Sure, guitarist Mike Baggetta and punk bass legend Mike Watt have cool gear. Watt’s got a signature Reverend Wattplower bass in root beer burst, and Baggetta wields his custom Koll Tornado and Benson amp rig like Gandalf’s staff—all in service of creating flamethrower tones in their wild, no-holds-barred performances.
The trio mssv is an underground supergroup. They’re not playing the local enormodome, but each musician has a storied career and the ability to leap musical conventions in a single bound, even while rocking like hell … or playing compositions with sections that ricochet from Coltrane to Martian terrain.
The group sprung from guitarist Mike Baggetta’s dream of an ideal, omnivorous band—one that could navigate any kind of musical or sonic path, much as Baggetta has done himself, whether playing with other artists or solo. His first choice of bassist was Mike Watt, a legendary indie music figure who has been releasing daring rock and improv albums for decades, starting with the highly influential ’80s and ’90s outfits the Minutemen and fIREHOSE. And while mssv’s debut album, 2019’s Wall of Flowers, was recorded with the foundational rock drummer Jim Keltner, Keltner’s disinterest in touring caused Baggetta to seek a replacement in Stephen Hodges, one of the few sticks players who can match Keltner’s intention and a brilliant artist in his own right, with decades supporting Tom Waits, Mavis Staple, and other legends.
On the road behind their latest recording, Human Reaction (one of my picks for best albums of 2023), mssv stopped at the Blue Room in Nashville’s Third Man Records complex in late October, where their wily creativity ignited the place. But at soundcheck, Baggetta and Watt explained to the PG team exactly why they dig their rigs.
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King Koll
This custom guitar by Saul Koll—a variation on the Tornado model Koll first built for David Torn—is perfect for Baggetta’s whammy-heavy approach, which makes his playing sound more vocal. It’s one of three Kolls he owns. It’s got cylindrical Hipshot locking tuners, a 25 1/2" neck, a Strat-like bridge, master tone and master volume dials, a 3-way switch for its Curtis Novak single-coils, and a mute switch, too. Middle position is his favorite spot. His strings: D’Addario XT’s, .010 to .046.
Ring o' Fuzz
Here’s a Creepy Fingers Hold Tight fuzz (“I like how it kind of folds over on itself when you dig in on it,” Baggetta says.) and an EHX Ring Thing, which digitally creates the greatest hits sounds of ring modulation as well as weirder, fractured tones and pitch shifting. Baggetta sometimes stomps through all of the Ring Thing’s presets for solos, constantly changing tones and pitches as he rips.
Say Wah?
At Mike Watt’s request—and for playing the Stooges’ “1969”—Baggetta got a Wilson Effects Freaker Wah V2. The guitarist explains that he’s not a big wah fan, but this model has synth-filter-like qualities that are perfect for his sonic playground, creating overtones that some somewhat like Tuvan throat singing at times.
Detour, Amp Ahead!
From there, Baggetta takes the line out to the dirt channel of his amp, a Benson Vincent, made in Portland, Oregon, by Chris Benson. “I think of it as the world’s greatest Fuzz Face,” he says. It’s got 30 watts of output power and loads of character. The amp blends two Benson circuits: the 1-watt Vinny and the 30-watt Chimera. The power tubes in the Chimera are EL84s and the Vinny side is a single EL84, and there is a 6L6, but Baggetta says, “I don't know what that does.” The preamp tubes are 12AX7s.
Remember the Panda!
The final entries in Baggetta’s pedal line-up are an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man and a Red Panda Tensor. The signal flows from the Benson into the Tensor, which he uses for glitch sounds, harmonizing, and overdub mode, among other feats. His Memory Man adds space—the final frontier.
Wattplower Power
For this tour, the legendary bassist is playing his new signature Wattplower Mark II bass, built by Reverend, in root beer sparkle. This 4-string for a king has one-and-a-half more pickups than the first, single-pickup version of the Wattplower, Watt explains. He went to short-scale basses in the ’90s, and his faithful Gibson EB-3 inspired the Wattplower’s neck. It’s got extra grind thanks to P-Blade bridge and Rio Grande Pitbull pickups. The neck is 3-piece korina, and the body is also korina, and it's got volume, tone, and 3-way controls, of course. It’s also got Hipshot Ultralight tuners, a 30" scale, and a rosewood fretboard. The bridge is also Hipshot, and Watt’s is a top-loader.
