Intervals bandleader Aaron Marshall joins Rhett and Zach for this installment of Dipped In Tone, which is essentially a crash-course in touring, merch design, road-ready rig planning, and keeping your head above water as an unsigned act.
The trio start off with a deep dive into Intervals’ focus on high-quality merch, and Marshall outlines his design and marketing philosophies. Increasingly, these elements are the lifeblood of any band that wants to make a living in music: “A touring band is just a traveling T-shirt shop that gets to play music for 40 minutes,” Marshall quips.
Marshall expands on his DIY expertise—Intervals has self-released all four of their full-length records, and still managed to thrive and build a name for themselves. Obviously, that requires a lot of hard work before outsourcing things like management and booking. “You have to take it to your wit’s end,” says Marshall.
Marshall explains how Intervals has managed to maintain a top-level live production without label backing, and why, after literally tucking his tube amps in to a tour van bunk bed, he won’t take them on the road anymore. (“Glass is crazy to be touring with,” he says.) Part of the band’s low-frills magic is a “go along to get along” attitude as an opening act, which includes foregoing specific pieces of gear to make their lives—and the lives of everyone involved in a tour production—more easy.
While Intervals leans toward the gnarlier side of the rock spectrum, Marshall connects his playing back to the classics, and shares why he thinks it’s important to keep a healthy, back-to-basics musical diet: “Playing the blues and learning how to play rock is like eating broccoli at every meal.”
Stay tuned til the end to get the details on Intervals’ upcoming 2024 release.
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![Rig Rundown: Intervals’ Aaron Marshall [2022]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-intervals-2022.jpg?id=29216049&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
And Aaron Marshall is never satisfied with guitar: “Everything’s perfect. Let’s change it all,” the Intervals visionary joked during this new Rig Rundown. “Everything is different, which is probably the most on-brand thing I can provide. But hopefully this is the beginning of that not being the case.”
The guitar disciple started Intervals back in 2011. He’s been the solo constant member and the band’s musical pilot. He’s put out four riveting, guitar-centric albums to date. And sure, the obvious 6-string influences are found within Intervals’ music, with complementing flavors of prog, metal, djent, and jazz all percolating together. But the ’90s kid has an unabashed love for Top 40 pop and has drawn from acts like NYSYNC, TLC, and Destiny’s Child, too, giving Intervals’ music more bounce, groove, and life. “I’ll challenge myself to put my spin on a chord progression that feels like [TLC’s] ‘No Scrubs,’ but still be Intervals about it. It’s always an experiment between me and the guitar. These sorts of experiments yield new songs.”
Before Intervals’ December ’21 headlining show at Nashville’s Mercy Lounge, prog-rock maestro Marshall reconnected with PG’s Perry Bean to catalog his rig revamp. The ensuing conversation covered the decision to pass on a high-end (but limited) partnership with Mayones for a collaboration with Schecter that aims to bring guitars to everyone across the globe. (“You still have young people that are really interested in music for music’s sake. And there is this wave of online instrumental guitar music that is the best it’s ever been.”) Plus, he meticulously details how he’s testing Neural DSP’s pedalboard powerhouse with a space-encompassing stereo setup that will resonate with fans in every corner of the room.
Brought to you by D’Addario XPND Pedalboard.
Trial by Tour
Our first Rig Rundown of 2020 also featured Aaron Marshall. In that episode, he showed off a batch of gorgeous prototypes from Poland’s high-end guitar maker Mayones. The relationship eventually presented two issues for Marshall: the limited quantities produced by this handmade shop and the top-tier price tags that would make them a rare commodity for most of his fans. What he really wanted was a way to encourage more novices to pick up the instrument.
“Everything is completely amicable with Mayones—I love those dudes—but a very quality opportunity with Schecter presented itself where I’ll get influence over models that will be actually obtainable for a reasonable price point,” adds Marshall.
He toured the States in late 2021 with four Schecter signature protypes (a pair of 6-strings and 7-strings). First, his new guitar starts with Schecter’s “super-strat” C-1 platform. The DNA of these testers include a basswood body, quartersawn wenge neck (with carbon-fiber reinforcement and a truss-rod wheel), and ebony fretboard (lighted up with Luminlays side dots for dark stages). He admits to focusing a healthy amount of its development on the neck profile because he believes that “the neck dictates the user experience” and wenge was selected because “it has an heirloom-esque feel that gives you a really nice handshake with some character.” It has a real-deal Japanese Gotoh 510 Series trem (with a steel block), extra-jumbo stainless-steel frets, and is decked out with Hipshot hardware. For this run, he was auditioning Schecter’s Custom Shop Pasadena Plus pickups, but noted that those could change before production starts. (Also, he hints at a future U.S.-made model that would come with Bare Knuckle pickups.) Marshall still puts D’Addario NYXL strings (.009–.046, and .009–.064 for 7-string) on all his guitars.
