Dupuis' experience as a poet, as well as her social-justice activism, informs her songwriting. But as a child, Josie and the Pussycats influenced her to purchase her first guitar: a Strat. These days she mostly plays her custom Moniker Anastasia.
Sadie Dupuis has an MFA in poetry from the University of Massachusetts, and she's earned her doctorate in rock 'n' roll onstage with her band Speedy Ortiz and other groups, which makes her part of a long line of rock bards that goes back to Chuck Berry. Although with their grinding guitar rhythms, waves of feedback, and tweaking, angular lead lines, Speedy Ortiz and Dupuis' guitar playing are distinctly modernist.
“I get involved in different projects and I play other instruments," says the activist, writer, and string-slinger, “but guitar is always the one that's the most comfortable and certainly the one that I've spent the most hours on. So, even if I'm recording stuff that I'm going to be playing on synth or a bass, I definitely compose on guitar."
Undeniably, the heart and soul of Speedy Ortiz—from the band's debut EP, 2012's Sports, to 2015's Foil Deer album and 2016's Foiled Again EP—has been Dupuis's singular sonic character. But with the new Twerp Verse, she's added a kindred 6-string spirit in guitarist Andy Molholt, from the band Laser Background. Molholt joined halfway through the recording of Twerp Verse, bringing an ear for ornamentation that made a major impact on many of the album's tunes.
“It's obviously Sadie's songwriting project," says Molholt. “I'm more there to fill in the color spots. And I feel like that's what I was able to do." In fact, he did it so well that Dupuis was inspired to begin planning the next round of recordings for them, even as Speedy Ortiz rides the wave of Twerp Verse.The album found the band expanding its sound with not only a second guitar, but walls of synthesizer. The songs “Lucky 88" and “I'm Blessed" balance the raw attitude of '90s-style guitar tones and production with synth melodies that recall '80s new wave, while simultaneously sounding fresh.
Dupuis has managed to craft a guitar style that is unique and challenging, and she injects Twerp Verse with atonal countermelodies and gritty overdrive textures that sit next to swirling modulations and harmonies that defy expectations. And she does it all while singing earworm pop melodies that often clash head-on with the music in a subdued yet antagonistic fashion.
Her socially-conscious lyrics are also on full display. She sings about the realities of being a woman in today's world with carefully crafted wit that drives her points home, and her wilting, nonchalant vocal delivery wryly weaponizes her lyrics as a rallying cry for the marginalized.
Guitarists often lament the disappearance of the guitar hero and, sometimes, of real rock 'n' roll. But after speaking with Dupuis and Molholt about their latest work, I think that maybe we're just looking in the wrong places. Maybe today's guitar heroes are right under our noses, forging new hybrid sounds and singing about issues more impactful than fashion, material belongings, and a hypersexualized worldview. And maybe two of them just released a fantastic new album called Twerp Verse.
Speedy Ortiz has a unique sound. Describe your musical background and how you arrived at your songwriting style.
Sadie Dupuis: I first started playing music in a classical setting. I had taken piano lessons and sang in children's choirs up until age 16. And if I'm totally honest, I had just seen the Josie and the Pussycats movie and wanted to do that. So I got a Mexican Strat for my 13th birthday and started playing.
I've never heard Josie and the Pussycats play anything like Speedy Ortiz.
Dupuis: I mean, it was a really good movie, okay? [Laughs.] Well, when I first started playing, because my background was singing choral sheet music, I was like, let me learn how to play some of this on guitar. So I think there's always been some of that influence on my playing. A lot of the music I'd sing as a kid was eight-part harmonies that were super weird with time signatures that were changing.
Andy, Twerp Verse is your first album with the band. How did you come to be in Speedy Ortiz?
Andy Molholt: [Drummer] Julian Fader convinced me to join this band called Very Fresh, and we opened for Speedy Ortiz. That's the first time I met them. And then when Devin [McKnight, the previous Speedy Ortiz guitarist] decided not to play with the band anymore, Sadie hit me up saying, “Do you want to play four shows with us? We have one week. You have to learn 16 songs." And I was like, “Sure!" I personally love a challenge like that. The first four shows went really well, and we thought we should keep doing it. It's all really natural.
TIDIT: Guitarist Andy Molholt joined the band halfway through the recording sessions for Twerp Verse. He also leads his own group, Laser Background.
How do you see your role within the band?
Molholt: Any time I play in somebody else's project or especially a project that's existed for a while, I'm very intent on adding as much as I can without taking away anything that was already making the project special. And I'm the third guitar player for Speedy Ortiz, so I did feel like I had to fill the role that Matt [Robidoux] and Devin both left behind.
