Rig Rundown – God Is an Astronaut [2021]
For over 20 years and two handfuls of records, God Is an Astronaut have been exploring emotive, shape-shifting atmospheric instrumental anthems. Most instrumental post-rock bands follow a build-and-crash formula, whereas GIAA eschews those conventions in search of movement, melody, musical suspense.
Now PG has done some rig reprisals (Joe Bonamassa, Mastodon, Russian Circles, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, The Black Keys, Baroness, Gary Clark Jr, Primus, 311, Mr. Big, and others), but none of those compare to the overhaul God Is an Astronaut underwent during the COVID-19 quarantine. Every instrument, amp, and pedal (aside from a few preamps/DIs) are completely different than our previous 2016 Rundown. We can’t say any other setup has been rethought, restructured, and reformed to the degree that Torsten Kinsella (guitars), Jamie Dean (guitars/keyboards), and Niels Kinsella (bass) executed in the search for superior soundscapes.
Just before releasing their 10th album, ‘Ghost Tapes #10’—a 7-song collection that seamlessly navigates from spacy and delicate to surly and destructive—the stirring post-rock powerhouse piled all their gear into Windmill Lane Recording Studios to showcase what was used on the new record and possibly heard on future tours.
Inside this episode, we find out why Torsten and Jamie swapped out humbucker-loaded semi-hollows for single-coil offsets and Gretsch solidbodies, while Niels explains the move from a P to a snappy short-scale Mustang. And they pour over all the 50+ pedals (including 10 Muff or Muff-inspired clones).
[This recording was supported through funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media of Ireland as administered via the Music Industry Stimulus Package 2020 and Bad Apple Music. Video by Jaro Waldeck. Visit @DeptCultureIrl and @fmc_ireland.]
Ghost Tapes #10 (new album) — https://smarturl.it/GhostTapes10
Article & Photos: http://bit.ly/GodIsanAstronautRig
Subscribe to PG’s Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTube
Don’t Miss a Rundown: http://bit.ly/RIgRundownENL
Merch & Magazines: https://shop.premierguitar.com
D’Addario Backline Gear Pack: https://ddar.io/GigBackpack-RR
#rigrundown #giaa #postrock
#Rig #Rundown #God #Astronaut
Originally posted by UC5J-hZ4wNf7OlkzIn49LHoQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl0xFZwcQuM
Ghost Tapes #10 (new album) — https://smarturl.it/GhostTapes10
Article & Photos: http://bit.ly/GodIsanAstronautRig
Subscribe to PG's Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribePGYouTube
Don't Miss a Rundown: http://bit.ly/RIgRundownENL
Merch & Magazines: https://shop.premierguitar.com
Love to hear that COVID has made some bands reconsider their approach and go more analog. The capitalist mentality of playing everywhere for as cheap as possible is over, thank god
Oh my god, Torsten has A LOT of pedals!
5:17 is it a song? can someone tell me the name?
Such a great band, i think it's interesting they went from Fractal AxeFx to these huge pedalboards.
TC Polytune best tuner, interestingly the bass player uses the Boss Waza tuner, especially on bass i found the TC tuner works better than Boss.
'tree four five' clown irish
Always wondered what pedals were being used!!!! Love it dude.
yeah better talk about pedals than just show them. fu*#ing great
A shoe gazer if ever I saw one!
11:35 ..And…just nigh on fifteen minutes before you see the whites of his eyes again!????
I'm sure it was for practical reasons, but not having any closeups of the instruments was sort of frustrating.
Amazing video!
Great to see some post-rock setup! Love this band so much.
That’s a lot of big muffffff
Damn! He owns 4 Big Muff's in his pedalboard xD
Wait, PG have an Irish correspondent now, what’s happening? ????❤️ In any case, only two minutes in, and I’m already really enjoying this rundown! Thanks, lads! ????????♂️????
Just purchased Ghost Tapes #10. I love instrumental bands, and this band is one of my favorites along with Russian Circles.
what's the problem with the camera guy??? Inspired by old "dogma" movies?…
Such a refreshing Rig Rundown. Class acts. ????????
This was cool. Band's name is interesting only place I heard that was the horror by Clive Barker's Night Breed, was that where they got the band name idea.
Can anyone tell me the exact model of the jazzmaster?
What’s that “Status” pedal next to the TC Electronics tuner on Torsten’s pedalboard?
What are those lights? Anyone know?
Sweet ????