When TheCrowHillCo Meets Chase Bliss: A Pedal Revolution

Beyond the Surface: Superbooth Unveiled

TheCrowHillCo kicks things off with an intriguing introduction to Chase Bliss, a boutique pedal company. The ambience at Superbooth 2025 is palpable, and we’re all ears as Zach, a representative from Chase Bliss, begins to unveil the magic behind their pedals. Having been around for about 12 years, Chase Bliss is no stranger to creating spectacular audio experiences. This time, they’re shining a light on their latest creation, the Clean pedal, described as a guitarist’s dream with stereo capabilities. As Zach walks us through the intricacies of these pedals, TheCrowHillCo sets the scene for what promises to be a thrilling music tech journey.

The Art of Audio Degradation

In what feels like a sonic rollercoaster, we dive headfirst into the world of audio degradation with the Goodhertz Lossy pedal. This isn’t your ordinary lo-fi treasure; it uses MP3 degradation to hurl your sound straight into a digital abyss, and believe me, it’s an exhilarating drop. With knobs like ‘Speed’ and ‘Loss,’ you can fine-tune how mangled your signal becomes. Turn them up, and the sounds get as erratic as a DJ’s worst nightmare. The Lossy pedal also boasts a bandpass filter that can reshape your sound into something unrecognizable, almost making you forget it started as a voice. When you toggle the mode from standard to inverse, it does a complete 180, giving back the highs and lows it previously stripped away, a bit like finding clarity in chaos. The pièce de résistance, however, is the phase jitter mode, which blurs the edges of your input, adding a reverb that defies logic. This pedal, like a gritty Shepard’s Pie, mixes everything together into something beautifully chaotic.

"It's an mp3 degradation pedal. It's a lo-fi pedal, kind of in a similar vein to Generation Loss."

© Screenshot/Quote: Thecrowhillco (YouTube)

Frozen Moments: The Spectral Freeze

Next up is the enchanting discussion of the Spectral Freeze, a concept that turns your audio into a cabinet of frozen curiosities. Chase Bliss has mastered the art of suspending time with this innovation. Imagine freezing a sound in place, and then bombarding it with a blend of audio effects until it feels like a sonic time capsule. Zach demonstrates how the freeze function works in tandem with packet controls, creating auditory fragments that overlap and repeat. There’s an almost painterly quality to the way these sounds layer and unfold over time, evoking a unique musical storytelling method. It’s like listening to a cassette tape stuck in perpetual loop, yet with the sharpness and vitality of a live performance.

Generation Loss: An Ode to Analog Anachronism

"We've made it so that you can overdub or latch either channel."

© Screenshot/Quote: Thecrowhillco (YouTube)

TheCrowHillCo and Zach steer us into the backstreets of audio obsolescence with the Generation Loss pedal. This isn’t merely a product; it’s a heartfelt homage to the peculiarities of analog tape. Collaborating with Cooper Effects, Chase Bliss has crafted a device that captures tape’s quirks—from the slow wobbles of wow and flutter to the abrupt dropouts that make purists wince. This pedal is an exploration of nostalgia, meticulously reproducing not just sounds but experiences. It’s akin to the acoustic equivalent of finding beauty in a flea market’s dusty relics. Zach shares insights into how they’ve modelled various tape effects, simulating everything from VHS to reel-to-reel. The result is akin to a time machine for audio, where every setting transforms sound into a memory, fragmented and poignant, akin to dodgy kebabs after a long night out.

The Dual Personality of Mood

Continuing their sonic explorations, TheCrowHillCo delves into the Mood pedal’s complex dynamics. It’s a split-brain affair – one part is a time-stretcher, the other an experimental playground. The Mood pedal’s split-channel design allows for a frenzy of audio manipulations, courtesy of its micro looper capabilities. As you traverse its functionality, you can latch onto loops or engage in glitch madness. Each side can be pushed to extremes, whether it’s capturing seamless reverb tails or engaging envelope-triggered glitches, it begs you to bend rules and break boundaries. It’s where precision meets delirium, and where faint echoes turn into a bold cacophony — the aural equivalent to an artist freestyling on a blank canvas.

Clean: The Not-So-Clean Compressor

Zach then brings us into the ‘Clean’ pedal world—a name that’s as ironic as calling a pub brawl civilised. Despite its title, this compressor is packed to the rafters with character and creative potential. It challenges convention, inviting musicians to rethink every assumption about audio dynamics. TheClean pedal triumphs in its ability to introduce harmonic saturation and quirky electrical artefacts, all while maintaining a semblance of control. What Chase Bliss have gleefully dubbed ‘creative compression’, feels like having a chaotic orchestra of harmonics at your fingertips. There’s no telling what will come out next, but you know it’ll have gusto. As Zach cheerfully demonstrates, this pedal channels the rebellious spirit of DIY tinkering, embracing imperfections like a badge of honour.

"It's a stereo compressor, two stages."

© Screenshot/Quote: Thecrowhillco (YouTube)

The Future Beckons: Chasing New Innovations

The journey rounds off with TheCrowHillCo and Zach teasing the brand’s future ambitions. With an air of mystery hanging thick, hints of new endeavours pique our interest. Although details remain under wraps, it’s clear Chase Bliss’s spirit of audacious creativity isn’t fading anytime soon. All eyes are on upcoming releases—secrets whispered like rumours at a punk gig, with promises of groundbreaking twists and turns. Meanwhile, the successful launch of the Brothers pedal is acknowledged—a fitting testament to their continued push for innovation. It’s not just about keeping up with the times; it’s about setting sail towards uncharted sonic territories. And frankly, we can’t wait to hear what Chase Bliss will conjure up next. Until then, we’re left marvelling at a showcase that was anything but ordinary.