48sin,'s Patrick Windsor says that the band is just four guys who like to make music. Hailing from the Chicago area the Windsor says the band is "rock n roll with a computer." The band consists of Windsor on vocals/guitars/programming, Blake Croson on bass/programming, Aaron Boynton on vocals/guitars. Drummer Justin Flannigan is absent from this interview as he is a drummer (just kidding -- there will be a separate article with Flannigan soon).

Windsor and Flannigan played in Jazz band in high school and Boynton, the most recently added member, also played with Flannigan over the years.

"They just happened to be parting ways with their guitar player, and guitar is what I do best, so I was really excited. and it's probably the happiest I've been in a band thus far in my musical experience, and I've played in a lot of bands over the years -- I mean a lot of bands." says Boynton.

While the music may be rock n roll with a computer there are also strong Jazz influences and some others.

"We're all big fans of the drop D riffin', so sometimes we get somewhat of a Helmet vibe. First and foremost, it's about the songs," says Windsor. " So, in a lot of ways we go back to the '90s rock style. It's all just rock 'n roll."

Windsor says his guitar set up is pretty simple. Which is usually a blessing for the band and the sound engineer when they play gigs.

"I'm a big advocate of just plugging in and playing. I use a THD Univalve head with a Marshall MC212 cabinet. I've completely fallen in love with the Univalve. It's not a very high-gain amp, and is only 15 watts. I basically just use the balls of the amp to get a huge crunch. It's a class A tube head, which can be prone to noise (in the same way a single-coil pickup is). I raved so much about the THD that my college computer music professor got one," says Windsor. "The noise was a bit much for what he wanted to do with it, but I don't notice any hum when I'm rockin. As for guitars, I mainly play a Gibson ES-135. That probably comes from my jazz background, but I'm just obsessed with hollow-bodies. I also use a Fender '72 Thinline Telecaster for a big meaty tone. It's not as good for heavy drop D stuff, but it's great for some solid chords. It's a mid-range Mexican Tele, but actually plays really well."

Boynton chimes in about the amps he uses with a big plug for Orange. His guitars range from Les Pauls to Rickenbackers.

"As far as amps go, I use an Orange AD-30 single channel head and and an Orange 2x12 cabinet.? I didn't know too much about Orange before I got one, I just was really interested in trying one out, so I found the closest dealer, and as soon as I plugged into it," he says. "I knew I had to have it. I was on a waiting list for probably about two months and the day they got it in I rushed in, bought it and I haven't looked back. I haven't been interested in any other head since."

Boyton's main guitar is a Les Paul Studio. Until recently he was not a big fan of the Les Paul but one day he says he just clicked with the instrument.

"I don't really have any better explanation." says Boyton.

Anyone who plays knows how this goes. Sometimes you just get stuck on an instrument -- even one you were not always big on. Maybe it is that particular guitar or maybe it is just some subtle difference in how you play. The Les Paul, however, isn't Boynton's only guitar.

"I also have a Rickenbacker 650 Dakota model, which I really love, the pickups aren't very hot, but it's one of the few Ric models that have humbuckers. It's good for some of the less heavy stuff we do, although I've played it pretty hard for four years and I need to have a few things fixed on it, so it's out of commission at the moment," says Boyton. "I also run a few pedals, Boss Tuner, Boss EQ (I use it as a makeshift clean channel), Boss Tremolo, Boss Noise Suppressor, and Line-6 Delay."

Bassist Blake Croson plays a a Thunderbird IV at the moment but he also has some back ups.

"For backups I've got another T-bird, a Fender Deluxe Jazz bass and a Carvin," says Croson. "Those mostly collect dust."

He uses an Ampeg SVT2 Pro head and plays that through a an SWR Megoliath.

". . . which in my opinion sounds infinitely better than the Ampeg 8x10's, much deeper low end and better transient response," says Croson. "I use my own Avalon U5 direct box live. Sound guys are always trying to plug me into a Behringer or Pro-Co direct box or something and I'll say 'no thanks, I've got my own'."

Croson is also responsible for synth and sample playback live.

"That's done on an Intel iMac running Logic Pro 8. We've got all our stuff programmed into Logic and I run a stereo out to the board for the FOH and then I run a separate headphone mix for Justin [Flannigan]. He gets a mix of the synths and the click track to make sure we stay on time," says Croson. Sound output is handled via an RME Fireface 800 which actually sits in my bass rack. It sounds great and is flexible for routing. I can start and stop playback with a midi footswitch so I don't have to sidle up to my computer and play with anything in the middle of our set. Nothing is less cool than using a mouse in the middle of a rock show.

More with 48sin soon