Gear Review: Stroamata Drummer Alex Markowitz Talks Customized ’90s American Stratocaster

The industrial-tinged, female-led indie, alt-rock band Stroamata, is making vaves in and around their hometown of Brooklyn, NY. Always busy writing and recording new music, the quartet recently released their new song “Get You Good”. We chatted recently with the band’s drummer, Alexander Markowitz, about some of the key gear they use when making their music.

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound?
Markowitz: We have a few funky pieces of gear we use to obtain our sound. We have a Gibson Victory bass, and our drummer has a custom made 3-ply kit as well, a custom Vistalite drum kit and a few vintage snares. But the one instrument/piece of gear that has been omnipresent is our guitarist Rob’s Strat. It’s a late ’90s American Strat that he was given to him by his father. We pulled out the single coil pickups and installed beefy humbucker pickups, blocked the tremolo cavity, swapped the bridge and electronics and added a custom nut. We made all these changes one at a time until we found the perfect tone for Stroamata. The result lies somewhere between a classic Fender Strat and a Gibson Les Paul.

What about it makes it so important to you?
Markowitz: We put it together ourselves, and it is totally unique to us. We have done the same to a Godin that our lead singer plays. Two of our drummer’s kits are custom jobs he drilled and fitted himself!

How was this gear used during the recording of your latest album?
Markowitz: The guitar is on every recording! Every one!

How do you recreate your album (guitar/vocal/bass) tones in your live set?
Markowitz: Our philosophy to recording is that we don’t put down any tracks that we cannot replicate onstage. Guitars and bass are always recorded with the same setup we use live. We use a TC Electronics vocal effects box that adds color the lead vocals. Occasionally the drummer uses triggers to fill out the boom and crack on the snare and kick on a “house” kit.

What are the major pros and cons?
Markowitz: It’s a lot of fun in the studio to make outer-worldly sounds and swing them into your new song. We don’t do that, because we found that doing so makes the songs sound weaker when played live. Part of our mission statement is to be big and bad onstage using our talents and thoughtful arrangements. We do not want to use gear that feels like a “replication” of what is on the record, we want it to sound like the real thing!

Do you have a backup for this gear, if so, what?
Markowitz: Yes, we have some backup gear kicking around. Nothing really cool to speak of, a lot of it is cheapo stuff that we modified and messed around with but couldn’t successfully turn into something really special. The day we have some money, we will have a fully stacked armory of the best gear we can find!

How long have you had it, how do you use it, would you ever change it?
Markowitz: We have had the Strat for a few years now. We are constantly buying cheap guitars and amps and modifying them into completely different and unique boxes. We like messing around with new tones and sounds. So we may change things slowly over time, most likely just to help vary the song writing and arrangements. You can never be too precious, you should always be willing to try new things.

Give us your best “gear goes wrong” story.
Markowitz: There is no ONE story! We have had to borrow amps, basses, snares, hi-hat stands and all types of stuff in the spur of the moment due to something going wrong countless times. We learned our lessons about using “house” amps and the drummer has played plenty of shows while the drum set falls apart around him! Thankfully, we are always really nice to the other bands, and we always lend out gear when we see things falling apart onstage with other bands. What goes around comes around, and thankfully we have always been able to borrow gear when disaster strikes!

Any final thoughts or comments on the gear?
Markowitz: Gear is fun, and new gear can inspire new music, give a musician their signature sound. Never forget that a great piece of gear will never sound good unless the musician puts in their time learning how to sound good! There is nothing wrong with spending every night for two years playing a no-name instrument building up your chops. Then when you are ready you can find the exact piece of gear that will complement your style and your sound that will turn you into a beast!

Check out the song “Get You Good”