Guitarist and composer, Ava Mendoza, is an essential member of the SF Bay Area creative music scene. She is part of a breed, comfortable in a wide variety of situations –   playing the yearning rock of Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista, note-y guitar sparring with Nels Cline, or performing a live score to a Buster Keaton silent film with Tune-Yards. Her recent focus has been Unnatural Ways, a jazzy rock(or rock-y jazz?) ensemble with Dominique Leone on keys and Nick Tamburro on drums.

In this episode she discusses her reasons for expanding the sonic palette of her electric guitar by adding various pedals to the signal chain and the use of conventional and unconventional ways to physically coax sound from her instrument.

For more info about Ava go to:
avamendozamusic.com
weirdforest.com

The post STS / Ava Mendoza, Episode 2 appeared first on Lenny Gonzalez Photography.

In this series of So To Speak we focus on The Mattson 2, a twin brother guitar and drums jazz duo from San Diego.  Like most young musicians today their interests span a wide spectrum.  Their playing can go from traditional jazz to avant-garde serialism.  Jared Mattson plays electric guitar while brother Jonathan provides the rhythmic foundation on the drum kit.

While they have strong connection to the surf and skate community through their  collaborations  with artist/filmmaker Thomas Campbell and musical collaborations with Ray Barbee and Tommy Guerrero they explore territory outside of that world by listening to many different genres and playing  experimental and improvised musics.

In this episode Jared talks about his approach to playing guitar and little bit about gear.

For more info about The Mattson 2 go to:
mattson2.com
galaxiarecords.com

The post STS / The Mattson 2, Episode 2 appeared first on Lenny Gonzalez Photography.