Stef Carpenter interviewed by LINE6.COM
HOW DID YOU FIND OUT ABOUT LINE 6? Dino from Fear Factory. He was getting great sounds out of
his Line 6 rig, and he told me about Line 6.
HOW ARE YOU USING LINE 6 PRODUCTS? I use Line 6 gear in my home studio and in my live rack.
At home, my studio is built around six main units: a Roland VS 1680, the Akai MPC 2000, my
Line 6 POD, a power amp, and my speakers. For instruments, there are a few guitars, a bass,
and a few synths.
I want to get a Bass POD and then my home setup will be complete. A Bass POD and a subwoofer
for my speakers!
My live rig is always changing. It’s always expanding and contracting. Right now I have the
Line 6 POD Pro in my rack, along with some other preamps. But I use its sounds a lot,
particularly the Rectified setting with distortion boost.
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO NOW? I listen to a lot of things, but lately I’ve mainly been
listening to a lot of Claw Finger, At the Drive-In, Meshuggah and Drunk With Power.
FAVORITE SONGS? That’s a tough one because that’s an endless list for me! I just love music
so much, and I have too many albums to draw from. So, I don’t want to name a couple of my
favorite songs and then have people think that’s all I’m about.
YOUR FIVE FAVORITE CDS OR “DESERT ISLAND DISCS?” Meshuggah, anything by Fear Factory,
Radiohead’s OK Computer, Depeche Mode’s Ultra and the latest by At the Drive-In.
TOP 5 FAVORITE PRODUCERS? Terry Date! He’s the man that hooked our stuff up. He had a dope
track record long before we ever met him. Next, I have to say Ted Templeman because I love
all the old Van Halen stuff that he did. Every one of them! Then, Ric Ocasek. He’s done a
plethora of lovely stuff! For Hip Hop, I like my friend Dave Aaron, and then of course,
there’s Nigel Godrich, the OK Computer guy.
TOP 5 FAVORITE GUITARISTS? Frederick Thorndahl, Ken Andrews, Frank Black, Jim Martin from
Faith No More, and Dino Cazares. Dino’s dope!
Thorndahl is from Meshuggah and Andrews is from Failure. The first Failure album came out
in 1990, their last album came out in late ’97 or early ’98. They’re in the process of
recording another one, and I can’t even imagine what it’s going to sound like. All of their
albums are amazing. With Failure, you can’t go wrong!
FAVORITE MUSICIANS? (OTHER THAN GUITAR PLAYERS.) Another never ending list! There are so many
dope players out there. But start my list with all the members of Rage Against the Machine.
That’s a band for me! I don’t listen to that stuff all the time, but when I do listen to it,
I feel it.
I’m so happy that they’re out there speaking as loudly as they do about so many things because
I feel the same way they do at least half the time.
WHAT’S YOUR “DREAM BAND” THAT YOU WOULD PLAY WITH AND/OR LISTEN TO? (LIVING OR DECEASED?)
I have a dream band already called Kush. Me, Dee, and Christian and Raymond from Fear Factory
– the Fear Factory rhythm section. That’s the core but we intend to incorporate many of our
friends, none of which can be named right now because we have yet to seriously approach any
of them!
INFLUENCES? My musical history goes like this: I always listened to music when I was a kid,
but I had no knowledge of music, other than the “hooks.” It was catchy to me, but I didn’t
know any artists’ names, I didn’t know song names, I didn’t know anything about it except
that it was “catchy.”
When I was 8, my mom bought me three records: Kiss Alive II, Queen’s News of the World and
Saturday Night Fever. They became my new platform for life. That diversity is the start of
my main musical influence.
Next I have to mention all the old Motown stuff and the other oldies. That’s what my Mom
listened to. It was burned into me, from my childhood through my teenage youth.
FAVORITE RIFF? There’s so many, there’s an endless supply! You can never stop on that one.
I have to say the heaviest riff I’ve ever heard is “New Millennium” by Cyanide Christ.
WHAT’S YOUR TEST LICK? If it’s an effects unit, I test for two main things: how much stuff
you can actually change on it, and what is the “range of change.” Next, how easy is it to
store and recall the effects in a live situation?
I don’t really use amp heads because in my ideal world there are many amps that give me
many sounds, which is why I use preamps. I’ve used preamps for 10 of the 15 years I’ve
been playing. And it just makes no sense to have a bunch of amps when you can have one
preamp that you can just program to do everything you want. So when I test a preamp,
I look for programming ease, how “in depth” it is, and for equalization on the channels
themselves because eq is where I form my tone.
FAVORITE CONCERT? We’ve done a gang of “classic” bands’ reunion tours. These are bands
I never thought I would ever get to see, let alone be on tour with! Most particularly
memorable are our tours with Kiss and Black Sabbath.
MOST MEMORABLE MUSICAL MOMENT? My most memorable musical moment was the first time we ever
played a show in Europe, and that was the Rockskilde Festival. We came in late the night
before and the sun never really went away. I went and hung out, and was just like crazy.
All of a sudden you’re in another part of the world, playing music!
WHAT’S THE SILLIEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE? I don’t know!
OFFER INSIGHT INTO YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS. It’s just me. I’m just another piece of the chaos
factor.
MUSICAL HIGHER PURPOSE. I never used to think about things like that, but that’s the way I
do see things now. I love playing music, and the music is just wonderful.
But I’m glad that it gives me a unique perspective from which to see the world.
More importantly, music gives me a small platform from which I can speak and some people
may actually hear me.
It makes me feel compassion for all of my friends who are at home working jobs every day.
All they can do is shout out loud to the whole fu#@&*g planet while everybody else looks
at them like they’re just psycho. Nobody cares who they are. And that’s too bad.
That’s what I would speak out on. I know I’m in a band, I know some people like me, but
I’m not a god. Everybody should be here, where I am. We’re all in the same situation
together, so get your act together, respect yourself and those around you, and we’ll all
be all right.
