This article series is about the tools of popular guitarists. What are their favorite guitars and how is it related to them? This time with Sofus Emil Kromann (guitar) and Halfdan Geertsen (bass) from the band GALGE.
Credit: Moshmallows
Who am I interviewing?
My name is Sofus. I play the guitar in Galge.
When you start guitar playing and do you remember your first guitar?
I first started playing guitar at age 15. I had just started boarding school, and all the people that were fun to be around played music. So I really wanted to join the clique and grab an instrument for myself. I was drawn to the guitar because most of the music I listened to at the time was pretty guitar-centered.
What are your influences, and which guitar players are your faves?
I remember listening to a lot of The Black Keys when I first picked up the guitar. However, I really started focusing on practicing a lot when I got into more extreme music, and that’s what my playing has drawn heavily on. What really struck a chord with me in the beginning was Behemoth and Nergal’s crushing riffs and melodic solos. Nergal is definitely up there as one of my favourites. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve mellowed out a little bit, and now I mostly enjoy listening to punk and new wave music. Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers is probably my favourite guitar player of all time. His playing always matched the music perfectly, and he wasn’t overly flashy. Even though he was most certainly capable of being that. Cornwell’s playing in The Stranglers is what I strive for in my playing with Galge. Galge’s music can be pretty technical, and that’s one of the reasons why I think it’s important to focus on the songwriting first and foremost, not just shredding and sweeping your way through a song, because to me, that’s pretty obnoxious.
How many guitars do you own and what are your favorite models?
I think I own around five or six guitars. I’ve bought and sold a lot over the years, but I’ve pretty much settled on the Dayton model by Blade Guitars. The Dayton is basically Blade’s take on a Telecaster. When I first got mine, I knew I’d found the guitar for me. It just plays way better than anything I’d had before. I’ve been in contact with Gary Levinson from Blade for quite a while now and he’s a great guy who makes great guitars. I wouldn’t sell my custom Dayton for pretty much any amount of money. That’s not true, but I really dig it, haha. I played Ibanez for a lot of years too, and their guitars are great as well.
What do you think makes the perfect guitar and amp?I
I’ve found that when you play guitar, you develop a lot of strong preferences. So, here’s a quick list of what makes a great guitar for me: Rosewood neck, 25.5-inch scale, Standard headstock with all the pegs on one side (I’m not a fan of reverse headstocks),No neck dive. If those boxes are ticked, I’m pretty much guaranteed a good time with the guitar. I like a big tube amp that’s heavy and annoying to carry around. It sucks when you’re on tour, but to me, the sound is just that much better. On our European tour, we had to carry my enormous stack almost every day. It was a pain, but I got the tone I was after. I remember one show in Austria, in an old underground bunker, where we had to carry my stack down what felt like ten flights of stairs. I wasn’t the most popular guy in the band that day.
How do you feel about the question of modeler or tube amp?
I’m on team tube amp all the way. I’m sure you can get an amazing sound with a modeler, but to me, it just sounds better when you’re playing through a big ol’ stack. I’m also a big fan of using the amp’s gain and distortion instead of just throwing on the same guitar pedal that everyone else uses. Some preamp pedals let you blend the amp’s preamp with the pedal’s, and to me, that’s awesome. I kinda want to stand out with my tone and not just sound like everybody else.
Which guitars and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
All of the songs on Dødelig were recorded using two different Dayton models from Blade. One was tuned to C# standard with Seymour Duncan Black Winter pickups, and the other was in Drop B with a Lundgren M6 pickup. As for amps, I used my Orange Dual Dark for most of the songs. The Dual Dark is probably my favourite amp I’ve ever owned. It’s extremely heavy, tight, and overdriven for an Orange amp – and it’s reliable as hell. I also used a Koch Powertone for some parts. The Powertone is an amazing, huge-sounding amp, but I wouldn’t recommend taking it on tour. It’s broken down on me so many times. So, I’d say it was like 80% Orange, 20% Koch. For the cab, I used a massive 240-watt, made-in-England Orange cab on every track. I love that cab, haha.
When you only can choose one guitar, which one will you take?
For playability, it would without a doubt be my black custom Blade Dayton with the buttery smooth rosewood fretboard. However, I still own my first electric guitar, which my dad and I modified ourselves. It’s an Ibanez FR model, which is Ibanez’s take on a Telecaster. I love that guitar. It has so much sentimental value to me. I learned to play guitar on it, recorded all of Galge’s music before this album with it, and it still plays great today. I rarely bring it out for shows anymore, but I still play it a lot at home. So if I had to pick, I’d go with my old Ibanez because it’s one of a kind.
Who am I interviewing?
My name is Halfdan Geertsen. I play bass in Galge – the greatest band in the world
When you start bass playing and do you remember your first bass?
I started playing bass seriously when I joined Galge in 2020. But I’d always liked playing bass, way before I began taking it seriously. That’s why I stole a Fender Jazz Bass copy from my primary school when I was about 13 or so.
What are your influences and which bass players are your favs?
On the top of my mind, I really like the bass players from Primus, TOOL, Cannibal Corpse, and Cynic. But my biggest bass-hero is definitely my friend, Nikolaj Lippert. He hates death-metal.
How many basses do you own and what are your favorite models?
I own three basses: a Mayones Jabba, a Blade Austin Classic in a kind of baby blue color, and an absolutely gorgeous Fender Precision Bass from 1973. Unfortunately, I “accidentally” smashed the Fender into the ground in the heat of the moment during a concert last year. Big mistake. I wrecked it, and it’s definitely my favorite.
What do you think makes the perfect bass and amp?
A really pretty bass and a really loud amp.
Which basses and amps were used on the new album or for recordings?
The amp I used was an Ampeg SVT-450H head. It’s pretty good, but my pedals do a lot of the work as well. If I remember correctly, I recorded all of the songs on my Fender P-Bass. I really miss that fucking bass…
When you only can choose one bass, which one will you take?
The broken one (it’s being fixed at the moment.
