NIGHTMARE TOYS

Friday, September 6, 2019

THE AXEMEN SERIES : Kimmo of Bofo Kwo


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

 Hi, The band is Bofo Kwo and my Stage name is Wamufo. Though my mom insists on calling me Kimmo.
  

2.Who made you want to pick up the guitar 


 Adrian, Dave and Janick from Iron Maiden with a little help from those nice fellows in Guns N’ Roses got me interested. But Kurt Cobain made me realize I could do it
   


3.Are you self taught or did you take lessons? .
 I’m self taught and you can probably hear it. Well it’s never too late for lessons. 


4. Can you read music, Can you read tab?
  Tabs with ease and sheet music with great difficulties.
.

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


Not really. I love experimenting with my gear all the time and there’s new crap thrown in between me and the amp every chance I get.


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


  Which one? I have 8 to choose from and they’re all different. Most expensive at the moment is a Squier Jaguar (sunburst)from 2012, or Lake placid blue cyclone from 2005...?  They’re simple, beautiful and feel great to play. I use the jaguar for the heavy stuff in drop C or drop C# when recording and the cyclone resides in Holland for Bofo Kwo/Planet Zerpo. The cheapest is a Harley Benton TE-70?? I dunno the exact model, but search for the cheapest and that’s it. It’s awesome for a 70€ guitar. I use it for slide stuff etc. the oldest is a Yamaha SG-200 from the eighties. Slim fast neck, humbuckers... needs replacement tuners but other than that it’s great. It was my first guitar. Newest addition is a squier mini strat which is my main axe I pick up for couch noodling. Actually it’s my kids, but he can’t complain yet...oh, and just got a Stag Les Paul copy. Black beauty and light as a feather. Needs a few new frets though and was even cheaper than the Harley, but I bought it used.


7.What about pickups? Passive or active ? Tell us about them
  all my pick ups are passive and stock. At least for now, but I have a huge GAS (Gear Acquiring Syndrome) developed for changing some in the near future...


8.Lets get into amplification, Same drill brand , model , speakers etc
 
At the moment I’m using a Jet City JCA20HV into a  cheap 2x12 cab and a 1x15 bass cab It’s a straight forward one channel rock amp that provides a nice cleanish tone to build on.  And just ordered a Orange Tiny Terror so as with my pedals, this is ever growing and not yet settled question. But I’m trying to keep this section so that I have no desire to bring my own gear to a gig. Good basic clean tone and moderately loud with a lot of moving air is what I’m aiming. Both heads are 20w so it’s not gonna be ear shattering anyway but I should be able to hear myself fairly well. And for me it’s nicer to dial in volume between 6-8 instead of 1.6-1.8...  Let’s see how that Orange affects this, but that little bastard weighs less than a kilo so it’s not gonna cause problems.

9.Do you have a pedal board? Tell us about that badboy
  
    I use the floor still... but IF I had one ....hmm... 😄I’ve a few dirt pedals and boosting my Rams Head Big Muff clone with either the Black Russian Muff or Boss FB-2 or both, driving a tube amp would be the main sound. For chorus I’ve EHX Small Clone and other modulation etc. effects come from a Digitech multi effect at least for now. Oh, and a trusty Boss TU-2 at the end so I can split the signal into two amps if available. I should probably sit down with a pen and paper and think this through...
    Haha. That might be the full backline of Sunn O))) combined behind the effects I already have. Well maybe divide that multieffect to individual pedals too while we’re at it. 


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

11.What guitarist can you not stand?
    There’s no one I couldn’t stand, I’d much rather use my energy supporting than disliking people, their skills, bands. I’m too old for petty shit like that. 


I12. Is tone more important or is technique?

 Neither. The feeling and emotion is what does it for me and the over all quality of the music. Like Ace Freely from KISS who isn’t and wasn’t the best and his tone hardly ever comes up when talking about tone, but it all fits the music perfectly.


13. Name your top 5 guitarist
   In no particular order: Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth - his playing is just inspiring in its noisy avant-garde way. Adrian Smith from Iron Maiden - For me his solos are the most memorable and thought out and they usually fit the song AND tell a story of their own. King Buzzo, The Melvins - he has the chops, riffs and emotion in a tight package with unique tone and style. All hail Buzzo!!!


14.Who is the most overrated guitarist 


I haven’t got overrated any guitarists. Some people say Jimi Hendrix is/was but with the cultural impact he had... I think not. He wasn’t as fast or technical as Yngwie but Yngwie didn’t play Woodstock. Also I’ll take Django Reinhardt over Yngwie any day. Underrated? Now those guys are a dime in a dozen.    Steve Albini - his tone and style just compliment each other in a perfectly harmonious way. Ugly+ugly=greatnesses Kurt Cobain for his style and energy again. More simple than simple and most people still can’t make his songs sound good. Plus I dig those anti-solos. * hell i give up on the edititng

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


I cannot locate an answer for #15 so I will answer for him. It is obviously me Wes Jaques who he would love a solo private lesson with, I am honored thank you ..... I received an email quickly correcting me lol here is the real answer :
Bob Marley, Willie Nelson, Mick Ronson ... I dunno so I’d probably choose Marley for the catering and hopefully the location. I’d be disappointed if this would happen at my place instead of his...



 

No comments:

Post a Comment