Wattplower II
Here’s a close-up look at the Wattplower Mark II’s headstock and tuners.
Wattplower ID
Here’s how you know you’re playing a genuine Reverend Wattplower!
Wattplower, the Sequel
And here’s a look at the bridge, which comes in optional through-loading and top-loading styles.
Amp-phigory
“These days,” Watt says, “class D is the way to go.” And so, he plays a Bergantino Forte rated at 800 watts, into a Bergantino with two 12" neodymium speakers and a horn.
Stomp to Romp
Broughton Audio makes the high-pass filter loaded atop Watt’s board, which also has a EarthQuaker Devices The Warden optical compressor and a Sushi Box Effects Finally tube DI that functions as a preamp. Simple, but deadly. Oh, and there’s also a TC Electronic Polytune!
Here are 16 of our favorite stomp stations from the past year, including Chris Shiflett, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Holt, J Mascis, the Aristocrats’ Bryan Beller, Wolf Van Halen, Shinedown, and more.
The Aristocrats’ Bryan Beller
Photo by Manuela HäuBler
Starting at top right, Bryan Beller’s board has a pair of Xotic EP Boosters to bring up the output of his two passive instruments to match his Lull bass. Next comes a Demeter COMP-1 Opto Compulator that’s always on, followed by a TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb, Boss CE-2B Bass Chorus, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, and a TC Electronic Flashback Delay/Looper. Moving to the bottom left, there’s a Boss OC-2 Octave and an Xotic Bass BB Preamp (Beller’s main overdrive). The Darkglass Electronics Vintage Microtubes and MXR M109S Six Band EQ are used for a beefier, RAT-like sound. Then there’s an EHX Micro POG set to an octave up and an old DigiTech X-Series Bass Driver that pushes the BB Preamp and runs into the Dunlop 105Q Cry Baby Bass Wah pedal (white), giving vocal-like sweeps more definition. Beller also has a Dunlop DVP3 Volume (X) Volume and Expression pedal and a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner. Beller has incorporated the Behringer FCB1010 MIDI controller into his rig so he can provide some “low-rent Geddy Lee” moments in the set via a Roland JV-1010 64-Voice Synth Module.
Beller has incorporated the Behringer FCB1010 MIDI controller into his rig so he can provide some “low-rent Geddy Lee” moments in the set via a Roland JV-1010 64-Voice Synth Module.
Using the Raven Labs MDB-1 Mixer/Direct Box/Buffer for his pedals and running the Roland JV-1010 into his amps allows Beller to employ both his bass and the synth module at the same time.
Rig Rundown: The Aristocrats' Guthrie Govan & Bryan Beller [2022]
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff and Jaime Hanna
Jeff Hanna
Jeff Hanna, who co-founded the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1966, runs his acoustic guitars through a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner. The electric side of his board includes another Boss TU-3, a Paul Cochrane Tim V3 Overdrive, a Keeley Katana Clean Boost, a J. Rockett GTO, a Keeley-modded Boss TR-2 Tremolo, and a Keeley Mag Echo.
Jaime Hanna
His son Jaime combines acoustic and electric pedals on one board. The acoustic side features a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI, Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner, and a Radial JDI direct box as a back-up. For electric, there’s an Ernie Ball volume pedal that feeds a TC Electronic tuner. The main out hits a Mesa/Boogie Stowaway Class-A Input Buffer, a Keeley Compressor, a Paul Cochrane Tim Overdrive, a J. Rockett Archer, an MXR Super Badass Distortion, a Boss GE-7 Equalizer modded by Nashville’s XTS, and a Line 6 M9 Stompbox Modeler Multi-Effects pedal. A Truetone 1 SPOT PRO CS12 provides the juice.
Rig Rundown: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff and Jaime Hanna
Tetrarch’s Diamond Rowe
Photo by Amy Harris
Shredder Diamond Rowe keeps things succinct. Her stage setup features an always-on Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer and a DigiTech Whammy for pure fun and note obliterating. A pair of utilitarian Boss stomps—an NS-2 Noise Suppressor and TU-3 Chromatic Tuner—keep her strings clean and accurate. There’s also a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5 and Ground Control Pro MIDI Foot Controller.