Head Turner
Marshall wanted something new and something old when codesigning the headstock. So, he took Schecter’s classic, 6-in-line silhouette and reversed it (a first for the company). It also has a more severe tilt-back break than standard Schecters, removing the need for a string tree.
Secret Signature
The lone serial number and signature marking on the instrument is reserved for a subtle spot on the back of the headstock.
Shred Neck
Marshall has always preferred a bolt-on neck, and things are shored up with a 4-screw connection. This curvy layout gives full access to all 24 frets.
The Whole Enchilada
Here’s the No. 1 prototype from boot to bonnet.
Another String, Another Inch
Schecter and Marshall are also testing a 7-string model. Everything is the same as the 6-string, but this instrument has a 26.5" scale length to help with string tension.
Smaller Footprint, Bigger Tones
“People can get confused when they see changes in this type of stuff and think ‘Oh, this must be better’” comments Marshall. “Everything is sick in 2021. It’s all good.” Last time we checked in with Marshall and Intervals, he was running a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III. But as you see here, another transformation happened when he swapped out the rackmount unit out for the smaller, pedalboard-ready Neural DSP Quad Cortex. (Again, no bad blood between Aaron and Fractal. He still loves their gear, too.) And the ethos behind this rig is the same in as the past, where impulse-response-based tones are feeding the front of house PA and a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 compact head is pumping the onstage cabs.
Within the Quad Cortex, Marshall created three specific impulse responses with different frequencies for rhythm, lead, and split-coil sounds. The amps he uses within the unit include a Friedman (“hot sounds”), JCM800 (“clangy twangy sounds”), Bogner Shiva (“clean sounds that need a little spring and bounce”), and a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus (“stylized ’80s cleans”).
More than Meets the Eye
This is it—everything that Marshall uses to power up for an Intervals live show. Alongside the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, he employs a Hologram Electronics Microcosm for stutter/glitch effects, a Red Panda Tensor for laser sounds, and the DigiTech FreqOut for instant feedback. A Boss EV-30 Dual Expression pedal helps handle the filter on the Microcosm and dial in dynamics for the Quad Cortex. A TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Mini keeps his Schecters in check. And everything is housed on a custom Temple Audio DUO Series Templeboard.
Revv Rock
Another evolution is the stereo cabinets onstage, which providing a completely symmetrical sound. Both Aaron Marshall and guitarist Travis LeVrier each have a pair of custom vertical Revv 2x12s (with exquisite paisley tooling) that have a couple of Celestions: a Vintage 30 (bottom) and a G12M 65 Creamback (top).
Before hitting the road, Marshall adopts an intense practice regimen for all the techniques he'll need to cover. "My right hand gets really dialed when it's tour time."
Cardi B's “WAP" may have ruled the airwaves for the last few months, but that hasn't stopped a massive scene of technically advanced, guitar-centric rock from “quietly" enjoying astounding worldwide popularity, too. And Aaron Marshall, the mastermind behind prog heavyweights Intervals, is among those at its forefront. But keeping a band and the genre—which also includes Animals As Leaders, Covet, Polyphia, Chon, and other bands—moving forward is a full-time job. So, in the online-music era, artists have to adapt and become as proficient at business and production as they are at their instruments.
Marshall is a template for this breed of renaissance musician. He is a business owner, composer, producer, and a social-media marketing guru, and he releases his own music without a record label. Plus, he's a mind-blowing guitarist. Even during COVID-related lockdowns and unrest, these skills keep Marshall, his band, and his business busy. While some bands are hunkering down and waiting it out, Intervals is pushing forward with its just-released album, Circadian.
“We decided to move full steam ahead," Marshall says. “Give [the fans] some new music, and we'll see how things progress from there. We're glad we can provide for fans of the music, and we feel that we made the right choice."
This commitment to both fan base and craft is why Intervals has risen to the cream of the boundary-expanding prog-guitar crop in the nine years since Marshall formed the Toronto-based band. It's also evident in the compositional and fretboard theatrics found throughout Circadian's 35 minutes.
