VOIID are making a name for themselves, their own brand of garagey punk being hugely informed by Kate's guitar tone, this pushed even further in Sourpuss.
The sounds and tones she pursues borrow from rock and grunge, with fuzzy, gritty distortion being blended with some classic guitar designs; she herself now being endorsed by Greco.
Kate, thanks for taking the time! Can you tell us a bit about what gear you’re currently using?
No, thank you! Currently I play a Greco SG with VOIID and a Greco Les Paul for my solo band Sourpuss. Both of these guitars are vintage but Greco just gifted me a new BGW22-SH with the endorsement which has an epic Telecaster vibe going on. I swap to my Fender Jazzmaster here and there when I want that specific tone, but Greco is where it’s at, I swear by those guitars. In terms of amps— Marshall JCM800 is my ride or die. They stay clean while being extremely loud and they don’t fuck with the tone that your pedals are creating. There’s nothing worse than when an amp does that, like Vox. Sorry to any Vox fans out there but I cannot stand them!
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On the pedal front I have been slowly minimising my board for years now but my other ride or die is the Tym guitars Big Mud fuzz pedal. If you’re one of the lucky ones to have tracked one down you’ll know where I’m coming from. It gives the Big Muff a run for its money.
How does your gear live compare to what you’ve used in the studio? Does one inform the other?
I try to keep my live gear exactly the same as how I record. I want what people hear live to be as close as possible to what you hear when you’re listening to our music through headphones. I don’t really understand the point in changing everything in the studio and then going to play a show and it couldn’t be further from what you hear. It makes me feel inauthentic to what I’m trying to achieve. Not everyone works that way, some people enjoy separating the live and recorded experiences so that something new is created and that can also be cool.
Is there one piece you simply can’t live without?
Unfortunately it’s three things I can’t live without. My Greco SG, my JCM800 and my Big Mud fuzz pedal. I said they’re my ride or die haha! If I don’t have these it’s pretty grim for anyone involved.
Can you tell us a bit about your first guitar or first instrument?
My first guitar was an Ashton kids guitar. I still have it at home. My parents got it for me when I turned five or six. I would eventually just play my dad’s guitar even though my hands were still too tiny (still are, I have small hands). It’s funny, the day I got my first guitar was the day that music teachers went around the classes to see if anyone wanted to play drums for the school band. I tried out and they said I followed tempos really well and I should play drums but I didn’t, because I wanted to play guitar instead (I ended up playing saxophone in the school band lmao). I often wonder if I would be a crazy drummer right now if I decided to sign up that day.
Have you got a guitar hero?
Billie Joe Armstrong has been my guitar hero since I was a little kid. I used to air guitar to Green Day songs shirtless in my front yard when I was a kid. I love how relentlessly he plays guitar, the power stance, the power chords. He has informed me as a guitarist pretty much my whole life.
