Brighton rock band Ditz turn out a knotty blend of hardcore, industrial and post-punk, and their two-pronged guitar attack owes a lot to how Jack Looker and Anton Mocock were introduced to the guitar. “I got Guitar Hero for Christmas one year,” Mocock says. “Obviously I was like, ‘This is so easy!’ Then I started learning guitar and it was not easy.”
Looker recalls: “I used to get those shitty guitars from Argos when I was like 3 or 4 – the little plastic ones with the really bad strings on. There’s home videos I’ve got of me trying to play Angels by Robbie Williams… it’s incredibly embarrassing!”
Over 20 years later, Mocock, Looker and the rest of Ditz (Cal Francis, Caleb Remnant and Sam Evans) have just released second studio album Never Exhale.
Written on the road over a number of tours – Looker estimates they’ve play around 80 shows a year since 2021, despite all having “proper” jobs – the record evokes the vibe of life on the road, with its charged atmosphere and stark emotional shifts.
The philosophy of “less is more” is essential to the pair’s guitar playing. Looker cites the simplicity of Joey Santiago as a major influence, while Mocock is interested in whatever strange textures he can squeeze out. Sometimes the guitars sound like synths or percussion.
“I quite enjoy trying to make my guitar not sound like a guitar,” says Mocock. “With Ditz there’s no predefined lead and rhythm – it’s sort of whoever plays what.”
Looker adds; “The thing that’s important is every part having a purpose. I think we’re quite attuned to knowing when to play and when not to play, which I think is a big thing.”
While the guitar parts on Never Exhale are often a little starker and more restricted than 2022’s The Great Regressionit only concentrates their potency. The dissonant, squealing notes on Sinister Lord and God on a Speed Dial seem wound so tight that they’re on the verge of breaking.
The pair’s subtly sympathetic playing is complemented by envy-inducing pedalboards, which include a Color Palette by Lottie Canto and an Earthquaker Devices Gary. Both players are endorsed by Collision Devices and cite their Black Hole Symmetry, TARS, and Nocturnal pedals as key to Never Exhale’s punishing sound.
“They came along to a show in France,” Mocock explains. “They said they were big fans and dropped off two Black Hole Symmetry pedals – and we just never really gave them back!”
And what about guitars? “I bought and sold my way through a lot of guitars to figure out what I wanted,” says Mocock.
“Then I settled on a Jazzmaster and stuck with it. I play a Squier Classic Vibe with upgraded electronics. My ethos is, ‘Choose any guitar you want.’ It doesn’t matter at the end of the day. I’d rather spend the money on pedals.”
I’ve got a Jaguar as well. I threw it at a festival in June last year. I need to glue it back together again
Jack Looker
Looker reports: “I go between an American Standard Tele from 2006 and an SG that a friend of mine’s dad, who got really into building guitars, made for my birthday. I’ve got a Jaguar as well. It’s is in bits at the moment – I threw it at a festival in June last year. I need to glue it back together again.”
There’s a slightly pugilistic streak in the duo’s approach to equipment: they seem to enjoy fighting their machines. “I think it’s cool to get pedals that aren’t built for us,” says Mocock, “and try to figure out how we can make them work.”
That attitude extends to a baritone guitar used on album highlight Britney that Looker says is like “playing a baseball bat,” and a Roland amp that Mocock accepts “everyone hates.”
Meanwhile, aside from lots of touring, Ditz are already thinking about their next album, and keeping their options open. “I think the third one has to be a bit different,” says Looker. “But you don’t want to lose the tension and the dynamic thing that we do.
“We don’t want to write a fucking spacey shoegaze album, because it just wouldn’t be Ditz. But then maybe that would be a cool thing as well. We’ll see.”
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings