Jas Stade is a one of a kind guitarist from Oakland, California. Their style is 100% unique and sometimes peculiar. They derive inspiration from a wide variety of eclectic artists. Jas’ classical guitar background is shown in their 1 RAD video below. You feel the tension in the playing as they finger pick and strum methodically.
How did you find out about 1 rad and what made you want to participate?
I started reading She Shreds back in 2018 when it was still a physical magazine and was just generally so hyped that it existed. At the time, I was living in Santa Cruz getting a degree in western classical guitar in a department that was regrettably all male (except me). It was refreshing to read & remind myself that my vacuumed (sometimes isolating) experience was temporary, and that there’s a massive world of gender diverse people doing cool shit with guitar.
To prepare for my junior recital, I did a 100 days of practice social media situation, which was the gateway of me feeling like yes, I could muster up the courage to share the thing I was already spending 3-5 hours a day practicing with other people! Then She Shreds rolled through with 1 Riff a Day, and it felt like a good moment to meet people, gather some inspiration and challenge myself an ickle bit further.
What was your 1 rad experience like and what was your personal goal for 1 Rad?
This year’s 1 RAD was a lot of good chaotic fun. I feel like my riffs were accurate reflections of this time for me, playing shows with my friends in Gumby’s Junk and Triple Sec and bringing some of the techniques I’ve learned on nylon string/western classical to the electric guitar along with alternate tunings and wacky pedals. At one point I was car camping in a hot van at the center of a race car track, trying to write my riff while a race was zooming. That was good fun. I’m happy I got to collaborate with others and put more time into the visual/video side of sharing my playing.
What is your creative process like?
I feel like it’s pretty intuitive and heavily informed by my surroundings and energy levels. Sometimes it’s placing myself within a sound-world with pedals or a certain tuning or key/mode and allowing myself enough time to live within the world and see what appears. Other times it’s taking a snippet of something, a melody from a song or a texture in my environment and seeing how I can recreate that. I have a riff that came from the rhythm of my housemate hitting a friend’s vape and saying “that is my favorite stick, don’t mind if I take 10 hits.” My favorite creative times are always when I have other people to bounce off of.
“I started playing in 4th grade because I was driven by petty 8-year-old desires, like wanting to look cool playing Green Day and building “cool calluses” on my fingers because my school’s music teacher let me touch her left hand calluses once and I thought she was lit.”
Who were some of your favorite 1 Rad participants this year?
I really loved @mandyferguitar, @meadows_ruthie, @sistafaithplays, @theguitarplayer, @chiplaysguitar and of course @collabo_sphere to name a few!
Which artist/band inspires your playing?
Lots of sounds! I’d say Black Midi, Covet, Deerhoof, Richard Dawson, Juana Molina, Cardiacs, Horse Lords, Oliver Mtukudzi, Mr Bungle, Lightning Bolt, Primus, Spellling, King Gizzard, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Ween. If I’m on a mellow vibe, Elliott Smith, Luiz Bonfa, Grant Green, Adrianne Lenker, Ichiko Aoba, Annette Kruisbrink, Khruangbin. Many different vibes and sources but I’d guess all the happy chemicals these artists’ sounds create in my brain result in hopefully some of the sounds I make.
Your use of effects gives you a unique sound. What is your favorite guitar pedal?
For the longest time, my favorite pedal was the Digitech Whammy. Playing in octaves or any of the other crazy interval settings on there. It always sounds “zesty.” But my partner recently gifted me an Old Blood Noise Endeavors Reflector Chorus pedal and it has introduced me to a whirlwind of sounds! I can sound like I’m playing in a distant underwater cave, there’s also some crazy pitch-shifting goofy gizmo vibes, or I can emulate a wobbly sort of Wurlitzer organ sound. It’s mad fun.
Your eccentric band Gumby’s Junk reminds me a lot like Deerhoof. Can you tell me more about Gumby’s Junk and your recent Debut LP?
Big thanks for saying that. Deerhoof is one of our biggest influences as a group! We describe ourselves as an art rock, post-punk band that makes surrealist estate music. My bandmates are some of my bestest friends and I’m really lucky to play music with them.
Our new and first album, Apple House, feels like a great capture of our chaotic, semi childlike, fantastical lore and just who we are as people at the moment. We are three friends who like making weird sounds and drinking beverages. Our Bandcamp is gumbys-junk.bandcamp.com but we’re also on all of the streaming services!
You can check out Jas’ band and personal instagram below.
https://www.instagram.com/jas.stade/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/gumbysjunk/?hl=en
