Hey Todd! Cheers for taking the time to chat to us in these locked down times, would you be so kind to introduce yourself to the reader?
Todd: I’m Todd Winger, the guitarist in the UK rock outfit, Collateral. When we’re not out touring I work in a little bicycle shop in Maidstone during the day to keep my wife & daughter fed and watered. I started playing guitar at around 10 years old because my older brother was my childhood idol, and seeing what he could do with a 6 string was incredible! He taught me for a while until I began learning songs by ear which has served me well so far. I’ve never been one for reading music!
How did Collateral come together?
Todd: Angelo & Jack have been in bands for a long, long time, I joined just over 2 years ago when a good friend of mine told me Angelo was looking for a guitarist. I’d never met him, but only heard good things about his talents! I sent a couple videos over & it spiralled from there. About 5 months later we needed a drummer and my long time friend Ben Atkinson being the best drummer I know, joined the crew.
You released your self-titled debut album in February and congratulations is in order, so congrats! What can you tell us about it?
Todd: Firstly, thank you to everyone who has purchased it, streamed it, voted for it and plugged it all over the world. To reach the top 5 in the UK rock chart is amazing for us! We live an hour apart so we tend to send each other ideas, riffs and demos.. we then change a couple of things, put our own spin on it and send it back.. We usually then track the guitars on a computer clean and ‘re amp in the studio. I’ll run the solos in pretty much last thing when I’ve got a solid feel for the song. We recorded the album with Sean Kenney at Ten21 Studios in Maidstone. He’s a great guy to work with and puts a great mix together! For the album the Orange Rockerverb MKiii 50w was used on every song and on all solos!!
Hell yeah! Can you tell us a bit about your relationship and experiences with Orange?
Todd: The first time Orange really jumped out at me was seeing Blackberry smoke at Download 2015.. They are one of my all time favourite bands & for such a dark festival.. seeing an entire backline of Orange was awesome!! A year or so later, at a Cadillac Three gig, I met a lovely lady by the name of Karla-Ann who it turns out, is the Queen of covering the Orange amps & cabs at the factory! She told me about how amazing the company are to work for. Personally, having experienced both sides of the coin work wise that goes a long long way in my book! My relationship with Orange so far, has been nothing less than amazing!! Rapid responses to my ridiculous questions and so, so much kindness!! You’ll have to beat me away from Orange Amplifiers with a seriously big stick!!
What do you look for in an amp?
Todd: I like an amp that you don’t have to put a ton of pedals in front of to make it sound good. In my search for an amp head, I trudged to a well known guitar shop with ample choice.. I played a plethora of different brands and models and regardless of my soft spot for Orange.. the Rockerverb MKIII simply blew every other brand out of the water! I wanted the ability to pull some utterly filthy distortion out of it and in turn, dial it back to a nice southern crunch. I rarely use a clean tone, but the Rockerverb has tons of chimey clean through smooth funky tones in the bag, no problem!
What’s your current set up?
Todd: I use the Rockerverb 50 MKIII head, PPC412 cabinet loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s. The one and only effect I use is a Zoom …. Chorus Pedal to widen the sound a little, mainly for rhythm purposes. That puppy sits at the back and stays on always. At my feet sits a korg pitch black tuner and under my fingers.. Jackson guitars with either Tonerider (Awesome pickups from down here in Kent) or Seymour Duncan pickups.