I’m a strong advocate for self-determination and human rights for all, and have a fair few trans friends who all have my loyal support. We are all fellow human being under the same sun, and whatever your core personal being and proclivity, you deserve to be respected and treated with kindness.

Trans people are facing the same kind of discrimination that homosexuals suffered until fairly recently in the western world - in fact where in many countries they are still very unfairly ...

Pictured above are the early-bird arrivals for the event, of course main man Doug, American adventurer Nolen, Doug’s friend Yas (pub liaison), and the pub’s lawyer Jason - who’s early riffing was so impressive - that no one wanted to go after him! All of us were in there by around noon!

This was my first time in Hanwell - thank the powers above for the Elizabeth Line - otherwise it would have been tricky to get to! Hanwell is the western-most town in the borough of Ealing I believe. The ...

There were all kinds of weird rumours going around before the launch of this pedal - I though it was more likely to be a sympathetic resonance modulator / filter style thing - where there are filters here - but used rather to define the different delay voicings.

This is mostly a digital device, I’m not 100% clear on the inflection of ’Hybrid’ in respect to Delay here - as there are no specific analog / BBD delay-line components that I’m aware of. This is very much a sibling to the CXM 1978 ...

Another fantastic show in an amazing venue - and the weather gods definitely smiled on us!

Congratulations to Ross on another supremely smooth show - wish that it’s duration could be a little more extended - as it’s a struggle to get around all the stands in the time available.

This year’s show was a little beset by fall-outs - as initially Boss and HiWatt withdrew from the roster - which was great news for my friends Ian from Gigahearts and Stephen from Northern Stompboxes - as those were ...

I thought I should focus on my large format heavy-hitters for a change - where these 8 are some of my largest, most potent, and best favoured gain pedals. They are arranged here in alphabetical order, while they were released in the below chronological order. All 8 have featured heavily in my rig at different times - and all 8 are still very valid award winners and still in rotation. While the enormous girth of the Elektron Analog Drive means that is gets somewhat less of a rotation nowadays - ...

The Habit was launched in March of 2022, and was the third of Chase Bliss’s Experimental Looper / Delay Trifecta - following the Mood Micro-Looper from June 2019, and the Blooper Endless Looper in September of 2019 - that same year. All three are Experimental Looper / Delay types - with the emphasis on Looping for the first two, and the emphasis on Delay for the Habit - which has some very clever tricks on scanning through and doubling up on the sample buffer. So in essence the Habit is a smart...

We have another great event now for the annual roster - where Adam has done a brilliant job in bringing this all together. Really handy venue too - very close to the centre of Birmingham and New Street Station - and so good for me! I alas forgot to grab a snap of show runner Adam - who was to be everywhere that day - to ensure the smooth running that we witnessed. Noise Maker Market is definitely here to stay!

There was a handy bar downstairs - with some exotic and unusual beverages - ...

I believe this is the first time I’ve met Paolo’s lovely partner Nadège - and it’s her birthday today when this article goes live - so let’s all wish her well!

Nadége was on the door for most of the two days, and missed out on Sunday Roast - which Paolo and I had on the second day. I decided that Nadège and Paolo deserved to be this year’s covers stars - they put so much work into this event - to make sure it runs flawlessly smoothly - and the easy ambience and vibe of the event is a ...

There was a ripple of excitement when people first saw the somewhat oblique teasers for 2 ’new’ Chase Bliss pedals - turns out it’s just new colourways! Exciting still possibly for those who favour single tone pedalboards - but I already have these in their original editions. I don’t feel the need to have duplicates of these, and I actually prefer the original colourways. I run a large pedalboard of 52 pedals - which changes every week - it’s essential for me to be able to rapidly identify and ...