Hissquiet (aka Ash Farrand)
Hissquiet(aka Ash Farrand) is a 3D artist, web developer, graphic designer, illustrator, and sound artist. Hissquiet creates short films that encompass all of their mixed media skills, and effects pedals are incorporated heavily into them. The result is a unique kind of demonstration video, each one creating a different mood while simultaneously showing off what the pedals and gear combinations can do.
What got you into making gear videos?
I’d been feeling the itch to create musically for a few years, since I’d barely picked up my guitar in the past almost-decade. I was browsing the depths of YouTube when I found Hainbach and Ann Annie videos and was immediately drawn into what they were doing.
The very next day I started recording stuff with my guitar and various VSTs [Virtual Studio Technologies]. I think my first foray into pedals was with the EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine and Afterneath.
I started posting my jam sessions and pedal demos on Instagram during “Jamuary” 2018, and I got such a good reception from inspiring folks in the community, like Anne Sulikowski and (NYC DJ) Blkmth, that most of my hesitation about posting went out the window and I’ve been collecting pedals and putting them together in odd ways ever since.
How do you choose which pedals you’re going to demo?
Acquiring a new pedal has been about “how do I create the sounds that I want, to build my perfect setup away from the computer.” I’m not against using a DAW. Since I spend a lot of time using screens the rest of the day for my jobs and other hobbies, it’s good to get away from that for a bit. Like, I’d recently been using a fuzz in Ableton on a lot of my stuff, so I knew I wanted to get a fuzz pedal. There are a lot of options for fuzz pedals out there, so my next question was, “Are there any smaller, perhaps women-owned/LGBT/BIPOC builders I can support?” Now I have the most uniquely gorgeous and lush fuzz pedal.