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.
ENMORE AUDIO: Can you run us through what’s on your board at the moment?
PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS (PPC): 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: I’m really into those massive doubled guitars on Gurzle. What are we hearing there?
PPC: A combination of amps with fuzz pedals and DI virtual amps with fuzz pedals and a chainsaw miked up with 40 vintage Neumann condensers.
ENMORE AUDIO: What was the first pedal you bought?
PPC: Pretty sure it was a Fulltone Soul Bender; really raw and vintage sounding mkII fuzz
ENMORE AUDIO: What’s your favourite pedal under 100 bucks and why?
PPC: 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: What do you have on your board at the moment that really shapes your sound?
PPC: 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: How do you approach your signal chain/routing?
PPC: 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: Do you switch pedals in and out often?
PPC: 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: Is there anything you’re really hanging out to buy at the moment?
PPC: The list grows longer at the moment I really want a Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl MkII and a Bananana Effects Tararira.
ENMORE AUDIO: Who are some of your favourite pedal builders?
PPC: 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: Do you have any particular ethos when it comes to using guitar pedals?
PPC: Show restraint, just because you have them doesn’t mean use them all the time.
ENMORE AUDIO: If you had to cull your board down to two pedals, what would they be and why?
PPC: The Algal Bloom and the Memory Boy, I think they do most of the legwork in the sound the others just reinforce other elements.
ENMORE AUDIO: 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.
ENMORE AUDIO: Do you have any pedal heroes or other artist who you feel really nail a sound through their rig?
PPC: 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.
