
The Decemberists formed in Portland, Oregon, in 2000, and with their latest, have released nine full-length studio albums.
On their ninth studio full-length, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, the folk quintet expands on the landscape they’ve been weaving together for the past 20-plus years, and dip their feet back into prog territory.
Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy’s keening, reedy, distinctively traditional-Irish singing voice has always seemed to me like a tiny rebellion against the homogenizing effects of globalization on music. Over the past 75 years, the imitation of American pop and rock has spread like a pandemic—making the indelibility of Meloy’s Irish heritage on his sound a refreshing presence in modern U.S.-based indie folk. That, paired with the singer/songwriter/guitarist’s penchant for both novelistic and classic-prog-inspired storytelling, has kept the music of the Decemberists evergreen over the past two decades.
As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again is the Portland, Oregon-based band’s ninth studio full-length, and their first in six years. “We’ve had a long arc of experimentation,” says supporting guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk, reflecting on how the album partially honors various mosaic fragments of the band’s past works, while also expanding on them in a wise, informed, and beautiful, if not subtle, progression. “At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with going to a studio and making a record without a narrative. So, there’s no smoke and mirrors on this one.”
On As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, Meloy and Funk, joined by bassist Nate Query, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, and drummer John Moen, revisit the country twangs heard on The King Is Dead(2011), with “Long White Veil” and “All I Want Is You”; and even traipse back into the more worldly folk realm heard on Picaresque (2005) with the playful, chiming “Burial Ground” and folk-tango “Oh No!” Others, like the lo-fi electroacoustic, Grandaddy-esque “Born to the Morning,” build on elements from their previous release, 2018’s I’ll Be Your Girl—a record that’s pleasantly peppered with synths extracted straight from the Twin Peaks-, a-ha-, Tears for Fears-era of composition, and lyrics that could have been written by Moz himself. (“Oh, unabashedly,” says Meloy, moments after he recognizes the copy of the Smiths’ Hatful of Hollow seen mounted on the wall behind me on our Zoom call.)
“At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with going to a studio and making a record without a narrative. So, there’s no smoke and mirrors on this one.” —Chris Funk
The album concludes with “Joan in the Garden,” a 19-minute suite inspired by the story of Joan of Arc, which shamelessly hijacks the previous 49 minutes of rhapsodic folk songs with a summoning of Pink Floyd long-form-composition aesthetic, à la “Echoes,” “Sheep,” and “Dogs.” Sixteen minutes in, the spirit of Judas Priest rears its head with a muscular metal gallop that carries the track to a sudden and satisfying halt.
On As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again,the Decemberists subtly call back to some past markers in their evolution, while still growing in their multifaceted traditional-, pop-, and prog-folk palette.
It’s been 18 years since the Decemberists’ The Crane Wife(2006), whose second track, “The Island,” rises with Keith Emerson-style synth towards the end of its 12-minute wayfaring, and 15 years since The Hazards of Love (2009), a crowning folk-rock opera in their overall discography. Yet, fans likely haven’t forgotten those earlier bold (and somewhat left-field) infusions of ’70s-prog dialect, and may welcome As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again’s final, albeit extended, punctuation. What may come as a surprise, however, is that Meloy finds “a lot of prog to be sort of unlistenable.
“But,” he continues, “I have a weird kind of intellectual love for it. Being an ardent music fan, I can say I don’t really love Bob Dylan that much, for example, but I know everything about his career. I own so many records of his. There are certain people that, even if you don’t adore them or they don’t speak to your inner heart, you know how important they are, and you can see their contribution.”
Intersecting with that perspective is the fun fact that Meloy studied English, theater, and creative writing in college, and has a separate career as a children’s book author, with seven published works. “[Stories are] where my heart is, and that’s what drew me to people like the Pogues, Robyn Hitchcock, the Smiths. There’s a story being told, one way or another, in any of their songs,” he shares. “Prog also really lends itself to telling a longer story, a more sophisticated story. It kind of started with ‘California One’ on our first record, which is toying with these sort of longer-form suite songs, which can be owed to ‘Scenes from an Italian Restaurant’ by Billy Joel as much as anything Genesis did with Peter Gabriel. But I also think it was an opportunity to set ourselves apart from how we were being perceived [in the beginning].”
