Now We Do It Again - Anna Strandberg
As his new signature Boden NX 8 Richard Henshall Edition model is released into the world, critically-acclaimed progressive UK guitarist and .strandberg* artist Richard Henshall (Haken, Nova Collective, Solo) sabbatum down with united states of america to talk over all the features of his new guitar, plans for the future, touring, and much more.
Kickoff off, congratulations on your new Boden NX viii Richard Henshall Edition signature guitar! Can you walk us through some of your favorite specs of the new model? Annihilation y'all're particularly excited well-nigh?
Thanks a lot! Ola and I take been chatting about the thought of a signature guitar for a while now so it feels great to finally see these discussions coming to life. I was very lucky that everything coincided with the release of the brand new NX range of Strandberg guitars. In fact, the first prototype I received for my signature guitar was with the onetime specs and at that place is definitely a noticeable difference between that version and the refined NX version. Everything feels smoother, more streamlined, and comfier on this side by side generation of Bodens. I also feel content knowing that the instrument I'g playing is made using sustainable materials!
I've been using Lundgren M8s for the last few years now so information technology was a no-brainer when it came to selecting the pickups. They take an incredible range on them and encompass the low doom-laden notes and soaring lead tones perfectly. They also handle the softer moments brilliantly also, which is a huge part of my sound. If anyone's seen my socials yous'll take probably noticed that I'1000 a little obsessed with the Strandberg Salen, largely for its crunchy tones. It really does sound and play similar a dream! When it comes to 8-strings, I've always found it tricky to recreate those tele-like tones as extended range guitars seem to be typically be geared towards melting people'southward faces! I thought it would exist absurd to include a coil tap on the signature guitar so I can do my best to chop and change between Fredrik Thorndendale and Albert Lee with the press of a push.
How did y'all first hear virtually .strandberg* Guitars?
I actually first heard nigh Strandberg through my Haken guitar-wielding shred partner, Charlie, manner dorsum in 2012 I believe. We got in contact with Ola and it just so happened that he was visiting London at some kind of conference, so we decided to meet. He kindly brought us a couple of guitars to twiddle effectually on and I instantly fell in beloved. Over the next year or so we worked on a custom build, which arrived the day before Haken flew out to the Prog Nation 2014 cruise. For some reason, I thought it'd be a skilful thought to christen the guitar at our first performance on the boat. Bearing in mind I'd never really played an 8-cord earlier, it probably wasn't the best decision I've e'er fabricated! There were definitely a few misplaced low F#s in the set.
What was the procedure similar behind developing your new signature guitar? Was in that location anything peculiarly important to you that y'all knew it needed to have to suit your playing style?
The process was very smooth. Ola and I batted ideas around for a while, so I simply left the wizards at the custom shop to practice their matter. As expected, they near certainly delivered the appurtenances. The start paradigm felt incredible, and then they somehow topped it with the NX version of the guitar. My wife designed the 'Hen' inlay which was Initially intended for the 12th fret as that seemed like the standard thing too. We ended up putting it the offset fret in the end due to its dimensions, but I'1000 glad we did as I feel like it suits the overall aesthetic of the guitar better this way. She was massively chuffed to see one of her designs come up to life!
Aesthetically, your new signature model has a very "natural" wait and experience to it. What made y'all decide on these specific wood and materials?
You should encounter my business firm, I'thousand practically living in a tree, and so when it came to designing the guitar I was always going to gravitate towards something with a natural cease! I've always loved seeing the grain in things, it makes everything feel that little bit more tangible. I feel like it'southward the equivalent of hearing the string noise on a guitar recording. Ola sent me a bunch of veneer options and I was instantly drawn to the Ziricote terminate. I beloved the fact that the grain will never be the same twice so each guitar will exist unique. I went for a roasted birdseye maple neck as I've always found it provides a squeamish amount of punch and clarity. And purely for aesthetical reasons nosotros went for a natural cease for the knobs and bounden around the top of the body. Nosotros took a while sourcing those knobs, just I think it was worth it as information technology creates a nice sense of balance. The small details always count!
You lot've been involved in several musical endeavors for a while now, including guitar duties in Haken, your own solo material, and Nova Collective. How do you approach different projects like these in terms of writing and your overall input? Does your creative procedure change from project to project?
In the early on days, information technology was a lot more simple as I was doing the bulk of the writing in Haken then I didn't actually have any fourth dimension for other musical endeavors. Nosotros decided to brand the writing procedure collaborative with 'Analogousness', which naturally freed upwardly a lot of time for me, and we've been working this manner ever since. It was around this time that Dan Briggs from BTBAM and I started working on ideas for Nova Collective, and presently after that I started sowing the musical seeds for my first solo release 'The Cocoon'. Present, in Haken, we try to run across upwardly in person and bounce ideas off each other then it's very articulate from the first where these ideas will end upwardly. For my solo stuff, I just bounce ideas off myself, which can sometimes be catchy. I often terminate up going round in circles for months so I've learned to try and capture the ideas as quickly as possible in their raw course and move onto the side by side department without too much deliberation. I've plant that focusing on the broader strokes of a composition rather than the effectively details is the best fashion for me to work. In one case the bigger picture is realized I can then go dorsum and fill in the gaps. As for Nova Collective, we've been loosely talking about a follow-upwards to 'Farther Side'. I had so much fun working on that record so it will be great to revisit that stuff at some signal.
On the Haken front, you've got some pretty exciting tour announcements coming upwards! Now that alive music is slowly making its long-awaited render, what are you near looking frontward to when getting dorsum out on the road again?
