Whatever works for Jennifer Batten
While she’s been the guitarist for the King of Pop on two world tours and she’s toured with incomparable guitar wizard Jeff Beck, Jennifer Batten has spent a lot of time recently devoted to her solo multimedia shows and supporting her latest CD entitled ‘Whatever’. A master shredder in her own right, you might best know Batten for her blazing, finger-blurring rendition of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. WTDP? caught up with Jennifer on the road in Texas and talked with her about her current guitar rig, the new CD and what she’s currently spinning on her iPod.
WTDP?: Can you walk us through your current rig - pedalboard details, amps, guitars etc… Are there any personal favorites in your set up right now? Anything new? Tell us about that Washburn we always see you with.
JB: The Washburn guitar is called a JB 100 (my model) but is no longer available. I’ve been using it over 10 years and love it. It’s a swamp ash body and rosewood fingerboard with a Roland synth pick up in it and the original Floyd Rose trem. I have Seymour Duncan’s Duckbucker pick ups in the middle and neck and a JB Jr. pickup in the bridge. I needed to trigger synth sounds in the Jeff Beck band, so it was kind of a trial by fire to learn to program sounds and use the guitar synth to emulate his last 30 years of recording with keyboard players.
I’m currently running my guitar though a Digitech GNX 3000 which goes to a Boogie Strategy 300 power amp and then into two Avalon direct boxes and into the mixing board. I’ve just started eliminating speakers and mics. For my current road tour, I then send the mix through two Bose L1 PA towers and 4 subs. I also am now playing acoustic with a Parker Fly acoustic guitar through a Digitech Jamman and into the Midas Venus mixing board. The entire mix goes through a Peavey Kosmos rack unit which adds some thump and clarity before hitting the Bose.
WTDP?: I know you get asked about playing with Michael Jackson and Jeff Beck a lot, but I wanted to ask about the smaller gigs you’ve been doing lately. Can you compare the multimedia concerts to playing with these music legends in big arenas and halls? It would seem the smaller setting could be more nerve-racking.
JB: I’m totally enjoying doing the multimedia shows. I get to play all my own music. I enjoy playing the melodies instead of just comping chords. It’s more satisfying and I feel a much deeper connection with the audience this way. I’m also free to solo on every track. The film adds a visual aspect to constantly give people some kind of stimulation that enhances the music, which also takes a little pressure off of me so I can relax more. It’s not interesting enough to watch a guitar player for 90 minutes, so the film takes care of that problem and also opens up the show to be interesting to more than just guitar players.
WTDP?: What went into the writing process on Whatever? Did you approach it the same as past recordings?
JB: This was a totally different approach. Most of the tracks were written for Jeff Beck when I was in his band. He turned me onto electronica and bands like the Prodigy. I now listen to that sort of thing all the time. He also got me interested in Pro Tools and computer recording which opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Also since I was the only harmonic componenet in his band, I got into using guitar synth. That now allows me to trigger any sound a keyboardist has access to. So my sonic pallette has expanded 1,000-fold.
I really got into modern drum loops and the possibilities of manipulating those. No two tracks have the same sounds. This is the first CD I’ve done almost completely alone. The downside is that it took years to complete.
WTDP?: We see you have a signature string dampener now. How did that come about?
JB: I’ve been using string dampers since the early 80’s but they’ve never been in retail stores and I never had a consistent source I could buy them from over the years. So I decided to manufacture them myself and now have distribution through All Parts worldwide.
WTDP?: Are you listening to any new music lately? What are the fresh adds to your iPod (or CD collection)?
JB: Preston Reed is a favorite - a total bad-ass acoustic tapper. Also Tal Wilkenfeld’s CD. She’s an amazing young talent and is now playing bass in Jeff Beck’s band with Vinnie Calliauta.
Thanks Jennifer!
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