The Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast · The Fretboard Journal

Andy Pitcher

·41 min·4 clips

Andy Pitcher made his album 'Dot' as a soundtrack to his 20s, driven by the loss of his parents and a fear of not surviving.

Host Jason Verlinde interviews guitarist and D'Addario artist relations manager Andy Pitcher about his debut solo album, *Dot*. Pitcher is known as an experimental player who has contributed to recordings by artists like Gabriel Marin and The Armed. The episode explores the deliberate creative process behind his instrumental guitar record. Pitcher designed *Dot* as a sonic palindrome to encapsulate his musical identity, structuring it with solo acoustic tracks at the start and end. He recorded using a 1945 Martin 0-18 borrowed from the Blue Guitar Foundation and a pre-war Herringbone triple-0, capturing them with an array of 14 microphones in a single room. For the electronic-centered tracks, he used an aluminum-neck guitar built by Michael in Australia, which provides unusually long sustain. Engineer Zach Goldstein recorded the sessions at Kawari Sound in Pennsylvania, while Zach Weeks later mixed and mastered the project at God City Studios. A surprising creative constraint was Pitcher's self-imposed deadline to release the album before his 30th birthday, framing it as a retrospective of his twenties. He employed unconventional recording techniques, such as taping a piezo microphone to his ribs to capture bodily resonance and reamping acoustic tracks through guitar amplifiers. The album's second track, "Removed," features drummer Michael Patrick Avery, and its composition was inspired by the epic structures of 1970s prog rock. Pitcher reveals he secretly tweaked mixes after hours at the studio to realize his detailed "mix maps" and audio manifestos. He describes the challenge of translating the layered album to a live setting, suggesting future performances might involve improvisation on its themes. Pitcher's eclectic influences range from Pat Metheny and Mahavishnu Orchestra records discovered in thrift stores to modern experimentalists. The conversation highlights his collaborative work with Jim D'Addario, who lent him a Manzer Metheny 6-string guitar heard on the album. Pitcher's next conceptual project is titled *100 Lullabies*, envisioned as a sample bank of short musical pieces for other artists to use. The tone is conversational and deeply enthusiastic, focused on artistic methodology and gear-specific details. Listeners will appreciate the educational deep dive into avant-garde recording techniques and guitar craftsmanship. This episode will especially appeal to guitarists interested in experimental music, audio engineering, and instrument design. Those seeking only performance highlights or mainstream musical discussion might find the technical depth less engaging.

As heard by us

A relaxed gear chat that makes the studio choices feel part of the song.

Andy Pitcher's Fretboard Journal Guitar Podcast appearance stays close to the work behind the record. He comes through as a D'Addario staffer, a guitarist, and an artist whose music Jason Verlinde calls experimental, but the real focus is how Dot came together.

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Why you'd press play

You want a gear-heavy talk that still feels like a human conversation.

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