Carlos OāConnell deforms his guitar with an unusual ordering of shapeshifting stompboxes, while Conor Curley embraces jangling and kerranging melodies on his hollowbody howlers. Together, they combine for a charming, chaotic chemistry.
Irish rock band Fontaines D.C. is a dual-guitar ensemble featuring Carlos OāConnell and Conor Curley. At first, the duo used similar guitars, amps, and settings in an effort to work as a symbiotic saw buzzing their way through songs. The indistinguishable incisions lacerated their earliest work with angsty piss and vinegar. But as the quintetās musicianship has evolved, theyāve embraced wider influences, adding different knives to their collection of cutlery. And more specifically, theyāve learned when to slice, when to dice, and how to work off each other.
āI think weāre trying to be more patient and more conscious of the texture,ā Curley told PG in 2022, describing how he and OāConnell have worked together to refine their sound. āThe first album was very much in a fighting mode,ā he continues, āwith the two guitars EQād the same and just smashing off each other. On the second one, we learned to play together a little better. Weāre still working on it, and sometimes we still try to become as one almost, when the song needs it, but I think now weāve learned to fit in with how weāre EQing everything. It feels really good.ā
Ahead of their opening slot priming crowds for the Arctic Monkeys, OāConnell and Curley invited PGās Chris Kies onstage at the Ascend Amphitheater in downtown Nashville. Carlos covered his favored Fender solidbodies, while Conor showed off his eclectic hollowbodies, and they both walked through their respective pedalboards.Brought to you by D'Addario Trigger Capo.
A Punchy Pinger
While recording with producer Dan Carey for 2022ās Skinty Fia, Carlos OāConnell fell for Careyās mid-ā60s red Fender Mustang. To replicate the albumās tones onstage, he found a similar āStang online. The listing originated in N.Y.C., so he had a friend at the bandās label, Partisan Records, scoop up the instrument. OāConnell was finally introduced to it before a U.S. tour, but there was something immediately wrong. The student model instrument normally came in a compact 24" scale, but a handful of ā65 & ā66 Mustangs, including this one, left Fullerton with an even shorter scale length of 22.5". OāConnell admits any guitar work handled beyond the 12th fret gets cramped, but he loves the small steedās āsnappy, pingy, high-end punch.ā For a song like āTelevised Mind,ā heāll engage the out-of-phase switch in conjunction with a Moose Electronics Cosmic Tremorlo. The combination intensifies the shrillness of the guitar for an undeniable sting. All of OāConnellās electrics take Ernie Ball Burly Slinkys (.011ā.052).
Irish Icon
OāConnell scooped this Fender Custom Shop Rory Gallagher Signature Stratocaster with a heavy relic from Chicago Music Exchange. He wanted something to contrast the ping of the Mustang with a guitar that had a heftier, chunkier sound, which would add more low end for the bandās D-standard songs. The Strat was the perfect foil, and the replica based on Roryās 1961 is a fitting way to honor his fellow Irishman.
Secondary Strat
Backing up the Rory Strat is Carlosā Fender American Vintage II 1961 Stratocaster.
Hi-Hat Chime
āI canāt stop thinking about the guitar as an extension of the drum kit,ā explains OāConnell. āI donāt think it should exist on its own in a song. It needs to back something upāyouāre either following the vocals or youāre following the drums. You can do without guitar in songs, but you canāt do without vocals or drums.ā For āRoman Holiday,ā he runs this Martin J12-15 Jumbo 12-String into a Fender ā68 Custom Deluxe Reverb, with a bit of extra spring splash from a reverb by Moose Electronicsāwhich he unconventionally places first in the effects chain, ahead of his overdrivesāand gain from the MXR Micro Amp that mimics the sparkly crash of hi-hats for rhythm accompaniment.
Double Trouble
OāConnellās core tone comes through the Fender ā68 Custom Twin Reverb. Itās always on, and heās always plugged into the vintage channel with the bright switch engaged for primo piercing. He kicks on the ā68 Custom Deluxe Reverb for added oomph during louder bits.
Carlos O'Connell's Pedalboard
Carlosā first pedal was the Moose Electronics reverb (The Heart Doctor). When he eventually got a distortion, he put it after the reverb. He didnāt think about it. Any other drives he got thereafter went behind the reverb. āI had no idea it was āwrongā until I took my pedalboard into the studio, and they told me I had to rearrange them because the reverb was too dirty, but I like how it sounds like a snare in a huge room,ā admits OāConnell. And the rest of his pedal pals follow the same mantraāanything wrong is right, and anything grotesque is gorgeous.