The Decemberists, from left to right: drummer John Moen, frontman Colin Meloy, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, and bassist Nate Query.
Photo by Holly Andres
Speaking of setting themselves apart, Funk says that when the band was coming up in the early ’00s, they were one of the first in the indie-folk-rock scene to bring a broader array of folk instruments into their mostly “rock band” arrangements. Starting with their 2002 debut Castaways and Cutouts, the multi-instrumentalist has recorded a variety of stringed instruments on Decemberists albums aside from standard guitars, including dobro, pedal steel, lap steel, bouzouki, banjo, tenor guitar, baritone guitar, and mandolin. Funk has also contributed performances on other odds and ends, such as theremin, hammered dulcimer, Marxophone (a hammered, fretless zither), hurdy-gurdy, and synths.
“At the time when we signed to Kill Rock Stars [in 2003] and I moved to the Pacific Northwest,” says Funk, “there weren’t really rock bands with accordions [played in the Decemberists by Jenny Conlee] and pedal steels. And we really stuck out from our peer group. I think it was just wanting to expand our palette. Historically, there’s a lot of world-building in the Decemberists, so [I was thinking], what else could live inside that world? And then with the next record, how can we tear down that world and create something new?”
“Historically, there’s a lot of world-building in the Decemberists, so [I was thinking], what else could live inside that world?” —Chris Funk
That inspiration came in part from growing up listening to ’80s groups like R.E.M., whose guitarist Peter Buck first recorded mandolin on their sixth studio album, 1988’s Green. “I don’t even think I knew what a mandolin was when [I first heard it on R.E.M.’s songs],” Funk shares. “That was sort of our gateway into it.”
“There’s also bands like Belle and Sebastian,” Meloy adds. “It’s just like, everybody grab whatever instrument you have laying around and let’s give it a shot. There was a DIY [approach of], you don’t really have to be a virtuoso at this instrument to make songs with it. That was sort of the guiding principle, too.”
Of course, accordion, pedal steel, lap steel, banjo, and the like are hardly uncommon in country and folk settings, but were in the evolving 2000s indie-folk scene, which was competing (and still is) with a hip-hop and pop zeitgeist for the ears of a youthful audience. Other indie artists like Neutral Milk Hotel and Sufjan Stevens were also a bit ahead of the Decemberists, with Neutral Milk Hotel’s use of flugelhorn and musical saw on 1998’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and Stevens’ generously broad mixture of folk instruments on his 2000 debut A Sun Came. However, along with those bands, the Decemberists rose to more popular visibility and influence circa 2005.
Colin Meloy's Gear
Frontman Colin Meloy identifies more as a songwriter than a guitarist, and focuses on storytelling through his songs.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/tinnitus photography
Guitars
- Gibson J-200 Montana Gold
- Gibson J-45 True Vintage
- Goya nylon-string
- Andrew Mowry bouzouki
- Two Guild F-512 12-strings (one is tuned down a half step)
- Reverend Buckshot
- Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins
- Effects
- MXR Dyna Comp (modified with a 1980 CA3080E chip)
- ZVEX Box of Rock
- EHX Oceans 11
- Two Boss DD-3 Digital Delays
Amps
- Phoenix Audio DRS-Q4 MkII preamp (for acoustics)
- Carr Viceroy amp (for electrics)
- Orange OR50 head through a 2x12 cabinet (for electrics)
Strings & Picks
- D’Addario Light Acoustic (.012–.053)
- D’Addario Medium Wound 3rd Electric (.011–.049)
- Tortex .73 mm picks
- Golden Gate thumbpicks
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“Can you talk about your passion for guitar? That’s to the both of you,” I quiz Meloy and Funk halfway through the interview.