In a separate rack, Rowe hides her “freak tone” patch. There lurks a Boss RV-6 Reverb, Boss DD-7 Digital Delay, Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble, and a MXR Uni-Vibe Chorus/Vibrato, plus a pair of tucked-away MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delays. The rack toys are fired by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Rig Rundown: Tetrarch's Diamond Rowe & Josh Fore
Marcus King
Roots powerhouse MarcusKing runs his guitar’s cable into a Dunlop Volume (X) 8. Then his signal hits a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, an MXR Booster, an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, a Tru-Fi Two Face Fuzz, MXR Micro Chorus, Dunlop Rotovibe Chorus/Vibrato, MXR Phase 100, Tru-Fi Ultra Tremolo, Dunlop Echoplex Delay, MXR Reverb, and a Radial Shotgun signal splitter and buffer. Juice? That’s via a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 3 Plus.
Marcus King's Pedalboard
Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett
The mega-rockers’ Chris Shiflett starts his pedalboard with an EHX Micro POG, followed by a JHS Muffuletta, an MXR Flanger and EVH Phase 90, an EHX Holy Grail reverb, a Strymon Deco, and a Klon KTR. The next row sports a Boss CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus, a couple of Strymon TimeLines (one for each amp), and down below is a trio of Xotics—an EP Booster, SP Compressor, and an XW-1 Wah. Utilitarian boxes include a Lehle Little Dual II Amp Switcher, a Palmer PLI-05 Line Isolation Box, a Boss FS-5L Foot Switch (to toggle between clean and dirty on his Friedman Brown Eye), and a TC Electronic PolyTune.
Chris Shiflett's Pedalboard
Mammoth WVH's Wolf Van Halen
Wolf Van Halen brought every EVH pedal (aside from the 5150 Overdrive) for his band’s 2022 tour. The Dunlop EVH95 Cry Baby Wah gets a workout for the solo of “You’ll Be the One.” The MXR EVH 5150 Chorus and the MXR EVH Phase 90 have become interchangeable for him. The MXR EVH117 Flanger gets sprinkled in, and for the solo on “Distance,” he always uses the Boss DD-3 Digital Delay and the EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath. An acoustic DI and tuner consume the rest of the real estate.
Wolf Van Halen's Pedalboard
Full Rig Rundown: https://bit.ly/MammothWVHRRSubscribe to PG's Channel: https://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTubeMammoth WVH's leader details and demos the series of ...Mammoth WVH’s Ronnie Ficarro
Ronnie Ficarro
Ronnie Ficarro’s bass stomp station hosts a trio of EVH-inspired pedals: an MXR EVH 5150 Chorus, a MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive, and the MXR EVH Phase 90—plus an EHX Pitch Fork for approximating the low B roar that Wolf recorded on the song “Epiphany.” The nondescript silver box is a channel switcher for his Fender Super Bassman, and a Peterson StroboStomp HD does the tuning.
Rig Rundown: Mammoth WVH
El Ten Eleven’s Kristian Dunn
As half of this bass and drums duo, Kristian Dunn used to use three pedalboards, crouching down and manipulating settings all night. Today, he depends primarily on a Line 6 M9 Stompbox Modeler, although it’s two Boomerang III Phrase Samplers that make an El Ten Eleven show happen. In line, they’re separated by the DigiTech Bass Whammy. Dunn routes his signal this way so he can use the Whammy to shift octaves or keys on entire loops in Phrase Sampler one. The second Phrase Sampler, after the Whammy, allows him to pitch-shift specific loops without impacting the whole song or other loops. The Strymon TimeLine conjures precise repeats and specific delay settings not in the M9. The EHX Superego Synth Engine is a secret weapon, for reverse-sound passages. When he holds down the freeze function and plays the next note, it’s not audible until he releases the switch, and then the ongoing audible note blends into the second note. Cool, right? The remaining two pedals are a Nu-X NFB-2 Lacerate FET Boost and a Marshall GV-2 Guv’nor Plus. His tuner: a Boss TU-3 Chromatic. A Custom Audio Electronics RS-T MIDI Foot Controller makes Dunn’s scene changes easier, talking with the M9 and Strymon to alleviate some tap dancing.
