Gingerlys’ favorite guitar pedals

Describing themselves as “pure ear candy,” Gingerlys provide catchy and hazy dream pop tunes. The female-fronted, five-piece indie pop band began when guitarist Matt Richards started sharing acoustic demos of his pop songs with his fellow bandmates in his Valley Stream, New York basement. We asked the band’s lead guitarist and songwriter Matthew Richards a few questions about the group’s sound and his favorite pedals.

Tell us about your first time with… a guitar pedal. How old were you and what did you stomp on?

Hmm, I think my first time with a guitar pedal was when I was 16 and I saved up enough money for a vintage Marshall Shredmaster because I found out Kevin Shields [of My Bloody Valentine] used one on Loveless. Looking back, it was a pretty wild and uncontrollable pedal. I probably made a bad choice there haha.

Was there a specific pedal (or two) that kind of changed your life?

I think, for me, the first time I really worked with a good EQ pedal, that gave me the more sincere tone I was looking for in a live setting. I always had trouble getting the EQ right on different amps, so the Earthquaker Tone Job really did change my life.

What do you have on your board these days?

Right now, I have a Tuner pedal, Boss DD-3, Boss CH-1 Chorus, Earthquaker Tone Job, Earthquaker Ghost Echo and an Earthquaker Talons Overdrive. They all really serve their own purpose equally. The tuner pedal is essential. The DD-3 I use on one particular song to bounce a plucked strum to the backbeat of the drums. The Chorus is on constantly to give a more sea-like dream feeling to my guitar. The Tone Job equalizes my whole tone. The Ghost Echo gives me a nice little push to add some body to my whole sound. And the Talons gives me the crunch for that pixies-esque loud/quiet/loud aesthetic in the more loud parts of the songs.

What music did you grow up listening to? Are there any albums that you could say were very influential for you?

I grew up listening to bands like Teenage Fanclub, Unrest, The Swirlies, Smashing Pumpkins and Dinosaur Jr. I’d have to say Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwogonesque really changed my attitude towards pop-music. The textures utilized between the 3 guitarists and songwriters in that band really showed me something new and vibrant and it definitely influenced the way I started approaching my songwriting.  

Is there a person outside the band that’s been important in perfecting your recorded and/or live sound?

I think we all can agree that our producer Connor Hanwick (The Drums) has been the essential part of sculpting our sound on this album. In many ways, he broke down our sound to the most basic and essential parts to truly make this album sound extraordinary.

What other like-minded local acts do you guys like to play with these days?

I think some other like-minded acts would be Lost Boy?, Anna Altman, Miserable Chillers, Sunflower Bean, Wildhoney, My Favorite and Painted Zeros