| Russell Lissack | |
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 Russell Lissack
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Russell Dean Lissack |
| Born | 11 March 1981 |
| Origin |  Chingford, England |
| Genre(s) | Indie rock Post punk revival Electronica(Pin Me Down) |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Synthesizer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Associated acts | Bloc Party Pin Me Down |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Fender Telecaster | |
Russell Dean Lissack[1] (born 11 March 1981) is the lead guitarist of London-based indie rock band Bloc Party. He is also in the electronica band Pin Me Down; a duo of himself and Milena Mepris. Mepris once referred to Lissack as a "Meerkat" due to how he appears and darts about on and off stage. Bloc Party's singer Kele Okereke referred to him as "Silent but Deadly" during their 2007 Reading Festival performance; Russell responded by cheering.
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Biography
Lissack grew up in Chingford, London, and went to Bancroft's School in Woodford, Essex. He then studied Sociology at London South Bank University, dropping out weeks before graduation so he could tour with Bloc Party. He does not do many interviews, (and when he does, he keeps words to a minimum) and he shies away from the camera, leading many to believe that he is quite quiet. When Bloc Party became popular mid 2004, Russell was noted for his distinctive haircut, involving a triangular fringe covering a large part of his face and head. This makes him look like Radiohead's lead guitarist, Jonny Greenwood and has affectionately become known as a "blochead."
Personal life
He is also a committed vegetarian, and recently appeared in the Vegetarian Magazine to talk about his Christmas dinner, which he likes 'traditional, with a Quorn fillet to replace the meat'. He also wrote an article for the online magazine Slush Pile about the difficulty of finding vegetarian food while touring[2].
Influences
Lissack cites some of his major influences as Manic Street Preachers, Suede, Blur, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, New Order, The Smiths, Prince, Weezer, the anime series Escaflowne, and late-90s Trance music.[3]
Guitar influences include Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, Prince and Graham Coxon of Blur who are users of the Fender Telecaster.
In a recent interview, Kele from Bloc Party stated that Russell used to play guitar in an Ash tribute band. [4] Kele jokingly adds that, as Russell was playing lead guitar, he filled the role of Charlotte Hatherley.
He also recently remixed Kate Nash's single 'Pumpkin Soup'.
Musical Equipment used
Guitars
- Fender Telecaster – Lissack's main guitar; used in almost all live songs. An American blonde model with a black pickguard that features an array of stickers, including Pokémon and Disney characters. The strap is covered with countless badges, including the one that the Spanish band TvToys gave him on Bloc Party's last concert in Madrid. Also, Russell received a badge featuring the image of 60's rock 'n' roll icon Jim Morrison, given to Lissack via an encounter from an Australian fan in 2008. He claims this to be his favourite badge.
- Fender Telecaster - Blueburst, black pickguard, maple fretboard. Seen on Later with Jools Holland. First used for Signs.
- Fender Telecaster - White, white pickguard, maple fretboard, several Family Guy badges on strap.
- Fender Telecaster - White, mint green pickguard, rosewood fretboard. Probably a Fender 60's Classic Series Telecaster.
- Fender Telecaster - Bubble-gum pink, used earlier in the band's career, as seen in Little Thoughts video.
- Fender Telecaster Custom – Black, maple fretboard, 1 humbucker and 1 single coil bridge pickup, flashing LED lights on pickguard. Used on "Uniform" live, and seen in the Hunting for Witches video. Features the unusual modification of a children's toy fitted next to the guitar's pickups, which produces a series of futuristic sound effects when activated from a switch on the scratchplate. These sounds are picked up by the guitar's humbuckers and are amplified as normal.
- Epiphone SG – White, used earlier in the band's career.
- Fender Jaguar – Blue, tortoise shell pickguard, used earlier in the band's career.
- It has also been suggested that he has an affinity for multicoloured fake Stratocasters.
- He also uses producers' Gibsons in the studio, for example the Gibson Les Paul in Uniform
- Fender Telecaster - Black, White pickguard. Used when playing live with Pin Me Down
Effects pedals
Russell uses a variety of guitar effects live and in the studio, so many that it is difficult to track exactly which are used at any given point. From eye-witness accounts/interviews it has been suggested that he has used all of these following effects
- BOSS LS-2 Line Selector.
- BOSS DD-6 Delay
- BOSS DD-5 x2 (1 set to reverse)Delay.
- BOSS OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion
- BOSS PS-5 Super Shifter. x2
- BOSS PW-10 Wah
- BOSS TR-2 Tremolo.
- BOSS TU-2 Tuner.
- BOSS RV-5 Reverb.
- BOSS RE-20 Space Echo
- Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff.
- Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man.
- Ernie Ball 6165 Stereo Volume/Pan Pedal.
- Electro Harmonix POG PolyPhonic Octave Pedal.
- DigiTech XP100 Whammy
- Pigtronix Envelope Phaser
- Roland Bee Baa
Amplifiers
Keyboards
- Korg X-50 Synthesizer
References
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