John Valentine Carruthers

John Valentine Carruthers (born 1958) is an English musician, guitarist, and composer. He is mainly known for being a member of Siouxsie and the Banshees from mid-1984 until early 1987.

Carruthers was born in Wortley, West Yorkshire. In the early 1980s, he joined Sheffield band Clock DVA after the release of their second studio album.^[1] His first recording with Clock DVA was the EPPassions Still Aflame in 1982. It was followed by the album Advantage in 1983.

He was then recruited by Siouxsie and the Banshees to be a full-time member of the group from May 1984.^[2] With the Banshees, he recorded The Thorn EP (1984), and two studio albums Tinderbox in 1986, and the covers albumThrough the Looking Glass in 1987. He left the band in January 1987.

Carruthers teamed up with his friend drummer Paul Ferguson to form the band Crush with American musicians.^[3] They released a self-titled album in 1993.^[4] That year, he also played guitars on Lloyd Cole's third solo album Bad Vibes,^[5] and also took part in the album Wishing Well by Californian band Ten Wings.^[6] In 2007, while in New York, he co-composed several songs with Kim Fahy's group the Mabuses on their album Mabused!.^[7]

During his time with Siouxsie and the Banshees, his favourite guitar was a Hofner T6S with active electronics.^[8] He developed a fast picking style.^[8] On certain songs, he "tuned all the strings to one note, like an A. The first people to do that were the Glitter Band, and that's how they got that peculiar Yowl sound. It's mainly an effect; you fret across the strings with a bar to play melodies, but when you've got five strings all tuned to one note and the amp is turned up, it sustains forever".^[8]

Sus otras guitarras eran una Yamaha SG1000, una Yamaha SG000, una Ovation Breadwinner , una Ovation de 12 cuerdas, una Yamaha FG 450 acústica y una copia de Stratocaster hecha por él mismo . ^{[ 8 ]} Usaba diferentes efectos de audio, incluyendo MXR Flanger "para obtener un sonido realmente sucio", Drawmer Stereo Compressor , Eventide Harmoniser/ Delay , Yamaha 1010 analog delay y Ashly Parametric. Los amplificadores que usaba con los Banshees eran un Peavey Heritage, un combo Marshall MV50 y un Roland Jazz Chorus 120. ^{[ 8 ]}

Carruthers afirmó que utilizó una configuración de amplificador similar a la de John McGeoch . Utilizó el "Roland Jazz Chorus con una caja divisora, y envió una señal al Peavey para obtener un sonido solista, y la otra al Marshall, al que le aplicó una gran distorsión". ^{[ 8 ]}

En el álbum Tinderbox de los Banshees , terminó grabando todas las partes de guitarra cuatro veces. Dejó todos los errores a propósito, diciendo: "Odio tocar todo a la perfección". ^{[ 9 ]} Afirmó que "un par de canciones tienen ocho partes de guitarra". ^{[ 9 ]}