Geared Up: DJ & Producer Mr. Kristopher Discusses His Ibanez RG6PCMLTD Guitar and Zoom H1 Recorder

Kristopher James Gray is Mr. Kristopher, a dope DJ and Producer whose electronic beats are unavoidably dancey. Hypnotic and rhythmic, the newest helping of tunes comes in the form of the six-track EP Communion which dropped on January 23rd and can heard and purchased, among other places, at Bandcamp. With roots steeped in metal and hardcore, we wanted to know how Kristopher got his new noises. Check it out!

What two pieces of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound?
Mr. Kristopher: The two pieces of gear I use to obtain my signature sounds are the Ibanez RG6PCMLTD sunset red electric guitar and the Zoom H1 hand recorder.

What about it makes it so important to you?
Mr. Kristopher: What makes these two items so important to me is that they have helped keep my work flow super creative and exciting.

How was this gear used during the recording of your latest album?
Mr. Kristopher: For the electronic EP Communion I used the Ibanez to create most of my melodies and then would convert the recorded wav to midi so I could use different vst synths for layering to build a bigger sound. I found this easier than typing the midi notes on the keyboard because I have more experience with guitars from when I was in punk and metal bands.

The H1 Zoom hand recorder was a huge part of the last EP because I traveled all over the USA recording nature samples and transforming them into industrial glitched out sounds. For example, I would record the swishing sound of ocean waves, load it into Ableton’s Sampler, and then play the ocean swish as a melody. Once I had the melody I would proceed to add saturation, slight phasing, reverb, maybe slight delay, side-chain compress it to the kick, and eq it. So it would start off as an ocean *swish* sound and then turn into a glitchy industrial rhythm. Literally glitching nature.

How do you recreate your album (guitar/vocal/bass) tones in your live set?
Mr. Kristopher: Used to use just guitar when I was in a band, now I use CDJS and mix layers together for the shows, more of a DJ set now but with metal and industrial mixed in.

What are the major pros and cons?
Mr. Kristopher: Pros – unlimited possibilities. Cons – batteries, and new guitar strings every once in a while.

How long have you had it, how do you use it, would you ever change it?
Mr. Kristopher: Ibanez 6 years, H1 Zoom 3 years. How I used it is mentioned above. Nope, will only add more gear to collection.

Give us your best “gear goes wrong” story.
Mr. Kristopher: Nothing super crazy, always bring backup strings and cables. For a DJ set if the power shuts down and then comes back on cue up Snap’s “I got the power” to save the party.

Any final thoughts or comments on the gear?
Mr. Kristopher: Add these to your collection! 🙂

Check out a stream of the track “Darklord”