Tash Sultana talks to us about their new album, Terra Firma, and—wuhoo!—returning to the stage in 2021.
Australian guitarist Tash Sultana's demeanor suggests that they have always known who they are. There's no shyness about how they speak their mind—cursing freely in interviews, declaring what they're passionate about, and frankly—though not abrasively—stating when they're not willing to speak on a topic. That freedom of expression is matched only by their devotion to their craft—which involves picking “over everything."
The new album Terra Firma is a product of that devotion. It also makes a bit of a departure from the loop-based jams Sultana is known for, exploring new combinations of styles across several genres. It's dreamy, undulating, and amorphous, weaving R&B, funk, folk, rock, and hip-hop textures across 14 tracks with moods the depth of oceanic trenches. Pun intended, as, mid-interview, Sultana expressed appreciation for a Frank Ocean comparison. Much like Ocean, the guitarist achieves something that speaks to their artistic vision alone.
Sultana is a self-described loner. That makes total sense, since they're a multi-instrumentalist who plays 20 instruments including trumpet, flute, and saxophone, and typically writes, performs, records, and produces all of their own music. Which is why it's notable that on Terra Firma, they invited collaboration for the first time, namely with fellow Australian Recording Industry Award-winning musician Matt Corby and New Zealand-based producer Dann Hume (Courtney Barnett, Amy Shark, Angus & Julia Stone). Together, they spent 10 days writing—an endeavor that resulted in four songs on the album—“Crop Circles," “Greed," “Beyond the Pine," and “Pretty Lady." They come in that order following the first track, helping to set the hybrid-genre, soulful, ethereal tone that continues throughout the rest of the album.
We spoke with Sultana over Zoom—and Australian fauna could be heard chirping in the background—10 days before Terra Firma was released. They were preparing for the live shows—yes, actual live shows—allowed in Australia and planned for the album's release week, and were “really fucking stressed about it."
“It's a little bit daunting," Sultana said, “because you have to relearn all the ropes that you know, but have got cobwebs on." But, when asked if they would be nervous, they replied, “No. I'll be a little fucking firecracker. I'll probably literally fucking explode or some shit." Read on see why that description fits right in with Sultana's unflinching, audacious energy.
So, tell me about the process of making the album.
It was the best fucking thing that I've ever done in my life, actually. I've never, ever tried so hard to achieve something, ever. Like, for real. I mean, the whole international lockdown was, for me, an experience that I really needed. Because initially what last year was meant to look like was…. I was meant to have a record out in May. And I was also meant to do six months of overseas touring in between trying to record this record. And that would have been absolutely fucked. The record would have sounded like absolute shit. The record probably would have had two songs on it, with the time I [had] to get it done. So the slate was wiped clean, and I spent more than 200 days on Terra Firma. From October until the following October, I was in the studio four to six days a week. Sometimes, I'd get there like 10 in the morning and leave at 2 in the morning, or I'd come in midday and leave at 3 in the morning, and I'd do that constantly. That was just what I ate every single fucking day.
Is that usually the way you like to work?
I'm a bit of a studio rat, to be honest. I'm a bit of a loner. If I'm going to spend time, I like to spend it kind of alone. I'll go for a surf, then commit to a full day of jamming or recording or rehearsing—that type of thing. I suppose sometimes it gets a little bit stressful because I've got this full-on OCD attitude when I do stuff. I don't do anything half-assed.
Would you say that idea of being a loner is reflected in how independent you are with your music?
Yeah. Well, I think anyone can do it. It's just about where you put all your passion, time, focus, spirit, energy … all of that. Which direction are you going in? For me it was just music and it was just about getting better. It's this thing that I'll never ever fully achieve, because the finish line just keeps getting further and further away. It's about being better than you were a week ago. Or acquiring more knowledge than you had a week ago, or a month ago, or a year ago. That's what it's about, and realizing you're not the best and you're not better than anyone else. It's just a personal journey, and that's it.
I know that this album was the first time you opened yourself up to collaboration, and you wrote with Matt Corby and Dann Hume. How did that happen?
Matt and I have known each other for quite a few years, and initially it just started out as a jam session back in 2016. And then he sent me a track a couple years later, of his, and he said “I would love for you to be the person that finishes this." I was really honored by that. I did that collab and shortly after that I did a similar thing with Milky Chance. That was the beginning point where I was like—that's actually really fun, to get all your minds together and get a fusion of styles and create something because it's the essence of everybody in the room.
