Tosin Abasi Candidly Jams On a Liuteria GNG Guitar

Animals as Leaders exceeded all expectations as the headliner of the fourth annual South by South Death Showcase this past Friday in Austin! Positively killed it. I planted myself right in the middle of the room and soaked it all in as the band tore through tunes from both of their albums to an adoring, packed house. Definitely a highlight of SXSW… right up there with the five (!) Future Islands performances I was able to catch.

In stark contrast to the polished, orchestrated stage attack of an Animals as Leaders live show is the above video of Tosin trying out a new guitar by Liuteria GNG. It’s cool to see this side of any well-known player — alone, just jamming, trying out riffs, noodling, exploring the guitar’s different tone settings (all without distortion! no hiding here), and, best of all, giving feedback directly to the manufacturer. Those fanned frets would presumably pose a challenge to anyone not used to them, but Tosin seems to handle it just fine. Learn more about the guitar Tosin is playing right here.

[via Heavy Blog]