Ty Segall is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and
songwriter. He is best known for his prolific solo career, during which he
has released eight studio albums. Segall is also a member of the bands Fuzz, The
Traditional Fools, Epsilons, Party Fowl, Sic Alps and The Perverts.
During live performances, Segall is often accompanied by his backing band,
conisisting of Mikal Cronin, Charles Moothart and Emily Rose Epstein.
Recording career Segall began his recording career as a
part-time musician in various underground bands in Orange County and
the San Francisco Bay Area, before beginning a solo career in 2008.
Segall's first solo release was the cassette Horn The Unicorn released on
the Wizard Mountain label. Around the same time Wizard Mountain also released
a split cassette featuring Segall and the band Superstitions entitled
Halfnonagon. Segall's debut solo album, titled Ty
Segall was released on Castle Face Records in 2008. The album was followed
by a string of limited 7" singles and a split LP with the band Black Time. In
2009, Lemons was released by Goner Records to positive reviews. This
release was followed by another string of successful and limited 7" singles and
the LP Reverse Shark Attack an album with longtime collaborator Mikal Cronin.
The studio albums Melted and Goodbye Bread followed in 2010 and 2011
respectively. 2012 saw the release of three
full-length albums: Hair, with White Fence, released in April,
Slaughterhouse, recorded with his touring band and released June 26, as
well as one solo album, Twins, released on October 9. The album spawned two
singles: "The Hill" and "Would You Be My Love?" When questioned in regards to his
LP, Twins, Segall stated; "I want to do a total glam Stooges-meets-Hawkwind or
Sabbath, something like that. I think that would be super fun. I want to throw
people off. I want to make a really heavy record: evil, evil space rock. Put
a little Satan in space and you got the sound."
In 2013 Segall started a new outfit called Fuzz, releasing three 7" singles.
A full-length album, titled Fuzz, was recorded in May and released on October
1, 2013 on the in the Red Records label. That same year, Segall released his solo
album, Sleeper, on August 20 on the Drag City Records label, receiving positive
reviews from media outlets such as Pitchfork and Consequence of Sound. In
November/December 2013, Segall performed at the final "holiday camp" edition of
the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Camber Sands, England, UK. In 2014,
Segall released his new album called Manipulator. It is his first double LP,
as well as the first to integrate some psych music.
Musical style and equipment Segall's music often combines elements
of different genres, such as garage rock, punk rock, psychedelic rock, noise
rock, glam rock, as well as heavy metal and classic rock. Segall has stated in
interviews that his favorite band of all time is Hawkwind. A big influence on Ty
Segall's early career is glam rock acts such as David Bowie and Marc Bolan as
well as heavy rock and punk bands such as Black Sabbath, Kiss, The Stooges, and
Black Flag. However, over time Segall's output has gotten mellower on albums
such as Goodbye Bread and Sleeper, taking cues from the Neil Young, The
Byrds, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, The Beatles, and
early T. Rex and Grateful Dead. A big source of his inspiration also comes
from the San Francisco garage and indie rock scenes, from which he has named
bands such as Thee Oh Sees, Sic Alps, and White Fence as inspirations.
Segall has mainly used Fender Guitars going into Fender Amps. Guitars he has
used prominently include a sunburst classic player Fender Jaguar and an
original Sonic Blue Fender Mustang that has aged and changed color over time.
Early on in his solo career, Segall played a white Fender Stratocaster which
was given to him by his grandmother as a present. He has been seen playing
through silverface Twin Reverbs, Quad Reverbs, Super Reverbs, And Super Six
Reverbs. His main and sometimes only pedal is a Death By Audio Fuzz War
pedal. Death By Audio actually manufactured a signature reverb pedal
inspired by him, the Death by Audio Sunshine Reverberation Pedal, in 2013.
Only 100 were manufactured. In 2014, he began playing a sunburst Gibson Les Paul
on his tour supporting his new record "Manipulator". His Main Amplifier is a
70's Fender Quad Reverb, and sometimes uses musicman HD amplifiers. He also
uses a Gibson EB 3. Discography
= As a solo artist = Studio albums
Other albums Horn the Unicorn – Cassette
Halfnonagon – Cassette Swag / Sitting in the Back of a Morris
Marina Parked at the Pier Eating Sandwiches Whilst The Rain Drums on the
Roof – LP Horn the Unicorn – LP
Ty Segall & Lemons – Cassette $ingles – Cassette
San Francisco Rock Compilation or Food or Weird Beer From Microsoft – Limited
Release, only 350 copies made – Cassette/LP
Live in Aisle Five – LP Singles 2007–2010 – Double LP/CD
Slaughterhouse – CD/LP Gemini – LP
$INGLE$ 2 – LP, CD, cassette, MP3/FLAC digital download
Live in San Francisco – LP, CD, MP3 Singles and EPs
Skin – 7" It – 7"
Cents – 7" Universal Momma – 7"
My Sunshine – 7" The Drag / Maria Stacks – 7"
Caesar – 7" 4 Way Split – 7"
GonerFest Seven Golden Ticket Record – 7"
Diamond Way / My Head Explodes – 7" Bruise Cruise Vol. 1 – 7"
Ty Rex EP – 12" I Can't Feel It – 7"
Spiders – 7" Tour Split – 7"
The Hill – 7" Would You Be My Love? – 7"
Ty Rex II EP – 7" Music From a Film 1 – 7"
Feel – 7" Motörhead / Paranoid – 7" - as Ty Segall
Band Mr. Face EP – 7"
Compilation appearances Yeti Eight& 16 – I Think I've Had It) –
CD Our Boy Roy – LP
In a Cloud: New Sounds of San Francisco – LP
Stuffs Vol. 1 – LP Live At The Empty Bottle) – LP
Live at Death By Audio 2012) – 7" Flexi Book
Official music videos Cents
Pretty Baby Girlfriend
Goodbye Bread Where Your Head Goes
My Head Explodes The Hill
Thank God for Sinners Fuzz's Fourth Dream
The Man Man Manipulator
The Singer = Collaborations =
With Mikal Cronin Pop Song – 7"
Reverse Shark Attack – Cassette/LP Group Flex 6 x Flexi Disc/Book
With White Fence Hair – CD/LP
= As part of other bands = Epsilons
Evil Robots – CD/EP Epsilons / Hips – 7"
Epsilons – CD/LP Killed 'Em Deader 'N A Six Card Poker
Hand – CD/LP Party Fowl
Scum Fuck Revolt: A GG Allin Tribute compilation – CD
Washed Shores compilation – Cassette Party Fowl – 7"
STD's – 7" The Traditional Fools
The Primate Five vs The Traditional Fools – 7"
The Traditional Fools – 7" The Traditional Fools – LP
The Perverts The Perverts – 7"
Sic Alps "Breadhead" – 7"
Fuzz This Time I Got A Reason/Fuzz's Fourth
Dream – 7" Sleigh Ride/You Won't See Me – 7"
Live in San Francisco EP – 12" Records)
Fuzz – LP Sunderberry Dream/21st Century Schizoid
Man – 7" Till the End of the Day – 7"
II – LP References
External links Official Website
Ty Segall at the Free Music Archive