The XMusic files

For any self-respecting musician, a chance to roam the massive XMusic centre on the outskirts of Dublin is like being a child in sweet shop. To get a sense of the scale of the store we invited some leading indie rockers (all featured on the The Raw Sessions with Sony Ericsson on RTE2), to spend a few hours exploring the vast complex, and trying-out the fantastic range of instruments and gear on offer. Our lucky volunteers include Philip from Hoarsebox, Graham from The Infomatics, Declan and Bobby from Noise Control and Richie from Dirty Epics…

Bobby McMahon from Noise Control headed straight for the guitar room to check out the huge Fender selection in the Fender Store.
“It’s great to be able to try so many different guitars in the one room,” he says. “I play a Standard American Telecaster that I bought in 2001. They’re like a workhorse. You can throw them in the back of a van and you don’t need to be worried about it. And they’re replaceable – if you’re in another country and something goes wrong you can just go and pick one up and it’ll be more or less the same. They have a really nice sound, a dynamic sound. You can play a few different styles. It doesn’t have so much ‘voicing’ – so you can’t hide behind it the way you can with some guitars. It wouldn’t have the sustain of, say, a Gibson Les Paul unless you put it through pedals. You can’t really deviate from the sound too much, so I also have a Gibson SJ which I use for more plucking stuff. “
Bobby is hugely impressed by the number of different guitars available, including the new range of Fender Road Worn guitars, which look great. But he’s happy with the Tele he has.
“Right now, I’d prefer to spend money on new amps and tubes,” he says, heading in the direction of the amp room. “Currently I play the Telecaseter through a Vox amp. I started with a Hi-Watt from the 1970s – it was the kind Pete Townshend would have played. I play just the one guitar and one amp for a whole gig, but I might have a look to see if there’s something new that really works for me in the line of amps. It would be nice to be able to swap around and change the sound a bit for some of the set.
“I’d love to get into customizing, which is a whole other art but you run into difficulties. I heard a story about Sonic Youth who were great for doing stuff like hammering nails into their guitars. Then their van was robbed with all this highly customized gear which you can’t possibly buy.
“Things are going well right now,” he adds. “We’re finishing off our album – we’ve 10 days booked in Sun Studios. hopefully we’ll have that out by September. We’ve a few nice gigs coming up including with the Prodigy next month and we’re playing Glastonbury and Electric Picnic.”

Richie Power, bass player with Dirty Epics, is on the lookout out for a new amp. He checked out the Peavey rigs at XMusic.
“I have an old Ampeg, which I bought off Peter Devlin from The Devlins,” he recounts. “It’s been around the block a few times and is starting to show its age. I’ve been looking at the Peavey set up today. I wouldn’t have traditionally gone for them but they sound great. There’s a huge choice here and I love the fact that you can check things out properly without feeling that you’re imposing on everyone. I checked out an Orange and a Mesa Boogie as well but I’d be leaning towards Peavey at this stage.”
The sound you achieve is, of course, a combination of the amp and the guitar.
“At the moment I play a Gibson Thunderbird bass,” Richie says. “They’re making a bit of a comeback. The guy in Kings of Leon plays one – there’s a very nice one up on the wall here at XMusic. When I went into the studio to do our album the producer suggested that, for the sound we needed, our bass needed to be featured more. I rented one from Litton Lane and gave it a lash. It was great and I ended up buying one – they’re very rock and roll looking, a little bit angular.
“Phil Lynott was a big influence on me,” he adds. “He was the first person I knew that played bass. Before that I thought a guitar was a guitar was a guitar, and that there wasn’t any difference between them. What he did was simple but very effective. I used to love the way Kim Deal from The Pixies played as well – nothing flash and very melodic. If bass players are looking for something very rock’n’roll, then the Gibson Thunderbird here is worth checking out.”
Philip from Hoarsebox is another Fender aficionado and spent his time checking out the huge range at XMusic
“I’m looking at all of these Fender Telecasters and it’s brilliant: I’d love to have a whole collection of the different ones in the range,” he says with a grin. “But I’ve also been looking at the Jeff Beck Stratocaster, which is nice.”
The environment in XMusic, with its different well insulated rooms is perfect for carefully checking out the detain on an instrument. “It’s got lock-in tuning heads,” Philip says, “which can help prevent things going out of tune in the middle of a gig, and a ball-bearing nut that gives you more resonance and sustain. I think I might go a bit mental with it. It has a lot more options than a Telecaster. You need to be a real master, which I amn’t – yet!
“I mainly play a Fender Telecaster Thinline ’69 re-issue. It was my first electric guitar: I got it when I was 18. I didn’t really know anything about guitars when I bought it so I asked the guy in the shop to give me a nice guitar – and he did. It has a hollow body and an F-hole in it, which means that it’s light. I’ve three different distortion pedals. I have a delay pedal and I have a chorus pedal and I play through a Fender DeVille two by twelve. I’ve played on a lot of one by twelves and I got a great sound out of it in America. My mate Ross from The Chapters has a Fender Blues DeVille too. They’re good amps.”
Any advice for guys who are starting out in garages right now? “It’s good to have a spare guitar if you can afford one,” Philip says, eyeing the incredible number of guitars on display. “Also it’s always good to have your guitar completely up to service if you go into a studio as the tiniest of things will be apparent whether it’s the intonation, tuning or whatever being slightly out. Apart from that just practice, play along with anything you like.”