Meloy pauses, smiling. (At this point, he’s already confessed that he identifies more as a songwriter than a guitarist.) “Funk, would you like to talk about your passion for guitar?” he deflects, wryly.
“I think I was just saying I don’t have much left,” laughs Funk. “It’s just endless with electric guitar, with combinations of amps and pedals and the revival, or the beginnings of, boutique pedal building. I mean, it’s kind of insane. I’ve kind of put a moratorium on buying pedals, but it’s always fun just to see what people are building and that people are still pushing it. I’m not really attracted to people building 17-string guitars or anything like that, but I’m passionate about the possibilities of making the guitar sound less and less like a guitar.
“I religiously watch Rig Rundowns,” he continues. “I literally watch them every night. I’m just fascinated with how people are doing stage setups. I love it. I’m really fascinated with all the metal players or the heavier players; it seems like everybody’s using Fractal systems now, but even that’s interesting to me. I’ll never do it. But I think that’s cool.”
❦
Chris Funk's Gear
Multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk has contributed a wide variety of instruments to the Decemberists’ recordings over the years, and lately, has felt a bit more detached from the guitar. He still, however, obsessively watches Rig Rundowns.
Photo by Debi Del Grande
Guitars
- Weber Yellowstone Octave Mandolin
- Deering John Hartford Banjo
- Reverend Club King 290
- Gibson ES-390
- Gibson Chris Cornell Signature ES-335
- Eastwood Messenger
- Reverend Airwave 12-string
- Fylde Falstaff acoustic
- Epiphone Elitist ES-335
- Sho-Bud E9 pedal steel
Amp
- Supro 1695T Black Magick 1x12 combo (pedal steel)
- Two early Benson Monarch amps with Tall Bird reverbs
- Benson 1x12 cabs
Effects
For pedal steel:
- Boss FV-500 volume pedal
- Malekko Spring Chicken reverb
For electrics:
- Tuner
- Xotic AC Booster
- Keeley Dark Side
- Boss MT-2 Metal Zone
- Third Man Mantic Flex
- Boss SY-1 Guitar Synthesizer
- Strymon TimeLine
- Radial Twin-City ABY amp switcher
For acoustics:
- Fishman Aura Spectrum DI preamp
- Voodoo Lab Amp Selector
- Radial DIs
Modular Synth Rig:
- Busy Circuits Pamela’s Workout Master Clock
- Mutable Instruments Plaits
- Mutable Instruments Rings
- Knobula Poly Cinematic
- Strymon Magneto
- Instruo Arbhar
- Make Noise Rosie
Strings
- D’Addario Light Acoustic Guitar Strings (.012–.053)
- D’Addario Medium Wound 3rd Electric Guitar Strings (.011–.049)
Meloy and Funk were in their mid and late 20s, respectively, when they founded the Decemberists, and spent the following years of youthful adulthood developing a deeper friendship. When Meloy comments modestly on his guitar skills, Funk chimes in, “I think you’re undercutting your guitar playing. Colin’s a really great guitar player.”
“I learned a lot about guitar from Funk,” Meloy obliges. “I feel like when I started the Decemberists, I was afraid of electric guitar to a certain degree, and was much more comfortable with acoustic guitar. Funk has sort of pushed me in the direction of experimenting with guitar tones and pedals and setups and stuff like that. [I have gone] in that direction a little bit … not necessarily kicking and screaming, but just like, so intimidated by it. [He’s helped me to] open up to some ideas and approaches I don’t think I would’ve had before.”
That appreciation is mutual, as Funk shares his own perspective on what they’ve learned from one another over the years: “Colin’s always been pretty bold with some ideas that one might not do when they’ve entered a period of recording their second record on a major label—making Hazards of Love, which is a 45-minute folk-rock opera, if you will. So my takeaway is that the art comes first and it’s not always trying to find a single—it’s just being brave, to write from the heart.”
YouTube It
With Meloy on a Guild 12-string and Funk on a Reverend semi-hollowbody, the Decemberists rock their way through their 12-minute narrative folk-prog composition “The Island,” from 2006’s The Crane Wife.
