David Kurtz of glam-synth band the Candy Whips told us about his love for his vintage American Tourister suitcases.
David Kurtz: I Can't Do Without my vintage American Tourister suitcases. I play two synths in Candy Whips: a Korg Minilogue XD and a Korg Opsix. As a libra, I like having a balance of subtractive synthesis and FM synthesis, their strengths and their peculiarities in one rig. I like having two keyboards, one for each hand. But I do not like having lots of things to carry. Up until Candy Whips I had mostly slung four- and six-string analog tone generators. Now I find myself faced with a panoply of cables and stands, mixers and sound machines. There is no one standard synth configuration, and gear multiplies. The suitcases help keep things organized.
In particular, I use a 24"x18" suitcase from the 1970s, reinforced with padding and MDF, which holds both of my compact synths safely, snugly, and separated. It has a combination lock and two hefty latches. As with much of my gear, I bought it at a garage sale for small dollars. I carry a second, smaller 'Tourister to carry cables, a Radial Key Largo mixer, and a vintage General Electric 2x3 surge protector -- which ably allows those synth and mixer wall warts to exist side by side and still leave room for an oscillating fan or coffee maker.
Like guitars and synths and amplifiers, I have a growing collection of old suitcases. I like the way they look and I like the way they sound.
Candy Whips has a record release show on Oct 31 at Kilowatt in San Francisco on October 31, and our first full-length 12" offering will be widely available in early November. I would not be able to bring anything to the gig were it not for these amazing suitcases.
The Candy Whips' single "TV Set" is out now. The album Artificial Melodies is due out this fall via Kitten Robot Records.
(Photo Credit: WILLIAMSON CREATIVE)
