Spotlight: Hendrik Wipprecht of A. Swayze & The Ghosts

HAILS FROM: Hobart, TAS
PLAYS IN: A. Swayze & The Ghosts
SOUNDS LIKE: Red-hot punk rock with a melodic edge
LATEST DROP: Paid Salvation (LP out now via Ivy League)

What’s your current go-to guitar?
My dad bought me a 1977 USA Mustang, and I f***in’ love it! It feeds back pretty harshly and makes the sound engineer pretty upset. I can’t get enough!

How did you initially fall in love with the instrument?
When I was four years old, my older brother borrowed a Yamaha nylon‑string classical guitar from a cousin of ours. He didn’t use it, so I picked it up and just never put it down. I still have it now and use it for a lot of writing.

Do you have any ‘white whales’?
I want Steve Albini’s Travis Bean! The next time Shellac come to Australia, I may buy a balaclava...

What would your signature model look like?
I’d probably want the body made into a 3D shape of my head with my lips as the bridge. I love Ibanez, and I wouldn’t mind a legitimate ‘Wizard’s neck’ for my signature model. Any dead wizards around?

Ellie Robinson is an Australian writer, editor and dog enthusiast with a keen ear for pop-rock and a keen tongue for actual Pop Rocks. Her bylines include music rag staples like NME, BLUNT, Mixdown and, of course, Australian Guitar (where she also serves as Editor-at-Large), but also less expected fare like TV Soap and Snowboarding Australia. Her go-to guitar is a Fender Player Tele, which, controversially, she only picked up after she'd joined the team at Australian Guitar. Before then, Ellie was a keyboardist – thankfully, the AG crew helped her see the light…