By Joe Metro
Photos by Ivan Martinez, courtesy of English Budgies
Who are English Budgies? How are the English Budgies? What is an English Budgie? Some say English Budgies are Provo’s rowdiest alt rock group. Others call them Melopsittacus undulatus. These thoughts swirled through my mind as I met with Joe and Jen Vickrey of English Budgies to discuss their new signature pedal from Oneder Effects.
Jen had this to say about who English Budgies are. “I think the Budgies are definitely [Joe] and I. I think it’s trying to be, you know, our hopes and dreams, and it changes all the time.” Who knew those hopes and dreams would one day lead to a signature pedal!
Joe has been using Oneder Effects’ pedals for the past two years ever since his “best friend” Jairen Shupe introduced him to the company’s pedals. (I take exception to Joe calling Jairen his best friend to my face. Then again, Joe once asked if we were separated at birth, so who really won this fabricated contest here?) Joe helped Jairen record some songs for Jairen’s projects and became quite fond of Oneder’s pedals. The pedals have since become mainstays on Joe’s pedal board.
Jen explained this was how they ended up with the song “Magic”: “That’s the best part about getting new gear. You play with it for a week and get all the sick riffs and just see what it can do. And that spawns a lot of new material.” Old Blue Overdrive v2 pulled some serious weight in helping create the oh so sweet sound heard on their newest track.
Oneder Effects ended up launching an artist affiliate program and Jairen encouraged Joe to apply. Joe took a leap of faith and sent an email with the subject line “Hot milfs in your area want Oneder Pedals.” “The guy that does Oneder Effects does videos in our vein of humor that might turn some people off. But we kinda like his humor,” Joe said with a chuckle. This caught the right kind of attention, and soon enough, English Budgies were added to the artist program.
“I would equate any semblance of success to shooting every shot we’ve taken,” Joe said. Through the artist program, he had the great opportunity to get close with the owner, Nick Diener. Joe again shot his shot and asked Nick about getting the Old Blue Overdrive v2 in the classic English Budgies orange. Nick gave the big old thumbs up, and the project was a go!
From there, Jen and Joe went to work designing the pedal. They thought to themselves, “Well, if we are doing this in Budgies orange, then why not slap our name and logo on it?” And that’s exactly what they did. Joe spent quite a bit of time learning photoshop to make sure that their logo sat right where they wanted it on the pedal.
“I don’t think many people think of us as a DIY band, but everything we’ve done has been very DIY,” Joe explained, and being a DIY band is something the Budgies take a great amount of pride in. From designing the pedal, tie-dying their own merch shirts, and recording all of their songs, the Budgies do as much as they can in-house. I fully agree with Joe’s sentiment of people not thinking of English Budgies as a DIY band. Friends, rockers, and goofballs all come to my mind first. Simply put, their production value has skyrocketed in recent years, and they no longer feel DIY. Listening to their older tracks such as “Haunted House” versus their newest single, “Magic,” shows dynamic growth in not only how well they have produced their songs, but also the talent of the band.
Objectively speaking, the pedal is cool. Not just in terms of the signature look, but it’s a great overdrive pedal. Jen uses the Old Blue on her board. It is an “always on” pedal for “Masquerade” and “Had Enough,” and her and Joe’s favorite overdrive pedal for the bass. I had the chance to play around with it, and I can easily see myself adding this to my pedal board.
For a band that has been together for six years, has had two guitarists named Matt, and does all of their work in-house, their biggest advice to other bands out there is simple: shoot your shot. You will never know if something is a go unless you ask. Joe eventually came to this epiphany. “There’s nothing stopping you from being a professional musician. Make good music. Make it listenable. Be creative.”
English Budgies do not currently have any more plans in the pipeline for additional Budgies signature gear, but they are always open to any opportunities that may come their way, whether that be with Oneder Effects or another company.
By no means do I speak for English Budgies. However, as a Joe, I’ll say this: Feel free to reach out to Joe Vickrey to try out the pedal for yourself! If you are a fan of how it sounds, and are a fan of supporting local artists, then consider picking up Old Blue Overdrive v2 in Budgie orange! You can buy a copy for yourself as well as find all additional info here.
Be sure to follow English Budgies on Instagram and listen to their single “Magic” below!