferring to program sounds himself. āI enjoy nerding-out and programing layers upon layers of crazy sounds.ā
Marinās amp is a custom J&E 30-watt 2x12 combo based on a ā59 Bassman. āI donāt want too much in an ampājust a good representation of the sound my pedals are producing,ā he says. He runs his guitar synths straight into a Roland keyboard amp.
Marin uses three pedalboards. All his looping is live, performed without a click. āItās a challenge, but I prefer that,ā he says. āI donāt like the idea of quantizing live. I like the human element. If you do it right, you succeed. If you do it wrong, you fail.ā
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Cort Essence-GA4 Demo - YouTube
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OK WOW. Moth Electric C.REGALIS - Pedals and Tea EP 57 - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Jack White's 2025 No Name Tour features live tracks from his album No Name, with shows across North America, Europe, the UK, and Japan.
The EP is a 5-song collection of live tracks taken from Whiteās 2024 edition of the tour, which was characterized by surprise shows in historic clubs around the world to support the 2024 album No Name.
No Name is available now via Third Man Records. The acclaimed collection was recently honored with a 2025 GRAMMYĀ® Award nomination for āBest Rock Albumā ā Whiteās 34th solo career nomination and 46th overall along with 16 total GRAMMYĀ® Award wins. The No Name Tour began, February 6, with a sold-out show at Toronto, ONās HISTORY and then travels North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Japan through late May. For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please visit jackwhiteiii.com/tour-dates.
Whiteās sixth studio album, No Name officially arrived on Friday, August 2 following its clandestine white-label appearance at Third Man Records locations that saw customers slipped, guerilla-style, free unmarked vinyl copies in their shopping bags. True to his DIY roots, the record was recorded at Whiteās Third Man Studio throughout 2023 and 2024, pressed to vinyl at Third Man Pressing, and released by Third Man Records.
For more information, please visit jackwhiteiii.com.
JACK WHITE - NO NAME TOUR 2025
FEBRUARY
11 ā Brooklyn, NY ā Kings Theatre
12 ā Brooklyn, NY ā Brooklyn Paramount
17 ā Boston, MA ā Roadrunner
18 ā Boston, MA ā Roadrunner
21 ā Paris, France ā La Cigale
22 ā Paris, France ā La Trianon
23 ā Paris, France ā La Trianon
25 ā Utrecht, Netherlands ā TivoliVredenburg (Ronda)
26 ā Utrecht, Netherlands ā TivoliVredenburg (Ronda)
28 ā London, UK ā Troxy
MARCH
1 ā London, UK ā Troxy
2 ā Birmingham, UK ā O2 Academy Birmingham
3 ā Glasgow, UK ā Barrowland Ballroom
10 ā Hiroshima, Japan ā Blue Live Hiroshima
12 ā Osaka, Japan ā Gorilla Hall
13 ā Nagoya, Japan ā Diamond Hall
15 ā Tokyo, Japan ā Toyosu PIT
17 ā Tokyo, Japan ā Toyosu PIT
APRIL
3 ā St. Louis, MO ā The Factory
4 ā Kansas City, MO ā Uptown Theater
5 ā Omaha, NE ā Steelhouse Omaha
7 ā Saint Paul, MN ā Palace Theatre
8 ā Saint Paul, MN ā Palace Theatre
10 ā Chicago, IL ā The Salt Shed (Indoors)
11 ā Chicago, IL ā The Salt Shed (Indoors)
12 ā Detroit, MI ā Masonic Temple Theatre
13 ā Detroit, MI ā Masonic Temple Theatre
15 ā Grand Rapids, MI ā GLC Live at 20 Monroe
16 ā Cleveland, OH ā Agora Theatre
18 ā Nashville, TN ā The Pinnacle
19 ā Nashville, TN ā The Pinnacle
MAY
4 ā Austin, TX ā ACL Live at the Moody Theater
5 ā Austin, TX ā ACL Live at the Moody Theater
6 ā Dallas, TX ā South Side Ballroom
8 ā Denver, CO ā Mission Ballroom
9 ā Denver, CO ā Mission Ballroom
10 ā Salt Lake City, UT ā The Union Event Center
12 ā Los Angeles, CA ā Hollywood Palladium
13 ā Los Angeles, CA ā Hollywood Palladium
15 ā Santa Barbara, CA ā Santa Barbara Bowl
16 ā Oakland, CA ā Fox Theater
17 ā San Francisco, CA ā The Masonic
19 ā Seattle, WA ā The Paramount Theatre
20 ā Seattle, WA ā The Paramount Theatre
22 ā Vancouver, BC ā Commodore Ballroom
23 ā Vancouver, BC ā Commodore Ballroom
24 ā Troutdale, OR ā Edgefield Concerts on the Lawn
A dose of magic gain potion.
Works like a little vial of magic gain potion. Fattens without obscuring individual frequency bands.
None.
$129
Solodallas SVDS Boost
solodallas.com
The Schaeffer-Vega Diversity Systemāan early and very successful wireless systemāexcelled at the tasks it was designed for. But there was more magic than met the eye. Though designed to sound as transparent as possible, it nonetheless colored the signal in a way that people like Angus Young and Eddie Van Halen found essential.
SoloDallas explored the possibilities of this circuit before in pedals like theSchaeffer Replica, but the new SVDS Boost strips the formula to essentials. Minimalist controlsāone knob, thatās itāmake this boost no less delicious. Iām not surprised Angus Young was smitten with the original SVDS. An SG and Marshall 18-watt amp sound fantastic naked, but the SVDS Boost has the rare talent for fattening everything without seeming to favor or obscure any frequency band too much. And as zest to the PAF/Marshall style formula, it makes the kind of rowdy, organic, airy, large, and punch-packing Marshall sound you would dream of getting in a studio or hearing on the radio. There are many shades of this basic awesome color in spite of the single knob. Unity gain lives in the earliest third of its range. From there you certainly get more volume, but mostly you bathe in various hues of compressed, saturated, thick, and dynamite growl. You donāt need a Gibson and a Marshall to use it to devastating effect, either. A Telecaster and Vibrolux snap with attitude and whip-crack energy with the SVDS in the line. And with both guitar/amp combos, the SVDSā wide dynamic responsiveness to volume and tone attenuation assures that things stay cracking when you need more control.