Unity Street Audio x Rough Trade Bristol - Wassup Nerds Pedal and Noise-Maker Showcase Event Highlights
Let’s start off with a massive thank you to Unity Street Audio’s Mel Pereira for organising this shindig! The Wassup Nerds!?! Pedal and Noise-Maker Event at Rough Trade Bristol was a runaway success this Sunday just passed. I was hoping to have this article up sooner - but these things take time, and I had other priorities to juggle too.
Bristol looked resplendent on the day too in the dappled sunshine - all those historic buildings looked magnificent - and there was a Prets within easy walk of the venue - so decent lunch on the day too!
Most encounters were with familiar faces, while I made some new friends on the day also. There were 13 exhibitor stands in all - and I think pretty much everyone had a fabulous day of it - some possibly more than others!
In terms of the running order here - these are simply arranged by order of the layout at the venue - so in the order you would encounter them - apologies therefore to Gwion who was at the far-side of the main room!
Intensive Care Audio - Patrick Smith
Intensive Care Audio's Patrick ends up as the poster boy for the event (above) - partly as he had THE prime spot - but also because he sold the most on the day as I understand - his most successful show to date! He was teasing a final production model of his new pedal - which of course looks and sounds awesome - should be out before the end of this year. While on the day, the hot ticket seemed to be the Vena Cava Filter / Distortion - which was the most popular choice ahead of the Death Drive and Fideleater Lo-Fi Modulator + Delay.
By coincidence I'm also currently working on an Intensive Care Audio feature - where a lot of the heavy lifting is done already - we just need some photos now to add a little more flavour. And I should be off soon to check out Patrick's studio / workshop - just to round out some of the final details for the article. Probably next week or so - this week there's too much going on - and we have industrial action on the Tube also for a few days this week.
Lottie Canto - Lottie Canto!
Former Sutton Coldfield native, now Bristolian artist and musical entrepreneur Lottie (Elliott) is best known for his Colour Palette Electronic Kalimba - with 8 built-in effects / Modes. He's made a proper business of that over the last few years - with well over 800 units sold to date. On the day it seemed like the pastel Pink and Mint / Pistachio varieties were the most popular.
He's also notable for the Agency Boost and Bull Fuzz pedals - while he also had with him a copy of his Tone Bender MKI with clear panel window - displaying all the primo components. I would definitely be in line for one of those if he added a third bias knob! I'm quite keen on a few of his projects and we'll see if some don't appear on Guitar Pedal X within the next few weeks or months!
Also with him for the show was his custom 1W Amp Head and Cab - based on the Fender Champ - surely one of the most attractive of its kind!
Fredric Effects - Tim Webster
I think I've met Tim on the road more times than any other builder - he's near enough been to almost all the same shows as me - and is always the most genial and welcoming of hosts as such. We've been talking about the wedge-ificaiton of his compact pedals for quite some time now - and we're slowly but surely getting there now. Tim really has a most fantastic range of pedals - and I've still to properly dip my toes into Fredric Effects - although they have been featured on the site a number of times - while a larger overview has always been on the cards.
Tim always does well out of these shows - his pedals are well specified and priced just right to do well - and he was having another decent show on the day. He's just recently built himself / assembled a new workshop for himself in his garden - which I've made plans to visit in the new year. We've been talking about doing a project together for quite a number of years now - perhaps 2024 is the year!. I particularly like his quartet of larger wedges - Nouveau Super Unpleasant Companion, Utility Perkolator, Dresden Synth Fuzz, and Verzerrer Distortion - all those need to be added to the reference collection - alongside the Zombie Klone, Blue Monarch, Regent 150 Preamp, DuoFace, and forthcoming combined edition of Unpleasant Companion. There's always certainly plenty going on - even though Tim has streamlined the range a touch recently.
Collision Devices - UK Representatives : Anton Mocock & Nick Berthoud
I was quite excited that I might finally meet Baptiste or Denis, or perhaps Aubin or Nicholas - the French quartet behind Collision Devices. While we had the equally charming Anton and his friend Nick - as the sort of impromptu UK representatives for Collision Devices. Anton is guitarist in the experimental rock / post punk band Ditz and is an endorsee of Collision Devices. So it was Anton's collection of CD pedals we were seeing - consisting of all the classics - the larger format Black Hole Symmetry and a Ltd June edition of the Nocturnal - while kind of more importantly - the 2 recent stand-alone fuzzes - the one-knob Singularity, and the TARS Analog Filter Fuzz - with its custom-made flying saucer knobs.
The popular choice on the day was definitely the MS-20 inspired TARS - and if Nick and Anton had had some of those to sell on the day - I'm pretty sure they would have made a killing. I believe the only dealer that has some of those in stock in the UK is my friend Andy Birkitt at Break the Machine.
