Pedal to the metal
A.J. Feducia / When you’re a “junkie of quality,” as A.J. Feducia describes himself, a search for music equipment that meets your expectations usually leads to spending a lot of money. Or: you could make your own.
Feducia has only been an electric guitarist for six years. That’s impressive, given that he played in the now-defunct post-rock band At Sea, and is now a member of the indefinitely-on-hiatus band City. Even more impressive is that someone with relatively short experience on the instrument is also a mad scientist with one of the instrument’s key accessories–the pedal. From reverb to fuzz to distortion to circuit bending to loop sequencing functions, Feducia strips them down and tricks them out into every conceivable incarnation.
It may be true, as he says, that “every pedal has been made,” but that means there’s room to play with the mechanics, like putting a joy stick on pedal, as opposed to the electronics.
In 2006, after joining At Sea, Feducia’s first band, he became interested in experimenting with sound, as was the nature of the band. But before even picking up a guitar, Feducia was always fascinated with the way a friend of his would play around with music equipment, such as incorporating a pedal into a hollow-bodied guitar. And as an artist in various media, it’s no surprise that Feducia says, “the notion of being able to create something is very important to me.”
After accessing the schematics of pedals online, Feducia realized that making pedals “was hard, but not too farfetched” of a task. Still, he says his first attempts failed miserably.
“It was so discouraging,” he says. “I would spend six to seven hours on a pedal, find out it wouldn’t work, then have to go back and rebuild the whole thing.” Eventually, going backward and forward in the building process helped the budding pedal maker learn the process better.
It was the “introduction to circuit bending that changed a lot of things,” where short circuiting existing electronics “would have a different outcome from the intention.” With help from techie Ray Farias and artist Mat Kubo, Feducia started circuit bending children’s toys, turning things like a Speak & Math into a pedal. These types of endeavors yielded “a harsh and ugly experimental sound,” but were fantastic projects in the name of aural manipulation and experimentation.
Feducia toyed with opening a business called Skin Deep Sophistication, a reference to his initial shallow knowledge of electronics when first starting to build pedals. As of yet, academic pressures–he’s in the printmaking program at the University of Hawaii–have forced pedalmaking to the back burner.
Still, he can’t stop tinkering. Feducia’s most recent solo pedal project involved a clear box, to increase emphasis on aesthetics. He also has an ongoing project with former band mate Jason Lowe. It’s giant 10-pound pedal that the two circuit bent, before building a new casing for it. The thing is a beast with steel rollers in place of the pedal’s buttons and knobs.
“You can modulate with your feet,” Feducia says. “It doesn’t even look like a pedal. Instead of an on/off function, you can slowly introduce modulation and have more control of the sound’s presence… it’s an attempt at creating something extraordinary out of Jason’s brain.”
As for Feducia’s brain, one can continue to expect all types of experimental manifestations, be they sculptures, prints, sounds or music equipment. Sophistication, it seems, is in the ear of the beholder.
Tragedy of the Common by At Sea
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