Spaceman Pedals is a Portland, Oregon boutique maker of pedals. My friend Mike Naramore invited me into Sean Flora’s studio to record some lead tracks for a compilation submission. All net proceeds from the sale of the album will be donated to an awesome non-profit that provides music classes to students in US public schools that have been stripped of their music programs.

Mike owns Terrestrial Media, specializing in audio engineering, recording, and media. Sean Flora’s work includes Wincing the Night Away by the Shins; Sophe Lux, King Black Acid, and tons and tons of bands.

Recording the track, I used the Sputnik Fuzz Pedal, an all-germanium fuzz featuring vintage Soviet transistors. This pedal is able to produce great fuzz tones, as well as wild synthesizer sounds, oscillation, crazy 8-bit breakup. I used a Danelectro Wild Thing guitar with lipstick tube pickups, and a small tube amp. The Sputnik is a crazy and awesome pedal, and tends to really dominate sonically. I used the WOW Signal “alien fuzz communicator” pedal – a super unique fuzz pedal with filter modulation – but I decided on using only the Sputnik for the track. I also used an Electroharmonix Pulsar for tremolo sounds.

Here’s a demo video someone made of the Sputnik