It's been a crazy couple of years for everyone! We were on the road with Devin Townsend in March 2020 when the world vicious autonomously and had to cut the bout off short. It was a chip of a mad blitz to get domicile, simply we finally made it back and have pretty much been homebound ever since! We've got a headline run in February 2022 which will exist a lot of fun. We'll finally get a adventure to take some of the tracks from 'Virus' for a spin, which feels a little strange equally we released information technology over a year ago now! We also have a Co-headliner with Symphony Ten lined up which I'm hugely excited about.
Bated from eating the same hummus and cheese sandwiches every day for a calendar month, I'thousand probably most looking forrard to watching Michael Romeo rip it on the guitar on a nightly basis. I've been in awe of his playing since my teens and then I'll probably be a bit of a fanboy on that tour.
What does your current tour rig look like and what kinds of tones are you getting out of it?
My rig has always been fairly simple and compact. I'thousand not really the most technically minded when it comes to gear and so the fewer things that tin can go wrong the amend in my book. I've been lucky plenty to get my hands on a Quad Cortex past the good guys at Neural DSP and it really does alive up to the hype. I've been using their plugins for the concluding few years so I was excited to see whether information technology would translate well to the live rig, and I can safely say information technology does. I likewise heard that they're planning on making versions of the plugin archetypes available on the unit of measurement, which would be the icing on the cake! It's generally built like a brick and is practically the size of a lunch box which is ideal for traveling. I've had a little play effectually with it and all the tones I've managed to create so far accept hit the spot, only I experience like I've just scratched the surface of what this thing can achieve. For the heavy and crunchy patches, I've generally been using the Friedman amps and for the cleans, I usually gravitate to the Marshall amps. This loosely reflects the tones and amp choices we become for on our records.
With your new Boden NX viii signature model, how practise y'all feel information technology compares to the previous .strandberg* models that you've owned/played?
I've found that eight-cord guitars can sometimes be a job to play. If you lot don't get the tension correct it tin can exist a real finger workout! Thankfully, .strandberg* accept actually nailed it with this guitar. It has just the correct amount of sturdiness for the depression-end, chuggy moments and a nice amount of give for the high-end stuff, which is crucial for the more than technical moments. The tweaks on the NX design generally make information technology feel more robust and the comfort factor has definitely gone up a notch!
Is there a topic in the world of progressive stone and metal music that you think doesn't get enough attention? And are at that place any popular trends in these genres yous could live without?
Good question! I don't know if it counts equally a topic, but I'm a huge fan of the ring Gentle Giant. They're an incredible prog rock band from the 70s that often seem to fly under people's musical radar. Albeit they had some salubrious contest back then, but I feel like they don't really get mentioned enough in discussions about the golden years of prog. In my eyes and ears, they are the masters of syncopation. The drums are often laying the foundations with something adequately simple whilst all the other parts dance around it creating a circuitous tapestry of rhythm. They have a existent knack for making utilise of every instrument in the organization which is something we always aspire towards in Haken. Nothing feels wasted in their music.
Equally for things I can alive without… marmite. Hate the stuff! I don't really have any major gripes when it comes to music, simply ane thing that doesn't actually do much for me is the overly flashy finger gymnastics that is clearly written for video. With the rise of social media, it seems similar a lot of stuff out there is written to wait cool rather than sound cool. Having said that, it doesn't bother me too much and I'm sure it's taken these guys a million years to nail each specific part, and so fair play to them!
What are the main benefits y'all find with playing an extended range guitar? Whatsoever advice you would give to aspiring players who are looking at trying out 7- and 8-string guitars?
I started my musical journey on the pianoforte at the tender age of half dozen and am all the same looking for interesting means to play piano-like ideas on the guitar. Having that extended range in the low end definitely helps with this. As a composer, it helps to accept the extra notes at your disposal when you're searching for those darker or more than dumbo moments in your music.
One thing I've always plant helpful is to look to non-guitar-centric music for inspiration. I feel similar the relentless listening of the likes of Tigran Hamasyan and Avishai Cohen has pushed my music into some new areas. This applies to genres too, I've found that listening to artists not-proggy artists like Volcano Choir and Elbow brings some different textures and colours to my writing pallet.
In terms of the guitar, I'd advise making full use of the instrument's range every bit much as possible. It'southward pretty piece of cake to forget about all of those higher notes when you have ii extra-low strings to play with! It'south all about balance.
Are there any special non-music-related things that accept influenced your music or playing recently? Anything people might non await?
I'm a big fan of reading so I've been plowing my way through equally many books as possible during the lockdown. I recently revisited the epic seven-part 'Night Belfry' series past the omnipotent Stephen King. The telescopic and imagination in his books are a constant source of inspiration and push me to capture that larger-than-life feel in my music. Some other gem of a book I read recently was Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. It'due south office of her Maddaddam trilogy and is i of the most artistic things I've been consumed by ages! I've also gone full geek mode and started playing Dungeons and Dragons with a agglomeration of mates. Then if I ever release an album about a hermit bard slaying the Dragon Highlord somewhere deep inside the Forgotten Realms, that'd be why!
Lastly, any other heady projects yous've got coming up that people should know about?
I've been working on a trilogy of EPs that I'll be releasing this year. They'll be instrumental and will explore the jazzier side of my playing. It will be fun christening the signature guitar on the recordings. I'm excited about the direction the songs accept taken and tin can't expect to share them with everyone! I've also but released a tapping form with the guys at JTC Guitar which has been keeping me decorated during the lockdown! I've been shredding away to their instructional videos for years then it feels bully to finally join their roster. Aside from that, we've been working on some new Haken music which nosotros'll hopefully be able to share with everyone this yr!
Source: https://strandbergguitars.com/eu/strandberg-have-really-nailed-it-with-this-guitar-interview-with-richard-henshall-2022/
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