TIDBIT: Sultana's new album was kickstarted by a 10-day writing spree with collaborators Matt Corby and Dann Hume. Sultana calls the result “a fusion of brains in the room."
Then, when it came to the beginning process of writing and recording, I had a couple of songs that I didn't really think were good enough. And we planned to do a 10-day writing session. It wasn't even for the purpose of writing anything for the record. It was just literally to get together and have some fun. And whatever happens in the room, I'll just decide later what I would like to do with those songs. And there ended up being four. Some of them I'd already written but there were some things that I couldn't figure out, and that all just fleshed out when we were together. It was a really awesome experience. The fact that we got that much done in 10 days is fucked. But yeah, Matt's just a really nice spirit; he's a really lovely guy and an incredibly underrated musician, really and truly.
We got the bones of something in the 10 days, and then I was left with everything for months following, so I changed a lot on some of those songs. Like time signature, key, tempo, flipped verses, changed choruses, changed the drums—I did a whole bunch of shit. But I wouldn't have even got to that point without the fusion of brains in the room in the first place.
What song on the album are you the most proud of?
“Blame It on Society."
Guitars
Fender Custom Shop StratocastersEric Johnson Signature Series Stratocaster
Richie Kotzen Signature Series Telecaster
Gretsch Electromatic
Fender Jazz Bass
Amps and Effects
Kemper ProfilerAxe-Fx
Strings
D'Addario EXL110 (.010–.46, for electrics)Elixir Phosphor Bronze (acoustics)
Because of the message?
That I'll never give away. That's going to be fun for everyone who starts interviewing me after this record comes out, because I'm not giving away the rest of the record.
[Laughs] Ok, fine with me. Did this album have a broader concept behind it?
I wrote the entire record as a piece of music, so they all flow from one to the next. I started it off with an instrumental with a sonic palette that I've used in every single song. I introduce the horns, strings, drums, beats, guitar, and synths. That set the pace and the sonic palette for the following songs.
What program did you use to record?
I use Pro Tools for this, but I also use Ableton Live and a lot of MIDI as well. Predominantly the entire record was done in Pro Tools.
I find Ableton to have a very unintimidating interface.
It's not intimidating until you start getting into [Program Change and Control Change] fucking messages, as in MIDI mapping and all that type of shit. Because all of the stuff that I use for my live rig, that's all custom and MIDI, and that shit is confusing when you're trying to program your fucking macro effects on a bloody keyboard and then you start hearing the kick drum coming out of somewhere that it shouldn't be. You're just like “Oh my god, what the fuck have I just done."
What's your live setup like?
[Laughs] I don't even know where to begin with that. I've been in the studio for the last few days with my production manager, just programming some new shit. It's turning these studio tracks into the live versions of themselves. But I suppose, in a very general sense, it's a custom design to have full separation across everything that's played—all effects, all instruments. Everything. And all of the sounds are entirely digital. I do not use any [analog] amps ever.
Sultana's main guitars are three Fender Custom Shop-built Stratocasters. Wanna know what makes these instruments special? That's Sultana's secret.
Another thing to be wary of is what is in your signal chain. What is first, what is second, third, fourth, and all that type of thing. That's really important in determining how things sound. But for me, I've got a hybrid analog and digital pedalboard. It's analog pedals at the beginning of the chain, and then it turns into digital at the end of the chain. The analog pedals are the obvious analog stuff, and the rest is all digital effects processing, so I have amp emulations. And I use a MIDI pedalboard, so every song is its own preset. If I'm playing “Big Smoke," it's going to load the sounds that I've made on the record, and then if I go into “Mystic," it's going to load those sounds. So every song is a different preset to match the tones and effects that I use on the records.
What is your main guitar and what do you like about it?
I've got three main guitars and they're all custom-built Fender Strats. They have a certain fretting and neck radius, and they're also made of a certain wood and they have a specific internal design as in pickups and what not ... but they're all secret [laughs].
Learn more about Tash's influences in this Hooked video she filmed for PG.
What would you say is the guitar's role in your music?
It's the home base. It's the beginning, usually. There's a few songs that are beginning on the synth and whatnot. But that's minimal. In a looping world, it's generally around the guitar. That's the foundation of everything. I also grew up playing so much guitar from such a young age and I just thought that in modern music the guitars were the lacking essence of songs. Like, people were making songs that didn't even have guitar in it, and I just found that really strange.
What's your creative process like?