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The Velvet Sledgehammer is Mayfly’s first heavy distortion pedal.
It uses an overdriven LM308 op-amp with 1N4148 clipping diodes, followed by an adjustable filter circuit. This is followed by an active midrange control with 12db of boost or cut. This allows you to scoop or boost your mids adding a whole lot of flexibility to a classic distortion design.
If you were to say “Hey! That sounds like a RAT with an active midrange!”, you would not be far off. But it’s that midrange control that makes this pedal so much better sounding than a typical RAT clone. You can scoop it for a metal tone, but I especially like to boost the mids with higher distortion settings. A typical RAT can get pretty fizzy when you crank the distortion, but boosting the mids gives a lot of body back to your sound. Either way (I’m going to use a big cliché here) with the active midrange control your palette of tones expands onwards towards the horizon. ;)
The name “Velvet Sledgehamer” and the motorcycle artwork are both inspired by a motorcycle model known for its sophistication, grace, and for having so much power it would lift the front wheel instantly when you twisted the throttle. The Velvet Sledgehammer distortion pedal has the same kind of feel. Crank on the distortion knob and it will make you feel like you can wheelie all the way down the block.
• Heavy distortion pedal.
• Active midrange control with 12db of boost/cut (center position is flat).
• Two pole adjustable filter control.
• Distortion and volume controls.
• Full bypass.
• 9VDC, 28mA.
MAP price: $145 USD ($199 CAD).
Just like guitarists, audiophiles are chasing sound. It may be a never-ending quest.
“What you got back home, little sister, to play your fuzzy warbles on? I bet you got, say, pitiful, portable picnic players. Come with uncle and hear all proper. Hear angel trumpets and devil trombones.”—Alexander DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) in the film A Clockwork Orange.
We listen to recorded music for enjoyment and inspiration, but few of us expect recordings to rival the experience of live music. Most guitarists know that the average home sound system, let alone Bluetooth boomboxes, cannot reproduce the weight and depth equal to standing in a room with a full-blown concert guitar rig. Also, classical music lovers recognize that a home system won’t reproduce the visceral envelope of a live orchestra. Still, much like guitarists, audiophiles spend huge amounts of time and money chasing the ultimate “realistic” audio experience. I wonder if sometimes that’s misguided.
My exposure to the audio hobby came early, from my father’s influence. My dad grew up in the revolution of home electronics, and being an amateur musician, he wanted good reproduction of the recordings he cherished. This led him to stock our home with tube components and DIY electrostatic hybrid speakers that rivaled the size and output of vintage Fender 2x12s. I thought this was normal.
Later, I discovered a small shop in my hometown that specialized in “high end” audiophile gear. They had a policy: No sale is final until you are completely satisfied. I became an almost weekly visitor (and paying customer) and was allowed to take equipment home to audition, which was dangerous for a young man on a low budget. It was through this program I started to understand the ins and outs of building a cohesive system that met my taste. I began to pay much more attention to the nuances of audio reproduction. Some gear revealed a whole new level of accuracy when it came to acoustic or vocal performance, while lacking the kick-ass punch I desired of my rock albums. I was seeking reproduction that would gently caress the sounds on folk, classical, and jazz recordings, but could also slay when the going got heavy. This made me a bit of an odd bird to the guys at the audio shop, but they wanted to please. With their guidance I assembled some decent systems over time, but through the decades, I lost interest in the chase.
Recently, I’ve begun perusing online audiophile boards and they seem oddly familiar, with tube versus solid-state discussions that might feel at home to guitarists—except the prices are now beyond what I’d imagined. For the most part, they mirror the exchanges we see on guitar boards minus the potty-mouth language. Enthusiasts exchange information and opinions (mostly) on what gear presents the widest soundstage or most detailed high-frequency delivery, all in flowery language usually reserved for fine wines.
