“It’s Better This Way”: An Interview with Trip Wamsley
by Max Valentino
Trip Wamsley is not a “new discovery” for the world of bass playing, but a voice with something to say on the instrument and well worth noting. Trip has released a new CD, “It’s Better This Way”, which further demonstrates both his playing ability and compositional acuity. A departure from his previous release “Dancing About Architecture”, the new CD is wholly instrumental and features Trip’s lyrical and evocative melodic style, as well as three duets with his former teacher Michael Manring.
Trip credits the fateful day early in 1982 when he heard "Silly Love Songs" by Wings as the day he decided that music was for him. He would often accompany his band-director father to area music stores where he would see bass guitars. The young Trip thought basses were, as he puts it, "...big guitars for dumb people...". Trip's school had a bass that was not being used, so he brought it home and learned to play "Summer Nights" from the movie "Grease". With his first song under his belt and some newfound confidence, Trip set out to make music with a friend who had recently started playing drums. Their association lasted for many years, much of that time without a guitarist.
Forced by the circumstance, Trip's playing took on the rhythmic bass and melodic lead roles, a situation, which gave him an appreciation of the musical possibilities. Trip is quick to credit his drummer friend, who played with incredible speed and an absolute lack of respect for the downbeat, as an inspiration to study the bass more seriously. Play "in the pocket..." as he says.
He studied with Michael Manring in 1991 and 1992, which was an experience Trip says consisted of scathing invective and brutal honesty. Trip credits Michael with the phrase "...be deep wide awake and slow...". Visit www.tripwamsley.com for more information.
I recently spoke with Trip in depth about the new CD, his new son, and music in general. Blessed with a musical ear and sardonic wit, Trip’s views on bass and music are particularly insightful.
Max Valentino: You recently became a Dad. Congratulations. How is everything going? And, how has fatherhood impacted your music and career?
Trip Wamsley: Everything is going fine with the family so far. My son was born 4 months premature. My wife developed something called “HELLP” syndrome. She had chronic hypertension, elevated liver enzymes, toxemia, and a host of other symptoms. The only way to “cure” this was to take the baby. Initially, it was done to save her life. I went in with her for the emergency C-section and when I saw my boy, I can’t explain the wave of emotion for both mother and child. It made me grow up and realize what is REALLY important. Bass-wise it put things into perspective in that it didn’t matter how talented and groovy some people perceived me to be, because there was no hot bass licks or gear that would fix the situation at all. I would have to say the influence that this is having is I have really begun to look at what really counts in my playing. Also re-examining the deepest core of why I play. It’s not something that can be put into words or flippantly discussed. This situation can’t be put into notes either. The event of Xander’s birth, the matter of my maddeningly deepening love for my wife and child is just so profound that putting it in a “bass-song” almost seems silly. Really. In a nutshell, I have realized that my music isn’t as deep as life. It’s not as deep as God, salvation or truth. Humbling, in other words. But, there again, C.S. Lewis wrote “when a man thinks himself humble, he is very conceited indeed.” So, when I ponder THAT, it’s back to square one.
A lot of readers may recognize you from as a clinician for Gallien-Krueger. You recently parted ways with them. What’s new in your career?
I am with Salwender International as a part-time clinician/artist and overall swell guy. I have a proposal from a MAJOR amp maker in the works as well. We’ll see how that pans out. GK was a great job and I met a lot of nice people through them. Though I am playing Glockenklang now, I still think that GK makes just about the best amp in that “Guitar Center” price range.
How did you start playing bass?
I started playing it because I fell in LOVE with the way it sounds. Pure and simple. I started by picking things up off of records. (For the young bucks, records are 12” pieces of vinyl that rotate at 33RPMs and the sound is amplified via a moving needle placed in a “groove.” They are actually wonderful sounding things!)
I did this for hours and hours a day. I still do sometimes.
Who, and what were your influences?
Here is where I get into trouble! Most of my influences are mostly British and not “politically correct” in bassdom. I started with Paul McCartney and John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. Here is a list of some of my faves: Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, Brad Lang of ABC, Colin Moulding of XTC, John Taylor of Duran Duran, Pino Palladino, Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash, Sting, Tony Lewis of the Outfield, John Entwistle, Geddy Lee, Les Nemmes of Haircut 100, Scott Thunes, Mark King of Level 42. Mick Karn. Trevor Horn. There are still so many! And they are still mostly British. Suffice it for me to say, that they just had a “sound” that appealed to me.
On the “techno-muso” end it would be: Bunny Brunel, Anthony Jackson, Abe Laboriel, and some others I can’t think of right now. Sorry.
On the solo end: It would be Michael Manring, Alex de Grassi, Will Ackerman, Steve Lawson (recently. That looping thing…got me.) Michael Hedges, and Estonian composer Arvo Part. Oh yeah, and Philp Aaberg.
How did you get started doing solo bass?
