THE AXEMEN SERIES : Joshua Lopez of Levatio

Based in Texas, Levatio is a band consisting of guitar players Joshua Lopez and Elias Acevedo. The band brings elements of Neo-classical and Latin music, along with elements of modern metal and other rock genres.

1.Tell us your name and the band you play for

Joshua Lopez of Levatio and Sonic Boom 

2.Who made you want to pick up the guitar

I started playing at 5 as a form of punishment from my parents. I grew up with ADHD and they didn’t like me being on meds so when I would act up, they would have my uncle sit me down and teach me guitar to keep my mind occupied, little did I know that I would become my entire life

3.Are you self taught or did you take lessons?

Mostly self-taught. My uncle and my dad showed a couple riffs from my favorite songs growing up (Nirvana, Metallica, Radiohead) but they couldn’t be there to teach me all the time so I often read books and learned by ear.

4. Can you read music, Can you read tab?

 I can read music really slow, haha, but I mainly read tabs. I grew up reading tabs from the internet and tab books from my favorite bands. I still own everything along with a bunch of guitar world magazines and a greatest hits tab book that looked like a phone book.

5.Do you feel like you have your own sound / tone ?

I think I do have my own sound and tone but only because I believe tone comes from the hands. I record a lot of guitarists at Widowmaker Studios and through all the musicians, you notice everyone has their own sound and way of playing. a lot of people always ask about my tone, which I can only say comes from me and not the gear I run through.

6.Tell us about your guitar ( brand ,model . year , color )

I am currently endorsed by Legator Guitars so I play a purple fanned fretted overdrive 8 string guitar. This is a current 2019 model with a mahogany body, California buck-eye burl top, 5-piece mahogany/maple neck with a maple fretboard. I Tend to shred a lot so the multiscale helps keep the low end tight while keeping a nice loose high end for bends and flexibility.

7.What about pickups? Passive or active ? Tell us about them

I’m also endorsed by Fishman so lately I have been playing the Fishman Fluence Modern 8 string pickups. I love the aggression and clearness it gives me as well as its epic versatility. I can get nice coil tapped clean tones to nice smooth lead tones all the way to chuggy heaviness! The Fishman’s are technically active because they require power but they are a whole new pickup design, this isn’t a few magnets wrapped with copper, you have advanced pickup technology right there!

8.Lets get into amplification, Same drill brand , model , speakers etc

Lately I have been playing a peavey 6534+ head into an Orange 2x12 loaded with Celestion Vintage 30’s. I really like this version of the 5150. It’s a cleaned up 6505+ that actually plays cleans with EL34 power tubes instead of 6L6’s.

9.Do you have a pedal board? Tell us about that badboy

I have a ton of pedals! Which makes it hard to decide what to use for which project. If I’m going for heavy ill use my Airis Effects Savage Drive with the Airis Effects Hades Gate into my Peavey, but if I plugin directly with just a cab sim loaded, I’ll use my Airis Effects Nemesis Preamp for all my gain and tighten it up with the Savage drive right before it. Usually, I keep a flashback delay in my rig for leads but sometimes if I want to get more specific with my effects, I’ll use the Line 6 M5 for all my delays, reverbs and effects.

10.Now tell us your Dream Rig in detail….

lately I've really been looking into Fortin Amps, I think one of those heads with a nice Arachnid cab would have to be my top choice currently. I already own most of the equipment I want and to me equipment is like flavors of ice cream, different days I’m in the mood for different flavors. So, it’s hard for me to really invest into one dream rig, it’s more like 10 dream rigs haha.

11.What guitarist can you not stand?

I don’t really “not” like guitarist because I feel like everyone has made contributions to music in their own way, but I do find it really hard to see anything from Doyle anymore. His disrespect for the art of playing an instrument really bugs me lol.

12. Is tone more important or is technique?

I personally think technique is a good 90 percent of things. Tone can have the other 10 percent. I’ve seen the best musicians play on the worst equipment and still make it sound amazing. It’s the player not the instrument.

13. Name your top 5 guitarist

Tosin Abasi, 

Steve Vai, 

Rick Gaharam, 

Jason Becker

and Plini 

14.Who is the most overrated guitarist

N/A

15.Who would you like a one hour private sit down lessons with anyone dead or alive?

Definitely Steve Vai! I just want him to show me how to feel music like he does so I can learn to express and voice my playing in a different way.... that and who doesn’t want to learn from the devil? XD