Speaking of whining, you’ll rethink your idea of expensive cables when you hear folks comparing 18", $1,700 interconnects for their DACs. Some of the systems I’ve seen are more costly than an entire guitar, amplifier, and studio gear collection by a serious margin. Mostly, the banter is cordial and avoids the humble-bragging that might go along with the purchase of a $10,000 set of PAF humbuckers. Still, I have a lack of insight into what exactly most are trying to accomplish.
If you’ve ever worked in a big-time studio, you know that the soundscape blasting out of huge monitors is not what most of us have in our homes. My experience rewiring pro-studio patchbays is that less emphasis is placed on oxygen-free, silver-plated, directional cables than the room treatment. I’ve found myself wondering if the people on those audio boards—who have spent many tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars on their home systems—have ever been in a studio control room listening to music as loud as a 28,000 horsepower traffic jam of NASCAR racers. That might be an eye-opener.
One of my takeaways is that even though music recording began as an attempt to reproduce what actually happens in a room, it hasn’t been just that for a long time. With all our effects and sonic wizardry on display, recording is like playing an instrument itself, and much more complex. This is not a new revelation to Beatles fans.
What amazes me is that both audiophiles and guitar fanatics pursue the sounds we hear on recordings for differing reasons and with subjective results. It’s a feedback-loop game, where we chase sounds mostly exclusive to the studio. So, how do we determine if our playback is accurate? Will we ever be satisfied enough to call the sale final?
I’m not convinced, but just the same, I’ll continue my own search for the holy grail of affordable, kick-ass sound that still loves a folk guitar
The series features three distinct models—The Bell,The Dread, and The Parlor—each built to deliver rich, resonant acoustic sound with effortless amplification.
Constructed with solid Sitka spruce tops and solid mahogany back & sides, the Festival Series offers warm, balanced tone with incredible sustain. A Fishman pickup system, paired with hidden volume and tone control knobs inside the sound hole, ensures seamless stage and studio performance.
Grover 16:1 ratio tuners provide superior tuning stability, while D’Addario strings enhance clarity and playability. Each guitar comes with a heavy-padded gig bag, making it a perfect choice for gigging musicians and traveling artists.
Key Features of the Festival Series Guitars:
- Solid Sitka Spruce Top – Provides bright, articulate tone with impressive projection
- Solid Mahogany Back & Sides – Adds warmth and depth for a well-balanced sound
- Fishman Pickup System – Delivers natural, high-fidelity amplified tone
- Hidden Volume & Tone Control Knobs – Discreetly placed inside the sound hole for clean aesthetics
- Grover Tuners (16:1 Ratio) – Ensures precise tuning stability
- D’Addario Strings – Premium strings for enhanced sustain and playability
- Heavy-Padded Gig Bag Included – Provides protection and convenience for musicians on the go
Mooer Prime Minimax M2 Intelligent Pedal boasts 194 effects models, 80 preset slots, MNRS and third-party sample file compatibility, an 80-minute looping module, internal drum machine, high-precision tuner, Bluetooth support, and a rechargeable lithium battery.
Over the last few years, Mooer has released several Prime multi-effects devices, including the Prime P1, P2, S1, and most recently in 2024, the Prime Minimax M1. Excitingly, the company is kicking off 2025 with a brand new addition to the Prime family–the Prime Minimax M2 Intelligent Pedal.
Within this small multi-effects device, a whole lot of functionality is packed in, including an impressive 194 effects models, including overdrive, preamp simulators, cabinet models, delays, reverbs, modulation effects, etc., and more. In typical Mooer style, though, the company took things a step further by offering limitless flexibility through the support of its in-house MNRS sample files, as well as third-party IR sample files. Essentially, this means that users can download additional tonal emulations and effects from the Mooer Cloud and third-party sources to the device, which they can then save across 80 preset slots.