I will put it this way:
a. From the first day, I realized that it was a Bass GUITAR, that all of the “guitar” techniques were instantly available. Then I realized that “other” things that guitarists didn’t do were also readily available. So the solo seed was there from the get-go. I immediately started “soloing.” It was really bad imitations of Hendrix. I had a fuzzbox of some sort and I was delighted that I could make the bass feed back!
b. Reflecting on 14-year-old idealism I viewed it as a possible pathway to social acceptance. A need to rise above the crowd and perhaps gather self-esteem in the process. That was an error. The exact opposite happened and I was ostracized for some years for being “weird.” In retrospect I made a lot of mistakes as a person that caused this. I was forcing my agenda on people. That is the BIGGEST mistake that you can make. I should have realized that things were going to take place in due time. Oops for me. Things are better now!
c. I am from Lake Charles, LA. It is not a small town, but it’s still not a cultural Mecca (It’s getting better though!) and there was nothing to do but play, really. I started doing alternate tunings to fight boredom before I had heard of Manring or anybody like that. I thought I was smart until I heard the Windham Hill boys. Manring, Hedges, de Grassi and others. That really spun my head around!
Your career profile as a bass soloist is on the rise, and fittingly so. How do view to “role” and evolution of the bass at this point, and what do you foresee for the future of bass-dom?
I don’t know about on the rise. My name is being batted around a bit more lately. I don’t get to play out as a soloist often enough because I have no idea how to book myself and promote my tunes. It’s still an underground thing, which makes it difficult to explain to promoters and other music biz types. Steve Lawson is a master at self-promotion and I am watching what he does closely because he’s nice about it. I get no feelings of him puffing himself up. I am getting better these days because of watching Steve. I really just need a booking agent. That would help a lot.
Agents need to make money though and solo bass isn’t going to make them the same money as The Goo-Goo Dolls. That’s cool. I am at peace with that.
The evolution of the bass in pop music seems to be stalled. The fretless bass has become almost extinct in that genre. With the exception of perhaps the Mudvayne guy, whose interview I really enjoyed in BP, I haven’t heard anyone interesting. I am open to suggestions. Also, in pop, I don’t hear anyone who has a sound. I hear good tones, but NOT a sound or a unique voice.
As for the “role” of the bass, I think that roles are for actors and actresses. The Bass is multi-faceted! There is so much music in this thing, the Bass Guitar, that discussing THE ROLE negates its true power and beauty. No one ever talks about the role of the French Horn, Cor Anglais, the Flute or the Harp. Why the Bass? Why pick on us? I think that as bass players we should have a forum on the ROLE OF THE GUITAR. It could go something like this: The role of the guitar in pop music today is to tune down to drop-D or something and then place one finger (NO MORE!) on the strings and set the amp for maximum blastissimo and chunk away! OR: The guitarist shall go weedloo, weelee, meemeoeoe, shwong, and relegate the drummer and the bass person to an endless 12-bar ostinato. But, if we were to do that, then we would be assaulted with outrage from guitar players everywhere. It’s a double-standard folks and I don’t like it.
As for the future of bassdom, I think that things are turning around and we will be treated with more dignity and respect in the coming years. I do see good composers emerging in solo land. Steve Lawson comes to mind and I still just adore Mick Karn and Percy Jones.
It seems lately that “solo bass” are becoming more accepted, whereas these were once considered quite a novelty. Many, still, seem to be quite “chops-intensive” and lacking in both harmonic diversity and melodic development. Your new CD is brimming with both. Your melodic sense and phrasing sound especially refined. How do you work on developing both your harmonic and melodic awareness?
Let me start by saying that chops aren’t art. Not at all. Chops are tools. I could have the most ultimate set of tools and I still can’t build a house or build and tune a car engine. Chops guys tend to be like Ozymandias and their music says, “Look upon my works ye Mighty and despair.” I do despair. I am in awe of their speed and agility but I am not changed in spirit, and I sometimes feel that I am not faced with truth. In my own playing I am searching for truth. I am still in the shadow of my influences; I want to find “me.” That’s so hard. Really hard.
In terms of phrasing, it’s all about sentence structure. It must have a beginning, middle and an end. It can be atonal, (which I really love) or tonal. Also, I just do REALLY BAD imitations of Bill Frisell. That helps! Look at a solo in words: Bob went over there to the thing and an agar like plane, cookie. It was a foofboof. The bridge. That made no sense. Probably not even to the biggest James Joyce fan. You have to go somewhere. Manring blew me away with his phrasing. His tunes provoked an emotional and spiritual response. Karn does the same thing for me. That’s the ultimate to me.
I used the term “solo bass” to describe what you do, especially in regards to your new CD, “It’s Better This Way…”. But listening to your music, that almost seems to be misrepresentation. Your music strikes me not so much as “solo bass” pieces, but rather the works of a composer who just happens to be a bassist. You use the bass guitar almost like an orchestra, and make great and effectual use of its timbral and dynamic range. Can you walk us through your process of composing on the bass?
I deal with colors. What does this music do in terms of color on a canvas? I get into the SOUND. That’s it. There is an Eastern thing that says that we resonate to certain tonalities. I tend to go for things that are wide and spread out or, I just go for atonal mayhem. That’s where I seem to resonate. Arvo Part makes use of spreads of scales and stacked thirds among other things that move in parallel, contrary, and oblique motion. Also, there is forward motion in his music. That’s a crucial element for me. A sense of movement is the top priority. Dynamics are just as important as motion. Dynamics separate the men from the boys. That’s the crucial element of getting the meaning of what you are playing. Hitting the volume control is not the use of dynamics.
Calling me a composer is a bit of a misnomer. I am such a total rock guy that I just really call them “ditties” or tunes. That’s it. If I were to label myself as a composer then I probably wouldn’t be able to compose at all. I wouldn’t have any fun because then I would be a serious composer. That’s not me at all. The real me is the guy playing along with “View To A Kill” by Duran Duran!