Rig Rundown: El Ten Eleven's Kristian Dunn
Shinedown’s Zach Myers
For the Shinedown guitarist, everything starts at the Fractal Audio Axe-Fx IIIs—a main and a backup. There are four channels of Shure UR4D+ wireless units (three for electric and one for acoustic). An AES digital out runs to an Antelope Audio Trinity Master Clock and Antelope Audio 10MX Rubidium Atomic Clock. This helps fatten the fully stereo, digital rig by converting it to analog. After that, IRs off the Axe-Fx (left and right) channel into a pair of Neve DIs that then feed a Fryette G-2502-S Two/Fifty/Two Stereo Power Amplifier. (There’s another for backup.) And finally, parallel signals go to two ISO cabs and two Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box reactive load boxes. Altogether, there are eight channels of guitar.
While tech Drew Foppe handles the racks, Zach still has some control at his toes via a Dunlop MC404 CAE Wah, DigiTech Whammy 5, Ernie Ball 40th Anniversary Volume Pedal, and the Fractal Audio FC-6 Foot Controller. A Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus gives life to these pedals.
Rig Rundown: Shinedown's Zach Myers & Eric Bass [2022]
Shinedown's Eric Bass
Eric Bass’ Prestige basses hit the Shure UR4D+ wireless units (similar to Myers, he has three channels for electric and a channel for acoustic), then a Neve DI, and then a Radial JX44 signal manager that feeds into an Ampeg SVT-7 Pro for clean tone (with an extra for backup).
His onstage pedalboard includes a Dunlop 105Q Cry Baby Bass Wah, a DigiTech Bass Whammy, and an MXR M299 Carbon Copy Mini Analog Delay. The ‘Gas’ switch engages a Mojotone Deacon, and a Radial SGI-44 1-channel Studio Guitar Interface connects with his rackmount JX44, while a Boss TU-3W Waza Craft Chromatic Tuner and Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus complete the lineup.
Hannah Wicklund
Photo by John VandeMergel
Blueser Hannah Wicklund’s pedalboard is stacked for bruising. Once the signal gets past her MXR Talk Box and Dunlop JC95 Jerry Cantrell Signature Cry Baby, it hits the channel switch for her Orange head. That stays in overdrive mode for about 75 percent of her set, which she says gives her sound its grizzly-bear lows. Next up is a classic—a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver. But this one has a Keeley mod that opens up the low end and keeps mids and highs better defined. The BD-2 gets some atmospheric help via a Dunlop EP103 Echoplex Delay, and the J. Rockett Archer also pairs with the BD-2. There’s an MXR Micro Flanger and an EHX Nano POG, a T. Rex Room-Mate Tube Reverb (on a hall setting), and a Peterson StroboStomp HD, plus an MXR Carbon Copy and a Keeley Rotten Apple OpAmp Fuzz.
Rig Rundown: Hannah Wicklund
Code Orange’s Reba Meyers
Reba Meyers’ tone starts with her signature ESP LTD RM-600 guitar and her 5150 head, but from there her sound is processed via a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III run through the effects loop of her amp and used to coordinate channel switching. Meyers notes that for some songs she uses it only as a gate, while for others she adds in precise modulation, delay, reverbs, and “noise.” The rest of the rack features a Two-Notes Torpedo Captor X that she uses for cab sims and sending a pure, direct signal to FOH so they can mix that with the SM57 mic on the 4x12s. A Shure GLXD4 Wireless unit keeps her untethered and a RJM Mini Amp Gizmo uses MIDI to switch the amp via the Axe-Fx III.
Her actual board has two always-on pedals: the ISP Decimator II Noise Reduction and the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer. They’re joined by a Moog MF Ring Mod, a Boss PS-6 Harmonist, an AMT Electronics WH-1 Japanese Girl Optical Wah, and an Universal Audio Astra Modulation Machine. Everything is controlled by the RJM Mastermind PBC/10.