To make the album, Marshall and producer Sam Guaiana locked themselves away, exploring and expanding Intervals' trademark rhythmic complexity and harmonic interplay. Factor Guaiana's pop production techniques in with Marshall's low-tuned, aggressive riffing on songs like “Vantablack" and “String Theory," and Circadian takes the band to a very different place than earlier albums.
Also, fleet-fingered guests Marco Sfogli (of Dream Theater singer James LaBrie's band) and Joshua De La Victoria elevate a couple of Marshall's compositions beyond what he thought was possible. You'll even find an inspiring saxophone solo on “D.O.S.E.," as well as the powerhouse rhythms of bandmembers Josh Umansky on bass and drummer Nathan Bulla. Yet even with all of these ingredients, Circadian never comes off as disjointed. According to Marshall, that's because it's all about “this constant striving for balance. It's things that I'm passionate about, conveyed through the music."
Over the last three albums, Intervals has developed a signature sound that's soaring, majestic, and full of rich dynamics, tempo changes, and varied instrumental colors. How do you balance all that while still growing as an artist?
I try to write based on intuition. With each body of work, I'm a different person. I'm always into new things. Perhaps my pencil would be a little sharper if I was constantly composing. But I've never had the luxury. Since the beginning of this journey, it's been a freight train. There's always been deadlines and things.That's what's pretty exciting about right now, honestly: the fact that I have time to compose. I've got the bug to continue writing, and I'm feeling really good about it.
Circadian has some heavier moments. Did you set out to bring more metal to this album?
I did, actually. I'm dipping a toe on taking Intervals back in that direction. I wanted to bring the 7-string back a little bit. One of the 7-string songs is in drop A, and then there's another, “String Theory," that's drop D with a low A. But I didn't want to go, “Okay. Here's a fucking full-tilt 7-string record." I still had things I wanted to say with 6-string. But I think it's a sign of things to come. Part of me is eyeing an 8-string and going, “Maybe that's going to be a vibe at some point." Who knows?
How else did Circadian help you grow?
I'm continuing to grow as a composer, in terms of my attention to detail and arrangement. I'm exploring new production tricks, new ways that we can utilize the guitar. Something I love about vocal production is wide, stereo background vocals. And Sam, the producer and engineer that I worked with, primarily works in the pop-punk world. So he was good at applying those vocal techniques [to guitars]. That's something I'm really, really excited about.Also, we doubled all my guitar harmonies—even if it was a third above, a third below, octaves, or a combination of those. Then we could say, “I want this to have that stereo background vocal vibe." We could pan them harder away from each other, maybe even compress them more, or do something like adding some chorus. It's painstaking—we would have to really scrutinize takes to get them really tight with each other. But I'm excited about what we achieved.
The collaborations with Marco Sfogli and Joshua De La Victoria are impressive.
I'm in love with Josh's project called Victoria, which has Matt Garstka, the drummer from Animals As Leaders. He's like 22 or 23. It's kind of scary, he's so good, and I really love providing a platform to show him off. I was sending him bounces and asked what he thought. Usually, a [guest-artist] feature is within the context of the solo section. But we tossed some ideas back and forth, and I was like, “Oh, this is money." That's why that song ended up being called “Lock & Key." It's synergistic. One [player's part] completes the other.
As far as Marco on “String Theory," he is probably my favorite guitar player of all time. I've been stealing his approach to melodic, top-line guitar for years. I had a solo spot open up, and I figured I'd shoot my shot. He got back to me and said that he'd be really excited to do it, and 48 hours later I had a completely finished solo in my inbox. I was like, “Dude, are you kidding me?!" I completely lost my shit. I told my parents because they know how much of a fan I am. I was telling everybody I know! The part has my jaw on the floor every time I hear it.
Despite being recorded during the pandemic, tracking for the new album “didn't feel too far from what I'm used to," says Marshall. It's “largely dependent on guitars. So we don't usually have anyone else around anyway."
During 2015's The Shape of Color, you were with PRS. With The Way Forward, in 2017, you played a lot of Suhr and Aristides guitars. Now, you're using Mayones. What inspired these changes?