Dirty devils include a Ceriatone Centura, a Fairfield Circuitry The Barbershop Millennium Overdrive, and an MXR Micro Amp. Tone-twisting modulators include a Moog Minifooger MF Flange, a Boss TR-2 Tremolo, a Strymon Lex, a Moose Electronics Cosmo Tremorlo, and an Electro-Harmonix POG. A Boss GE-7 Equalizer helps shape his sound. Utility boxes in his setup are the Radial BigShot ABY True Bypass Switcher (toggling in and out the ā68 Custom Deluxe Reverb), a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini, a Dunlop Volume (X) DVP4, and an Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger. A TheGigRig QuarterMaster QMX handles all the switching.
Holiday Hollowbody
While taking a break from Fontaines D.C., guitarist Conor Curley enjoyed some downtime in Berlin. Luckily, he encountered this 1960s Framus 03000 Studio that he took home for roughly $250. The archtop already had the Schaller pickup installed at the end of the fretboard, and he was amazed how well it meshed with distortion: āIt just sounded so chubby and big.ā He strings the Studioāwhich gets used on āHow Cold Love Isāāwith flatwounds.
Key Weapon
Curleyās two favorite guitarists are Johnny Marr and the Birthday Partyās Rowland S. Howard. Both played Jaguars, so Curleyās gravitation to the offset was obvious. Since becoming friendly with this Fender Johnny Marr Jag, heās appreciated the versatility of its series and parallel switching. To honor Howard, he swapped out the standard white pickguard for a tortoiseshell one that matches Rowlandās beloved 1966 Jag. Besides the Framus, all of Curleyās electrics take Ernie Ball Burly Slinkys (.011ā.052).
Some Neck, Somewhere
Ahead of recording their sophomore album, A Heroās Death, Curley decided to splurge his cut of the recordās advance on a vintage guitar. At Dublinās Some Neck Guitars, he purchased his first Fender Coronadoāhis attempt to channel the haunting hollowbody tones of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Black Angels. Since then, heās acquired a few more Coronados, and his main touring one is this late-ā60s Fender Coronado II Wildwood model he found in Stoke-on-Trent. His goal, one day, is to have a room full of Coronados. Godspeed, Curley!
Clint Eastman
At one point, Curley was diving deep into Elliott Smithās electric playing. Smith typically played a Gibson ES-330, but Curley didnāt want to dip into his Coronado money to get an ES, so he opted for this similar Eastman T64/v that shares a lot of the 330ās ingredients, including a 16" thinline hollowbody construction with laminated maple, 24.75" scale length, and dog-ear P-90s (Lollar).
Twin for the Win
Curley plugs all his instruments into this Fender ā68 Custom Twin Reverb because āthey donāt flavor anything. They let your guitars sound like your guitars, and they let the pedals do what they need to do.ā
Experimentation Station
Curley has a robust appetite for pedals. This small platter is his rotating appetizer board that is currently testing out a Boss BF-3 Flanger, an EarthQuaker Devices Sunn O))) Life Pedal, and a Fairfield Circuitry Hors dāOeuvre? active feedback loop.
Conor Curley's Pedalboard
āThere were definitely a lot more shoegazey elements that we were trying to get to, and, obviously, if you start talking about Kevin Shields or even Robin Guthrie from Cocteau Twins, the stuff they did, to me, is almost unreachable, but if you try, you might end up with something new anyway,ā Curley confessed to PG last year. And to achieve the range of the more ethereal and atmospheric sounds heard on Skinty Fia as well as the more brutish garage bangers in their earlier work requires a buffet of boxes. Curley employs three delays: Death By Audio Echo Dream 2, Ibanez AD9 Analog Delay, and the Industrialectric Echo Degrader. The latter āis so unpredictable, itās almost like it doesnāt sound the same every time you use it.ā He has a pair of reverbs (DigiTech HardWire RV-7 Stereo Reverb and a Boss RV-6 Reverb) and a couple Strymons (Sunset Dual Overdrive and Deco Tape Saturation & Doubletracker). The remaining three devices are a ThorpyFX Chain Home Tremolo, an Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, and a MXR Six Band EQ. A Dunlop Volume (X) DVP4 handles dynamics, and a TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir Mini keeps his guitars in check.
Shop Fontaines D.C.'s Rig
Fender Mustang
Fender Rory Gallagher Stratocaster
Fender American Professional Stratocaster
Fender American Vintage II 1961 Stratocaster
Fender Johnny Marr Jaguar
Ernie Ball Burly Slinkys
Fender '68 Custom Twin Reverb
Fender '68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
EarthQuaker Devices Sunn O))) Life Pedal
Boss BF-3 Flanger
Boss RV-6 Reverb
EHX Micro POG
TC Electronic PolyTune3
MXR Six Band EQ
Strymon Deco
Strymon Sunset
Dunlop Volume (X) DVP4
EHX POG
Strymon Lex
Radial Bigshot ABY
Boss TR-2 Tremolo
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
MXR Micro Amp
EHX Hum Debugger
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