
There is no shortage of ace psych bands in Perth. Yes, it’s home to Tame Impala, POND etc, but these bands are at the vanguard of a much bigger scene. Amongst, this bustling sonic cornucopia you’ll find an explosive band called Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, a riff-wielding four-piece exploring the far reaches of the psych genre, from spacious wandering passages to vicious end-of-the-world throw-downs. We reached out the guys to see what kind of gear they are using at the moment and why you should always buy that half broken phaser for 50 bucks.
Chatting to Perth’s Psychedelic Porn Crumpets about their vicious end-of-the-world fuzz tones and why you should always buy that half broken phaser for 50 bucks.
Can you run us through what’s on your board at the moment?
Xotic EP Booster, Analogman Prince of Tone, Fuzzhugger Algal Bloom, Deluxe Memory Boy, 80s EH Small Stone, Strymon Bigsky, Boss TU – 3, Moen GEC – 9 Switcher.
I’m really into those massive doubled guitars on Gurzle. What are we hearing there?
A combination of amps with fuzz pedals and DI virtual amps with fuzz pedals and a chainsaw miked up with 40 vintage Neumann condensers.
What was the first pedal you bought?
Pretty sure it was a Fulltone Soul Bender; really raw and vintage sounding mkII fuzz
What’s your favourite pedal under 100 bucks and why?
If we are talking about second hand I picked up my vintage small stone for 50 bucks because it was all painted and broken and no one knew what It was so I fixed it up and its one of the most lush sounding phaser pedals I’ve ever heard.
What do you have on your board at the moment that really shapes your sound?
For fuzz tones the Algal Bloom is perfect as it can go from being really thick and Big Muff-sounding to a more buzzing 60s tone. I’d say though the most important is the Memory Boy as I can get so many different sounds from it especially using the triangle modulation.
How do you approach your signal chain/routing?
I run everything in and out of my switching unit. It can’t change the order of pedals in the switching unit so they are in a pretty standard order for pedals but if I had too many options I might never be happy with my rig.
Do you switch pedals in and out often?
I tend to try and put more in but I’m usually out of room so for Crumpets the rig stays generally the same. I really want to add my wah pedal into the mix though as I miss using it.
Is there anything you’re really hanging out to buy at the moment?
The list grows longer at the moment I really want a Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl MkII and a Bananana Effects Tararira.
Who are some of your favourite pedal builders?
I think my favourites are people that aren’t making the standard pedal designs or copies (2 knob fuzz or overdrive) I think those have been done way too much I really like builders like Chase Bliss Audio who are pushing everything into the next generation of sound and are growing as music as the music industry.
Do you have any particular ethos when it comes to using guitar pedals?
Show restraint, just because you have them doesn’t mean use them all the time.
If you had to cull your board down to two pedals, what would they be and why?
The Algal Bloom and the Memory Boy, I think they do most of the legwork in the sound the others just reinforce other elements.
Do your pedals influence what amp or guitars you use, or vice versa?
I suppose I like to have a really clean amp (Deluxe Reverb) so that the pedals can really shape a lot of the sound and aren’t competing with the raw sound of the amp. As for guitars I generally don’t change much.
Do you have any pedal heroes or other artist who you feel really nail a sound through their rig?
I feel like Johnny Greenwood from Radiohead always had something special happening with his sounds, sometimes you have no idea what he is even doing to make certain soundscapes. I also really like Kevin Parker’s sounds, particularly the lead tones on tracks like Mind Mischief its kind of a nice mash up of Beatles tones and modern compression and delays.
Listen to PPC’s new record High Visceral here.