Make no mistake, Swan can play the guitar. His style is equal parts violence and grace, with pit stops at all points between. He terrorizes the frets as well as he tenderly dances on them—and the results can be chaotic or calming. But what most excites him about guitar is making it not sound like a guitar.
"I really like those tones that take the guitar far away from its normal sounds," Swan explains. "I like to layer those with typical guitar tones, and to mix cool sounds with interesting-playing parts. I need both of those elements to enjoy the experience."
"I'm self-taught, so I don't know music theory, so when I'm writing I don't know what things are going to sound like. I'm just messing around and seeing what catches my ear. It's similar to the way I explore pedals. I don't quite know what's going to happen, but if I come across something that I enjoy, I'll use it and don't question it."
The afternoon of Dance Gavin Dance's headlining show at Nashville's Marathon Music Works, Swan detailed his signature Kiesels (and the other Kiesel he's been preferring), explains how the Friedman Small Box is (phenomenally) filling the void of his favored vintage Rockerverb, and breaks down why his pedals help him embrace the textures and tones of other instruments.
[Brought to you by D'Addario XPND Pedalboard: https://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR]
Signature Swan
"I like jumping around to different types of guitars," admits Dance Gavin Dance guitarist Will Swan. Over the years, he's taken the stage with 6-strings from Fender, Gibson, Kauer, and Halo.
"I was opposed to signing to any particular company because I'd be tied down to that and wouldn't be able to play something else if I got the feeling to," he adds. However, after meeting Kiesel's VP Jeff Kiesel and touring their factory, Swan was comfortable with the SoCal custom shop knowing his wandering tastes would always be served.
"I just realized they do so many things so well. I can go to Kiesel and play all the varieties I want and not have to compromise on tone or anything, since they're so flexible on what they offer," he says. He worked alongside Jeff to design his signature model based on their LP-style CS6 (or California Singlecut). Highlights include a mahogany body decked out with a 4A flamed-maple top, a 5-piece mahogany neck paired with an ebony fretboard, and a set of Kiesel's Beryllium humbuckers. He landed on those because they're lower output and more classic-sounding. This is the first iteration of his namesake guitar. He puts D'Addario XLs (.010–.042) on all his 6-strings, and is typically tuned to standard. He attacks the strings with Dunlop Nylon 1.0 mm picks.
Swan Song
You won't see Will's name or signature emblazoned anywhere on the instrument, but the dead giveaway it's his is the swan silhouette inlay at the 12th fret.
Fresh Cut
Here's Will's latest signature. Kiesel provided it for him before DGD's current headlining tour with Polyphia.
A Name Doesn’t Mean a Thing
"The shameless self-promoter in me says I should use the signature, but I just go for tone and feel," admits Swan. So while he tours with a pair of his signature Kiesel WS6 models, he says this is his current crush: a custom Delos model with Kiesel Lithium single-coils. (Fun fact: Only Jeff Kiesel is able to pull off this splashy purple flame finish.) Swan has used the Delos extensively on the last two Dance Gavin Dance releases (2018's Artificial Selection and 2020's Afterburner).
Small Box, Big Rock
"For all my stuff, I swear by my Orange Rockerverb 100," said Swan in an interview with PG in 2016. "It constantly just kills every other amp." And while that may still hold true for the guitarist, he has retired his beloved Rockerverb from the road. In its place now sits a Friedman Small Box 50W blaster.
"This amp does both extremes I need: heavy drive and crystal cleans." So he loves the amp's versatility, and while it does harken back to vintage Marshall mojo (with its EL34s), Friedman's interpretation gives such yesteryear sounds a modern platform.
Cab-Panion
The Small Box feeds a Friedman 2x12 Vintage Cabinet that is loaded with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.
"I love synth pedals," declares Swan. "I'm always looking for a good synth pedal. When I found the SY-300, it blew my mind." He's twisted his guitar signal on the past four DGD records with that big blue Boss box. The two note repeaters in this drawer are the Strymon El Capistan and MXR Carbon Copy.
Pitch Me, Synth Me
Another of Swan's favorite and heavily used pedals is the Eventide PitchFactor. He's warped notes with that modulation machine since 2015's Instant Gratification and continues to explore new wormholes and unearth inspiration from its many functions. Continuing the theme from the previous photo, he's working with three more synth-y pedals from Electro-Harmonix: a C9 Organ Machine, a Mono Synth ("it makes cool fart sounds"), and a Synth9. The remaining sound swirler is the EarthQuaker Devices Grand Orbiter phaser.
