Hinds’ Ana Perrote once underwent clinical trials to fund a Fender guitar amp

We hear you: when you’ve just got to get your hands on some essential new gear, you won’t let anything stand in your way. But Ana Perrote – guitarist for Spanish indie-rockers Hinds – took her dedication to tone to another level, revealing that she once subjected herself to medical testing to be able to afford a Fender guitar amp.

In an interview with the always-excellent She Shreds, Perrote details how she ended up going the extra mile for a perennial tube combo favorite.

“The first ever Fender Hot Rod [Deluxe] I bought, when Hinds was transitioning from acoustic to electric – obviously these amps are very expensive – I was a student so I didn’t have an actual job, so I did this thing of testing medicines… you know, test trials before they can be put out and sold,” she explained.

“I’m absolutely panicked about hospitals, needles, even pharmacies… I have an irrational fear about it, so this was a very big deal to me, but I heard it was very well paid. So I did it, went to the hospital, stayed the night, had a tube of constant blood coming out, horrible…

“But everything went well, and that’s how I bought the first amp. That one broke from touring and stuff, but I got the same one again. Very classic, very easy. I keep everything to 7 except volume.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Perrote details her pedalboard and newfound love of Fender’s American Performer Jazzmaster.

“I feel like I finally found the guitar for me,” she says. “I have many skills, but picking gear and sound is not one of them. It takes me so long to realize if I like the sound or not, and with this guitar finally I feel like I found the one. It sounds strong and heavy.”

Hinds released their most recent album, The Prettiest Curse, in June 2020.