Some context: The Aquabats are an American rock band formed in Orange County, California in 1994. Throughout many fluctuations in the group's line-up, singer The MC Bat Commander and bassist Crash McLarson have remained the band's two constant fixtures. Since 2006, The Aquabats' members also include keyboardist Jimmy the Robot, drummer Ricky Fitness and guitarist Eagle "Bones" Falconhawk. Easily identified by their masks and matching costumes, The Aquabats are perhaps most recognized for their comedic persona in which they claim to be crime-fighting superheroes.
With professionalism far from foremost concern, The Aquabats' earliest band line-ups changed with almost every concert, occasionally featuring as many as twelve to fourteen musicians at a time onstage, with the majority typically playing brass instruments. As they gradually developed a steady following and began playing shows with more regularity, the band settled into a tighter and more manageable unit consisting of around eight to nine musicians, filled out by a horn section, two guitarists and a keyboardist. It was with this type of line-up that The Aquabats began recording, independently producing the demo tapes The Revenge of the Midget Punchers in 1994 and Bat Boy in 1995. Initially, The Aquabats intended to make each of their performances unique by wearing a different set of matching costumes for every concert, ranging from chef's uniforms to grass skirts and fezzes, all with an individual persona -- during one show wearing chef outfits, for instance, the band hosted an actual onstage barbecue. When the group's props and get-ups soon became more cumbersome to transport than their musical equipment, it was ultimately decided a singular costume was required. Terry, a future apparel designer who was employed by the wetsuit manufacturing company Aleeda at the time, acquired a large amount of spare rubber and neoprene and fashioned together a set of helmets and rashguards for the band members. The addition of customized vinyl belts, donated to the band by then-unknown artist Paul Frank, effectively completed the style The Aquabats would maintain for the rest of their career. To accompany their distinct new uniforms, The Aquabats constructed a backstory which alleged they were actually superheroes hailing from the distant island of "Aquabania", though Larson admits the entire mythology was simply made up piece by piece as they went along from one interviewer to the next. As their mythology grew, the members soon adopted superhero stage names and identities, and began tailoring their live shows around a comic book aesthetic by incorporating onstage stunts and mock battles with costumed villains, antics which were originally ploys to get the band's friends into shows for free. Jacobs' brothers Parker and Tyler, a cartoonist and graphic artist, respectively, were brought in to help develop the band's cartoon-influenced visual style, designing their logos and promotional material as well as playing characters in The Aquabats' stage shows and mythology. In 1995, The Aquabats independently produced and recorded their debut album, The Return of The Aquabats, pressing the CDs themselves. Having already amassed a sizable cult following for their increasingly eccentric live shows, the band managed to sell a respectable 20,000 copies of their album without any marketing or distribution. With the growing mainstream popularity of ska music, The Aquabats quickly rose to prominence within Orange County's booming ska scene, regularly touring alongside the likes of such commercially successful bands as No Doubt, Sublime and Reel Big Fish and bringing them to the brink of achieving mainstream recognition. In early 1996, the Aquabats first drummer, Rod Arellano was forced to quit due to touring schedule conflicts and was replaced by a young 20 year-old named Travis Barker. Travis played his first show as the Baron Von Tito opening up for Fishbone at the Glass House in Pomona.
How did they start?
A: As they gradually developed a steady following and began playing shows with more regularity, the band settled into a tighter and more manageable unit
Some context: Kevin Patrick Shields was born on 21 May 1963 in Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York City, United States. He is the eldest of five siblings born to Irish parents; his mother was a nurse and his father was an executive in the food industry. Shields' parents had emigrated to the United States from Ireland in the 1950s, when the couple were teenagers. Shields attended Christ the King, a Roman Catholic primary school which he described as "a really horrible school run by psychopathic nuns".
Shields' guitar sound has been cited as one of the most recognisable aspects of My Bloody Valentine's music. His sound uses "texture more than technique to create vivid soundscapes". He has been listed at number 95 and 2 on Rolling Stone's and Spin's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list. During the late 1980s, Shields began customising the tremolo systems for his Fender Jaguars and Jazzmaster guitars; he extended the tremolo arm and loosened it considerably, to allow him to manipulate the arm while strumming chords, which resulted in significant pitch bending. Shields used a number of alternate and open tunings that together with his tremolo manipulation, according to Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad, achieved "a strange warping effect that makes the music wander in and out of focus". Among Shields' notable effects is digital reverse reverb, sourced from a Yamaha SPX90 effects unit. Together with the tremolo manipulation and distortion, he created a technique known as "glide guitar". Shields effects rig, which is composed largely of distortion, graphic equalisers and tone controls, consists of at least 30 effects pedals. His rig is connected to a large number of amplifiers which are often set to maximum volume to increase sustain. During live performances with My Bloody Valentine - particularly during the closing "You Made Me Realise" - Shields creates a blend of noise and excessive feedback, known as "the holocaust", which has often lasted for half an hour and often reached 130db. "It was so loud it was like sensory deprivation," he remarked. "We just liked the fact that we could see a change in the audience at a certain point." Shields' sound and performance have been regarded as influential, with musicians including Billy Corgan and J Mascis citing him as an influence. "Kevin Shields achieved something on Loveless that only the great guitarists achieve: he achieved a wholeness and a unity," observed Living Colour's Vernon Reid. "He created his own sound."
where did he learn these techniques?
A:
with musicians including Billy Corgan and J Mascis