Rainger Effects - David Rainger, Martin Simpson & Matt Ayres
It's always a delight to run into the Rainger FX 'family' I know all the team so well by know - every event is like a sort of family reunion! On this occasion David was accompanied by Martin Simpson and Matt Ayres - I believe Matt was grabbing some lunch alas when the above picture was taken - but indeed lovely to catch up with all three - and I'm due to drop in on them again very soon at their Willesden Junction workshop - David and gang have a killer new pedal out on October 17th - I'm very excited to show you the delights of that innovation on that day.
For the show - it was the Minibar Liquid Analyser Overdrive that drew the punters in as usual - while of late the big seller has been the Reverb-X mini - as that featured recently in a rig rundown for the guitarist Mike 'Mk.gee' Gordon who plays in rapper Dijon's touring band - where he uses the Reverb-X for "crazy distorted crunched-out reverb!"
Starts at around 12:41 :
Chase Bliss - Doug Tolley & Son
It's always delightful to run into Chase Bliss UK Ambassador Doug Tolley - who has now been given the rather official title as Chase Bliss UK Event Manager - while I feel Ambassador is a more fitting and regal title. Doug really has the patient of a saint as he sort of co-pilots everyone who checks out the Chase Bliss board - with a dual headphone setup - which he has to listen to everyone's noodling. Most at the show just give a brief rundown of what the knobs do and then let the prospect do their own thing - while Doug very much guides them through the experience - as is probably needed for the more complex pedals.
The MOOD is always a perennial favourite and probably got the most playback was we all patiently wait for the Reverse Model C to materialise some time in November. Exciting times ahead no doubt. And don't forget that Doug is hosting his second Witney Pedal Party on Sunday November 5th - this time the venue is Fat Lil's - with Chase Bliss, ThorpyFX, Holy Island Audio, Life Is Unfair, Blind Panic Devices, Bleak District Electric, and Reeves Electro all featuring!
Buzzing Bugs Audio - Dan Goldberg & Kathryn Woods
I feel like I've known Dan for a long time now - but we only first met at the not too long ago Brigton Guitar Show. Excitingly he has another new pedal on the way - but it wasn't quite close enough to production quality to be teased at the show. Dan had his fellow band mate in tow - one Kathryn Woods - the guitarist and leader of the pop-punk band 'Fresh' - where Dan actually plays the drums, and a third member Myles McCabe shares guitar duties with Kathryn. In fact there seems to be a sometimes active 4th member of the band - bassist George Phillips - while I'm not 100% sure he's still in the picture?
The big hit at this show as for Brighton was the BB02 Percolator Fuzz - which Dan actually sold out of relatively early - while both Dan and I actually prefer the BB01 Fuzz Pre-Amp - more people should give that a chance - it really has some glorious harmonic textures. For both those pedals the gain taper runs up quite quickly - meaning that optimum gain / harmonic texture is typically between 8 and 10 o'c, and you don't get too much variation in the right-hand side of the gain sweep.
At the Brighton show I managed to convince Dan that his pedals would look so much better with shiny aluminium knobs - he was already considering it - but I feel like I nudged him across the line!
Crooked Threads Guitar Straps - Abi Crisp
etsy.com/uk/shop/CrookedThread
Abi was one of the new faces at this assembly, and kind of the odd one out too really in being the only one not selling pedals or devices. Early on it was starting to look like it wasn't going to be the right time or place for her - but quality endures! and by the end Abi had a pretty decent showing at the event with quite a number of sales.
She very carefully selects the most unique of fabrics - a lot of them from local suppliers, and she then hand-crafts them in their entirety - cutting out the leather ends and stitching and and fully and finely finishing those straps - they look and feel of the most excellent quality - as was surely born out by all the sales she made.
Orgeldream - Will Turner-Duffin
elevatorsound.com/shop/?_sf_s=orgel
Alas and alack I thought I had taken photos of everyone - but when I was doing the final compiling at home I saw that I had somehow managed to overlook Will - despite us having numerous conversations throughout the day. In fact the event was so busy that I was eternally circling / cycling around - and I always step aside if a prospect appears on the scene - as they should always have priority over mere journalism - I mostly do my own pedal deals outside the shows in any case! So it took me as many as 20 attempts on occasion to get in a photo! I had to wait right to the end for Doug Tolley - so buys was he all day!
Will Turner-Duffin was surely one of the most interesting characters at the show - in fact only at the second show he has attended. He operates more on the synth-side of things, with his Eoten Fuzz-Feedback-Synth-Machine the device he's best known for to-date. He had 3 works-in-progress along with him - with the Collecta Sample-Repeater the closest to am actual stombox - and with actual footswitches! While the most popular of the day was his WOAS Drum Machine which processes those very organic sounding beats in the most fantastic of ways via numerous CV connectors. He also had his dual-joystick Cyogel Synth with him - another work-in-progress. All those units were actually fairly feature-complete, and we can expect them to be properly out and about early next year. I will certainly make contact again once the Collecta nears completion. Will is also working on some Open-Source projects - so I introduced him to Indifferent Engine's Adam Paul - who is in the process of doing similar things!