Weird, Wild Stuff
The final drawer keeps the madness moving with a DigiTech Whammy and a Death By Audio Rooms reverberator. And since the Whammy is stowed in the rack, he abstains from the foot-controlled, pitch-shifting function and only uses the octave for the bridge of fan favorite "We Own the Night."
Ground Control to Major Swan
Giving order to his rack full of pedals is the Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro MIDI controller. Sneaking into the shot is an Ernie Ball VP Jr volume pedal that Will uses only for killing his signal for tuning.
Swan founded Sianvar in 2013 when he was looking for yet another creative outlet. He launched the band with like-minded vocalist Donovan Melero of Hail the Sun, guitarist Sergio Medina of Stolas, drummer Joe Arrington of A Lot Like Birds, and that same band’s bassist, Michael Littlefield. Another A Lot Like Birds alum, Michael Franzino, who played guitar in that group, plays bass in Sianvar today. Sianvar’s 2014 debut EP and subsequent tour was a surprising success, inspiring Swan and the rest of the quintet to write and release their first full album, Stay Lost.
top what you did last time.”
And while it continues in much the same vein as the Sianvar EP, the album pushes every aspect of the band’s sound, from advanced musicianship to a melodic backbone, much further. To casual listeners, songs such as the first single “Omniphobia” and the title track might seem to be on the edge of falling apart, but they’re actually masterfully composed, with each varied element locked tightly to the others. It’s clear that Swan and his band are in full control of their sound.
Swan took some time out of his overachiever’s schedule to speak with Premier Guitar about Stay Lost, why he always puts artistry first, and how he juggles what seems to be one of the most demanding schedules in post-hardcore.
You’re very busy with one successful band, Dance Gavin Dance, and your record label. How did Sianvar come together?
I wanted another creative outlet, so Sianvar was my brainchild, I guess. I just wanted to find different people from different bands that were all real standouts, and also friends. We wrote and recorded the first EP in two-and-a-half weeks. We put it out and it did way better than any of us thought it would. So we wrote Stay Lost in about a month and recorded it in about a month-and-a-half. Finding the time to do it and getting it done just seems unreal now, looking back. But I love the finished product. Sianvar is a collaboration and everybody is putting in their two cents. It instantly started coming out like it was its own thing.
How would you describe the band’s musical growth from the EP to Stay Lost?
For the EP, I think, we were just trying to go insane. We got together real quick and it was just like bam—guitar insanity. But for Stay Lost we were like, “Let’s sit down and write an album. Not just a bunch of songs.” We wanted the songs to have something that makes them unique—to write a full record of stuff that’s not going to get boring and that’s hard to classify.
The cover of Sianvar’s new album, Stay Lost, more than hints at the psychedelic sounds inside, but the set’s pop sensibilities and abundant melodies make it remarkably accessible. Stream the album here.
While remaining extremely listenable, Stay Lost blends a lot of really challenging time signatures, dissonance, heavy passages, and both clean and grinding guitars. Was this mix something you specifically worked at, or was that just the outcome of your styles?
Underneath all of our wanting to get into some psychedelic and crazy territories, we still want to do something that has some pop sensibility. I think Donny is who to thank for the listenability, because his melodies are so catchy. They make some of those time signatures feel not so crazy.
Were you able to stretch out as a guitar player in any new ways on the album?
Yeah. I feel like every time I write, I’m learning stuff, I’m getting better, and I’m doing things I don’t normally do. It’s always fun and exploratory for me. That’s pretty much my mentality going into any record: top what you did last time. I’m writing music
I would want to listen to, and when we’re done with the product I’m usually pretty proud of it.
How would you describe the difference between your playing style and Sergio’s?
It’s very different. Sergio’s been classically trained. He has insane technical ability. We have different influences and we’re going for different things. His vision and my vision aren’t the same, but we are both willing to compromise and make something that is cohesive.
There are a ton of textures and tones on Stay Lost. Did you guys do a lot of experimenting with gear while recording?
I used my live rig. For all my stuff, I swear by my Orange Rockerverb 100. There’s something special about my head, too. I’ve used it for every DGD record and every Sianvar thing I’ve done. It constantly just kills every other amp. Other than that, I use a ’74 Marshall cab with original Celestion blackbacks in it. And I’m rocking a Les Paul Standard, and it’s sounding great.
