Interview with Joey Levenson of SPC ECO
Joey Levenson is a multi-talented guitarist, pedal enthusiast, and leading provider of swirling atmospherics and vast textural soundscapes for the dreampop/shoegaze group SPC ECO. Along with Dean Garcia (Curve, Eurythmics) who provides drums, bass, guitar and production, and Rose Berlin who is gifted with an angelic voice reminiscent of Rachel Goswell (and also Dean's daughter) the three thus far have already released one amazing album (3-D, 2009) and a handful of equally impressive eps under the name SPC ECO (pronounced "Space Echo" and named after the famous Roland RE-201 Tape Echo). If you haven't checked them out yet I suggest you begin your musical journey here.
I was very lucky to spend some time getting to know Joey and asked him a few questions about his obscure and forgotten gear, textural excursions into the unknown, vintage electronics utopias in Japan, and ponderings on the current state of music. As always, there is a ton of listening material linked throughout and after the interview for your aural pleasure.
DIY: How did you first get into guitar pedals/music gear? Did you always gravitate towards less-traditional guitar sounds/methods? If not, what was the spark that set off your fascination with tone and experimentation?
JL: I bought some pedals when i was in college, like used Japanese stuff (it wasn't "vintage" back then). I remember in about 1992, I had wanted the Boss PN-2 tremolo/pan, and when it came up in a shop used for $50, I used all my money from my part time job to get it. No one else had one at the time, it was all shaky and I loved it
I guess the spark that set it off was I was living in Fukuyama, Japan in the late 90's. I walked past a shop window, a little speaker/electronics shop, and there was a RE-101 in the window, and I remember thinking "The Verve guys use that." Well, the shop owner had just passed away and they were trying to clean everything out. I ended up getting it for about $10 and some little plugs and connectors that I still have. Well, after that, I just would find these little used boxes in guitar shops full of old Korg/Guyatone/Pearl/Japanese-made pedals that were cheap, like 20-50 bucks. The Japanese guys wanted the US-made stuff, so, I just started collecting them and trying to create the sounds I heard on my favorite records. I eventually ended up with a small pile of "vintage" gear. I'm guessing it was about 250 pedals and racks or so, mostly old stuff. I've had like 7 Space Echos, tons of analog delays and modulation boxes, and quite a few fuzzes. Now, maybe I have about 65-70 pieces. It just got ridiculous. Still is!
I think I just like textures that make me sit up and notice. I have two rules I go by: it's got to be fresh and it's got to make me feel something.
DIY: Do you mod/bend/build your own gear? Do you use alternate tunings? How would you describe your guitar playing style? (minus effects, that is)
JL: I don't use alternate tunings. I believe J. Mascis said something to the effect of "If you can do everything, why do anything?" regarding guitar playing. So, I keep it straight and simple and expand on that. I like to work in certain confines. My guitar style? Well, I certainly love and respect many musicians, especially Will Sergeant, Roland Jones, Nels Cline, Bernard Butler, Bobby Gillespie, Tom Bailey, and Tim Holmes. I'd like to think of what I do as an expansion of Will Sergeant's more psychedelic sounds (esp. Electrafixion-era) as heard by Nels Cline. I do know a bit of theory and I do like to play acoustic or straight-to-amp sometimes. Maybe a bit of reggae thrown in, as well.
I don't build or mod anything. There's already so much gear out there, and I don't feel there is anything particularly I feel I need to express by building a pedal. I do always try to buy used. I think its a waste to take up another tree when there are so many cool used guitars at all price levels, and there's always some cool, beat-up soundmaker I can hook my guitars up through.
DIY: I've always thought of shoegazers as obsessive hybrid musician/engineers. Do you have any interest in recording/engineering and if so how do you balance being a musician and being an engineer?
JL: I don't try to do anything except play my guitar and improve on that. The pedals and sounds are just me sitting in front of my t.v. watching NCIS reruns, twiddling knobs and if I like it, I'll record some riff or pattern. Doesn't every guitarist sit on the floor, no matter what age, and play with their gear?
Obsessive? I'm obsessive about my sounds and the gear I use. Although I have Pro Tools, but I just use Garageband, because I don't process my sounds in the computer, except a tad of EQ afterwards, and I find GB is simple and quick. I don't like to stare at a computer to make music, I like to use my hands, and have my sensations wandering around the room, but you have to use computers nowadays, don't you? So, when I have messed with Pro-Tools, for me, I just kind of felt too..busy to concentrate on my playing.
I'd like to produce something one day. I think I have some good ideas. I've been asked to re-mix tracks more than a few times now. I may have to look into that.
DIY: There are a huge variety of boutique guitar pedal manufacturers today. Do you have any favorite brands/models and what direction would you like to see the boutique manufacturers go in the future?