Declan Herbert from Noise Control was let loose in XMusic’s huge drum room and checked out a variety of kits.
“They’ve got some very nice kits here. Pearl, Gretsch all lovely set-ups. I play an old Tama Rockstar kit myself, which is about 20 years old. I bought it new at the time. It’s still in good nick. I’m a big fan of drummers like Stewart Copeland and Billy Cobham. It has that jazz fusion sound – it’s pretty loud and clean.
“Actually I was in Mount Temple school,” he explains, “and Larry Mullen had donated a kit. During lunchtime me and a friend of mine broke into the room where it was stored and started playing – we got detention for it (laughs). I’ve met Larry a few times and told him the story. After about six or seven years playing I thought I need a bit of direction so I studied under Conor Guilfoyle and learned all that Afro Cuban stuff. I learned how to read music with him. I like a lot of the jazz players but I take a lot of influence from the dance and drum ‘n’ bass heads. It’s very precise and your energy levels have to be high. I’ve started using a lot of electronic triggers. I use a trigger on my bass drum so you get the Prodigy kick.”
What are Declan’s current fave drummers? “I love the guy from the Arctic Monkeys – he has great energy. Richard Starkey, who plays with Oasis, too. A lot of heavy metal drummers are great. Slipknot and bands like that – they’re all very precise.”
Any advice for young indie drummers –the kind of guys who will hopefully be featuring on Sony Ericsson’s Raw Sessions next year? “Listen a lot and learn everything, from country to African techno to reggae,” Declan says. “Remember, stamina is important especially in the first four or five years. But if you put in the work you’ll be OK. Finally, always take just what you need to a gig – no one helps the drummer and they’re always last to leave the venue.”

Bass player Graham from Infomatics checked out the Ibanez range at XMusic
“I play an Ibanez ATK at the moment so it’s good to see what else is in the range. I’ve had it for a little over a year. It has its own distinctive shape. What I look for in a bass is how it plays and how it sounds. I wouldn’t so hung up on looks.”
Graham also checked out the Fender Room. “The Fender Jazz is a really nice bass too,” he says. “I have an upright bass as well – they’re hard to play but the sound is unique. I haven’t picked it up for a long time. It’s more for the studio. They’re a bastard to carry around – getting it into the car is a real hassle.
“If money was no object I’d love a Musicman, which they stock here. I’m from a big reggae/ska background so I’d be into Sly and Robbie and Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett from the Wailers and I’m a producer too, so the sound is really important to me. The Musicman plays so nice, and they sound so great, the minute you plug it in you don’t have to do a lot EQ wise. I’d say I’ll get one.”
With that promise ringing in the air it’s time to go. The musicians have tested and tried and done it in conditions that allow you to choose. And I tried out as few guitars myself in the acoustic room, where you can really lock yourself away in the inner sanctum and get a feel for what a guitar sounds like. I’ll be coming back – and I reckon the boys rom the bands will be too...