Reba Meyers' Pedalboard [Code Orange]
Joe Bonamassa
For his 2022 tour, Joe Bonamassa kept his pedalboard stocked with a Way Huge Smalls Overrated Special Overdrive, a Tone Mechanics/Racksystems Loop Box, a Tone Mechanics/Racksystems Splitter, a Fulltone Supa-Trem, a Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere, a Boss DD-2 Digital Delay, an MXR Micro Flanger, an Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, an EHX Micro POG, a Dunlop Joe Bonamassa Fuzz Face, a Lehle A/B/C Switcher, a Dunlop Joe Bonamassa Signature Cry Baby Wah in Pelham blue, and an on/off/fast/slow dual switch for his Mesa/Boogie Revolver rotating speaker cabinet. Juice came from a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Joe Bonamassa's "Boomer" Pedalboard
Exodus’ Gary Holt
Thrash-metallurgist Gary Holt trusts most of his switching to his tech, Steve Brogdon, who triggers everything with a rack-mounted Voodoo Lab GCX Guitar Audio Switcher that coordinates with a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro MIDI Foot Controller. The pedals in Brogdon’s care include a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Pro Tone Pedals Gary Holt Signature Mid Boost, Maxon OD-9, MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, Maxon FL-9 Flanger, TC Electronic Corona Chorus, Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, and a Darta Effects Bonded by Delay. A BBE Supa-Charger provides juice.
Holt still stomps these boxes himself: a Does It Doom Doomsaw, Mooer Tender Octaver, Mooer Green Mile, and a Dunlop JC95SE Jerry Cantrell Special Edition Crybaby Wah. A Shure GLXD16 Digital Wireless Guitar Pedal System lets him rock untethered.
Rig Rundown: Exodus' Gary Holt [2022]
Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis
For at least 10-plus years, J Mascis has used a Bob Bradshaw-built Custom Audio Electronics switcher as his mission control. His longtime stomps include a Tone Bender MkI/Rangemaster-clone combo pedal made by Built to Spill’s Jim Roth (bottom right corner), Mascis’ first EHX Ram’s Head Big Muff Pi (top right), a vintage EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress, an MC-FX clone of a Univox Super Fuzz (lower right, blue box), a pair of ZVEX pedals—a Double Rock (two Box of Rock stomps in one) and a Lo-Fi Loop Junky (both bottom left), a Tube Works Real Tube Overdrive, a Moog Minifooger MF Delay, and a Boss TU-3S Tuner. His recently added pedals are a Homebrew Electronics Germania 44 Treble Booster (lower right), a JAM Pedals RetroVibe MkII, an Xotic SL Drive, a Suhr Jack Rabbit Tremolo, a Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler fuzz, an EHX Oceans 11, and a Dunlop Jimi Hendrix ’69 Psych Series Uni-Vibe Chorus/Vibrato. Everything receives juice from an MXR MC403 Power System or an MXR M237 DC Brick.
J Mascis' Dinosaur Jr. Pedalboard
The post-punk 6-string hero takes a deep dive into sonic surrealism with his new album, a loop-driven collection of riveting soundscapes called Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble.
If you ever find the opening to ask a composer or producer what it means to “paint with sound,” be prepared to frame the question in as many different ways as there are colors in the visible spectrum. Inspired by synaesthesis? Could be. Maybe a deep dive into abstract free-form improv? Sure, always worth a shot. What if you commit to exotic tunings or unconventional music theory? Or how about a mash-up of prepared instruments with some radical effects processing and tape manipulation?
We can do this all day, but before we lean into an “all of the above” approach, consider this: The only limit, really, is your imagination—or, more suggestively, your dreams. “There’s a way to get to that psychedelic state without actually taking psychedelics, which is useful,” Roger Clark Miller explains, with just a glint of conspiratorial humor. Given his illustrious history as a post-rock guitar guru and multi-instrumentalist with influences that range from ’60s acid rock to avant-shred to modern classical, Miller is intimately familiar with what it takes to push any and all boundaries in search of the music he hears in his head.
“The first time that I actually did something interesting with it was back in art school,” he recalls, paying tribute to his teacher Denman Maroney, a legendary jazz outsider known for his work with prepared piano. “He saw my interests and thought I’d probably like surrealism. Up until then, my idea of surrealism was taking acid [laughs].”
