San Francisco based noise metal juggernaut Kowloon Walled City recently released their first full-length (and first outing with Virginia’s The Perpetual Motion Machine), Gambling on the Richter Scale. Kowloon Walled City is guitarist/vocalist Scott Evans, drummer Jeff Fagundes, bassist Ian Miller, and guitarist Jason Pace.
Ian Miller, KWC’s bassist, gear whore, and Peavey Enthusiast (CVLT4LIFE), recently answered a few questions for us, and gave us a breakdown of their current rigs.
TF: In 5 words or less describe the Kowloon Walled City sound.
IM: Sludgy post-hardcore noise metal.
TF: KWC seems to have an unconventional approach to gear (particularly what’s used in “heavy” music). Can you tell me a little bit about each rig?
IM: “Unconventional” is a nice way of putting it. We care a lot about how things sound, but we’re not about trying to be trendy or anything. If we have an approach to gear, it’s the same as our approach to our music: utilitarian.
For example, take Scott’s guitar rig. He plays an Edwards John Sykes Les Paul and a Peavey VTM60 into an old Marshall cab. It’s simple, functional, and sounds amazing. His pedals (in addition to a TU-2, which all 3 of us play) are a Kowloon Walled Bunny(http://benadrianaudio.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/the-kowloon-walled-bunny/) – basically a hot-rodded MXR Distortion + built by our friend Ben – and a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver that I modded ages ago. The KWB is always on, and Scott uses the BD-2 for boost and “leads” (such as they are).
Jason’s rig is a bottom-of-the-line Ibanez Iceman into an Ampeg V4 half-stack. The core of his sound is a green Russian Big Muff, which is almost always on. He also runs a Tone Factor Ultra Lord and a Catalinbread V8 for extra gain and weirdness, and an Ibanez DE7 Delay/Echo for the occasional proggy lead bit.
I’ve been through a lot of gear searching for the right tones for KWC, but I’ve finally settled on the following: Guild B-301 > Fulltone Bass Drive > Ampeg SVT II Pro > Ampeg SVT610HLF. I’ve killed a couple of the HLF’s drivers, so I’ll have to replace those before we do any more recording. I love the low-end response of the HLF – sounds even better than the 810E to my ears – but it can’t quite handle the abuse I subject it to!
TF: Low end rumble is a key ingredient to the force that is KWC. What tuning was used on the new album?
IM: We’ve been using the same tuning for a while now – it’s basically drop-A#. So basically tune down to C, and then drop the low C to A#.
You’ve been through a vast amount of pedals. How did you settle on the Fulltone Bassdrive for your tone?
IM: Yeah, I’ve gone through quite a few dirt boxes looking for the right recipe. I used a modded (per Jack Orman specs) vintage Rat on the EP (Turk St.), and I may have even used it on the new record – I can’t quite recall. Then I bought a Tech 21 VT thing from you, and while that sounded really great – especially with a solid state head – it was a little too tame for KWC. Also tried the BD-2 (again, not gnarly enough), a modded DS-1 (too gainy), the Boss ODB-3 (meh) and a bunch of other things. My main gripe about any of ‘em (including the Rat) is that they rob all the low end, which makes sense, as most of them are designed for guitar.
I finally picked up an older non-MOSFET Fulltone Bass Drive used off of TalkBass, and that paired with the II Pro head is money. All the low end I want, with a nice range of mild to super-gnarly distortion. It doesn’t hurt that Caleb from Cave In, a personal hero of mine, plays one either.
But the real secrets to my bass tone are the cracked headstock on the 301 and the hand-painted stoner strap.
TF: The members come from a pretty broad range of musical backgrounds, but the music sounds very defined and distinct. Would you say that’s a conscious decision or more of a happy accident?
IM: Good question. Scott has had a very clear vision for the band from the get-go, but I think me and the other 2 guys warp his vision just a bit. Writing is pretty arduous for us, and every part of every song goes through a number of iterations until we finally come up with something we’re all stoked on. For every one riff or part that ends up in a song, we’ve probably discarded 10. So I guess the answer to your question is that it’s more of an unhappy accident.
Any clues to future plans for the band?
IM: We’ve just started writing material for the next KWC record, but we’re all looking forward to recording the follow-up to Snailface ( http://wordclock.com/snailface/ ) in February for the RPM Challenge. At some point we’ll record another KWC record, and we’re looking to do a couple of weeks of US touring in the spring, locations TBD.
Ian’s Rig: 
Scott’s Rig: 
Pace’s Rig: 
