InSound: Interview with SHE SHREDS Magazine Founder Fabi Reyna

Part of a regular Adorama Learning Center series, Sara Landeau’s ‘InSound’ explores the best in audio gear, how-to’s and interviews with other musicians.  Read previous installments here.

Fabi Reyna is the editor in chief of the world’s first and currently only print magazine dedicated to highlighting women guitarists and bassists. Her work is not only seminal, it is revolutionary for redefining guitar culture. She Shreds Magazine covers gear, history, musician interviews (boys and girls), lessons, and offers a much needed alternative style to the guitar magazines we grew up with. Fabi and I became quick online friends a few years back and even joined musical forces one night playing in a pop-up Modettes cover band. I am thrilled to interview this gear expert and all-around Renaissance friend about her current musical set up.

-Sara

What types of guitars do you have?

At the moment my main squeeze is actually the new Ernie Ball St. Vincent signature guitar. I know that sounds cliché or like I’m just trying to advertise, but it’s true! I mean, I love the concept behind the guitar but I didn’t think I would fall in love with it. I did. Before that, I was pretty attached to the Eastwood reissue of the Airline ‘65 Map. I’ve been playing that for about eight years but then all of a sudden I stopped being able to write songs on it—the magic was lost. And that’s when the STV guitar came into my life!

I played classical guitar for a while so I also have a Cordoba guitar and a couple of cheap “just-in-case” guitars. One of them is tuned to two octaves of E with Baritone strings for the Glenn Branca Symphony I was just a part of.  Now that’s my “experiment with low ass distorted noise rock” guitar.

Do you use pedals? What amps do you like?

Honestly, I just started really experimenting with pedals about two to three years ago. As a teenager, I was the kind of solo artist that wrote songs in five minutes and got attached to the original composition—super raw and bare kind of stuff. Then I got into bands and used distortion and reverb only. Then I got a loop pedal and that changed everything. Now I have a Boss RC 300 looper, Malekko Heavy Industries Reverb (which I love so much), and an EarthQuaker Organizer that doesn’t leave my pedal board (actually I don’t have a board yet, need to get one!)

My current project is a three piece, stripped down cumbia-influenced world-punk vibe band. Usually, cumbia bands have at least 5 members in them, all adding little accents with percussion and melodies throughout with guitar and bass. I really like to feel restricted and figure out how to work with what is in front of me so instead of adding more members—because we all know how much of a pain it is to coordinate band practice with more than 3 or 4 people—I experiment with different combination of loop a bass part, then a rhythm then a couple of lead parts all of which come in and out of the song, controlling the looper.

This has also changed my preference in amps which I’m still trying to hone down. I’ve always been a die-hard Fender fan for the clean tone and smooth reverb but I need something that can take the low bass and the high-end solos just as well. It also needs to not be 1 million pounds and maintain a clean tone (none of that distorted after 2 BS) so…it’s been quite a journey looking for that perfect amp. Anyone wanna custom build one for me?

How do you balance your time practicing an instrument with running a magazine?

I certainly don’t practice as much as I’d like to. In fact, I had to stop playing guitar and being in bands all together for three years just trying to get the magazine off the ground. It’s still hard but now I have a team so I don’t have to take care of every detail having to do with the website, the print magazine, administrative etc. I used to be in five bands at a time always and now I’m slowly coming back to taking one band seriously and practicing 1-2 times a week. It’s a slow process and it breaks my heart every day that I don’t get to connect with my guitar as much as I used to. When I do though, the most difficult part for me is understanding where to begin where I left off. I don’t retain scales or triad exercises very well, at least not in the conventional way that it’s taught, so I’m currently trying to figure out what the best process for me to continue progressing is.

Did the magazine start by you alone? How do you like working in a team?

I had the idea for the magazine and rounded up the troops but I don’t think I would ever say that I was alone any step of the way. Had it not been for the support of artists, community, and individuals just giving advice and helping out in whatever capacity, She Shreds wouldn’t be here. I love working with a team. In general, I feel pretty confident saying that I dislike doing anything alone—that’s how much I love collaborating. I think that creation is pretty stunted by individualism, at least in the world of brand development and culture creating. If I don’t have the right team, I can’t progress so they’re very important to me and the future of the magazine.

How involved are you with the graphic design, the photography, and general tech of the magazine? Any software or cameras you particularly like?

Fortunately for my health, our creative director Lauren Baker takes care of all of the design and creative needs. Of course, we brainstorm concepts together and I have to approve everything but I trust her a lot. She uses the whole Adobe Creative Suit (which I’ve learned a bit of as well and love it) and a bunch of other stuff I can’t wrap my brain around. I’ll just keep to the tech side of gear and brand building, haha.

You have a new music space. What gear are you bringing in and what do you recommend?

Yeah! I haven’t had a music space since 2012 and it’s really great how much that has improved by creative flow. Gear wise I have all of our review products in there, two fender amps, a drum kit, PA and I’m hoping to set up a recording situation in the corner soon. Our ceilings are super high so we have a projector in there for ~ vibes ~. I still need to install sound proofing, shelves and was considering putting a couch in there after reading your last column—again, adding ~vibes~. One of the things that has made our space so lovely and inspiring is covering it with plants. There’s plants everywhere and they keep us very very happy.

She Shreds has thousands of positive fans, seemingly growing everyday. What have you learned by starting this magazine?

It’s more like what have I not learned. Truly the only things I came into She Shreds with were motivation, drive confidence and passion, the rest I learned along the way. The biggest thing (after the running a business part) is just getting to know people and how to communicate and build relationships. We’ve gone through so many experiences in the case of people, men and women, being put off or not really getting what we do—we’re either too feminist or not feminist enough in some cases—and it takes a lot of patience and perspective to sit down and just try and relate even if I don’t agree. We’ve generated a lot of fans because of that and it’s really important to me that we continue to be aware and diligent about inclusive language, images, and education.

What gear do you recommend for guitarists just starting out?

I recommend a lot of pedals, turn your, amp to 11 and just mess around. Experiment for a couple of days and see what you naturally gravitate towards. Theory is important but in my opinion, it’s not the first step.

I was never into starting out on acoustic so I recommend a cheap guitar, amp and a couple of pedals to start. However, if you do start on acoustic guitar the electric will just feel like a breeze.

What’s your dream audio/guitar/pedalboard/musical set up? (Go crazy, even back in time…or the future)

Eventually, I want to be very proficient in Ableton and connecting my guitar rig to a midi situation where I can maintain the guitar tones but have an electronic drum element. Wye Oak does such a good job at this and she’s inspiring me to really dive into it. Pedal wise I would keep it pretty simple—loop, delay, reverb, boost, and an octave pedal. Oh! I’d have a Rhodes keyboard, too. Honestly finding the perfect octave pedal that truly makes your guitar sound like a bass when activated would be a dream come true. Amp wise, in a perfect world I would have an Orange amp + Fender + Bassman head in one that surrounded me from all angles, and weighed 10 pounds. That sounds like true innovation to me.