For this week's edition of the Hi-Fives we caught up with the man behind Wren and Cuff; Matthew Holl. Give it a read to catch his take on our series of random top five questions.
Top five things about running a company
- It’s nice to be the boss for once
- It’s incredibly stressful, but fulfilling
- It allows me to be creative doing something I love
- Great to see something that you’ve created make someone happy.
- It doesn’t suck
Top five all-time favorite circuits
(I’m assuming you mean other than Wren and Cuff pedals)
- Big Muffs (my favorites are pretty obvious)
- Boss DS-1 from the late 70’s/early 80’s (silver screw’s)
- Boss DD-2 (first digital delay Boss ever made)
- MIJ Arion SCH-1 (in the gray plastic box) from the 80’s
- Fuzz Face with some mods. I want to say the OG Fuzz Face, but for me, I gotta give it some tweaks to really make it sing.
Top five people named Matthew
I’m the only Matthew I know anything about.
Top five currently deceased guitar players
I don’t have 5 favorite deceased players. Not just saying that to sound cool, and I love many of the grandfathers of rock guitar, its just that so many of “The Greats” have been piped in to my head for 40 years, that I kind of have no perspective on them anymore. I’ll give you my top 5 players alive or dead though.
- Mark Shippy
- Todd Rittman
- Roy Buchanan
- J Mascis
- Yard Birds era Jeff Beck
Top five pedals that should never have been made
I can find something good in pretty much any pedal. There are a couple honest answers I could give, but it’d probably cause me some grief on a business level if I started naming them.
Top five jobs if you weren’t building pedals and amps
- Not afraid to say… Rock Star
- Actor (although I never have acted in my life)
- Something involving fishing
- Professional songwriter
- Being successful at a couple upstart web companies I would love to try, but don’t have the time and capital to start.
Top five songs you love but wouldn’t play when anyone is around
Honestly there aren’t any. Now that I’m older and have kids, I could care less about what people hear me listen to. The other day I drove around with my daughter blasting Katy Perry and singing along to “Roar” at the top of our lungs. I got nothing to hide.
Top five things to spend five bucks on
I wish I was interesting enough for someone to actually care about this, but here goes:
- A burrito from Senor Pancho’s in San Diego
- A box of black Ticonderoga pencils
- 2 min on the Psychic Friends network, if it still existed
- A dry cappuccino from Starbucks
- A few red Dunlop Eric Johnson picks
Top five things that confuse you
- Music
- The effect of age on electronic components
- My friend Sayer
- Jiu-jitsu
- My dog Greta
Top five meals when you’re home alone
Whatever five things in the house require the least effort to make.