Really, at the end of the day, it's about listening to my intuition. And it's about exploring and finding what speaks to me, what works, and feeling that I'm in the correct company.It's never about being unhappy with the guitars. It also has nothing to do with the end goal of slapping my name on an instrument. Sometimes people think that can be the case, but I can assure you it's not.The Mayones guys have always been very kind to me. The opportunity was there to spend some time in Gdańsk, at their shop in Poland, and check everything out. I had a blast. I was very impressed by the guitars and the operation.Then they sent some instruments to try to see if they suit my tastes. Those first two Mayones Regius Core models are amazing—they're absolutely phenomenal, road-worthy instruments. They sound great, and they're all over the record. Those are the guitars that I showed on our Rig Rundown with you guys. That was my first tour with them. Now we're playing around with some ideas and experimenting with stuff. People like to take guesses at what those things are, because they see guitars and they go, “Oh, this must be it" ... “That must be it." I can assure everybody that I'm going to throw a curveball with what we're working on. I'm really excited about it.
So there's going to be an Aaron Marshall signature Mayones guitar?
Well, I'm being very cryptic. But we are working on an instrument that doesn't exist in the catalog. It has specs that are extremely particular to me. If that's not being explicit, then I don't know what is [laughs].
What other guitars did you play on the album?
I used a Martin that was borrowed from a good buddy, Rob Cappelletto. He's faculty at York University (in Toronto), for the jazz program. He's also my tech, a guru, and somebody that I really look up to. I can't remember exactly what model it was.The meat-and-potatoes 6-strings were my Tele and the jade-green Regius Core from Mayones with Bare Knuckle Silos. We also used my gunmetal Suhr Custom Modern with the roasted neck, the reversed headstock, and a Floyd for some overdubs. The 7-string stuff is probably equal parts my Abasi J Larada 7, with a wenge neck, and my Regius Core 7 from Mayones. It's the purple one with the ash body. That one has Silos in it, as well. We really liked how that guitar sounds, because it has a Schaller Hannes bridge on it, which is a very particular sound.
Be sure to watch our in-depth Rig Rundown with Intervals:
Intervals leader Aaron Marshall plays 6- and 7-string Mayones Regius Core guitars with Bare Knuckle Silo pickups, and is currently collaborating with the Polish company on a signature model. Photo by Mike DeMellia
You've been a big proponent of amp modeling, but the studio can be very different. Do you use live amps and pedals while recording?
Actually, funny enough, I'm pacing around my studio right now, staring at a wall of amps and pedals. But no analog equipment was harmed in the making of this record. The album is 100 percent Neural DSP plug-ins. Isn't that terrifying? It's terrifying.It's the Fortin Cali Suite plug-in on all of the rhythms. It's amp three from the Archetype: Nolly on the majority of leads. Some stylized cleans are from Archetype: Abasi. And we used the 800-type amp two from Archetype: Nolly for some split-coil pushed mid-gain type vibes and textural-type things.
The even crazier part was that every single tone that made it into the mix was the exact tone that we dialed in to track with. I literally sat there with a cable plugged into a Radial DI that went into some sort of outboard compressor scenario. The bass was probably 90 percent Parallax, maybe a little bit of the Darkglass plug-in at times. That's it. Funny enough, while all of the guitars are completely digital, there is zero sample replacement or reinforcement on the drum kit. The drums are more natural than the fucking guitars, which is insane!
Will you be programming those tones into your Axe-Fx III for live performance, or will you be using the Neural DSP stuff onstage?
The live rig hasn't changed at all since we did that Rig Rundown. It went from that tour into storage, because life is a cruel joke in 2020 [laughs]. I'm already so stressed out about a laptop running in conjunction with the show. I only want it to be tasked with sequencing and the clicks, and when we have an automated light show, MIDI changes, and stuff like that.
The Axe-Fx III is my favorite modeler. It's the crown jewel of the modeling world and I'm extremely comfortable with it. I have no doubt that I could recreate everything that I've achieved in the box with the Axe-Fx. And I love the AX8. It's what we use for international touring. We run them with the smaller Seymour Duncan PowerStage power-amp setup. But the AX8 was discontinued, and they moved over to the FM3. So I am going to be checking out the Neural DSP Quad Cortex.
This might be a ways off, but how do you prepare new material for a tour?
