Iriondo has been a member of the Italian alt-rock outfit Afterhours since 1992. Here heās playing a custom Epiphone SG Custom at an Afterhours show in 2015.
Photo by Emanuela Bonetti
The Italian maestro talks about the spiritual inspiration he draws from his Basque roots, as well as channeling his endless guitar-tinkering passions into his latest musical project, BuƱuel.
Italian guitarist and sonic adventurer Xabier Iriondo has an affinity for the Basque term, metakāwhich literally means, āpileāāand he often incorporates it into the names of his various projects. His custom-built experimental guitar is the Mahai Metak (or ātable pileā). Some of his unconventional musical collaborations also include the term, as in PhonoMetak and PhonoMetak Labs. And Sound Metak was the name of the eclectic shop he ran for about a decade in the early 2000s, which sold everything from boutique guitar pedals to shoes. (Check out his Instagram profile, which, in addition to pictures of his amazing collection of guitars, pedals, and vintage amps, is also a showcase for his impeccable taste in footwear).
āI am half Basque,ā Iriondo says. āAnd these wordsālike āmahaiā and āmetakāācome from the Basque language. A metak is when you take the grass that youāre cutting, and you make a mountain of this grass in the garden. In the past, you gave this metak to the cows.ā Another traditional Basque practice and type of metak involves shredding and drying corn stalks to use as fodder over the long, cold winter months. So, a metak is a pile of collected things that are preserved for an extended period. In Iriondoās view, this serves as an analogy for something deeper. āI love this idea, because you can put everything inside the metak,ā he says. āItās like a collection of your emotions. For example, with my shop, Sound Metak, I sold different kinds of thingsāfrom old gramophones and vinyl shellac records to fuzz pedals and jukeboxes and guitars and amplifiersāit was a lot of different things. Metak for me is an idea, and my instrument, the Mahai Metak, is the same thing. Itās an energy from my fantasy, which is everything I can put out from my mind.ā
BuƱuel is a noise-rock quartet named after the legendary Spanish filmmaker, Luis BuƱuel. The band formed was formed in 2016 by (from left to right) bassist Andrea Lombardini, drummer Francesco Valente, American vocalist Eugene S. Robinson, and guitarist Xabier Iriondo.
Conceptually, metak also helps to explain Iriondoās musical diversity. Born in Milan, he started playing the guitar at 17, and became something of an Italian celebrity as part of the alternative band Afterhours, with whom heās been a member since 1992 (except for hiatus throughout most of the aughts). But Afterhours is about as mainstream as Xabier gets. Heās also made incredible noise with myriad projects, like his recordings and performances with Canās Damo Suzuki (Damo Suzukiās Network), collaborations with the cream of Europeās avant-garde (?Alos, Pleiadees), numerous solo projects, and the list goes on and on.
Xabier Iriondo's pedalboard: āWhen youāre using some of these destruction pedals on the loud and heavy stuff, the guitar isnāt so important. You destroy everything with these kinds of pedals."
His most recent outing is the abrasive, apocalyptic, noise-rock quartet BuƱuel. Named after the legendary Spanish filmmaker Luis BuƱuel, the band first came together in 2016 and mixes the talents of a trio of Italian musiciansāIriondo, bassist Andrea Lombardini, and drummer Francesco Valenteāplus American vocalist Eugene S. Robinson. Their new release, Killers Like Us, is awash in fuzz and rages between brain-crushing, metal-tinged cuts like āA Prison of Measured Timeā and āWhen God Used a Ropeā to slow, doomy dirges like āHornetsā and āWhen We Talk,ā as well as moments of unstructured, free improvisation interspersed throughout the record.
BUNUEL - When God Used A Rope (official video)
āWe are three Italian musicians,ā Iriondo says about BuƱuelās genesis. āWe were a little bit famous here in Italy, and we decided to choose an international singer. We wrote to Eugene Robinson, and he accepted our idea. For our first record, the three of us recorded 10 songs in a studio in Italy. We sent them to Eugene in San Francisco, he sang on them, and then sent the tracks back to us. We did that again for this record.ā Not only were the vocals recorded separate from the rest of the band, but Robinson didnāt even get a chance to rehearse with them. The first time the band played together as a quartet was onstage in front of an audience. āWe didnāt rehearse with Eugeneāwe rehearsed ourselvesāand we met with him the first day of the first gig. Thatās how it started.ā
Despite Iriondoās years of experience with group improvisation, that was not the approach he took with BuƱuel. Youād think improv would be helpful when stepping onstage raw with an unrehearsed new singer. Rather, the bandās vibe is through-composed songs that are played the same wayāexcept for planned sections set aside for improvisationānight after night.
