KW : I don ’ t know ; I just like to sound like me . I got my first Sovtek Mig 100 in the early 2000s at a pawn shop in Florida and I ’ ve never used a different head . I just started grabbing others as it went along . I think the Sovteks and the speaker combination , the distortion pedal I use is something I made , and that ’ s the distortion pedal I ’ ve used since the beginning . I just haven ’ t changed a thing . I ’ ll add accents like different reverbs and different controller pedals , but I ’ ve always used a Warden Compressor from Earthquaker Devices , I ’ ve always used my distortion , and it ’ s always going into bi-cabs with Sovtek heads . I feel like I knew how I wanted to sound and what I like and it wasn ’ t really based on anything except , “ Oh , this sounds really raunchy to me ,” and I just like the fine line between distortion and fuzz . I don ’ t like mid-tubed fuzz , it sounds weird to me and you don ’ t get any presence or texture out of it , and I don ’ t like pure , raw distortion because it ’ s too uncontrollable . Riding the line between the two is where I always wanted to be , and once I found it , I never changed it .
CM : With Vile Creature , you have an interesting situation in that you ’ re a
two-piece act and you live together . Do you have a practice routine as a band ?
KW : No , we ’ re the worst when it comes to that . We ’ re probably the least professional musicians in the world ; it probably shows in my playing . I could probably be a much better guitarist if I actually paid attention to learning things but I don ’ t . Like , I probably haven ’ t practiced a scale ever in my life . I don ’ t really practice ; I just pick up a guitar , turn on my amps , and play until I find something that I like .
We don ’ t really have a practice schedule , I ’ ll work on writing a record , Vic [ drums ] will come in near the end of that process to add in their parts and things . We ’ ll record , we ’ ll rehearse for tour , we ’ ll play , and we don ’ t play super often , so we ’ re very much a part-time band . We ’ ll play maybe four weeks ’ worth of shows a year because we ’ re super busy . And then when we ’ re done , if we ’ re not actually working on a record , we don ’ t really play super often . We fly by the seat of our pants as far as writing and practicing and stuff . We just do to when we feel like it , and when we don ’ t , we don ’ t , which I think takes a lot of the pressure off of everything and the band is just a creative outlet .
CM : Your songs have a very emotional atmosphere to them . Do you craft the songs with a vibe or lyrical ideas in mind , or do you write the lyrics to match how the songs end up sounding ?
KW : It ’ s gone either way . We ’ ll mostly write music with vocal patterns in mind . For the record we put out last year , Glory , Glory ! Apathy Took Helm ! we had all of the music done , and three or four weeks before we recorded , we rented out a treehouse cabin in north Ontario for a weekend , and we took our dog and just went there with all of our demos and came out with the lyrics for the record . We have a lot of ideas and open-minded themes always , but as far as actually putting pen to paper , that usually is the last thing that happens .
CM : Is there a specific piece of gear you want to get next ?
KW : No , I ’ m good on gear . I ’ m never really chasing anything . I have maybe four pedals that have always stayed the same and I ’ ll rotate in a bunch of different reverbs or delays but I never keep them for long — I ’ m not a gear hoarder . If it ’ s not on my board , I just sell it or get rid of it . I ’ ve got my distortion , I ’ ve got my compressor , I really love the Ghost Echo from Earthquaker Devices , I really like the When the Sun Explodes from Beautiful Noise Endeavours , and honestly that ’ s probably the most I ’ ll ever need .
Dean Lamb
Dean Lamb is the eight-string guitar player in Vancouver-based technical death metal band Archspire .
CM : Walk us through a breakdown of your usual live rig .
Lamb : The entire band ’ s rig is all built into the same kind of thing . So , I play through an Axe-FX for my tone , and that goes line-out into our [ Behringer ] X32 Mixer , and that gives us all a feed for our in-ear monitors . I have stereo outs for everybody for our in-ears , and then we run stems for our in-ears , so we play to recorded audio rather than playing to live drums , or anything . So , I can ’ t hear anyone else onstage . Everyone hears their own mix of the album stems and they can adjust whatever they want on their phones . But for my tone , I use an Axe-FX and then a Line 6 wireless G90 .
CM : Do you have anything in your practice regimen you use to build up and maintain the speed you play with ?
Lamb : For endurance , the only way we manage to play that kind of stuff is by keeping our practice schedule up . We jam together before a tour for two or three weeks and that ’ s pretty much the only
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