Interviewing Bassists Stories part 2

[MiJaKo]

Tom - Great groove, and with tasty texture. Not to mention your proficiency in techniques! Enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by MiJaKo

Tom - Great groove, and with tasty texture. Not to mention your proficiency in techniques! Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Thanks very much. It was a lot of fun to play.

[cvsurg]

Tom,
When I grow up, I want to play bass like you! I think you have outwardly undersold us on your bass talents, although we may have suspected otherwise; inferring from your stories, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. A true delight! Again, thanks for sharing with your loyal fans here on TB.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by cvsurg

Tom,
When I grow up, I want to play bass like you! I think you have outwardly undersold us on your bass talents, although we may have suspected otherwise; inferring from your stories, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. A true delight! Again, thanks for sharing with your loyal fans here on TB.

Thanks very much.

The fact is, until I wrote my book, it was genuinely too painful to contemplate the fact that I can't play anymore. One of my bass heroes tells me what you said, that he had no idea I could play as well as I did, and he can't understand how I cope with not being able to do it anymore.

I can only cope now. Up until late last year, it was still too fresh, since it was the loss of something that was such an important part of my life.

Here's a little unsolicited advice to everyone: If you suffer a massive loss, whatever you do, don't try to get rid of the evidence of what you once had, no matter how painful it is to keep the evidence of your loss. If you're someday able to do what I did and transform the anger over your loss into gratitude for what you once had, you'll come to deeply regret doing what I did.

When I realized "Carmen" was gone forever, I threw away almost all my photos of her, except for about a dozen that I forgot I had. I regret that, since now I have just three photos of her and me together. I can look at photos of her now without feeling anger, and I wish I'd kept more images of how happy we were together. I'd like to see them now.

When I realized I couldn't play the bass anymore, I threw out almost all the tapes I'd made of my playing. I deeply regret that. If you read Ghosts, you'll learn about my lunch breaks at my school in Tokyo, in which I played for an hour straight, every day, in the auditorium at the top of the school. It was something I had to do, since I was so happy I had to express it. I threw away all those tapes, and I threw away the tapes of my band and me in Tokyo.

I wish I'd kept the recording I made of my bass-and-drum-machine version of this song, which I learned in 2001 to play on the book tour for In Cold Sweat. I learned every single note of the main melodies and played them at a faster tempo. It was spectacular, and now I have no evidence I did it. I played it once for my mother, so at least another person knows I did it. When my Web site goes up, I'll offer a special prize for anyone who can do a bass-and-drum version of it and send me a video.

So don't make the same mistake I did. No matter how painful your loss is, just put away the evidence of that loss. Someday you may be able to experience it again and feel nothing but happiness for how things once were. I regret trying to obliterate my past. All it did was to destroy images and sounds than now I wish I could look at and listen to again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugIbmTKrcHc

I found this photo only a few months ago. It was another that escaped the Great Purge of 1994. I've cropped it and run it through an art effect to disguise her. If you read the book, you'll learn about the Goofy Smile. The good news is I own the only two photos of it. So even though I made the hugely bad decision to throw away almost all my photos of her, maybe Somebody intervened just a tad, because two of the images that didn't go into the trash were the ones I treasured the most.

So, as luck--or fate, or whatever--would have it, I still have the two photos that meant the world to me, since they captured something so rare. It dovetails nicely into the main point of the book.

[bigsnaketex]

My beautiful wife gets on me all the time about all the "crap" I keep.

But like you Tom, I learned the hard way that when something is gone - it's simply GONE!

I don't live in the past, but I do honor the past and have certainly learned as I've gotten older that in order to appreciate where I am today, I must celebrate the past that got me to this point. The Good, The Bad........and THE UGLY!

Plus, there is some really cool stuff from days gone by.

My deepest regret is that at one point in my young life, I copied over most of the casettes that my father recorded to me when we was in Vietnam on his three tours because I ran out of blank tapes to record myself on playing guitar.

So now I have recordings of me playing guitar (badly), but I'd give anything to hear those things my father said to me in the 60's when he was being shot at in his Green Beret hide-a-way in the jungle. He's been dead since 1995...........and those are the things you don't consider when you're throwing stuff out because you're angry, or simply cleaning up and moving on.

So thank you for the sage wisdom about keeping stuff - a lesson that I know only too well.

Rock on my brother, rock on!!

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by bigsnaketex

My beautiful wife gets on me all the time about all the "crap" I keep.

But like you Tom, I learned the hard way that when something is gone - it's simply GONE!

