Interview with Australian Eigenharp distributor Crossroad Guitars

The Eigenharp is starting to appear in retail stores all over the world. Just a few weeks ago, the Australian distributor Crossroad Guitars opened up the Eigenharp world to the Aussies. This seemed like a good occasion for an interview with the people that are at the complete opposite of the globe and see how the Eigenharp is experienced by them.

Can you quickly present yourself for the readers?

My name is Remco Mayer from Crossroad Guitars. We are a small distribution company in Australia, carrying mainly guitar products.

How did you learn about the existence of the Eigenharp?

This year I went to the MusicMesse in Frankfurt, Germany to find new products. After two days of walking around the trade show, trying to find something interesting and innovative for the guitars, I was bored since I couldn’t really find anything exciting. I walked up on the Eigenlabs stand on the last day of the show and was blown away by what I saw. The Alpha looked like the Star Ship Enterprise, I couldn’t find Mr. Spock, but the Eigenharp had already caught my attention.

Seeing you’re mostly carrying guitar products, what made you decide to distribute the Eigenharp?

The products from Eigenlabs are something new that can’t be found at any other distributor. This is what Crossroad Guitars is about. We offer our customers a selection of products that stand out and aren’t available on every corner of the street.

Have you had local Australian stores that already inquired about the Eigenharp?

We are working on that. First we had to get all the paper work done. This was quite an undertaking since the Australian C-Tick product compliance regulation needs it own approval, with its own set of rules. The legalities around importing electronics into Australia are quite involving, I’m very glad that we were finally able to get it all sorted out.

How are you planning on spreading the word in Australia?

During the first weekend of October, we have a trade show here in Melbourne Australia, called the AMAC. For the first time in its history, there will be two days open to the general public.
I hope to be able to sell a few Eigenharp Picos before the show so that we can all meet in Melbourne and show the public how cool these products are. It would be totally awesome if one of the musicians from the UK could come over to demonstrate the Eigenharp, they are really able to make it sing! 😉

Have you played the Eigenharp yourself or did one of your employees do so?

I’m a PC guy and do not have a Mac, so I’m still playing around with the Windows beta version of the EigenD software. I do hope that some day a version for Linux will also be released. As soon as this will be ready, I’ll be able to use its full power. One of my guys, Trefor Steviuk, has one of the demo models and has been playing with it. In May we had the Brisbane Guitar Show
and he gave a short demo of the Pico at our booth.

Are you planning on providing support and carrying Eigenharp accessories also?

Once we have sold enough of Picos and Taus, we’re definitely going to stock the accessories to provide a full customer service.

Given that the Eigenharp is closely tied to a computer, will you also be selling computer hardware or software that is recommended to use with the Eigenharp?

Yes and I hope that this is the start of a whole new adventure for Crossroad Guitars!

With a ground-breaking product like the Eigenharp, you open up the doors towards many other products. I see the future of music no longer as a band with drums, bass, guitars and keys. Live music is going take a whole new turn now that musicians can perform on stage with full expressiveness and control over software instruments.

Thanks a lot for your time, Remco!

Thank you!