It really depends on the day [laughs]. I'm literally so many fucking people in one. So that can be conflicting sometimes. It changes the process. If I'm feeling really chill, everything's in the moment. Whereas if I'm feeling stressed, it's kind of like an over-analyzation of shit and that's usually when I do the worst work. But it depends. It all comes as a little thought bubble, and sometimes they all marry up in the end. So I could be humming something and that hum could be the bass line. It'll stem from the guitar or the keys or from the bass or sometimes the beats. They come from different angles and they all meet in the middle.
What are your influences on guitar?
Jimi Hendrix, 100 percent. More so for effect than technicality. I just like that tube scream and the wah type of tinny screeching guitar. But as in like a technical aspect, I would say that John Mayer is a big inspiration—just that jazzy blues approach to playing. Then if you look at the acoustic guitar—when I was younger, well, I still am, but when I was younger I was very inspired by how John Butler played the acoustic guitar. He's fantastic and he's also a really lovely person.
With Sultana's rock 'n' roll energy, wide stylistic embrace, and exciting playing, they have redefined the concept of what a one-person show can achieve. This shot's from Shaky Knees 2019. Photo by Chris Kies
What are your influences in general?
To be honest, actually, Frank Ocean. I think that is some really strange, new age, ethereal kind of funk soul. I don't know what that is. I love that shit. I love Erykah Badu. And Bon Iver. Then, if we go back in time, I really love the arrangements and composition and sounds of '70s funk. I like Aretha Franklin and I like the Isley Brothers, and Marvin Gaye, and all that type of stuff. That's the type of drums that I like to hear.
I know you busked as a teenager. How did that inform your musicianship?
It was more like, “take no shit," to be honest. Because ... you're on the street, right? You're literally performing a show that no one fucking asked for. It's about winning the crowd over. And you come across all walks of life. So you'd have your business people, drunk people, people that were high on whatever the fuck they were high on, school students, elderly. And it used to be the best part of the day, bringing all those groups of people together to stop for a moment during their commute or whatever the fuck they were doing or wherever they were going. That was the best—that forced oneness. We all went in it, we all enjoyed it and it was some of the best parts of my life.
And that oneness you then recreate with the audience that chooses to be there when you do your live shows.
Which is also really sick, to be honest. There's nothing higher than the feeling that I get when being onstage. That's the highest point. There's nothing higher than that.
The week of Terra Firma's release, Tash Sultana performed a set in Australia for the Fortnite Championship Series. Here you can watch them build the album's opening track, “Musk," from the ground up, creating a smooth, soulful, and larger-than-life vibe that, amazingly, is coming from just one person. Oh … and Sultana plays everything, of course, from Stratocaster to trumpet.
This year marks a watershed for Taylor Guitars as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary of building high-quality instruments and contributing to the global music community. Over the past five decades, Taylor has grown from a small guitar shop in California to one of the world’s most innovative and respected guitar manufacturers. This milestone is being commemorated with several exciting initiatives, including a limited-edition anniversary guitar collection and the launch of American Dreamers, a new podcast miniseries featuring Taylor’s co-founders, Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug.
A Limited-Edition 50th Anniversary Collection
Three standouts in Taylor’s new 50th Anniversary Collection.
To kick off the celebrations, Taylor has introduced the first wave of models from its limited-edition 50th Anniversary guitar collection. These instruments, featuring exclusive appointments and designs, are crafted to honor Taylor’s tradition of innovation and excellence. Throughout the year, additional models will be released, each representing a chapter in Taylor’s journey over the past half-century.
In addition to the guitar collection, Taylor has launched a detailed timeline on its website that chronicles the company’s major milestones, innovations, and breakthroughs. This interactive resource allows fans and guitar enthusiasts to explore the evolution of Taylor Guitars and learn about the advancements that have set the company apart in the industry. From pioneering guitar designs to their commitment to sustainability, Taylor’s history is a testament to the company’s enduring passion for quality and innovation.
American Dreamers: A Podcast Miniseries
One of the most exciting parts of Taylor’s anniversary celebration is the release of American Dreamers, a podcast miniseries that offers listeners a unique glimpse into the history of the company through candid conversations with co-founders Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug. The podcast, hosted by Taylor’s Director of Sales, Dave Pelletier, dives deep into the personal and professional lives of Bob and Kurt, tracing their early beginnings and exploring the journey that led to the creation of Taylor Guitars.
