Dustin Wong is an American guitarist formerly active in the art-rock band

Ponytail A ponytail is a hairstyle in which some, most or all of the hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered and secured at the back of the head with a hair tie, clip, or other similar accessory and allowed to hang freely from that poin ...

and a former member of the experimental guitar duo, Ecstatic Sunshine (along with Matthew Papich).

Biography

Wong's style is characterized by influences of surf rock and John Fahey. Wong was born in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and grew up in Japan, though he is half Chinese. Together with Matt Papich he formed the duo Ecstatic Sunshine and released two albums. Wong left Ecstatic Sunshine in 2007 to fully focus on Ponytail and solo projects. Wong's first solo record in 2009 on

Wildfire Wildfire Wildfire Wildfire Records is an American independent record label based in Baltimore, Maryland. History The Wildfire Wildfire project was founded in 2005 by Devon Deimler, Matthew Papich, and Michael Petruzzo while students at the Maryland Inst ...

was entitled ''Seasons''. Wong published a second solo-album ''Infinite Love'' in October 2010. A 40-minute piece cut into 15 tracks and then re-done on a 2nd CD. This instrumental release appeared on

Thrill Jockey Thrill Jockey is an American independent record label established by former Atlantic Records A&R representative Bettina Richards and based in Chicago. History Richards started the label in 1992 with $35,000 of family and personal capital, while ...

. After releasing the record he went on tour in Europe. Although Dustin Wong had announced that Whartscape 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland would be the last Ponytail show, a new album was announced. The band released their third full-length album, titled ''Do Whatever You Want All The Time'', in April 2011. However Ponytail broke up on September 22. 2011. Wong moved to New York and continued as a solo artist and published his third record in February 2012. Dustin contributed to Flamingods' debut album ''Sun'', providing guitar backing for the album's lead single 'Quesso'. He relocated to Tokyo in 2012, and began collaborating with Takako Minekawa. They have recorded the albums ''Toropical Circle'' (2013), ''Savage Imagination'' (2014), and ''Are Euphoria'' (2017). Wong co-wrote and plays guitar on "Bumble Bee Crown King," the final track on

Dan Deacon Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the pe ...

's 2020 album '' Mystic Familiar''.

Technical Setup

During Wong’s live performances, he creates intricate pieces based on cyclical guitar loops. His live setup is built around a loop pedal, combined with octave and distortion pedals to change the textures and colors of the guitar, plus a delay pedal to determine the tempo and pattern. He manipulates the pedal controls while performing. In Jan 2014, he described his guitar rig as a Japanese-made Fender Telecaster from the ’80s fed through a pedal chain that includes: a Boss TU-2 tuner, followed by a Foxrox Octron, Boss DS-1 Distortion modified to have a wider frequency range, ISP Decimator noise gate, a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, followed by a Boss RC-2 Loop Station, then a Digitech Synth Wah, and another DD-3. The output goes through a DI box directly into the P.A. He also uses a 1980s-era Kawai R-50e drum machine run into the looping pedal.

Discography

Solo releases

Records released with Ecstatic Sunshine

Albums

* New Kind of Imagination, 2004 * Freckle Wars, 2006, Carpark Records * Way, May 14, 2008, Cardboard Records, Grayson Currin

EPs

* Living, 2007, Non EMI

Records released with Takako Minekawa

* Toropical Circle, 2013 (Plancha / Thrill Jockey) * Savage Imagination, 2014 (Thrill Jockey / Plancha) * Are Euphoria EP, 2017 (Thrill Jockey)

References

External links

Bio of Dustin Wong
on

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Dustin Musicians from Baltimore American experimental guitarists American male guitarists Living people American rock guitarists Guitarists from Maryland Year of birth missing (living people)