Khruangbin are pushing sonic boundaries, having developed a uniquely dancey style of deceivingly complex music, making it sound easy.
Pulling influence from all over the globe, Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee and guitarist Mark Speer, along with drummer Donald “DJ” Johnson craft groovy and otherworldly music for audiences across the planet.
Armed with their trusty number ones, a Fender Stratocaster for Mark and a Jazz Bass for Laura, Fender has recently announced a pair of signature model instruments for the pair. Mark’s Limited Edition Mark Speer Stratocaster serves as a chance to honour the guitar that has served him on stage for years, as does Laura’s Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass.
Chatting to them before a show in Texas, Laura and Mark are excited about their new signature models, though acknowledge that they both know what works for them as musicians – so why try to change it up?
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Mark’s Limited Edition Stratocaster is, aesthetically, very 70s. It features a natural ash body and finish, the bullet truss rod screw being a nod to its 70s heritage, this design having been used throughout the 70s and early 80s. The humbuckers are DiMarzio Pro Track humbuckers, with a Vintage-Style ‘70s single-coil Strat pickup in the middle position.
Fender Stratocaster
His guitar features a Custom “C”-shape neck with a 7.25” radius, being familiar to players of vintage Strats, more modern guitars featuring increasingly flat fretboards for modern styles of playing. Also notably, Mark’s Strat comes standard with flatwound strings, lending further to the warmth and fatness of his tones, allowing him to slip more seamlessly into the hypnotic grooves that Khruangbin are so known for, without any harsh electric guitar sounds waking us from the hypnotic grooves.
Mark’s Stratocaster features the same HSH as his previous main guitar (used almost exclusively through Khruangbin’s career), the pickups having been accidentally wired out of phase, but serving to provide the unique brittle and bright tones that Mark uses throughout Khruangbin’s catalogue. This continues in his signature from Fender.
His Strat also features jumbo frets, a far-cry from the 70s style Strat’s originals, though Mark explains he found a penchant for jumbo frets after playing for a church band where he’d be playing for eight hours a day, and simply wore through the originals in a matter of months, having been made of nickel.
Laura’s bass follows a similar story, having played the same bass on stage for years, albeit with a few modifications, some of them thanks to Mark. Funnily enough, her original bass had vintage, open-style tuners that wound the wrong way, either having been installed backwards or simply designed that way. Laura laughs, recalling the first prototype arriving with vintage tuning machine heads that operated correctly, which she promptly had… uh, corrected. The tuners on Laura’s bass wind backwards, just as she’s grown accustomed to.
Finished in a vintage white Gloss Polyester, and coupled with an Alder body, Laura’s bass will feel familiar to all Jazz bass devotees, the pickups controlled by stacked concentric controls for volume and tone, with the ever so classy thumb-rest as well.
Fender Jazz Bass
Completing the look, Laura’s bass also features the addition of the oh-so 60s ashtray bridge covers and pickup cover, complete in nickel chrome to match the other hardware, the ashtray bridge covers having earned their name thanks to Fender factory workers having used spare covers them as ashtrays when working in the factory in days gone by. But Laura’s ashtray bridge cover serves a secondary purpose: to preserve the foam tucked into her bridge as a mute. She uses this for a more controlled sound than just palm muting, giving her bass playing a warm and rounded sound.
Laura’s bass also features DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups, the bridge pickup on her original bass being noticeably noisy before it was replaced by Mark for an anti-hum version.
We pivot here a bit to the live show, Khruangbin not using many effects, instead choosing to toggle between pickups and playing techniques, their stage instruments offering a wide swathe of sounds for their expanding sonic palette.
This philosophy extends to the studio, their latest record A La Sala having been written, produced and recorded entirely with the live show in mind. While the studio offers endless opportunities for overdubs thanks to digital audio, Khruangbin are acutely aware that their music will need to be performed live, and performed well. Despite the availability of technology to help them replicate just about anything, the additional variables prevent them from having room to improvise and adapt on the fly, something Laura and Mark thrive on, along with bandmate Donald “DJ” Johnson.
Speaking to this further, Laura implores musicians to make music for themselves and ignore the pressure of trends, labels and their own anxiety to make ‘safe’ music, discussing that one of two things will happen:
Firstly, you could make a record to appease the ‘safe’ option, and it could go well, earning you new fans of the sound, but backing you into a corner with added pressure to continue making this style of music.
Secondly, the record could be a flop, having served as a waste of time, leaving you with a record that you aren’t passionate about, nor was it received well. She continues, explaining that a record you love, can still flop commercially and give you the satisfaction of making music you wanted to make— so you might as well! Wise words from someone who plays in a band so distinctly in their own lane.
Speaking further to this, Laura implores Khruangbin fans who purchase her signature Jazz bass to make her own music, instead of using it as a vessel to achieve the closest possible sound to hers. Mark nods along, and Laura acknowledges that you can achieve similar sounds to them easily, but she hopes her and Mark’s signature instruments inspire musicians to think outside the box.
The Limited Edition Mark Speer Stratocaster and Limited Edition Laura Lee Jazz Bass are available now from Fender.