JL: I'm left cold by a lot of boutique manufacturers, to be honest, when I think a lot of the old guys did it better. I think a lot of times, the only thing that some of these new players can really claim they've done is improve the bypass. That said, everyone who knows me knows I support Z.vex because I think his ideas and gadgets are really my cup of tea. I have a WMD Geiger Counter bitcrusher as well, and I can honestly say I don't get that pedal at all (which means it probably is great!). I also have this Colorsound Dipthonizer clone that was custom-built by GeekMacDaddy. Its kind of a fuzzed-up talk box/envelope filter Colorsound did in the 70's and I think I read there were only 30 made. It really out there and fun. I think that's all the boutique stuff I have at the moment.
I do want to say: don't just look at the high-end stuff, there is some great budget stuff, as well. The old Danelectro Fab Chorus (the plastic blue one) has a really sick vibrato that's quite original. I also like their mini Slap Echo. Electro-Harmonix has some cool stuff as well (though I don't have any of it now). I think Behringer has done some cool stuff making all of those cheap reproductions of the old Boss pedals. Sure, they may break, but they make some cool sounds before they do. Kids today have it so easy :)
DIY: Z.Vex Effects has rapidly established itself as a household name and the Fuzz Factory in particular has quickly achieved legendary status among pedal collectors for its versatility and glitchy tones. Tell us a bit about your Z.Vex collection and in particular any interesting pieces or unique gear that you'd like to share.
JL: I've talked to Mr. Vex many times and I like him a lot. He has a great sense of history in his products. I've used a Fuzz Factory for about 10 years now. At first, I felt it was a bit hi-fi for my tastes but I've gotten used to it now.:) You can hear it all over almost everything I play (SPC ECO's "Shine On Down" or (my own music) So Young's "Dirty"). I think I've had just about everything Mr. V has ever made, save maybe the Imp Amp. A special piece? Well, I have the Zvex Drip Guitar, but honestly, I bought it so I could pretend to be Will Sergeant in the Seven Seas video. I think I heard there's only 70 or so in the world. My Fuzz Factory is Korean script, and its the 2nd one ever made. Oddly, I found #3 in London.
DIY: How do you feel about newer amp modeling technology (like COSM), VST rigs, digital multi-effects floor units, and the overwhelming digitization of guitar effects processing?
JL: If some kid can play something awesome with all of that, then I'm all for it. Every musician needs to find connection to the gear he uses. I tried a VST rig for a bit, but it didn't sound deep enough for me, and also, I didn't like staring at a computer. But, a lot of dudes now do all of that and sound awesome, so its cool, and it wont break the bank.
I have some old/older digital pieces I dig a lot. I just bought a Boss SE-70 in Fukuoka because I want to play like Ron did in the Flaming Lips. It has some great sounds in it. I have an old Aria rack delay, the DEX-1000. Its one of my favorite vibrato "pedals." It's truly weird, and it was in the junk section of a shop, no one wanted it! I like to mix and match my boxes. I don't have a pedalboard. I just pull stuff off shelves and out of boxes and hook it up. I loved legos as a kid, and I think somehow my pedal collection is like my new legos…very..expensive..legos! You know, every piece of gear will react to another piece of gear differently, and sometimes its really cool sounding! I don't normally use multi-fx, but that said, I do have a couple old ones sitting around. The key to everything is find out what works for you, and experiment. Be curious.
DIY: You have claimed to own every vintage piece there is. We can all agree that gear comes and goes but give us a short list of the vintage gear that you swear by time and time again (ie. the desert island question) and what advice do you have for us vintage gear collectors on a budget?
JL: Well, I've had A LOT of vintage pieces (back before they were "vintage"), but oddly, I've never had a TS-808, I've never seen one in person! What are my desert island pieces? I cant say I have just one. That said, I do love my Pearl CH-02 chorus, its a great dark vibrato, the sine wave on it is just about perfect. I do like my old Guyatone 12-bit Delay, as well as my old DD-2 (listen to SPC ECO's Special, thats the DD-2 hold mode run into a Boss RC-2, so its 2 loopers going against each other). That said, I have about 12-15 old, lo-fi digital delays now, because I just love the grittiness of them all. My favorite fuzz I have is probably my Roland AD-50 Double Beat Fuzz/Wah. I got it from Music Life Dan's in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, and he gave it to me for cheap because he knew I'd love it. Its a very, very expressive silicon fuzz (there's 3 different tones in there).
I have the infamous BEEBAA, as well, but its just an elephant in a train wreck sound, isn't it? Turn it on and people fall down! Here's a story about the BEEBAA: About 2003 or so, it sat in a shop in Hiroshima for 9/10 months for about $80 and no one batted an eye at it. I've seen them go for $400-500 now!
