Feedback: Jeff McCollough of Blackpool Astronomy

Welcome to the latest edition of Feedback, a look (down) at the pedal boards and equipment of some of our favorite musicians. Today, KEXP's Owen Murphy hits up Jeff McCollough of Seattle shoegazers Blackpool Astronomy. Blackpool Astronomy just released the LP The Secret Language of a Nervous Breakdown via Sao Paulo, Brazil-based label, The Blog That Celebrates Itself Records.

If you missed last week's four-hour celebration of the genre on The Morning Show on KEXP, you can still listen via KEXP's Two-Week Streaming Archive [stream expires: 5/9/19], and check out previous editions of Feedback for more gear geekery. 

I love my pedal board because it gives me a way to express myself. The pedals range from expensive to downright cheap and from soft delays to staggeringly loud fuzz boxes. Each one has been selected and searched out generally for less than they were new or on sale because like many I have to wait till those pedals become affordable. Each one has a voice; an emotion and a sound that makes me smile. I think the best part about having pedals like this is one you get quite a lot of enjoyment out of them but on top of that you get to create and share beautiful music with many and possibly help them get through their day. Sometimes coming home and playing guitar along with the radio or plugging in to a four-track tape recorder has saved me from spending an afternoon crying. Music is definitely the way I relax and I’m glad to share it with people who love it as well.

As you can see I believe in the fact that the cheapest Pedals aren’t always the worth ignoring. In fact some of them are the best. Take the Shinei pedals used by The Jesus and Mary Chain, they were thought to be pure junk by purists but they sound amazing and are super expensive at this point. Pedals have come down in price and you can even have your own version of something like this with cheaper pedals without spending a fortune. Remember used doesn’t mean it’s not worth having. Just make sure you can return if it doesn’t work. It only takes one pedal to start your own pedal board.