Not many folks can say they have several guitar set-ups for different bands because most normal dudes in bands play in just one band at a time! Doug shares some magic and some surprising guitars in his arsenal with some candid notes from his Guided by Voices days, a coming Death of Samantha LP, Bambi Kino and of course his set-up with Nada Surf!

THE BASICS:
Boss floor tuner

One-Spot power chain.

THE DETAILS: I use 2 Boss EQ pedals for a clean(ish) boost. One set for larger boost, the other for accents or small boosts. For a saturated fuzz controllable by volume, or in some cases just a good distorted boost, I use a Mucho Busto, made by Durham Electronics in Austin, (Alan Durham, maker of the Sex Drive pedal). Its a great little unit, and the led beam is bright and blue, so it’s like an old Spielberg movie when you step on it. The Voodoo Lab Tremelo is versatile, and everyone knows the Holy Grail is the best reverb in pedal form. I end the chain with a Boss DD-3 delay pedal. Good for slapback, or actual delay. I should probably get a more involved delay, but I’m lazy and cheap. This is fine.
All this is loosely velcroed to 2 Ikea cutting boards duct-taped side by side. Hey, you can fold them up when you fly. Done. Fugghed. About. It.

Depending on the application, I use any number of guitars. For my solo band shows, I use mainly my black Les Paul (76) or SG Classic. I just got a ’67 ES-330, so I may use that as well. Amp-wise, I’ll use my Mesa Rectifier and cab if I’m driving, but backline amp at the venue is good most times in the NYC area.

For Nada Surf, its been the Les Paul and SG through my Mesa Rectifier & 4×12 cab. The Mesa doesn’t have the most amazing clean tone, but it has 3 channels, and the main appeal of these amps to me is the “Solo” channel. Its just a dedicated volume knob/boost to whatever channel you’re on at the time, and provides a huge clean boost. What do the kids say today? “Ginormous”? Wait, that was a few years ago.

Bambi Kino – Photo Courtesy of Andy Bicknell

With Bambi Kino I use my new old 330, and my Hofner Verithin. (Its a semi hollowbody, but yes, “very thin”!). Sometimes my SG with P-90′s sounds perfect for the old Beatles Star Club lp/BBC sessions sounds though. Amp-wise, I go through my Budda 30w combo with Bambi Kino.

With Death Of Samantha, I use the black Les Paul I got when I was with them and played on those records. I also use my SG, and if possible, my Mesa thing. If not, someone else’s amp will do. And has. We have a new LP coming out this year based on rehearsals for our reunion show a year and a half ago, original lineup. I remember playing Maxwell’s in ’86 or so when Ira Kaplan did our sound! We will be playing a few shows this year, too. Just don’t know where or when yet.

I also own a 94 Strat, a 68 Harmony Rocket which i write on a lot, a nylon/classical which i used to write on a lot, and Alvarez 6-string acoustic, an Alvarez 12-str acoustic, a Kay Old Kraftsman Thin-Twin (Jimmy Reed, Hubert Sumlin, & my dad) and an old Fernandes “elephant” battery-powered built-in speaker guitar. I did some demos to “Mag Earwhig” songs on that, on a Tascam 4-track to Bob’s acoustic demos. Good times.

[FACEBOOK SHOW INVITE - THE DOUG GILLARD ELECTRIC]

Related Stories:
Nada Surf: Top Albums from the year of the dragon 2012
Songs About Love & Giving Thanks

Here’s a few of his greatest hits from the Classic Years:
Don’t Stop The Music MP3
Revenooer Man MP3
White Lightning MP3

George Jones and Tammy Wynette- Golden ring

One thing I especially dig about this jam is the fact that the songwriting and the song do not suffer from the fact that there is so much going on sonically, and to me, that is a difficult feat to achieve in the prog genre. Everything works together so well, and really gels, and just made this a really awesome song to listen to first thing this morning. -TH

Listen Here:

SINGLE REVIEW: The first song I listened to this morning was the new single “When I’m Dead” by the Aussie band, The Dead Heads. It was a good way to wake up.

I’ve heard writers using words like “grunge” and other lazy descriptors that might pigeon-hole these guys and turn people away initially. Don’t buy into it. There is so much more than that going on here with this single. It is a sonically brilliant, minimal pop-gem capturing a vibe that lays somewhere between bands like WAAVES and NO AGE – a refined mix of dissonance and melody: a good pop song, and the perfect amount of noise.

Give this jam a spin, It is good sunny day music. -TH

Related jams:
Single Review: Wildlife Control – Ages Places to love space
The Black Angels Evil Things – evil single

VIDEO SINGLE: Got a fresh jam Thug Dreamz created exclusively for Review Stalker by the brooklyn based band Woods Party. Footage totally remixed and borrowed from Silk. Enjoy the crowd as they dance to this slow burner with equal party keyboard bass drones and melodic emotion. This band Features former Bubble/Gum drummer Trevor Hahn and Jason Montagna from Montagna & The Mouth To Mouth.

Related words:
Playlist – Songs about Water, Devastation & Rain
Montagna & The Mouth to Mouth – Nothing but sexy Prince Covers
Duo Rock Bands like Local H and Bubble/Gum

Here’s a few of our favorite recent episodes.

THE NIGHT MARCHERS

THE VACCINES

DEER TICK

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Lee Ranaldo of the Sonic Youth with Angles

Catch them at SXSW:
Wed 3/13 Waller Creek Boathouse 6:30pm
Fri 3/15 Shakespheres 2:40 pm
Fri 3/15 Maggie Mae’s midnight
Sat 3/16 House of Creatives 3pm

DOWNLOAD: Ages Places MP3 by Wildlife Control.

Also, here’s a awesome stop motion video of theirs about a girl called “Analog or Digital” which is one of our favorite themes around here. Enjoy!

CXCW 2013: Bands, solo singer songwriters and performance artists. It’s not too late to think of an idea and perform a tune to participate in the online music festival for us poor grubs who are NOT going to SXSW this year. Three years running there is a much cooler home that you can say is yours and drink and eat whatever you want for Couch by Couch West. Kids as young as 9-10 even have bands that are performing live and getting internet famous. People are blowing up couches and playing on trains. This is a fun happening and here’s just a few of many.

Here is Uncle Leon doing a song called “beer train” on a new york city subway for CXCW 2013. There is one lady on here that does not take her nose out of a book, actually like most folks numb to something fun and different. Typical new yorkers disappoint me. This festival is not for her but perhaps you think you might be able to change the world one song at time.

Next up is a local to us from New Brunswick, New Jersey resident and one man band Keith Kenny doing a really great song called “Filling Holes”. We never heard of him before and thank goodness for CXCW to fill us in on great music happening in our own damn backyard.

The Foresters are the youngest band ages 13-10 with a tune called “Way Up high”.

Every hour from morning until night the crew at CXCW are posting photos and videos. So no matter when you check-in they have plenty for you to check-out.