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

Raining Caterpillars (Rough Mix)

Doing the Diablo Project CD led me to make the final 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 as well that I eventually succombed to–was recorded with several tracks. Besides a squeaky clean tracks consisting of my ‘73 Strat, there was a pass with a Micro Synth, another with a house wah pedal that was so terrible, 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–and the rest is history. The sci-fi melody was played with an eBow and a slide through the aforementioned chain. Little did I know this tune would do so much for me like 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 Keith Carlock and Rodney Holmes.

Molotov Cocktail

Another DL-4 induced tune, “Molotov” also features a Lovetone Meatball with a homemade fuzz pedal made by my pedal tech Gus Smalley 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.