Artist Interviews 78
Interview with Stephen Carpenter of Deftones
Since forming Deftones in late ’80s Sacramento, Stephen Carpenter has traveled the world over, slinging churning riffs and atmospheric textures with the help of a slew of extended-range guitars and evolving amp rigs. We got the chance to hang out with Steph in a southern California studio to talk Deftones, gear simplicity and his love […]
St. Vincent Interview at NAMM 2017
With four critically-acclaimed albums under her belt, Grammy award-winning artist Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent) shows no sign of slowing her momentum. Collaborating with Ernie Ball Music Man last year, her St. Vincent signature model stunned the guitar world with its sleek lines, sharp angles, and all-around cool. Oh yeah, did we mention that this […]
Meet the Velcro Lewis Group
If you stumbled upon the Velcro Lewis Group online, perhaps through their single “Bernadette,” which was featured on an episode of Showtime’s Shameless, and assumed they were a lost relic of a band from 40 years ago chosen by a music director steeped in rock ‘n’ roll gems, it would be hard to blame you. But listen closer and […]
Artist Impressions: Minimoog Model D
Moog’s Minimoog Model D — back in production for the first time since 1981 — has been making waves among analog synthesizer fans. Among those fans are Greg Spero, touring keyboardist for Halsey, and AWOLNATION’s Kenny Carkeet. Both musicians took a brand-new Model D for a spin at the zZounds HQ. In addition to his […]
Jamie Kent & The Options on All American Mutt
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jamie Kent and his band, The Options, recently swung by zZounds HQ for a few reasons. One was to showcase the Bose L1 Line Array and F1 Flexible Array loudspeaker systems. For the past few years, Kent has served as an artist representative for Bose, as well as Telefunken microphones and Durango boots. […]
Winter Classic Brings Back The Feels
Winter Classic began in 2013 when, in their own words: “Jim and Spiros were bored. They played some songs. Sam expressed similar sentiments. Sam broke his shoulder doing a sick trick on his, then new, board. We asked James if he was bored. He was, too. He joined. We’re not too bored anymore.” To be […]
Interview With Lever
If you first mistook Lever’s latest album Hover Bored, as a Back to the Future-inspired ’80s rock tribute, it’d be hard to blame you. The first song is called “McFly” for goodness’ sake. But take a listen and you’ll hear that sonically, Lever draws from another era, about 10 years after Marty McFly met Doc. The band describes itself […]
Nico Santora on Lillake’s Full-Length, Become
You’re a guitarist. You’ve been playing music pretty much as long as you can remember. You’re good. People know you’re good, and at long last, you’ve scored a gig in a killer band known the world over. What do you do now? Settle in for that reliable gig with that established, influential band? Not if you’re Nico […]
Kirk Hammett on KHDK Electronics
When a guitarist carries as much esteem as Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, you’d think they would be content sticking to the signature tone they developed years ago. But, just like us lowly mortals, the guitar god still tweaks and adjusts to his tastes, forever chasing the sounds he has in his head. And to that end, […]
