Line 6's AX2 stereo combo amp is proving to be the rig of choice for guitarists who need ultimate flexability and power. Orgy's Ryan Shuck is no exception.
These days it seems like the charts are filled with groups and artists who seem more inspired to imitate that innovate. Every now and then a truly original act will defy the odds by fidning success on their own terms. With their distinct blend of metal, industial, new wave and dance music, Orgy is one of a handful of bands who've thumbed their noses at current trends and nonetheless manages to enjoy platinum sales. WHile the band may have been given a considerable boost by their friends in Korn, who hooked them up with their management team, placed them on the opening spot of the successful Family Values tour and signed them to their Elementree Label, Orgy found success because they caught the ears of music fans looking for something that stood out from the pack.
A nitro-powered cover of New Order's "Blue Monday" and an explosive accompanying video got Orgy noticed, but all it took was one quick listen to their debut album, Candyass, to realize that there was more to the band than a modernized version of an '80s hit. Full of dense layers of distorted guitars and synths, furious rhythms and gut-wrenching vocals, the album sounded more like the effort of a mature, developed band than a debut from a group who had hardly played a live gig together.
All of us had been in bands before, and a couple of the guys even have degrees in audio engineering,
explains Orgy guitarist Ryan Shuck. We had a bit of an advantage there. But when we made the first record, we were making up who we were as we went along. We didn't know what we were yet. We happened to write song that sounded different and were cool. That's what made us decide to become a band in the first place.
After touring together for a year, that band has further honed their unique sound, which Shuck promices will be even more pronounced on their next release. Now we know what we really are,
he says. When we played live, we discovered that our sound was a lot heavier than the sound we got on our first record. On the next album we're going to be more explosive and in your face. We're still going to be doing new, innovated technical things, too, which is going to be more challenging to listen to and harder for us to play.
While doing pre-production for the album, Orgy rented a house and set up a Pro Tools system to record demos. Shuck also brought along his new favorites, a Line 6 AX2 digital guitar amplifier system and POD. I like to record direct with the AX2 and POD,
says Shuck. I'm getting some great sounds. I've been stacking up as much as seven guitar tracks at a time on Pro Tools and then merging them all together on one track. It sounds really huge. The tracks sound so good that I think we're going to keep most of them. But even if we decide that we want to recreate them later when we go into the studio, all I have to do is call up the right preset.
Shuck discovered POD while Orgy was on tour and, since then, it's become highly coveted by his band mates. In fact, Ryan had toruble getting it back from them once they discovered what it can do. About two months after he got it, the POD ended up as a permanent fixture in the tour bus's back lounge, which the band uses as a recording studio. We run anything you can think of through it,
says Shuck. Keyboards, bass, guitars, vocals, drums— you name it. We've even loaned it to other bands who have been on tour with us. I like to use it as a practice amp when our equipment os in the truck and locked up.
Both POD and the AX2 have made it easy for Ryan to come up with unique, new sounds.I just dug into the AX2 without even reading the manual or having someone show me how to use it. It's really easy. I came up with a bunch of tones that sound like broken amps. Now I have ten different tones that I'm using all the time. I did a similar thing with POD, which is really easy to make settings with and then save them. I like really different, wierd sounds where the EQ is cranked up so much that it's almost annoying. I like to pit those on top of a more normal guitar tone to push it over the top
With their vast programming abilities, the AX2 and POD fit right into Orgy's iconoclassic nature.We're not afraid to do what we want,
says Shuck. We were just doing something that we thought would be fun to do and sound cool. There'se pressure from everyone else to come up with a hit, but that never matteres to us. We just want to push the envelope.