J. Leslie Hedberg

A longtime resident of Atlanta, J. spent many years as a member of trashy, punk rock inspired bands such as Rotten Gimmick and Luchagors. Hedberg has also worked as a drummer in numerous projects. 

Working with Curry’s early sketches for Flood Twin gave him, at long last, the perfect outlet for his primary and early influences such as Will Sergeant, Rowland S. Howard, Andy Gill, Geordie Walker and John McGeoch. 

Hedberg is seen here as a master of negative space, intuitively knowing where to step out of the way, making for intense drama at his next entrance. Never overplaying and always delivering intrigue and blistering excitement, it often sounds as if he’s finding inspired passages in the moment and simply letting his mark spill out. 

Upon first hearing Flood Twin demos, Sterling asked and declared “Who’s the guitarist? He’s fucking brimstone.” Indeed, an apt description of J.’s work with his dark approach of minimal-meets-melodic-meets feedback. His sonic approach is curated with scant effects, preferring the immediate sound of a Stratocaster pushing a Twin Reverb just to the boundary of no control. Try “People” for a lesson on delivering a highly listenable song with only feedback and two chords. Try “Heaven” for hypnotic and beautiful arpeggios.