āWhen I want to take a solo, I adjust the Cornish directly with my foot. I open up the volume, and then I arrive in the cosmos.ā
āWe play the songs like they are on the album,ā says Iriondo. āAlthough we do have some parts, or structures, that can change. For example, on our first tour, we wrote our 10 songs, and thatās all we had. At the end of the show, the audience asked for more. I said, āOkay, letās start with an improv,ā and that improv we used on those gigs from the first tour became a song on the second album [āThe Sanctionā o 2018'sThe Easy Way Out]. We composed each day, each gig, and the song transformed and arrived at the end of the tour.ā
When recording BuƱuel, Iriondo harnesses that live feel by taking a minimalist approach to overdubs. Aside from an odd guitar solo or two, the instruments are recorded live, with the band members standing together and looking at each other. āI also play pop rock with other bands, and overdubbing is okay for that kind of music, but the wildness of this project gains a lot when weāre all playing together in the same room,ā he says.
For both of BuƱuelās albums, including the new Killers Like Us, the three Italian core band members recorded the songs in Italy and sent them to vocalist Eugene Robinson in San Francisco. Robinson sang over the music and then sent the tracks back to Italy.
āIn the past, in the ā90s, I used the VHT head system that people talked about,ā he says about the now-rebranded Fryette Pittbull Ultra-Lead. āI bought the second one that arrived in Italy in 1994. But in the last 20-to-25 years, I started using theHiwatt DR103, and I think thatās my sound. When I plugged in for the first time, I said, āWhat the hell is this?ā I can go from high-frequency, crystal-like sounds to really deep grunge sounds with a lot of low frequencies. In general, with BuƱuel and also Afterhours, I use the Hiwatt, and then also another amp, a 300-watt SWR California Blonde, which is a transistor amp. I have the headroom also in the clean sounds, but when I engage all my fuzzes and boosters, the gain is incredible, and itās still in front of you all the time.ā
āI love this idea, because you can put everything inside the metak. Itās like a collection of your emotions.ā
Iriondoās tone is wild, too. Considering how mangled, heavy, and distorted his sound gets, itās interesting how he crafts his tone almost exclusively with pedals, which he uses to drive his amps. He owns more than 20 heads and cabs, and his preference is classic British amps like Hiwatt, Orange, Carlsbro, and Simms Wattāhe has a few of each in assorted colorsāthat have a lot of headroom. He feels those work best with his high-gain pedals.
Xabier Iriondoās Gear
Xabier Iriondoās custom-built "Mahai Metak" is a 10-string short-scale table guitar. Six of the strings are tuned to D in different octaves and act as drones. The other four are G, G, F, and A. It has pickups on both ends, plus an onboard oscillator and distortion unit, and controls for volume and tone. "I play it with Chinese sticks, and I create rhythms and special sounds with steel woolāthat stuff you use in America to wash your dishes. It sounds great."
Photo courtesy of Xabier Iriondo
Guitars
- Two custom Billy Boy Guitars made by Fabio Ghiribelli (a white model and a purple model used with BuƱuel, with a TV Jones pickup in the neck position and a ā52 Tele pickup in the bridge)
- NukeTown Venusian IX Signature 9-string
- Loic Le Page (Mahai Metak Guitar)
- James Trussart Red Star Steelcaster
Amps
- Hiwatt DR504 stack
- Hiwatt DR103 head and 4x12 cab (1970)
- Vox AC30TB (1992 reissue)
- Orange OR120 head with 4x12 cab (1969)
- Orange bass cabinet with 18" speaker (1970)
- Simms Watts AP100 Mk2 (1972)
- Marshall 1959 SLP Purple Limited Edition (1994)
- 300-watt SWR California Blonde
Effects
- Hologram Microcosm Granular Looper
- TC Electronic Ditto X2
- Pete Cornish NB-2
- AC Noises AMA (reverb w/ oscillator + bit crusher)
- Supro Tremolo
- DigiTech Whammy Ricochet
- Death By Audio Waveformer Destroyer
- EarthQuaker Devices Organizer
- EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold
- AC Noises Arpiona Xabier Iriondo signature
- Korg PB-03 Pitchblack
Strings & Picks
- DāAddario .010ā.052
- Dunlop Tortex Purple 1 mm
Iriondo has a seemingly endless collection of pedals, too, although his go-to is his signature octave-synth-fuzz-boost Arpiona, made by Italian builders AC Noises. The pedal starts with a gated fuzz circuit inspired by Death By Audioās Harmonic Transformer, followed by a sub-octave bass synth, more fuzz, and a boost. He uses that in conjunction with an EarthQuaker Devices Acapulco Gold, and a Pete Cornish NB-2 boost thatās always engaged. āWhen I want to take a solo,ā he says, āI adjust the Cornish directly with my foot. I open up the volume, and then I arrive in the cosmos.ā
Afterhours - Spreca una vita
Theyāre Italian, which is probably why this Afterhours video looks like a Federico Fellini film.
