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 In this edition of GEAR GEEK we look at the equipment used by EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY when they played The Zoo recently.
Anyone who saw Explosions In The Sky at the Zoo a few weeks ago can attest to the boldness of their sound. The use of simple motifs, layered by phrase loopers into audacious swells of reverb and delay, was reminiscent of Battles, rather than Mono (a band with which Explosions are heavily associated). When I peered over the monitors to see their pedals, I was greeted by a large array of Boss (and other) stompboxes, pieced-together by gold-plated patch cables. Expressing my bemusement at the scene in front of me, someone remarked that the tone loss generally associated with buffered pedals could be controlled by using high quality patches. The result – to my ears – was a tone that – while still compressed – had a great analogue voicing and gave a fairer representation of each guitar’s natural range. Mark Smith (left-hand side, brilliant beard) was using a black Fender Tornado, a Mexican-made (in Ensenada) guitar which is similar in shape to the Jaguar or Jazzmaster. It comes standard with the often-reviled Atomic Humbucker pickups, and I’ve heard nothing to suggest that Mark has changed them. He certainly had the sustain you’d expect from double coils, though I’m unsure why the Atomic Humbuckers get such a bad wrap on the Internet, his tone – while never clean – sounded fine to me. Mark uses one of the fantastic Tech21 Sansamp GT-2s for his overdrive tones. The pedal is known for its dynamic response and rugged build quality, which is perfect for a touring post-rock guitarist. He also employs a Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeller, an Arion Stage Tuner, and a Boss FV-50L volume pedal. Mark normally runs through a Fender ‘65 Twin Reverb Reissue, though I didn’t get close enough to workout whether it was his, or hired backline. Michael James (centre, locked in the throes of ecstasy) used to use a tobacco sunburst Washburn XB-100 with standard pickups. He now uses a black OLP MM2 bass, which I wasn’t actually paying a lot of attention to at the time. What I did focus on was the blue and white Ibanez Talman Michael switches to mid-set. The much-loved Talman is a Japanese/Korean-made, pressed-body guitar that looks and plays like a cross between a Strat and the Danelectro 56-U2. He even has the original lipstick single-coil pickups.  Photo: Elleni Toumpas Munaf Rayani (right-hand side, sways like Tamaki from Mono) was playing a Sherwood green Fender Telecaster, which seemed to have a lot of cut, despite the fact I was on Mark’s side of stage. Munaf also has a Lake Placid blue Fender Stratocaster with standard single-coil pickups. Munaf regularly treads on a Russian Electro-Harmonix Big Muff, a Tech 21 Sansamp GT-2 and a Vox V830 Distortion Booster for overdrive/distortion. He also uses an Ibanez DE-7 Delay/Echo, a Boss RV-3 Digital Reverb/Delay and a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner. He ordinarily plugs into a Fender Dual Showman head, with a Fender 2x12 cabinet, but my ability to spot specific amplifiers isn’t necessarily the best. I still think the backline was hired. Interestingly, all three guitarists use Boss RC-20XL Phrase Recorders. They tend to loop small clusters of notes – or even single repeats – to slowly build walls of sound with cumulative layers of delay. The Loop Station series is the subject of mixed commentary from guitarists; many praise its basic features, while others point out that its habit of sucking tone renders it useless in a live situation. However, Explosions In The Sky have proved (thrice!) that it’s not the case. If anything, Boss buffering unifies the band’s sound, homogenising it enough that they seem to move as one. Plus they use the loops as ambient noise between songs, which segues their performance and gives them a chance a tune. Last but certainly not least is the drummer Chris Hrasky. He has a seven-piece dark blue Pearl drum set that he purchased sometime in the early 1990s. The kit he uses consists of a snare, a single mounted tom drum, one floor tom, the bass drum, the hi-hat, one ride cymbal, and a single crash cymbal. As far as tools, he uses a pair of black brushes, a pair of mallets, various drumsticks, and a red half-moon headless tambourine. Chris has since upgraded to a silver and green sparkle Fibes kit, though at the Zoo he used a hired set from Brisbane Backline. Explosions In The Sky get a great overall tone that is more than the sum of its parts. While they don’t always use the most pristine components, they use them thoughtfully within the context of the band. They prove that it’s not what you’ve got, but how you use it, or – to hopefully coin a phrase – one musician’s flaw is another’s feature. Hmm... I might have to work on that one. ALL OF A SUDDEN I MISS EVERYONE is out now through Spunk/EMI. Thanks a bunch to www.rectangular.org for their diligent cataloguing of everything EXPLOSIONS. Check out www.loopers-delight.com for most all there is to know about phrase looping. If you want to check-up on a prospective purchase, do some detective work at reviews.harmony-central.com. The Internet is an amazing thing.
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