WHATSINYOURLOOP EP 04 with Stephen Lyons, leader of JUNO Award winning Fond of Tigers and Limbs of the Stars. Q. What was the first guitar pedal you ever bought? A. Probably a DOD flanger. Maybe a Tokai Distortion around the same time. I remember seeing a Dinner is Ruined solo show where, in addition to playing slide bass with his feet using a bass tin whistle, he also used a Tokai Distortion, but every time he switched it on, his guitar sound went totally washed out, thin, and quiet. You could hear his pick against his electric guitar strings more than the sound from his amp. This was around when grunge was really getting going as a corporate concern, and when the amount of overdriven guitars on choruses was really beefing up. I liked his use of the pedal as an effect through subtraction, almost to the point of negation. Q. What is your standard pedal setup? A. With Fond of Tigers and Limbs of the Stars, it's mainly been just a volume pedal. I've used various looping pedals for writing material, but very rarely live. I've written a few parts by screwing up the timing on the loops, and then liking the mistake more than the original idea. Over the years, I've sporadically performed in a duo called Collapsing Lung (with Lee Hutzulak), and for a good part of it my approach was to try to sound like I was using pedals, without using any (other than the volume pedal). It was a good challenge, and sometimes maybe even worked. For my upcoming solo show, I think I'll be using an Empress Tremolo and an ElectroHarmonix 2880 loop pedal. Oh, and the volume pedal. Q. What is one pedal you want, but do not own. A. Still trying to find the ideal looper. Each one has drawbacks. Maybe someone wants to design a special one for me and my needs? Q. Is there such thing as too many pedals? I've seen too many times that frantic chase to find a problem in the effects chain. The panicked unplugging and replugging. Is it the chorus pedal? Is it this little patch cable? Or that one? or that one? The more pedals, the more chance of getting caught up in this tornado. Lyons is currently at work writing the next Fond of Tigers album. See their previous work (including their JUNO Award winning album “CONTINENT & WESTERN” at https://fondoftigers.bandcamp.com Limbs of the Stars can be found here: http://limbsofthestars.bandcamp.com/releases