The homegrown spirit is strong at Black Market where you can find the handcrafted items of your dreams. I’ve recently been dreaming about the guitar pedals over at Electromagnetic Witchcraft Industries. Founded by Matt Manes with a devotion to exploring the collision between science and music, Electromagnetic Witchcraft Industries offers all the fuzz magic you need and a little extra, all in a beautifully conjured package. I caught up with Matt to talk about his experiments in practical magic crafting his own pedals. Be sure to check them out this Sunday at the Cambridge Community Center from 11-5.
How’d you get your start working with sound and electronics?
I’ve been playing music since I was around 6 or 7 and I’ve always been into the math and science side of things, so when I started studying electronics in college the two subject areas just sort of collided. I put my first pedal kit together maybe a little over two years ago, and at some point I felt like I just looked up from my workbench and realized I’ve completely enveloped myself in it. It’s become a way for me to combine everything I like to do. I get to do the engineering/math things, make something with my hands, explore my visual arts side, and of course get to use them to play music.
Do you have an overall vision for what your trying to do or is it a pedal by pedal kind of thing?
It’s kind of both I guess. Generally I want to explore ways of combining and altering different types of circuits to see what I can come up with, but the pedals usually start with one of those “I wonder what would happen if…” kind of questions. The enclosure art usually comes about as a combination of the controls layout and images that form in my head while working on a particular circuit design for a while.
What sounds have influenced your work?
Every sound I hear, musical or not, I consider an influence. Even if I don’t like the way something sounds, it shows me what I don’t want to do. I’m just fascinated by sound and how you can create and transmit ideas, emotions, and worlds to other people by jiggling a bunch of particles. I don’t know if I can nail down any specifics, so sorry if that’s a bit vague.
So these are hand painted pedals, are you the one doing the painting?
Yup, they’re hand painted by me. I’ve been using enamel paints for a while, but recently I’ve swapped over to paint markers. I like the solid, consistent colors enamel paints provide, but they can be expensive, time consuming, and messy to use.
Above anyone else, who would you want to commission a pedal from Electromagnetic Witchcraft Industries and why?
Oof, that’s a tough one. One of the big things that pushes me to keep working at this stuff is wanting to see what kinds of sounds and uses other people can come up with using pedals I made, but I guess if I had to pick one right now I’d probably have to go with Ellen Tiberio-Schultz from Ellen Siberian Tiger. Some of her songs have these whacked out sounding parts that walk the line between noise and what’s generally considered more musical. That idea of exploring weird textures and sounds while using them in a melodic context is something I’m very into.
