What piece of equipment do you have to show us today?
It’s a standard guitar lead – not sure what brand it is.
How did you come across this particular item?
You can usually find them attached to a guitar, indeed mine was… but I sometimes like mine ‘unplugged’.
What is it that you like so much about it?
It makes a great fuzzed out electronic buzz when you have one jack connected to a switched on amplifier and you touch the unplugged jack with your finger or thumb.
When has it come in handy most? Do you recall any time this has got you out of a tough spot?
My guitar stopped working one night and I ‘improvised’ by using this technique to create a one note ‘pulse’ riff over which I sang. This got a great response and I immediately saw the potential for experimentation.
How do you use it, and how has it shaped the way that you write music?
I use the lead to play ‘lead’ solos, I use it to back myself on a couple of my songs – it produces a note pretty close to G (close enough for punk rock and experimental stuff) and sometimes I use it in conjunction with other found sounds that I have prepared from my repertoire whereby I play free form – also manipulating the pitch by recording the sound on tape and then playing back with vary speed to change pitch.
Tell us a little about what you’ve got coming up.
I’m about to go on a national tour to promote my new and first actual ‘solo’ album, My Script. I use the unplugged guitar lead on 2 songs – ‘Fucking Shit Up’ and ‘Tell Me About Your Master’ as well as on a recurring improv piece called ‘Its Not Forgetting’, also from the album.
To keep up with the latest from Kim Salmon, visit www.kimsalmon.com.au.