The podcast starts with Bob and Kurt’s childhoods in San Diego, where they developed an interest in music and craftsmanship. Bob recalls how, during his teenage years, he became obsessed with making guitars, a passion that would later define his career. In American Dreamers, listeners get to hear the story of how Bob and Kurt first met at the American Dream guitar shop in Lemon Grove, California, when they were just 19 and 21 years old. The shop, with its free-spirited, hippie vibe, was a hub for musicians and guitar enthusiasts in the area. It was here that the seeds of their partnership were planted, leading to a business venture that would last over 50 years.
Bob Taylor (left) and Kurt Listug (right) circa 1973 – on the cusp of launching Taylor Guitars.
The Journey from a Small Shop to a Global Brand
In the inaugural episode of the podcast, titled “Episode 1: The Road to the American Dream,” Bob and Kurt reminisce about those early days, sharing the challenges and triumphs they faced in launching their own guitar company. After meeting at the American Dream shop, the duo eventually decided to buy the business and turn it into something even greater—a company dedicated to creating innovative, high-quality guitars.
Throughout the podcast, Bob and Kurt reflect on the pivotal moments that shaped the company’s growth, including their decision to implement groundbreaking guitar designs and their commitment to sustainability in later years. Taylor Guitars became known for its patented bolt-on neck, a feature that improved playability and ease of maintenance, as well as its forward-thinking use of responsibly sourced tonewoods. These innovations have solidified Taylor’s place as a leader in the guitar industry, setting new standards for craftsmanship and environmental responsibility.
Bob Taylor (left) and Kurt Listug (right) enjoy some of their new instruments in 1985.
American Dreamers isn’t just a historical retelling; it’s a treasure trove of insights for fans of Taylor Guitars and those interested in the art of guitar-making. The conversations between Bob, Kurt, and host Dave Pelletier offer a rare behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to build a successful guitar company from the ground up. For aspiring entrepreneurs, guitar enthusiasts, and anyone curious about Taylor’s success, this podcast provides invaluable lessons in creativity, perseverance, and the spirit of innovation.
A Year of Reflection and Looking Ahead
As Taylor Guitars celebrates its 50th anniversary, the company is using this moment to both reflect on its past achievements and look ahead to the future. The limited-edition anniversary guitar collection and the American Dreamers podcast are just two ways Taylor is commemorating this milestone year. By sharing the personal stories of its founders and showcasing the craftsmanship that has made its guitars world-renowned, Taylor is giving fans and musicians an opportunity to connect with the brand on a deeper level.
New episodes of American Dreamers will be released periodically throughout the year, and listeners can tune in on their favorite podcast platforms or watch video versions of the interviews on Taylor’s website. Whether you’re a longtime fan of Taylor Guitars or someone interested in the art and business of guitar-making, this podcast promises to be an engaging and informative series that highlights the passion and dedication that have driven Taylor’s success over the past 50 years.
Be sure to follow or subscribe to American Dreamers to stay up to date on the latest episodes and visit Taylor’s website to explore the full range of anniversary guitars and learn more about the company’s 50-year journey.
Baroni Recording Amps: Faithful tone to iconic amps in rock history. High-Voltage Class A tube preamp and analog simulation for direct FOH or DAW use. VARICAB circuit for realistic cab simulations. Perfect for pedal demos and connecting pedalboard to DAW.
Baroni (A Foxgear Brand) Is proud to introduce its first range of Recording Amps with a range of five products designed to replicate five of the most iconic amps in rock history, including Fender, Marshall, Hiwatt, Orange and Vox. Each Baroni Recording amp is made of a High-Voltage Class A tube preamp and a renewed analog simulation that mimics all the chain after the preamp such as the power section, the speaker, the microphone, and preparing the signal in a 100% analog way to go direct to FOH console, or into the Audio Interface of your DAW. Thanks to the VARICAB circuit, introduced last year into Foxgear’s Miniamp series, and recently updated, and thanks to two separate control of Gain (Body) and Volume on the preamp section, you can truly mimic the behavior of the real amplifier, including the grit or bottom-end/punch usually added by the power tubes before to go to the XLR balanced out with a faithful recreation of your favorite sound with a big advantage: Eating Pedals perfectly.
Each Recording Amp also boasts a series fx loop, and a traditional TS Jack out to use as a standard preamp going into the return section of an amp, or into a power amplifier.No dozens of options, just pure tone straight to the point to not compromise the easy to use with pedals. Some YouTubers have already ordered their one to be used as their main interface to do pedal demos.
Baroni Preamps/D.I. Recording Amps Highlights include:
- Faithful tone to the original Amplifier
- 100% Analog signal path and Cab Simulation- Infinite and real-time changing cab simulations with VARICAB
- The definitive device to connect your pedalboard to your DAW without compromises.
