Interview with Patrick Brown from Tide Eyes/ Collector Effectors
Hey Pat my man wuzzzup!! First tell me about Collector Effectors, what kind pedal you make?
Hey Putro! Wuuuzzzzup! Collector Effectors is a NC based hand made fuzz company I just officially launched! I have been wiring my own guitars for years and played music for years and I am a fuzz addict. I decided when the pandemic hit and I lost my main job, that I should learn more about building fuzzes. Thanks to the kindness and instruction of Mike Timpson of Seeker Electric Effects, I was able to get a good foothold. I had built a BYOC mk.2 tone bender and wired guitars and repaired a couple of older effects so I felt confident I could to it. I really like old fuzz circuits like the Mk.1 Tonebender, Burns Buzzaround, Vox Tonebender, Univox Superfuzz, Kay Fuzz Tone and Interfax Harmonic Percolator to name a few. My builds are based on classic circuits but I make little changes here and there where I feel necessary to optimize the circuit. I am an adventurous spirit like you and I like seeing what a change here or there can make on the outcome so I’m trying to experiment as I gain my footing. I also really like the visual aspect of the pedal and try to make each one unique and striking with many colors and stencils and matching the circuit board to the box (a trick I learned from one of my favorite builders, John Lyons of Basic Audio).
You also known as Tide Eyes, synth pop solo artist? tell me about that??
I have been playing music since I was 8 years old. I learned bass when I was 11 and got serious about guitar around that time as well. I had a son in 2012 and quit the band I was in at the time, Casual Curious and took a two year hiatus from music. In 2014 I started to feel very sad all the time and my wife encouraged me to get back into music to help with my mood. A friend of mine I played in high school with also encouraged me and played drums with the synth based project for a year. Initially it was called The Odds. I got a JX305 from a cool cat locally for 300$, which is a cheap all in one production center/synthesizer from the late 90s . That helped me start writing songs again without a full band and before long I was taking my compositions to the stage with the help of my SP404 samplers. My buddy moved to Texas in 2016 and since then it’s just been me and I changed the name to Tide Eyes. I play guitar and sing and sequence all of the parts on a JX305. I use a DX7 synthesizer and RX5 drum machine and other cheap 80s gems that sound good for that synth pop vibe. The transition to synth music was easy because I always loved Prince, Kate Bush, Devo, Phil Collins, New Order and other 80s pop.
Are you making synth pedal? Circuit bend? Any plan making digital futuristic pedal in the future?
I am not currently planning anything other than nice, pretty looking fuzzes based on classic circuits with a tweak here or there. I play synth pop but guitar is my first love. I have a deep connection to the instrument and the old fuzz circuits really help me find new ways to express myself. Rather than playing the guitar, you end up playing the fuzz and new wild things come out with all the magic ones. And each one is different. That’s kind of my favorite part. No matter how close you can make them, they never sound alike.
I saw your Instagram post, all of your guitar and bass in Surf Green color, do you believe if guitar color affect your tone? maybe if your guitar is sunburst youre going to play Texas Blues huh?hahahah
I like surf green because it looks radioactive to me. Like some sort of radioactive ocean water. I also love the ocean. Do I think it affects tone? Nah. I think having an instrument you enjoy looking at makes you want to play it more and that’s a good thing.
Your fans of combo amp? So am I, Roland amp is so good! Im a solid state amp guy, not into tube amp, tell me about your fav amp?
I have been playing with a vintage JC-120 for 5 years now and it’s absolutely fantastic. I own some cool tube amps too and appreciate that realm of tone but the JC-120 has a purity that really helps when you’re running lots of glitch pedals and loopers and fuzzes at once. I never seem to lose detail and I can dial it in to sound just right. I also know if something sounds good through the JC-120, it sounds good, because it’s a very honest amp. It doesn’t hide much. People complain that they are stiff but I honestly think they sound and feel fantastic. I rarely run mine much above 4 even for a pretty big gig and it paints a beautiful and accurate Sonic picture on stage which I appreciate. I have had my sound turn to mush through Deluxe Reverbs and little tube combos enough to know I absolutely prefer it the way I do it now. But there is no wrong way and everyone should do what inspires them!