Weekly Pull Request: May 2nd, 2025

Welcome to the Weekly Pull Request, a place where I share cool music, tech, and things I’ve been working on throughout the week.

If you’re new here:

👋 Hey! My name is Shawn — my friends call me Paps.

💻 I help creative brands with their websites & media SPAP Technology Solutions

🎸I write, record, and mix music for rock, metal, and country bands Big Rig Recordings

🤝 Connect with me on social media!

Table of Contents

• Riffs

• son of dad - Stephen Wilson Jr.

• COUNTRY! - HARDY

• Heathens Nest - Heathens Nest

• Gear

• Canon 22mm f/2 (M Mount)

• Vox AC15 Combo

• JST Plugin Sale!!

• Coffee

Riffs

son of dad - Stephen Wilson Jr.

Album of the year. I know Sleep Token is coming out in a week. I don’t care, this is it for me. This album is a must listen in my book, especially if you’re a country music fan.

My buddy Trace recommended this record on our way back from seeing Billy Strings a couple of weeks ago. The songwriting — incredible. The instrumentation — bonkers. Watch his band in this live video. His guitarist is a lap steel player running an overdrive into a Fender Deluxe Reverb — wild!!

Definitely give this one a spin, even if you’re not a country music fan. I promise you won’t regret it.

COUNTRY! - HARDY

Hardy makes his return to country in his latest ep titled, well, COUNTRY! You already know I’m a big fan of his music, and love that he wears his influences on his sleeves, both figuratively and literally judging by his latest reel, where he’s sporting a Counterparts windbreaker.

Heathens Nest - Heathens Nest

My friends in Heathens Nest finally dropped their demo this week. Shameless plug here, this EP was recorded in my studio last year, and I’m so stoked that it’s finally out. Disclaimer, this is some heavy sht. Deathcore with roots in hardcore is a recipe for bone-crushing riffage, slamming breakdowns, and their vocalist Caleb is an absolute monster behind the mic. Give this a listen and show some love to the heaviest music to come out of Polk County since GasFL’s last EP (which you should also check out because they rip)!

Gear

Canon 22mm f/2 (M Mount)

There are a lot of times I want to pack my camera, but don’t want to pack a whole lot of gear. I was looking into the Fuji x100 series for a compact camera, however my bank account would have been pretty pissed. So, I opted for the better option, which was to get a decent pancake lens for my Canon M50.

First impressions: this lens is TINY!!! My M50 feels like a toy with it on in comparison to my 5D mk III, but it does exactly what I want it to do. I will definitely be bringing this with me on my trip to Montreal this month to capture fun times with my buddies, as well as street & architecture photography.

Vox AC15 Combo

My first “good” combo amp was a Vox valvetronix 30 watt and I loved that thing. The classic Vox sound has always been one of my favorite tone profiles and it was only a matter of time before I owned one. That day has come.

I scooped this amp off of the used market and couldn’t be happier. Paired with an Archer Ikon (Klon Clone), this amp is a lead guitarists best friend. I’ll be doing a video on this amp soon, so be on the lookout for that!

JST Plugin Sale!!

If you’re a bedroom musician or in a band, just wanted to let you know that JST is running an insane deal right now on their Menace amp sim, Cabinet Impulse Responses, and Bus Glue plugins! I’ve used the JST plugins on every one of my mixes & they don’t disappoint. My favorites are Gain Reduction, Bus Glue Drums: Joel Wanasek, and JST Clip.

Coffee

That’s all for this week’s pull request. Let’s go ahead and merge this to main. I hope you have an amazing weekend!

Build Fast. Break Stuff. Have Fun.

Paps

PS — Have you checked out my studio website yet? Currently booking new artists for summer!