Advice? Try to get to every store you can and to try to test everything you can, with your own guitar if possible. Try to avoid buying online if you can. I've mostly bought every piece I've had by going to the places and finding out what works for me. I don't use every kind of effect there is, but I've sure tried them all! Also, what sounds are you going for? What players do you identify with? I dig Eddie Hazel's sounds, but I sure can't play like him! Take out a pad and pen and write down who you like or what sound from what record you like. Then, try to go from there.
For me, some of my favorite sounds are the vibrato from Starflyer 59's "A Housewife Love Song," the dirt sounds from The Waterboys' tune "A Rock in a Weary Land", and ok, I'll admit it, MBV's elephant sound in "Only Shallow."
Also, learn about compression, equalization (esp EQ!), and volume, and how they affect each other. There's a cool little homepage called amptone.com. It is a bit dated, but the info is invaluable.
DIY: Could you tell us what you have been working on lately such as musical projects, touring etc, and what you have planned for the future?
JL: Like I said, SPC ECO will start up again soon, and I'm always excited about that. SPC ECO is a very special ride I am happy to be on with Dean and Rose and I think we create something that is rather unique and beautiful, and I'm very glad that so many other people are also enjoying it.
I also really like to doing guest spots on other people's music, mostly working via the internet. I'm playing on SLIDE's debut cd (they were a different band before called Sincerely Paul, and they had one of my favorite albums of the 90's (Grieve)) and I'm really psyched about that. I did some sounds for Bliss City East out of Chicago, and I've worked with Stellarscope's Tom Lugo on a few different things. I've done a couple trial remixes and guest spots for some other bands. If anyone else likes what I do, get in contact with me. I like playing in different musical universes, it just stretches out what I do.
DIY: What musicians/producers do you admire, both old and new and for what reasons? Who or what inspires your solo work?
JL: Well, considering the pedigree of it all, Alan Moulder. I'm so lucky that Dean got him into to do some of SPC ECO's debut CD. I heard he dug our sounds, as well, that made me smile a lot. I hope he will have time for our next record. I really love the Death in Vegas record "Contino Sessions" and began writing to Tim Holmes on MySpace a few years ago. He asked me for a cd of my stuff, and he reciprocated by remixing the SPC ECO track Telling You, which blew me away. Paul Weller said that most musicians spend their career rewriting their favorite song or songs, and one of mine is "Dirge" by Death In Vegas. I think sometimes when I make a loop or something, "yep. Contino Sessions." I do like some old reggae and dub, the sounds are so rough and lo-fi. Also, anything the guys in Primal Scream touches is gold, in my opinion.
One of my favorite bands of all time is the Thompson Twins, and that always surprises people. They were always really out there and still pop, always experimenting and mixing sounds, but still had a great sense of melody. I especially love "Set" and "Queer." I love both of those records so much.
For my solo stuff, I guess its just like that: I just find a wild sound or two and build it up from there.
DIY: SPC ECO is beautiful, mesmerizing, and spacious all at once. Tell us how you got involved with Dean Garcia and formed SPC ECO. Can you explain your approach to writing and recording music with SPC ECO? How do the songs develop? Is SPC ECO a long distance project or do you play together as a group live?
JL: I hounded him on Myspace to check out my page, and he dug it, and kept coming back, and then he asked if I needed some bass on anything, and then, he suggested we do up a MySpace page and do some tracks together. Within 5 days, we had an offer to play a gig, and at the first gig, Dean received an offer from AC-30 Records out of London to do a vinyl single, which was for You're Alright/Another Day. It just took off from there.
I went to London and we did some recording in Dean's special room while drinking copious amounts of tea and playing brick Game Boy Tetris. It was very fluid and relaxed and we got some great sounds. Mostly, I just record stuff here in my place in Korea or Japan or wherever I am, and then send it to him over the internet, and he works his magic, playing and adding, mixing and producing as he sees fit, and then Rose comes in and writes her lyrics and sings like a distorted angel. Sometimes the songs go back and forth and sometimes they just spring forth. Whatever the method to the madness has developed into, it works, and we are all happy.
As for live, you never know what the future may bring. Here's hoping.
DIY: Does SPC ECO plan on touring in America or elsewhere in the future? Any details on the new album? Vinyl release?
JL: Yes, I've heard the word vinyl a few times, so here's hoping. We do have that first single that is vinyl. I'm always doing sounds and loops and the like. Dean has announced he has fired up the Ableton, so there should be a new demo or two soon. We could possibly release our 2nd album this year, and then see where that takes us. It does seem a lot more people are talking about SPC ECO nowadays, and we are all happy and grateful for that.
DIY: Thanks for coming in Joey, and keep on rocking!
