Of Mice & Men Interview – FOH Engineer Leonardo Solis and Justin Trotta about the PDI09

This video shows a short interview of Leonardo Solis and Justin Trotta, respectively Front Of House Engineer and Guitar Tech of the band “Of Mice & Men”. Palmer met the guys in Cologne, Germany on the occasion of their Europe Tour 2012. This band is powerful! We had a great time with them and we recommend anyone to go get a big slap in the face by seeing them live! They sound simply awesome.

Baptiste: Guten Tag, dear friends, and welcome to Palmer, Germany videos. I’m Baptiste, your host tonight, and we’re at the Underground in Cologne. This is a club for concerts. Cologne is very well known for its carnival,. It’s the carnival capital of Germany. But tonight we’re not here to see anybody get drunk wearing a costume. Tonight we’re here to meet the front-of-house engineer and the guitar tech of the band Of Mice & Men, and to ask them why they were in need of Palmer DIs. Let’s go!

Baptiste: So here I am with Leonardo Solis aka Spaceman who is the FOH engineer of Of Mice & Men, and Mr. Justin Trotta. How’re you doing, guys?

Justin: Yeah, doing really well, thank you.

Baptiste: So you’re here in Cologne today on the European tour of Of Mice & Men.
Justin: Yeah, that’s right.
Baptiste: How’s it been going?

Leonardo: Yeah, it’s been good, it’s been different. It’s my first time in Europe, and it’s just been…
Justin: It’s been fun!
Leonardo: …it’s been hard, you know, new systems… but yeah, it’s been good!

Baptiste: The band plays metalcore, right?

Leonardo: Yeah, I’d say metalcore. Hard rock…
Justin: Hard rock, metal, rock ‘n’ roll…
Leonardo: It just blends. Everybody says something different, I say R&B!

Baptiste: How would you describe the guitar sound of Of Mice & Men?
Leonardo: It’s heavy, it’s a heavy sound. I mean, it’s really crunchy. They play a lot of open notes, so…
Justin: Yeah, it’s heavy! A seven-string guitar for a song…

Leonardo: Yeah, we have a seven-string guitar, and I wasn’t really able to find the tone that I wanted ’cause it’s so low. You know, that seventh string is just rocking, and then we put the Palmer on, and it was like…
Justin: Cleans it up, brings the sound forward, makes it sound like it should!

Leonardo: Yeah, I heard a different sound I hadn’t heard in a seven-string guitar. I’d heard of Palmer before but not on the road doing the shows, and when I heard it through a real P.A. system it was just… it just opened up. And the guys love it in their monitor wedges, too, ’cause it’s such a direct signal that they can literally hear every attack. So it’s really astonishing how well the DI responds to low tuning, high pickup gain and seven strings.

Baptiste: Do you know how many bands are using the Palmer actually?
Leonardo: A lot. We were all on Palmer. Pretty much the last tour everybody was on a Palmer, you see, which is really easy. You know, a lot of sound guys are like, uh, where’s the mic? And we’re just like, well, we have a mic as well with the Palmer in, it’s just the DI on top so it goes straight in. We’re super grateful that you guys even come out and do this, it’s really cool!
Justin: Yeah!

Baptiste: Very happy to meet the guys who use our products. Nice!
Leonardo: Yeah, for sure!

Baptiste: Can you tell us a little bit about the plans of the band for 2013?

Leonardo: As far as we know…
Justin: The U.S. headlining in January. I think the band announced for Soundwave festival in Australia… yeah, those are the two things for sure, as a U.S. headliner, and the we go to Australia for the Soundwave festival.
Leonardo: More touring!

Justin: More touring, constantly. The band plans to write an album next year, a new album.

Baptiste: The third one?
Justin: Yeah, third album. That’s what we’re aware of.
Baptiste: Cool!

Baptiste: Well, thanks a lot for your time. Thanks for using our gear, thanks for spreading the word!
Justin: Magnificent gear!
Leonardo: I want a shirt!

Baptiste: You’ll get a shirt! I will get you a shirt, no problem. They’re sold out now, so…

Leonardo: I want a custom shirt that says “Spaceman”!

Baptiste: Spaceman? If it’s like, you know, with a marker, is that it? Okay! Well, thanks a lot Leo, thanks a lot Justin for your time, see you next time!

Baptiste: Alright guys, this was Palmer, Germany. We’ve seen Of Mice & Men. I hope you’ve enjoyed this video, see you next time!

Thanks a lot from Palmer to Johnnie, Jared, Leo “Spaceman”, Justin, Oliver and Ben for making this happen!

For more info about Palmer visit our website:
http://www.palmer-germany.com/mi/en.htm

More info about the PDI09:
http://www.palmer-germany.com/mi/en/PDI-09-Passive-DI-Box-for-Guitars-PDI09.htm

Source: Interview by Baptiste Languille, December 2012