“People will write about how certain songs don’t have guitar in them, and I chuckle because it’s all guitar! It thrusts its hips the way nothing else can”: How Torres uses her Telecaster as a divining rod for strut and glitter
Torres isn’t interested in vintage gear – her pedalboard is kitted out to make her Fender sound like a synthesizer on her dance-guitar bops
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Over five albums, Torres has found success by merging rock, folk, and more recently synth-pop, to acclaim and success. Born Mackenzie Ruth Scott in Orlando, Florida, before relocating to Macon, Georgia, at the age of three, her latest record, 2024’s What an Enormous Room, might be her most meaningful yet.
It certainly features some of her best guitar-driven compositions – a suggestion to which she agrees. “This record was made with love,” she beams. “And lots of guitars! I played guitar on every song, but half the time they sound like synthesizers. It’s kind of a dance album.”
It’s no surprise that Torres – who thrives by imploring listeners to expect the unexpected – would move to make her guitar sound decidedly un-guitar-like. Dating back to 2023’s Torres and right on through to 2020’s Thirstier, each of her albums has been a rollercoaster of expression meets experimentation, and What an Enormous Room is no different.
That level of genre-hopping might leave some artists wanting to go back and change the things they’ve done, but that’s not the case here. “I wouldn’t change any of my past records,” Torres says. “I think they’re time capsules.
“Of course, there are aesthetic preferences and production choices that I would execute differently now if I were making those records now, but then they wouldn’t be what they are.”
Asked what brought them to her current point, she responds: “It’s hard to say. I think the new album is a little less declarative. It asks more questions than it gives answers or sweeping gestures. But progression is never linear anyway.”
TORRES - Wake to flowers (Official Music Video) - YouTube
Where did you find inspiration while writing and recording What an Enormous Room?
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“From my life. I overthink everything, so writing songs helps me process my feelings. Inspiration for the guitar work is just the melodies and countermelodies bouncing around in my head! Sometimes, the only instrument that can achieve what I’m going for is a guitar. It thrusts its hips the way nothing else can.”
What was your vision sound-wise?
“My vision was what I call ‘sparkly.’ I picked textures and melodies that would make the songs strut and glitter. I knew I wanted the album to be more rhythmic and danceable than prior albums.”
And what gear did you lean on most to achieve it?
“I used a lot of EarthQuaker Devices including the Plumes overdrive, Eruptor fuzz, and my new favorite, the Astral Destiny reverb. I also used a Death By Audio Echo Dream delay, an EHX Polyphonic Octave Generator and an EHX Intelligent Harmony Machine.
“I also used an Empress Effects Echo System multi-mode delay and some basic overdrives by Joyo. I used a few amps, including my own Fender Deluxe Reverb and some others Ryan McFadden, our engineer, had in his studio. For guitar, I only used my Fender Tele Thinline.”
“I don’t want a lot of maintenance – it’s not very practical. I love using beautiful and vintage things in a recording studio, but I don’t want to tour with it. I push everything through distortion and synthesizer pedals anyway, so for me, gear is a means to an end, and I’m not really ever going for that pure vintage purr.”
What does your process look like as far as writing and tracking guitars?
“I do a lot of demoing, so I write and record guitar parts at home. My process there is generally the same as my process in the recording studio – I just like to play along to a song, whatever stage it’s in, until I find something on the guitar that feels right. And then I just play it until I feel like I got the best take, save it, and then do 10 more just like it.”
My Meris Enzo is a brilliant pedal, but I found it difficult to tame when I first got it
Would you say guitars are more integral to your music than meets the ear?
“Oh, yeah. People will write about how certain songs don’t have guitar in them, and I chuckle because it’s all guitar!”
What songs from the new album are you most proud of from a guitar perspective?
“There’s a rippin’ solo at the end of Artificial Limits that’s way more straightforward and sort of right-of-center than any of my past guitar work, so that was fun to put in there. I really like the hook in Forever Home, too. It might be the catchiest guitar lead on the album.”
What will your touring rig look like, and how does it differ from your studio rig?
“I’m going to try to lighten my load for the tour. I say that now! We’ll see what happens when I leave next week. Right now, I’m doing a lot of dancing – I got a custom ’board with a built-in bypass looper, so I can do slightly less of the pedal changing and clicking while I’m performing, but I’m going to try to take some things off the ’board and simplify for the shows if I can.
“I’ll have my old trusty Fender Deluxe Reverb unless I can get my hands on one of those new Fender Tone Masters for the road. They weigh a lot less, and my back doesn’t love me carrying amps in and out of the venue every night.
“I’ll bring two Teles, my Thinline and a parts Tele with humbuckers I’ve been playing for years. I’ll also have a Fender Jazzmaster with me.”
Have you had any new gear discoveries this year? Is there anything you’re still searching for?
“I didn’t get anything new this year, but I’m always discovering new things about the gear I already have and just dialing everything in. I feel like I finally figured out my Meris Enzo, which is a brilliant pedal, but I found it difficult to tame when I first got it.”
What’s next for you?
“Resilience and not taking no for an answer. If someone tells you there’s no path forward – someone did tell me that once – then you just make one. How does one progress? You just don’t sit still, I guess. Keep movin.’ What’s next? Colossal success.”
Andrew Daly is an iced-coffee-addicted, oddball Telecaster-playing, alfredo pasta-loving journalist from Long Island, NY, who, in addition to being a contributing writer for Guitar World, scribes for Rock Candy, Bass Player, Total Guitar, and Classic Rock History. Andrew has interviewed favorites like Ace Frehley, Johnny Marr, Vito Bratta, Bruce Kulick, Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Rich Robinson, and Paul Stanley, while his all-time favorite (rhythm player), Keith Richards, continues to elude him.
