In this exclusive interview, Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips chats with Troy Van Leeuwen about his new Fender Signature Jazzmaster, his pandemic year, 2021 plans and more.
From Failure to A Perfect Circle, Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal, Puscifer and many others, Troy Van Leeuwen’s multi-instrumental expertise has given color and power to some of the most creative and popular rock music of the last three decades. Amid the isolation of the pandemic this year, Troy’s current side project Gone is Gone, featuring Roy Sanders (Mastodon), Tony Hajjar (At The Drive-In), and multi-instrumentalist and Sencit Music founder Mike Zarin, has managed to release a new single, Sometimes I Feel.
Troy is also proud to announce that Fender has announced a new Troy Van Leeuwen Signature Jazzmaster. Troy was first bestowed with the Fender signature guitar honour back in 2014 with the release of his original Jazzmaster in Oxblood Red with rosewood fingerboard, representing the ’darker’, ‘goth’ flavours of his music. Now Fender presents the 2020 Troy Van Leeuwen Signature Jazzmaster in Copper Age with a maple fingerboard, symbolising warmer climes and the desert iconography associated with Queens Of The Stone Age. With personalized features including custom color finishes, special switching and an upgraded bridge – the Troy Van Leeuwen Jazzmaster is as distinctive as the sounds he wrings from it.