I don't live in the past, but I do honor the past and have certainly learned as I've gotten older that in order to appreciate where I am today, I must celebrate the past that got me to this point. The Good, The Bad........and THE UGLY!

Plus, there is some really cool stuff from days gone by.

My deepest regret is that at one point in my young life, I copied over most of the casettes that my father recorded to me when we was in Vietnam on his three tours because I ran out of blank tapes to record myself on playing guitar.

So now I have recordings of me playing guitar (badly), but I'd give anything to hear those things my father said to me in the 60's when he was being shot at in his Green Beret hide-a-way in the jungle. He's been dead since 1995...........and those are the things you don't consider when you're throwing stuff out because you're angry, or simply cleaning up and moving on.

So thank you for the sage wisdom about keeping stuff - a lesson that I know only too well.

Rock on my brother, rock on!!

Quite a haunting example. Technology is so much better now when it comes to preserving irreplaceable moments.

Mine still exist in my head, but I wish I could see or hear them again in this plane.

Thanks for your post.

[Vince Klortho]

Wow, this has been quite a pair of threads. I have managed to read both of them in their entirety and they have been entertaining and inspirational. I had lots of comments to make but I waited until now to make them. Those that I remember anyway.

When I first saw your avatar I thought the face was Craig Ferguson.

I watched the Reg Kehoe video and that bass player is AMAZING ! He was quite the showman for 1940. I did a search at google and it turned up some interesting info. It turns out that bass was made of aluminum and one of only six made.

I also did a search of Scott Thunes to see what other albums he played on with FZ. That led me to the wikipedia page about him and I noticed that MAJNH was not listed. One of the beauties of the wikipedia is it is maintained by users so I corrected that fact. It also mentions that your interview of him was published and notes that, as of this writing, a page for you does not exist there. You might want to correct that.

In my google searches of you I found that your book is listed at Amazon as available for pre-order with a publication date of 28 July 2013. You certainly have a couple of sales here.

I really enjoyed hearing you play. You were definitely better than I am. I am more of a hold-down-the-bottom-end kind of guy. I really identified with what "Flare" from Loudmouth was saying in your interview of him about that style being something of a lost art these days. FWIW, I have their album. It's rather interesting with very solid bass playing.

Your experiences in the music business seem somewhat similar to mine. I was so digusted with it that I quit playing all-together for over ten years. I got back into it a while ago and I am very thankful to still be able to play after the health issues I have gone through. I moved about a year and a half ago and I joined a band about six months ago. Last weekend we had a our first gig and it was at Yosemite Park. The park is truly incredible, especially in winter. It is certainly beautiful in photographs but it is something else to see in person. If you haven't been there I highly recommend that you go and in winter if you are able to. If you decide to go feel free to get in touch and I can show you around as I live not far from there.

BTW - I don't recall reading this in the threads but is your name pronounced "Victor" or with the "W" ?

All the best for your book and "new" career direction.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by Vince Klortho

Wow, this has been quite a pair of threads. I have managed to read both of them in their entirety and they have been entertaining and inspirational. I had lots of comments to make but I waited until now to make them. Those that I remember anyway.

When I first saw your avatar I thought the face was Craig Ferguson.

I watched the Reg Kehoe video and that bass player is AMAZING ! He was quite the showman for 1940. I did a search at google and it turned up some interesting info. It turns out that bass was made of aluminum and one of only six made.

I also did a search of Scott Thunes to see what other albums he played on with FZ. That led me to the wikipedia page about him and I noticed that MAJNH was not listed. One of the beauties of the wikipedia is it is maintained by users so I corrected that fact. It also mentions that your interview of him was published and notes that, as of this writing, a page for you does not exist there. You might want to correct that.

In my google searches of you I found that your book is listed at Amazon as available for pre-order with a publication date of 28 July 2013. You certainly have a couple of sales here.

I really enjoyed hearing you play. You were definitely better than I am. I am more of hold-down-the-bottom-end kind of guy. Your experiences in the music business seem somewhat similar to mine. I was so digusted with it that I quit playing all-together for over ten years. I got back into it a while ago and I am very thankful to still be able to play after the health issues I have gone through. I moved about a year and a half ago and I joined a band about six months ago. Last weekend we had a our first gig and it was at Yosemite Park. The park is truly incredible, especially in winter. It is certainly beautiful in photographs but it is something else to see in person. If you haven't been there I highly recommend that you go and in winter if you are able to. If you decide to go feel free to get in touch and I can show you around as I live not far from there.

BTW - I don't recall reading this in the threads but is your name pronounced "Victor" or with the "W" ?

