“I’M POUNDING AND THRASHING TO GET THIS RHYTHMIC SOUND!”
HAILING FROM JIMI HENDRIX’S OLD NEIGHBOURHOOD IN SEATTLE, AYRON JONES IS MIXING GENRES ON HIS NEW ALBUM CHILD OF THE STATE
The new album shows off your knack for putting different genres together – how did that approach come about?
I grew up in the 80s and 90s, and if you grew up in that era, I think your musical taste isn’t just one thing. There were so many things going on - from hip hop to grunge to R&B. I think my sound kind of embodies what was going on in that time, but it’s also always been a conscious thing to want to mix these things together - to make a style of rock music that wasn’t just for one person.
Your sound also channels some of the Seattle greats, from Hendrix to Cobain...
Like I say, I’m a product of my environment! I grew up in the same neighbourhood as Jimi when Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain were huge. Being from that neighbourhood, there’s a lot of guitar players that are doing similar things and Jimi’s legacy is in the music.
He’s a hometown hero - especially for the black community in Seattle. There’s a black population of rockers that sound like Hendrix.
Could you talk us through the guitars you’re using right now?
For me, it’s all about workhorses. Right now I have two Mexican Strats: a 50th Anniversary Gold Strat and a Sunburst one. The one I’m using most right now is the Fender American Pro. It’s my go-to because of its tone but also when you come from grinding in the clubs and doing that scene, you just have to have that guitar you can grab every single day and know it’s going to do exactly what it does.
What’s your amp of choice and how do you like to set it?
In my live set-up I’m going through two different amps: a Dr Z 38-watt Maz Senior, and a Fender Hotrod Deluxe. So I’m using those two tones in stereo.
What’s always on your pedal board?
I have a DS-1 that goes into a TS9, and those are both coming out of the wah. Then I go through a Moab Boost pedal, which goes through a Leslie organ pedal - the Pigtronix Rototron - and from that I go into my tape echo delay, which goes into the PS-6 Harmonist. The Harmonist is probably the most used pedal on the record, it does so many different things - it’s very experimental.
On the subject of experimentation, you’ve been known to play your guitar with a drumstick...
Yes! That’s a trick I picked up from watching Buddy Guy actually. Buddy would do it where he kind of rubs the guitar string with the drumstick, but I’m pounding and thrashing to get this rhythmic sound. It’s taken a while to perfect it because I used to just bust a string!
Ellie Rogers