“It should be – and usually is – pedal-first for us, because pedals can affect your playing so much”: Shoegaze heroes DIIV on how stompboxes formed the building blocks of their new album

(L-R) Colin Caulfield, Andrew Bailey, Ben Newman and Zachary Cole Smith of American rock band Diiv perform during the Ypsigrock Festival at Castle of Castelbuono on August 7, 2022 in Castelbuono, Italy.

New York-based band DIIV have been hailed as modern shoegaze luminaries, especially since the reverb-and-delay-drenched subgenre made a massive mainstream comeback last year.

Perhaps it’s not surprising then that in the new issue of Total Guitar, guitarists Zachary Cole and Andrew Bailey describe their approach to writing as “pedal-first”.

Speaking to the publication ahead of the release of their forthcoming record, Frog in Boiling Water (due May 24), the duo discuss their tone-orientated writing technique.