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Currently celebrating the 20th anniversary of their landmark 2006 album, Death of a Dead Day, Sikth are an extraordinary band.
Having grown up listening to the likes of Joe Satriani, Iron Maiden and, er, Level 42, the band's front line (guitarists Dan Weller and Pin, and bassist James Leach) shared a collective passion for full-on virtuoso musicianship.
When interviewed for Total Guitar back in 2004, Weller explained: “We like to create music that makes people go, ‘Fuck, where did that come from?’ There's no guaranteeing that we'll be successful, but if we do catch on we could start a whole new wave of more technical music.”
Confounding casual listeners with its scope, Death of a Dead Day was a scattershot fusion of metal, prog, punk, emo and performance poetry, all of which helped establish a fiercely loyal underground fanbase.
For one fan in particular, the album, along with their extravagantly titled debut, The Trees Are Dead And Dried Out – Wait For Something Wild, set in motion a chain of events that would lead to a burgeoning career as bassist and producer for contemporary metal outfit Periphery, working alongside guitarist Misha Mansoor.
“Sikth is a band that was very influential in terms of getting into a more mathy style of metal,” says Adam ‘Nolly’ Getood. “Even though I didn't have much of an interest in bass guitar at the time, I immediately noticed the bass that James Leach had played on both albums.
“Straight away I could hear he was doing something interesting, really bridging the gap between these guitars that were going off, and the drums, which are playing incredibly technical drum grooves.
“He found neat ways of bridging that gap using slap-and-pop, tapping, or just plucking interesting melodic lines. That was hugely influential for me.”
An expert producer for bands such as Animals as Leaders, Devin Townsend Project, and Sleep Token, Getgood is well versed in the speed, dynamics, sonic textures, and polyrhythmic complexity that progressive metal demands.
So when Leach became unavailable for the current run of anniversary shows, he was the natural choice to step in.
“I last played with Sikth for three songs at a festival called ArcTanGent back in 2023, but playing this album live is a completely different thing.
“It’s hard to overstate how influential this album was. It’s the connecting glue between me, Misha, and Periphery. I know it’s an overused term, but for me and the other guys in Periphery, it really was a game changer.”
How have you approached the gig with Sikth?
With Sikth, I’m emulating James’ bass style. On the early albums, he incorporated plenty of slapping and popping. There’s a bit of slap bass in the set, but it’s still mostly pick playing.
That all feels very natural to me, but I’m consciously aiming for a cleaner sound and not digging in as hard. It’s a deliberate choice to keep things more rounded.
Can you achieve that with a lighter pick or a change in technique?
I always use a light pick. I’m actually still using the original picks I had made when I was touring with Periphery. I don’t go through them that quickly, so it’s the same picks – more of a technique change than anything else.
I’m always very aware of my technique – especially on guitar, picking just from the wrist and keeping things consistent. A lot of people will practice slow, but they'll use completely different technique when they speed up. They're not really preparing themselves for speed.
You’re also using the latest version of your signature bass – what’s new?
I think the biggest change in feel is the addition of the neck binding. It also has a new bridge that’s really comfortable, and adds a little more solidity to the sound. Then there are other details like the matte black hardware and the smaller toggle switch.
Each iteration feels a little more solid, while still feeling very much like my bass. I love how it’s evolved over time.
Do you have a go-to pickup setting?
I spend most of the time using the bridge pickup, because it helps the bass blend better with distorted guitars. If you play distorted electric guitar, you’ll know most players stick to the bridge pickup – it just produces a different set of overtones in that position.
You do lose some low-end, but through heavy distortion it still sounds really tight, and you can always add more low-end after. So for me, it’s about giving the bass a character that sits closer to the guitars.
More recently, I’ve also been experimenting with the bridge and neck pickups wired in parallel. That gives a really nice balance as well.
How do you set the EQ?
In a live situation, I tend to leave the EQ flat, just because if it gets knocked, I don’t want to suddenly end up with loads of low-end or anything like that.
Are you using the Darkglass preamp?
An active preamp isn’t really part of the equation when I play with Sikth. The last thing I want is to rely heavily on the EQ, step onstage, and find the battery’s flat, especially given how infrequently I play live.
In the studio, I use the preamp all the time, but for live shows, the most foolproof option is to keep things in passive mode – which still sounds amazing.
What first drew you to this bass?
The Dingwall really filled a need and gave metal bassists an instrument they could rally around. For the first time, it was possible to tune low and still have a sound that remained coherent across all the different strings.
How does it feel to have solved that problem?
It was a problem Sheldon Dingwall had already solved with the Novax fanned-fret system he was using, so I don’t think I can take too much credit for it – though I may have helped popularise it. I think this model in particular has become something of an industry standard, and that’s a great feeling.