All the best for your book and "new" career direction.

Vince, the Keymaster of Gozer! Nice to hear from you.

I'm sort of stunned that the release date of my book is July. That ain't what I've been hearing, but there you go. The publishing industry is what it is. That gives me a lot more time to prepare, but it also means people will have to wait longer. Crap.

The reason I don't have a Wikipedia page is because I have some of the most virulent stalkers on the planet. Whatever I put up would be immediately edited, particularly after the book comes out. It alludes to my past without giving any details. A Wikipedia page would be a lunatic-magnet.

It's good that you're playing again. What I always wanted to do was develop my own voice on the instrument. Almost all of my bass heroes are stylists rather than technicians: Thunes, Laswell, Palladino, John Taylor, Ray Shulman, Tony Levin, Peter Gifford... I finally developed a style, and then I lost the ability to play. Oh, well.

Unfortunately, my traveling days are over for now, due to Meniere's disease. I'd love to see Yosemite someday. I'd like to stand at the foot of a giant sequoia.

My surname should be pronounced with a "V," but we pronounce it with a "W." It means "nail maker" in Luxembourgish. We came from some clam that used an even weirder dialect of the language, in which our family name was Kaifisch.

Thomas Kaifisch. Just as bizarre as Thomas Wictor.

One of my early influences was John Giblin. I studied these two songs closely to see how he added texture, tone, ornamentation, and dynamics to his lines. He made a much stronger impression on me than far more technically accomplished players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwQ0Wy3ljQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKb9XQ39-zc

[Vince Klortho]

Are you the gate keeper ?

I was kind of surprised the release date had not been mentioned yet. Who knows ? maybe it will come out earlier.

I fully understand about the wiki page. I will refrain from making one for you.

Thanks for the videos. Very good bass playing ! I love that album and all of PG's actually.

My first influences were Gene Simmons and Geddy Lee. The first concert I ever went to was Kiss in a small place in Southern Oregon. I went alone because all of my friends were afraid to go. I was close enough that Gene spewed "blood" on me. I saw them again several months later and Rush opened for them. That was a great show. I bought both of the albums that both bands had out at the time and came home after school and played along with them. Eventually I learned the bass parts of every song on those four albums. About that time I got my first real bass. It was a Hagstrom 8-string that I strung with four. It was in pieces and unfinished because someone was going to have it painted and then decided not to. I reassembled it and put new pickups on it and played it for about ten years. Then I got an Alembic.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by Vince Klortho

Are you the gate keeper ?

I was kind of surprised the release date had not been mentioned yet. Who knows ? maybe it will come out earlier.

I fully understand about the wiki page. I will refrain from making one for you.

Thanks for the videos. Very good bass playing ! I love that album and all of PG's actually.

My first influences were Gene Simmons and Geddy Lee. The first concert I ever went to was Kiss in a small place in Southern Oregon. I went alone because all of my friends were afraid to go. I was close enough that Gene spewed "blood" on me. I saw them again several months later and Rush opened for them. That was a great show. I bought both of the albums that both bands had out at the time and came home after school and played along with them. Eventually I learned the bass parts of every song on those four albums. About that time I got my first real bass. It was a Hagstrom 8-string that I strung with four. It was in pieces and unfinished because someone was going to have it painted and then decided not to. I reassembled it and put new pickups on it and played it for about ten years. Then I got an Alembic.

Well, my other books by Schiffer were actually released much earlier than the official date, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

If you want to make a Wiki page for me, feel free. I'll even give you material and a photo if you want to PM me. But you'll have to police it yourself. I haven't read a thing about myself since 2002, when the Chicago Sun Times absolutely gutted In Cold Sweat in about three sentences. It was like the infamous review of a Christopher Cross album: "Fat man. Thin voice." That was the whole review.

It's not that I take bad reviews personally; I realize there's nothing personal about them. It's just business. Like mafia hits. Nothing personal about them, either, but that's no consolation to the dead guy. I made a decision to completely avoid reading anything about me or my work, and I'm going to stick with it.

If you want to set up a Wiki page, you have my blessings and I'll cooperate in getting you information. And if you want to periodically check back with me for updates or corrections, I'll cooperate. But I won't read it.

It's like the Facebook page for Ghosts that a Talkbass reader set up. I send him information, but I don't read it or write anything there. I deeply appreciate the interest in my work and I'm grateful and amazed that people want to spend their hard-earned money on my work. It's the work that important, though. Not the guy who created it.

