André Foisy (Locrian)
SPB: From when you were starting Locrian until the present, what parts of your setup have really helped voice your sound over the years?
Foisy: That’s a compliment to say that I have a sound so thank you.
My rig has remained fairly consistent over the years. Primarily I have used the same guitar and amplifier, which I purchased when I was 15-16, aka 20+ years ago. Growing up watching punk and hardcore bands made me realize that the gear doesn’t matter as much as what you do with it. There are certain creative opportunities which can arise from limitations.
My guitar has seven strings and I tune the lowest string down an entire octave to a low E. This has helped me to have a really nice dynamic range.
Around the time that Locrian recorded Return to Annihilation, I started using capos. I haven’t found many heavy musicians to use these. When I capo my guitar, it allows me to more easily get these chime-y sounds from it while at the same time that I can play some lower drones.
I tend to switch between heavy distorted tones on my amp and cleaner ones. I like to combine elements which might not normally go together, such as prettier tones and blast beats. What would metal sound like if you removed many of its characteristic elements like loud guitars and rapid song changes?
Lately, my playing has been incorporating more of my whammy bar. I haven’t used this element in a long time and I’m trying to use this part of my setup to hear some different things from my playing. I can’t tell you where my playing with go with this, but I feel like I’m getting somewhere that’s interesting to me.
In my own development, I’ve tried to play less over the years. How can I be more deliberate about my use of any of my equipment? How can I use what I have to make the musicians around me sound bigger and more dynamic? Steve Hackett from Genesis is one of my favorite guitar players and his playing was almost always his best, in my opinion, when it was difficult to tell what he was doing or if he was even playing at all. That’s what I want from my own playing!