It definitely was a little daunting at first. But Sadie's really good about letting people play something that's very specifically laid out and also color outside the lines a little bit. Like on “Can I Kiss You?" … the main guitar line I'm playing was originally a bass line. But I remodeled it slightly with a Moog ring mod pedal. And on “You Hate the Title," there's a delay guitar part and that was an idea I had to keep the rhythm moving in an interesting way.
That delay has a really smoky sound. What did you use to get that tone?
Molholt: It's a $40 pedal my friend gave me made by this company called Joyo. They're super cheap. So I fell in love with that. I have a Memory Man Deluxe that I really like as well, but I use that for synths, mostly.
The sheer volume of SXSW's music festival can be daunting for anyone. This March the Texas capital hosted more than 2,200 bands in over 100 venues, spanning five days. In recent years they’ve added a tech conference, music-poster showcase, comedy summits, and a film festival. From the PG prerogative, our 2015 coverage thus far has included a performance gallery, gear expo report, and a call-out for SXSW bands to watch this year. And those items are only spotlighting a sliver of what happens in Austin every year.
The Live Music Capital of the World has been taking hits recently about the gentrification of the downtown district that has hosted many of SXSW’s shows and events since its inception. Plus, the NASCAR-looking marketing and in-your-face corporate sponsors are a glaring opposition of the festival’s DIY roots. But the bands and artists still treat the booming event all the same—it’s about performing.
SXSW is unlike any other music-based festival in the world. Thousands of bands flood 6th Street and the surrounding grounds as many of them perform not just several times during the week, but numerous times a day. You’ll often spot bands sprinting down the sidewalk with gigbags and pedalboard cases in hand frantically trying to get to their next show. It’s safe to say that nearly every SXSW performer has a few things in common, like hunger—nutritionally and artistically—dedication and appreciation to play music for unsuspecting future fans, and for the interest of this piece, their love of gear.
We talked to 20+ bands from all different genres about their setups including the stoner-metal Elder, indie-darling Courtney Barnett, sun-soaked shoe-gazers Best Coast, hometown pysch-rockers The Bright Light Social Hour, and even the good-time-having masked luchadores of El Conjunto Nueva Ola. Click through to see and learn about the rigs—and the players’ rationales—behind some of the bands that were showcased in Austin during SXSW 2015.
1. Elder’s Nick DiSalvo
”I finally caved after almost a decade of refusing to get a pedalboard. The allure of being able to have all of my usual pedals at the ready without setting up and breaking down finally won me over. My setup now has become more diverse than in previous years—I try to let my amp and guitar do most of the talking without anything too over-the-top effect wise. I have a few fuzzes (one for rhythm, one for leads) that are my main tools. I love to use the Pharaoh fuzz for heavy, chunky riffing and my (beloved and very limited) Grim Reefer for squealing bends and weird phase-shifty grime. The Dispatch Master is a great pedal for helping recreate some of the lusher soundscapes fromLore, while my Carbon Copy is my go-to for simple slapback delay sounds. My most recent addition would be the TC Electronic Ditto Looper—I don’t use it much, probably only twice per set, but it really opens up possibilities to play studio songs more accurately live.”
2. The London Souls’ Tash Neal
“I don’t use much in terms of equipment and right now my go-to guitar is a Gibson ES-335. I’ve always loved Gibson semi-hollows and I figured I’d take it with me for SXSW and our other Texas dates. Other guitars I use regularly are a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Les Paul.
Right now I have a Vox AC30 because it’s a reliable amp that you can pick up at any guitar store. It’s off-the-shelf and it sounds great. I’m not like most guys you probably cover in that I don’t shop a lot—only when I need to. I don’t have a pedalboard and the only time I use a pedal other than a Boss TU-2 tuner is a clean boost to make the AC30 break up just a tad earlier. I just use an input boost to boost my signal and not cut it: I like for the sound to be from my playing, and the amp.”
3. The Stone Foxes
4. Made Violent
Pedals are a huge part of my rig. Being the only guitar player in Made Violent, I need to have a lot of different sounds to keep the live show interesting. I’ve been using JHS Pedals for overdrive both in the studio and onstage since the band started. The SuperBolt has been the sound of the band since the beginning. I’ve also been messing around with the Your Face by Wren and Cuff—it’s an old-school fuzz with a lot of versatility. I’ve always had the classic Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano for spring reverb because I like the idiot-proof single knob. One of my favorite effects is the Caroline Guitar Company Kilobyte delay. It’s set to a quick slapback for a double-track effect and has an infinite repeat soft switch. I’m always looking for something to help the creative process, especially for writing. The right effect can sometimes bring an idea out of thin air. Other pedals I have for additional flavoring would be the EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job and the JHS Emperor.”
Joe White’s Gear
5. Lazyeyes
6. Badflower