After reading André Breton’s surrealist manifestos (the second one, in particular, which touches on dreams as a creative reservoir), he set about applying the techniques to making music—and ran into a roadblock. “Breton actually said because music isn’t so specific, it can’t be surrealistic. And that kind of pissed me off. I was looking for a way to compose, and I didn’t want to use what had come before. I thought, well, if I make music based on dreams, then I can create a surrealistic music, and bypass Breton’s megalomania—as much as I respect him! This gave me access to a very organic structure. Everybody dreams, and there are forms to it.”
Miller’s jauntily titled Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble, released earlier this year on the Cuneiform label, is in many ways the culmination of the technique he started developing back in 1975, when he created his first piece for solo violin. Miller has kept dream journals for decades, and uses them primarily as a non-linear source for ideas that he fleshes out into musical compositions. (“I don’t actually hear music unless it was part of the dream,” he points out.)
“This kind of music rewards attentive listening because it’s really composed and thought-out, so you’re not gonna be bored.”
If all that sounds a bit abstract and even esoteric, keep in mind this is the very same guy who co-founded Mission of Burma, one of the most viscerally immediate post-punk bands to come out of Boston’s raucous underground scene in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Back then, Miller adopted the much reviled Fender Lead I as his axe of choice, figuring he could put his personal stamp on it. As it turned out, the guitar’s cheaper construction and single split humbucker was perfect for sculpting an angular, aggressively jagged, but still bluesy sound through a vintage Marshall JMP-50 combo.
Miller was also a founding member of the somewhat kinder and gentler group Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, in which he played piano. (Due to his early struggles with tinnitus, he had to bow out of Burma in 1983, but the band reunited in 2002 for four more albums.) All this history and plenty more feeds back into the making of the Dream Interpretations, for reasons that Miller loves to elucidate.
Miller’s goal for his new album was to bring his surrealistic dreams in sound to life. His most recent tools for this task include three Rogue RLS-1 lap steel guitars and a Boomerang III looping system, which he uses in tandem with the Side Car controller footswitch.
“With my friend Martin Swope,” he says, name-checking Mission of Burma’s resident sound technician and live-tape-looping scientist, “like everybody, we were pretty fascinated with Brian Eno’s work at that time. Martin wanted to do a Robert Fripp and Eno style thing, so he had me play this amorphic, modal piano piece that I wrote, and he made these guitar loops going around and around. That was for Birdsongs, but he and I had worked like that on the song ‘New Disco’ [for Burma]. That’s how he became part of the band.”
Over the years, Miller folded what he learned from Swope into the sound he was chasing. In the early ’80s, he acquired an Electro-Harmonix 16-second digital delay. “It’s truly one of the most unique devices ever made,” he says. “It’s so unique that I used it as my pivot for quite a few years. I still have it, but its biggest drawback is the memory. If you make something longer than a two-second loop, the fidelity degrades. Back in 1983, memory was not cheap.”
“With looping, you can hear a sound and you don’t know when it happened or what instrument did it.”
The effect figured prominently in the making of his 1995 solo slab, Elemental Guitar, which he tracked using what was then a recently acquired ’62 Strat reissue. The album also features two pieces, “Dream Interpretation No. 7” and “Dream Interpretation No. 8,” that Miller considers to be successful precursors to his current album.
More than 25 years later, Eight Dream Interpretations opens with “Dream Interpretation No. 16,” a chilling excursion that suggests a serpentine path being resumed, although much has changed in the interim. For starters, Miller has added three Rogue RLS-1 lap steel guitars to his arsenal: one tuned to unison E and used exclusively for slide parts, and the other two prepared with alligator clips and strung with different gauges to capture a wider palette of tones. He’s also mothballed the Electro-Harmonix in favor of a Boomerang III looping system, which he uses in tandem with the Side Car controller footswitch.
Roger Clark Miller’s Gear
Besides looping and other effects, plus his trusty Stratocaster, Miller relies on a trio of lap steels to create his celestial soundscapes—in three different tunings.