Iriondo is also no purist. If an analog circuit will get him the sound he wants, great, but heās just as happy using a digital device. āI use everything that can give me satisfaction,ā he says. āWhy not?ā
Why not, indeed. He also gets that satisfaction from his guitars. āAbout 80 percent of my choice in guitars is the feel, and 20 percent is the sound,ā he says. āWhen youāre using some of these destruction pedals on the loud and heavy stuff, the guitar isnātso important. You destroy everything with these kinds of pedals. They completely destroy your clean sound. Although when I play pop-rock music, I change my guitars a lot.ā
Xabier Iriondo bought his James Trussart Red Star Steelcaster directly from the luthier at his L.A. home in 2012. It features a metal front and back perforation body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, and two Arcane Inc. pickups.
Photo by Alberto Mori
But that feel is elusive, which may explain Iriondoās vast collection of instruments. He has vintage guitars he doesnāt mod at all, but in general heās an itinerant tinkerer. He usually swaps out pickups, even on his less expensive guitars, and has a significant number of custom-built guitars as well. āIām not only a collector, Iām a professional, which means guitars are my life,ā he says. āI want to have tools that work well with me. In the last few years, Iāve had the opportunity to have my dream guitars that I ask luthiers to build for me with my specific specifications. The principal guitar that I used on the BuƱuel project is made by Billy Boy Guitars. It has an incredible tremolo, and itās a light guitar. All the sounds you hear on BuƱuel are made with that guitar.ā
Perhaps Iriondoās most unique instrument is his custom-built Mahai Metak. Itās a 10-string, short-scale table guitar. Six of the strings are tuned to D in different octaves and act as drones. The other four are G, G, F, and A. The instrument has pickups on both endsānear the bridge as well as near the nutāplus an onboard oscillator and distortion unit, and controls for volume and tone. He plays it with an assortment of items, including marbles, roach clips, and steel wool. āI play it with Chinese sticks,ā he says, āand I create rhythms and special sounds with steel woolāthat stuff you use in America to wash your dishes. It sounds great. I use it with the loopers and reverbs and it creates these noisy and bizarre sounds, as well as melodic sounds that create a nice texture.ā
Iriondoās Gibson āElettraā Explorer was handpainted by Valentina Chiappini
Photo by Matteo Pieroni
Itās that openness and wonder, as exemplified by Iriondoās voracious appetite for gear, as well as his embrace of disparate genres and styles, that are the ingredients that make up his metak. Call it his esoteric pile of ideas, which gives him permission to explore the endless energies of his imagination. Heāll conjure up sounds that are heavy and darkāor playful and lightāand almost always fun, and, maybe, even a little mischievous.
And isnāt that, ultimately, the ideal?
YouTube It
This live performance shows BuƱuel from their last tour in 2016, with Xabier Iriondo playing his custom Billy Boy guitar. It takes a while for Iriondo to enter, but itās worth the wait. Head to 2:45 to hear one of the guitaristās deliciously mangled solos.
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JHS Series 3 Overdrive
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Fender Hammerstone Overdrive
One of the newest entries on this list is a retro-looking stomp that offers some interesting features under the hood. The original circuit allows you to control the mids before the gain stage, plus thereās an internal trim pot to wrangle the high end.
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Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini
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Pro Co Rat 2
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MXR Distortion+
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