Volume I (2000)
Label: E-Magine Music
Artist: the Diablo Project
Featuring: Jai Diablo (Everything), Chris Buono (Guitar Sounds) and many others

For more information: www.allmusic.com

Raining Caterpillars (Rough Mix)

Doing the Diablo Project CD led me to make the leap into sideman work. It was these sessions where I was able to test out my on-the-fly writing skills, continue my effects experimentation tenfold, and eventually lead the band through some of my first freely improvised gigs. “Raining Caterpillars” – a name Jai came up with on the spot that I eventually succumbed to – was recorded with several tracks. Besides a squeaky clean track consisting of my ’73 Strat there was a pass with an original Micro Synth and another with a house wah pedal that was so terrible, but alas, I had to use it. The crown jewel was the original Whammy pedal I was borrowing, which is where I first combined a Whammy with a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory. That’s been a magic combo since. The sci-fi melody was played with an eBow and a slide through the aforementioned chain. I have the rough mix here because the final is shit and you can hear these parts better.

If you MUST hear the final here you go…

Raining Caterpillars

Little did I know this tune would do so much for me including putting my sounds on several MTV shows including Real World Seattle and VH-1 Bands on the Run as well as becoming a staple in my later trio sets with guys like Steve Jenkins, Tony Grey, Tobias Ralph, Keith Carlock and Rodney Holmes and my organ trio cB3.

Molotov Cocktail

A Line 6 DL-4 induced tune, “Molotov” also features a Lovetone Meatball with a homemade fuzz pedal that was designed specifically for the Meatball’s ingenius effects loop. I disengaged the Meatball’s envelope follower and just used the pedal as a static filter for the riffs. The trem is a Lovetone Wobulator and all the tracks were my trusty ’73 Strat including that delicious GmMaj9 at the end.