YouTube It
Beauty and intensity blend seamlessly in Sianvar’s music, as evidenced by the sonically blissful first single from Stay Lost, “Omniphobia.” For guitarist and leader Will Swan and his 6-string counterpart Sergio Medina, the song’s a nonstop but subtle shredfest, ripe with two-handed tapping and fierce riffery. Swan plays chiming tones on his Fender Stratocaster in the bridge position, while Medina lets loose on his Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster.
Will Swan swears by his vintage Orange Rockerverb 100 MKI for his tone, and pairs the head with a 1974 Marshall slant cab with its four original Celestion blackbacks.
I’m also hearing a lot of single-coil tones on the album.
Sergio uses a Fender—kind of a Telecaster. [Editor’s note: It’s a Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster Spalted Maple HH with a coil-tap.] It’s a weird guitar that has humbucker and single-coil tones, and he goes between them. I use either my Les Paul or Fender Strat. So that’s another single-coil guitar. I like those single-coils and how much character they give you on distorted lines.
What about effects?
Just too much stuff, man ... an insane amount of stuff. For this record I probably used, like, 20 pedals. But my Boss SY300 synthesizer pedal is amazing. And the Eventide PitchFactor is insane. The Subdecay Octasynth is also a pedal I love using a lot. Those are probably my big three right now.
What inspired you to start Blue Swan Records, and what’s it like to run a label?
Everything getting pushed by labels was just not selling. It was like they weren't putting any thought into the actual music. It’s just about what’s going to make money. And if everybody is thinking about money, then who is thinking about the art? I wanted to start a label that was only signing bands based on their ability to make good music. There was nobody out there on any labels doing post-hardcore other than us. Now, Hail the Sun’s out there and other bands I have are also growing. I definitely feel like I’ve already succeeded in my original plans for Blue Swan.
What are some of the unique challenges of being independent and on your own label?
Everything is a challenge: getting people to take it seriously, not having a huge corporation backing you, people trying to screw you over. I’ve always been an artist first, so having to take on the business has been interesting. But I have to because I’ve put myself in that position. It’s tricky to make sure I stay true to my roots and don’t get sucked into the numbers game.
Will Swan’s Gear
GuitarsGibson Les Paul Standard with Shawbucker pickups
Fender Stratocaster
Amps
Orange Rockerverb 100 MKI
1974 Marshall 4x12 with original Celestions
Effects
Boss SY300
Eventide PitchFactor
Subdecay Octasynth
DigiTech Whammy
Dunlop Cry Baby
Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo
TC Electronic PolyTune
Strings and Picks
D’Addario XLs (.010–.042)
Dunlop Nylon 1.0 mm
Ernie Ball straps
On your first tours with Sianvar, it seemed like there was uncertainty about the band’s future. With the success of Stay Lost, are you seeing Sianvar as a full-fledged project that you're committed to?
Yeah, I’m totally on board for Sianvar. I don’t see any reason to stop working on it. I think people psyche themselves out, or the expectation of performance gets to people. It’s like, “We have to reach this level. We have to do this.” They forget the heart of it. Isn’t it just fun to make the music—to make something you’re proud of, put it out, and let people listen to it?
Does Sianvar have any more touring scheduled to support Stay Lost?
We’re going to try to stretch it out and do some more touring for sure. We might play some one-off shows on the West Coast before the year is over. We’re trying to get all of our other bands’ tours figured out so we can see when we can slip in some Sianvar dates.
Are there new genres you’re looking to get into or experiment with that might surprise your fans?
Actually, a project I haven’t announced yet is going to be way different than any of the stuff I’ve done. No distortion, no heavy punk. It’s going to be more chill. Maybe funky, maybe indie … just different. So that’s probably going to be a shock for people, not to hear me coming out and trying to melt faces.
Stay Lost is the first full-length from Sianvar and it landed on Billboard at No. 5 on the Top New Artists chart, No. 98 on Top Current Albums, No. 23 on Independent Albums, No. 36 on Top Rock Albums, and No. 13 on the Hard Rock chart. Did you expect it to do so well?
Not at all. The EP did all right, but it wasn’t groundbreaking, as far as the reactions. So for this record, we felt no pressure. We wanted to put in the work, and we didn’t even know if anything would come of it. It was just a labor of love. For people to receive it so well, come out and support us on tour, and buy the record was definitely mind-blowing for us. We all really appreciate it and want to tour as much as we can.
I’m terrible at looking into the future. Something that seems to come up a lot in conversation is projecting future plans. I don’t like looking at what’s going to happen. I like looking at what’s happening now, and what I can do. Then what comes will come.