As with some past models in the Prime series, the M2 sports a convenient touchscreen design, facilitating easy browsing through the devices banks of presets. However, guitarists are not limited to interfacing with the pedal in this way, as it also features two footswitches, both of which can be used to switch between presets in each bank. There is even a MIDI jack built into the device, enabling users to connect their MIDI controllers to extend the control functions, and the MOOER F4 wireless footswitch support is also supported. Essentially, these augmentation options facilitate additional footswitches to ensure switching preset tones is always as quick and seamless as possible within any workflow.
While the Prime M2 Intelligent Pedal is primarily designed for effects and tonal simulations, it also comes packed with an array of other useful features. For example, it contains a looping module with a hefty 80-minute capacity, in addition to 10 recording save slots to ensure that any looping creations can be kept for future use in performances. Similar to past looper modules in Mooer's products, users are also free to overdub their recordings and even undo or redo their overdubs, offering a lot of real-time flexibility for creating loop-based musical structures.
As if the addition of a looper wasn’t enough, this feature is also synchronizable with an internal drum machine and metronome, a combination that includes 56 drum grooves and 4 metronome varieties. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that Mooer clearly recognizes and wishes to solve the struggles that musicians have when attempting to produce precise loops while staying in time. Upon commencing recording, the drum machine can produce four initial beats to serve as a count-in cue, and of course, this can be combined with the device's tap-tempo control for dynamic use. Best of all, this feature can also be applied to modulation and delay effects, ensuring that they work perfectly in time with any performance.
Extra features are included to complete this all-in-one pedal, including a high-precision tunerwith fully customizable frequency ranges. Guitarists can even leverage the M2’s built-inBluetooth input support, allowing them to practice, jam, and even produce looped musicalstructures over their favorite backing tracks, band prototypes, and musical pieces.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for existing Mooer product users, the Prime M2 also boasts an impressive variety of audio routing systems. As was previously mentioned, that includes Bluetooth input, as well as industry standards such as dual-channel stereo output, perfect for stereo delay and modulation effects. It also supports headphone output for those who wish to practice in silence, and even OTG recording, which means that guitarists can record their creations directly to their smartphone whilst on the go.
Speaking of on-the-go, Mooer is continuing its recent portable-play focus with the Prime M2Intelligent Pedal, as it is fitted with a built-in rechargeable lithium battery with a battery life of up to 6 hours. Ultimately, this means that even a lack of local power sources won’t get in the way of rehearsals and live performances. Combined with the pedal’s lightweight and small build, it truly is an ideal addition to the pedalboard of any traveling musician.
Overall, the Prime M2 Intelligent Pedal is set to be an impressive new addition to the Prime series. It features augmented functionality when compared to past models, yet still in a minimalist and easy-to-use package, keeping the size small and light yet still packing in footswitches, a touch screen, and other flexible control systems.
Features:
- 194 built-in effect models and tonal emulations
- 80 preset slots for storing downloaded MNRS and third-party sample files
- Compatibility with the MOOER Cloud tone-sharing platform
- Built-in 80-minute looping module
- Record, overdub, pause, delete, and playback functions for looping
- Internal drum machine module, stocked with 56 drum grooves
- 4 unique metronomes
- Synchronization between drum machine and looper
- Convenient count-in cue function support from the metronome
- High-precision and customizable tuner module
- 2 multi-function footswitches
- 1.28-inch touchscreen interface
- LED digital display
- LED charge indicator
- Portable USB/OTG recording
- Direct compatibility with the MOOER prime mobile APP and MOOER Studio desktop software for preset management
- Bluetooth 5.0 audio playback
- 3000mAh integrated lithium battery with up to 6 hours of use time
- DC 5V/2A power supply and charging
- 3 hours charging time
- Low weight of 228g
- Compact, at 74mm (L), 125mm (W), and 49mm (H)
- Sample rate of 44.1kHz
- Bit depth of 24bit
- Compatible with MOOER F4 wireless footswitch
- 3.5mm MIDI port
- Mono TS ¼” input
- Stereo TS ¼” output
- 3.5mm headphone output
- Power switch button
The Prime Minimax M2 Intelligent Pedal will be available from the official distributors or retailersworldwide.
For more information, please visit mooeraudio.com.