Animals As Leaders are known for playing intense, intricate, and inventive music. Their songs are like dense forests of sound, with arpeggios and polyrhythms spreading out like a massive root system.
At the center of it all is Tosin Abasi with his extended range, 8-string guitar. He shreds through the higher strings, weaving in a flamenco flair with a controlled sense of how each finger on his right hand creates sound.
On the lower strings, he borrows a double-thump technique from Victor Wooten, offering bass rhythms to complement bandmates Matt Garstka and Javier Reyes.
In the video above, Tosin gives an overview of how he uses these tools to develop counterpoint and melody. In the video below, he gives us a rundown his signature Fishman Fluence series of humbuckers, which offer a crystalline level of detail with multiple coil-tapping settings. The Fluence pickups come in 6-, 7-, and 8-string varieties.