This is my own (probably pathologically) idiosyncratic view of being an entertainer. I don't mind corresponding with people here because we're all bassists. But I'm just a dude. Attention paid to me as a person is embarrassing and makes me uncomfortable. I'm actually a very private person.

I love Gene Simmons. He's an amazing guy and one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. He paid me massive complements that I wasn't able to recognize until years later. My book includes the best photo of him ever taken. Licensing rights cost the earth, but I felt I owed it to him.

I wish I'd had the chance to play a Hagstrom 8-string. They sound great.

[mcj2x]

Tom, your playing on that piece is awesome.

[Vince Klortho]

I understand your feelings. It will be interesting to see the reviews on Amazon when the book is released. If these threads are any indication they should be very positive. I think I'll pass on making the wiki page though.

I enjoyed your mentions of John Taylor. Particularly because the first band I auditioned for after I moved had "Girls on Film" in their set list. They said they want someone to "slap the hell out of it." I said I don't think JT played it slap-style but if that's what they want I can accomdate. They liked my rendition of really well but I didn't get the gig. It's probably for the best though. Their drummer is a basher and my ears were ringing after just the five songs at the audition.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by mcj2x

Tom, your playing on that piece is awesome.

Thank you! I appreciate it. I've been watching that video and marveling that I used to be able to play that way. It's seems like a dream. I'm glad I could do while I could.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by Vince Klortho

I enjoyed your mentions of John Taylor. Particularly because the first band I auditioned for after I moved had "Girls on Film" in their set list. They said they want someone to "slap the hell out of it." I said I don't think JT played it slap-style but if that's what they want I can accomdate. They liked my rendition of really well but I didn't get the gig. It's probably for the best though. Their drummer is a basher and my ears were ringing after just the five songs at the audition.

He does it finger style, but the rhythm is almost impossible to duplicate. I tried for years to get the feel down and failed. I got the notes, but his genius is in anticipating the beat. He plays entirely by intuition.

I've yet to hear anyone play this exactly the way Taylor played it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgDbK4WCjMU

[Vince Klortho]

That's a great one! It sounds picked to me and he plays a really solid and in-the-pocket line. I can imagine that most people get too busy on it. There's enough space there that it would be tempting to some guys and gals to fill it up.

For a while I played Reggae, Latin, Carribean, and African music and that really taught me the value of leaving space. Space in the right places can be as valuable or even more so than the notes that are played.

Damn Tom, you must live on YouTube. Not that it's a bad thing. It's just that you continue to whip out the cool vids.

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by Vince Klortho

Damn Tom, you must live on YouTube. Not that it's a bad thing. It's just that you continue to whip out the cool vids.

I don't watch TV, and I spend most of the day writing. I've got ten years of music to catch up on, so to decompress I spend a couple of hours a days watching music vids.

Too bad this band is terrible live, because I love this song. It's total genius. Like all the best pop songs, you just need to hear it once. Plus, I love British women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH6wpO66J4k

Here's another band that's horrible live, which is weird, because this is live performance. At least they had one really good song. The lyrics are especially poignant to me. "Now you're just somebody that I used to know" is one of the most devastating lines anyone's ever written. It's on a par with Suzanne Vega's line, "There's no reason to remember you now."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlZ5BlKTUOk

That's fodder for so much art, the terrible pain of going from being loved to being seen with utter indifference.

[Arthritic_Tom]

YouTube is one of the greatest inventions for musicians. Without Youtube I wouldn't have experienced this gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOgALTFzFbQ

Or the original "Trololo" song, Soviet pop from the 1960s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n041M5FnqA

Or I wouldn't have learned what American pop songs sound like to people who don't speak English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZXcRqFmFa8

[SoVeryTired]

I haven't had a chance to listen to the videos, just check out who and what they are. The second one isn't their own song, just a cover of Gotye, so they're now just a bad live band who did a good live cover!

[Arthritic_Tom]

Originally Posted by SoVeryTired

I haven't had a chance to listen to the videos, just check out who and what they are. The second one isn't their own song, just a cover of Gotye, so they're now just a bad live band who did a good live cover!

Yeah, I don't like the original by Goyte. Too precious.

It's great when cover versions are as good as or better than the originals:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Usb26HywtU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aF9AJm0RFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B32yjbCSVpU

[Arthritic_Tom]

Okay. I've been given information on background as to why there's a July release date for the book.

We don't need to get into that, but if you pre-order the book, you'll get your copy in February.

http://tinyurl.com/crlad7p

And click the link on the right asking for a Kindle version. Please!

Have at it.