Emmergy FX - Michael Gardner & Sarah Warner
I recall Michael very fondly from last year's Stourbridge FX Expo - where we got on famously. It's one of those situations where we fully intended to collaborate in some way - but here we are more than a year later and that just hasn't quite happened yet. Back at the FX Expo I was particularly keen on the pink-ish hued Rothko-esque designs of the Blown A Wish Fuzz and Gristle Throbber Mad Modulator Tremowah - which this year are joined by the Slowdriver Shoegazer Fuzzdistortion, Forced Smiles Expression Controller, and Bismuth Miner Fuzz / Synth Drone Effect - where both the latter benefit from a Korg Kaoss-pad-alike controller - which actually the Empty Skies Fuzz has a version of too.
The Forced Smiles mini expression controller is about to blow up - as Emily Hopkins is about to take that for a spin - surely fresh video is fairly imminent. In any case Michael and I have plenty to talk about - I've been wanting to feature some of his pedals for a while - as mentioned - hopefully this will be a step on the way to that - there's certainly plenty here worth getting stuck into.
Special congratulations to Michael too on his recent engagement to Sarah Warner - who accompanied him for most of the show.
And finally - it's interesting to note that Michael's day job as a Technical Draughtsman - mostly involving building construction plans - is hugely influential in his approach to pedal design - you can see a lot of deft touches in how Michael approaches his various creations.
Indifferent Engine - Adam Paul
indifferentengine.com/tapeecho
indifferentengine.com/pedalboard
This was my 3rd encounter with Indifferent Engine - where at last year's Stourbridge FX Expo I spoke to the engineer Tom Wilson, while for the last two appearances I have had the pleasure to meet and speak with lead band member and auteur Adam Paul - who similar to Gwion Christmas (Holy Island Audio) is somewhat of a polymath and with his fingers in a load of different enterprises. Best known to us pedal types as the maker of the DIY Janky Tape Echo, while of course he is chiefly the leader of the Post Anxiety Core band of the same name - where this sideline was initially just intended as a promotional exercise - but then kind of grew legs. To such an extent that there are two more projects on the go now - a Leslie Rotary Speaker type DIY Project along similar lines to the Janky Tape Echo, and then an open-source - more produced DSP-style device - where you can build on a common set of tools and templates.
Also - Adam's really cool Modular Pedalboard system deserves a mention - possibly that's in fairly early stages - another initially 3D printing DIY project - but will likely be available in finished kits some day fairly soon.
Adam Paul is certainly someone to keep an eye on - it's genuinely exciting to see what he comes up with next. I do hope he partners with a production outfit at some stage too - so that he can get a lot more of those devices into circulation as they deserve to be!
Life Is Unfair Audio Devices - Grindle
Grindle is still best know for those Joystick-based controllers - variations of single - Pineal Gland, and dual - Cerebral Cortex with both free-moving and spring-back joystick elements. They've also created a slew of impressive fuzzes over the years - under licence for Devi Ever (now expired), and their own finely crafted concoctions - including The Dream Left Behind, Awkward Breed, and most recent Violet Oscillation Shoegaze Fuzz - which I'm probably most interested in getting my hands on.
Grindle also created the inestimably cool Syneptic Cleft Tremolo, and the highly accomplished Rorschach Fuzz Distortion & Synth Style Filter Stereo Pedal - in collaboration with Holy Island Audio. That earlier variety is long since sold out, and they're currently working on a new edition of that which drops the fuzz, but does a lot more in the synth / filter part of that circuit. Grindle was also showcasing a number of new colourful duo-tone PCBs for forthcoming projects - which looked fantastic,
Finally, Grindle is also a key member of the self-described "shambolic indie pop collective" 'Live, Do Nothing' - and typically brings along a record or two to the events he attends. Funnily at this show that part of the room was occupied by 3 similarly eclectic entrepreneurs - Adam Paul of Indifferent Engine, Gwion Christmas of Holy Island Audio and this Grindle. What's more - the combined members of that room would have made for a fabulously capable and eclectic collective. One of these events should really arrange for these incredible musicians to have a jam-along - to see how they gel!
Holy Island Audio - Gwion Christmas
And so to Gwion Christmas - fresh from his recent successful 'Stop!' Dual Fuzz collaboration with Mask Audio Electronics. And already embarked on another 'Rorschach' collaboration with Life is Unfair's Michael Grindle - serendipitously his neighbour at this show.
Besides the Rorschach, Gwion is best known for his Tides Dirty Reverb, Abracadaver Fuzz and Plague Pit Double Abracadaver, also the Angel Teeth DOD250 style Drive, Glass Palace Low-to-Mid-Gain Overdrive, and variations of his 'Bed of Nails' Ring Modulator kit. It also looks like the Celestial Firing Squad Gated + Modulated Synth Fuzz with Tap Tempo is nearing final production.
I'm probably most keen on some kind of advanced variant of the Abracadever - where the decision is really between the Plague Pit and the MAE Stop! collaboration. I featured the Stop! on this site fairly recently - so that's probably the likeliest uptake here - we shall see. All in good time as they say!
12 Degrees of Saturation 2023 Compact Edition