Photo by Roger Clark Miller
Guitars
- 1990 Fender Stratocaster ST62 reissue (made in Japan)
- Rogue RLS-1 lap steel (three: one tuned to unison E and used as a slide guitar, two others prepared with alligator clips)
Amps
- Fender Deluxe Reverb (two)
- Sunn bass head with 610L cabinet
- Peavey Classic 50 410 combo
- Walrus Audio MAKO Series ACS1 Amp and Cab Simulator
Effects
- Electro-Harmonix 16-Second Digital Delay
- Boomerang III Phrase Sampler with Side Car controller
- TC Electronic Brainwaves Pitch Shifter
- TC Electronics Rush Booster
- Electro-Harmonix East River Drive
- Source Audio Kingmaker Fuzz
- Ernie Ball stereo volume pedal
Strings & Picks
- Ernie Ball Regular Slinky (.010–.46; Strat)
- D’Addario EXL 157 (.014–.069; lap steel)
- D’Addario Medium EXL 160 (.050–.105; lap steel)
- Dunlop Max-Grip .73 mm
Along with his trusty Strat, when Miller seats himself behind the Rogues it’s as though he’s strapping in for an interstellar journey at the helm of a homemade time machine. And the music comes across that way, from the dueling dive-bombing waves and high-pitched jet washes of “No. 19” to the softly percussive melodies and clean, pitch-shifted guitar lines of “No. 18.” (The tracks are sequenced as any album would be, not in numerical order, but according to the listening experience Miller wants to establish.) Outfitted with various effects that he dials in with the precision of a surgeon, Miller literally choreographs each move he makes to create the music. It’s mesmerizing to watch him in the video, directed by filmmaker Jesse Kreitzer, that accompanies “No. 17”—a wildly cinematic and soundscape-y piece that’s driven by a persistent, pulsating rhythm and a haunting sci-fi melody straight out of vintage Doctor Who.
When asked about influential recordings that have inspired him, Miller’s tastes run eclectic, to say the least. Fred Frith’s groundbreaking Guitar Solos album, an experimental classic, is “just an amazing work. I learned about using alligator clips from that album.” And then there’s the 1982 minimalist epic Descending Moonshine Dervishes by Terry Riley (“the first honest looper,” he says). But when it comes to specific guitar players, there are two in particular who move him to rapture.
The reunited Mission of Burma—guitarist Roger Miller, drummer Peter Prescott, and bassist Clint Conley—at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in London, England, in 2004.
Photo by Neonwar/Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
“See, I’m a little older than some of your readers here,” he warns, “but I came to my creative start during psychedelia and the British Invasion, so my heroes were Syd Barrett and Jimi Hendrix. I mean, Jimi was like a bolt of electricity from who knows where. He embraced the electric guitar as an instrument that could explain all sorts of alternate realities, and he wasn’t the first to use feedback, but he walked into it with complete conviction and cut a path for others to follow.
“And whereas Hendrix was a true guitar master, Barrett was considerably less skilled, but his vision, when operating on all cylinders, just transcended the limitations. For him, sound and vision were more important than technique. He was also a painter, and that may well have had something to do with it—painting with sound indeed! His solo on ‘Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk’ was once described to me as the ugliest guitar playing anyone had ever heard. Not for me!”
“I came to my creative start during psychedelia and the British Invasion, so my heroes were Syd Barrett and Jimi Hendrix.”
With ears wide open, Miller is constantly exploring new directions. His most recent composition, the nearly self-explanatory Music for String Quartet and Two Turntables, has just been recorded with members of Boston’s Ludovico Ensemble. He also has a new album in the can with Trinary System, the rock trio he founded in 2013, planned for release next year. Whether he’s painting with sound or testing the very elasticity of time, his multidisciplinary method of mining his dreams and looping the sonic events of his waking life continues to yield dividends.
“I don’t really think about it per se,” he clarifies, “but certainly with looping, you can hear a sound and you don’t know when it happened or what instrument did it. That’s when looping messes with time. And then in dreams, time is elastic, too. So perhaps it’s a mixture of those things. To me, this kind of music rewards attentive listening because it’s really composed and thought-out, so you’re not gonna be bored. But it does also work for me as an atmospheric, swirling clouds-in-the-room kind of thing. That makes me happy.”