I have to admit that, lately, I'm not doing the regimented one- or two-hour divided practice and covering all my bases. I don't have the time anymore, especially with being an independent artist and having a life outside of the guitar. However, when it's live time I cover more bases in maintaining and oiling up the various aspects of [my playing].I'll be playing a wider breadth of material, because “this song has a shit-ton of picking, this song has a lot of legato, this song has got tapping stuff, this song's extremely rhythmic.…" My right hand gets really dialed when it's tour time.But I might not be as creative then. It depends on what you're reserving your bandwidth for. I might not have all the techniques or all these different fields completely dialed in when I'm doing the studio stuff. But my brain is switched on. I'm curating the things that I need to serve ideas as they arrive.
Speaking of that creative space, not only is Circadian full of great playing but there's a narrative running throughout the album. What's the premise?
One of the things I love about instrumental music is that you're going to elicit a response—whether it's the one that you plant in the listener's head, or maybe you open the door a crack and let them figure the rest out. I've sort of been doing that a little bit more with each release.Circadian is a metaphor for balance. It's the concept of a circadian rhythm or the cyclical connection we have to the environment, the planet, the sun, and the moon cycle. It's about this idea of the human journey and constantly striving for balance.
Guitars
Mayones Regius Core 6-string with Bare Knuckle Silo pickups
Mayones Regius Core 7-string with Bare Knuckle Silos and Schaller Hannes bridge Abasi J Larada 7-string
Suhr Custom Modern
Martin acoustic
Amps & Effects
Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700
Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170
Custom Mesa/Boogie 4x12
Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III
Fractal Audio AX8
Neural DSP plug-ins
Strings and Picks
D'Addario NYXL strings (.009–.046, .009–.064 for 7-string)
Custom Dunlop Tortex picks
It can be a difficult time to find balance. What was it like recording the album remotely, with Jacob recording his bass parts from the U.S., and with everything that's going on in the world?
Well, it honestly didn't feel too far from what I'm used to. Recording an Intervals album is largely dependent on guitars. So we don't usually have anyone else around anyway. I mean, I was driving to the studio every day and spending 8 to 10 hours tracking with Sam. Remembering to grab your mask before you go out and get lunch is probably the weirdest thing about each day [laughs].
Many bands are choosing to wait on album releases. Why release Circadian in the middle of this crisis?
Well, the plan was always to take 2020 to write the new record. But, obviously, with the way things unfolded this year, it made the logistical part very challenging. We decided to book recording time regardless, because we wanted to continue moving towards our goals. We actually surveyed my Instagram via a story post. We posed the question, “How important is it for you that your favorite artist is immediately touring off the back of a release?" It was really interesting. This music is so popular in a lot of international territories, where people are lucky if they get one show an album cycle. They see live opportunities as just that, opportunities. It's a bonus for them. So we decided, “You know what? It would probably be best for us to go ahead and actually drop this year and see. Yes, it might get knee-capped by the inability to tour, but we owe it to our fans. Maybe it could be a shining light for them in a dark time."
Speaking of international markets, highly technical guitar bands like Intervals, Yvette Young and Covet, Animals As Leaders, Plini, Scale the Summit, CHON, and Polyphia are growing in popularity throughout the world. What unites your bands, and why is there such demand for this kind of guitar music?
Look, there are so many legends that have done [instrumental guitar music] before. But it was executed differently—not to take away from anybody. They all paved the way for us. But there wasn't as much attention to the overall compositions. Some of the early iterations of this music did feel self-indulgent, where it's like a backing track and then room to rip on top. What I think creates this entire new universe is the prerequisite that you have to be a skilled composer and make interesting music. It's inclusive of the entire band. It makes every person in this world feel more like a composer than a guitar player. If you look at all of the top people in this new wave, I think that's one of the most congruent things.
And yet, people still say that the electric guitar is dying.
Well, anyone who thinks the death of the electric guitar is upon us is very out of touch. You can't hold its head underwater. The electric guitar is iconic. It's not going anywhere.You still have young people that are really interested in music for music's sake. And there is this wave of online instrumental guitar music that is the best it's ever been. And for us to be able to go to places like Southeast Asia or South Africa or more obscure places and have hundreds of kids at shows or a large festival billing … it flies in the face of the argument that the electric guitar is dying. I make a living every day playing the electric guitar. My identity is built around this thing. I've been my own boss since 2015. I don't really think you can tell me that my instrument or my craft is dying. This entire thing is bigger and better than it ever has been.
In his first play-through video for Circadian, Aaron Marshall gives a guided fretboard tour of “5-HTP." He's using the MayonesRegius Core 6-string that accompanied him on the band's most recent tour.