For more information, please visit foxgeardistribution.com.
Join PG contributor Tom Butwin as he explores how this simple, yet essential, device can save your instrument from catastrophic damage. Discover the peace of mind provided by the Atlas C1.
How this simple sustain stomp helped me bring one of my favorite David Lynch scenes to life and took me across oceans.
There’s a scene in David Lynch’sMulholland Drivewhere Naomi Watts and Laura Harring’s characters find themselves in a darkened, mostly empty theater. Against a backdrop of spooky, synthy chords, they breathlessly watch the night’s oddball emcee deliver an intense, cryptic soliloquy on recorded sound. A trumpet player slowly walks onto the stage, the two characters clutching each other. They—and you—get fully drawn into his muted, jazzy lines. Suddenly, he pulls his instrument away from the mic, throwing his hands in the air. But the solo continues. The narrator looks to the audience: “It’s all recorded.”
Like the best Lynch moments, it’s a thoroughly dramatic moment that needs to be experienced with all applicable senses. Words alone won’t do. This scene is meant to stick with you.
I had that scene in mind as I first plugged into an Electro-Harmonix Freeze. I wanted to play a note and have it keep going … and going … until the audience would see that those notes were just lingering in the air, my strings no longer vibrating, unsure what the effect is. The Freeze could do just that.
“This wasn’t some new iteration of some other effect—a crazy fuzz or a weird flanger. This was a new category.”
If you’ve never played one, the Freeze elegantly holds whatever you give it—a note, a chord, a pick scrape, or whatever else. For such an obvious effect to come out when it did felt so refreshingly groundbreaking. It represented new possibilities. This wasn’t some new iteration of some other effect—a crazy fuzz or a weird flanger. This was a new category.
There had already been ways to fake drones and sustained notes with loopers and delay pedals, but those inevitably had their quirks that ruined the illusion. David Cockerell, the designer of the Freeze, explains that loopers capture short bits of sound, apply an amplitude envelope, and play it back repeatedly. This can work to make sustained notes if the passage includes a whole number of cycles of the sound's fundamental pitch, but in most cases, you’ll hear a click when it repeats.
Back in the ’70s, the EHX team had worked on the idea for a sustain pedal. “At that time, the best I could do was intelligent-splice-single-cycle-looping,” recalls Cockerell. “This looked for a waveform match in the same way that guitar tuning meters do, and then endlessly played one cycle. It worked reasonably well for saxophone or other instruments with strictly harmonic overtones, but it was hopeless for guitar.”
”The pedal only requires one knob for volume, one toggle for latching or fast/slow swell modes, and a footswitch.”
Fast-forward to the early ’00s when DSP chips became available that could reproduce more complex sounds and overtones. While he was working on the EHX Hog with John Pisani, the company’s current-day chief engineer, the idea for a sustain pedal reared its head once again. Cockerell used an algorithm with a special provision that avoids freezing on a pluck transient, thus eliminating the risk of that pesky click. And the Freeze was born.
Released in 2010, the Freeze has a simple beauty. The pedal only requires one knob for volume, one toggle for latching or fast/slow swell modes, and a footswitch. Within, there’s such a wide range of subtlety: How you hit the pedal after your attack greatly affects the response. With the level setting, you can create subtle drones, much like an electronic shruti box, meant to subtly fill space. Or you can set it more obviously as you change chords, freeing up your hands. At higher volume settings in fast momentary mode, you can create glitchy stutter effects. And the way it interacts with other pedals opens up entirely new worlds.
I threw myself into the pedal not long after it hit the market, learning its nuances and eventually buying a second one to create a stereo effect. With my retuned 12-string Strat, I blasted my amps with drones, blowing a few speakers with abandon. Soon, the Freeze changed my approach to the guitar, and I released a series of solo drone and noise albums that took me across the U.S. and Europe. When I recognized Bill Frisell using one during a solo set, I’d bonded with the pedal so much that it was like a friend was sitting in with my favorite guitar player.
“I blasted my amps with drones, blowing a few speakers with abandon.”
There are plenty of pedals that have followed, adding more functionality. EHX’s Pico Deep Freeze, most obviously, but also the Gamechanger Plus, TC Electronic Infinite Sample, and the Chase Bliss Onward—enough that guitar sustain pedals have become their own class of effect. As fabulous as those pedals are, I still cherish the simplicity of the Freeze, a rare thing that leaves all the creative decisions on our side of the pedalboard.