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Interviewing Bassists Stories part 2

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#441
Arthritic_Tom said:
Thanks very much. I appreciate it.

The book has much, much more, including previously unpublished transcripts and correspondence.

Yesterday I bought my first copy of Bass Player since 2002. They have a new column now, a behind-the-scenes look by the magazine's longest-serving staffer, art director Paul Haggard. He'll describe all the goings on at his photo shoots over the past twenty years.

The subject of his first installment? Scott Thunes.

Surely this new column and its first subject are coincidences, as is Paul's lack of response when I asked him three times (four, if you could Brian Fox's attempt) to let me use the very photo of Scott that appeared in the new Bass Player column.

Bryan Beller is on the cover of the issue, so I urge everyone to buy a copy.
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I finally resubscribed a month ago, and the Beller issue was the first that I received. Brian Fox is doing a good job in bringing the magazine back. Hopefully, it can regain some of it's former glory.

As an aside, I got to study earlier this year with one of the subjects of your many stories - let's refer to him as a certain city in Germany. I can't speak to how he was all those years ago (and I have the issue with your interview with him that I have also read multiple times), but in the week I spent with him he was as humble, open, and funny as could be. Completely unexpected, and I learned a ton from him. He too had demons and anger issues he had to deal with, and was not shy about discussing it with me, much like you have done here. Was he opinionated about proper music education? You bet. After spending time with him, I believe that he has earned the right to his positions. What I gleaned from my week with him and subsequently applying what he taught without any prejudice has taken my playing to another level.

People can change, and hopefully for the better. Your journey here and my week experience with the aforementioned bassist have proven that to me.
 
#442
Commreman said:
As an aside, I got to study earlier this year with one of the subjects of your many stories - let's refer to him as a certain city in Germany. I can't speak to how he was all those years ago (and I have the issue with your interview with him that I have also read multiple times), but in the week I spent with him he was as humble, open, and funny as could be. Completely unexpected, and I learned a ton from him. He too had demons and anger issues he had to deal with, and was not shy about discussing it with me, much like you have done here...

People can change, and hopefully for the better. Your journey here and my week experience with the aforementioned bassist have proven that to me.
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That's good to hear. I would've loved to interview him.

Changing yourself is the hardest thing you can do, because it's an admission of failure. You wouldn't believe the number of messages I've gotten from people telling me I should take the word "failed" out of the subtitle of my book.

I don't mind admitting to being a failure from a societal standpoint.

But I'll put myself up as a human being against the most successful person on the planet, and we'll see who wins that contest.
 
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#443
I've joined the digital age.

Here's the first photo I took with my new Nikon. I bought it yesterday for the Mother Hips concert today in Hermosa Beach, where I will attempt to photograph Scott Thunes.

My trials are not yet over. After I bought the camera, my pocket was picked and I lost everything--driver's license, credit cards, ATM card, AAA card, Blue Shield cards, and $200 in cash, which I withdrew for the Hermosa Beach gig, in case I had to take a taxi home if I got an attack of rotational vertigo.

So, later today (in about six hours) I'm going to try to get a temporary driving permit. I've cancelled all my credits cards and ATM card, but I can't get a new ATM card without a license, and all my bills are paid automatically by credit card, and it takes ten days to replace them.

One thing the Muslim theocracies do right is cut off the hands of thieves. This couldn't have happened at a worse time.

Hopefully the stress won't force me to cancel. I haven't seen Scott in twelve years, so I really want to go.

Anyway, enjoy my first-ever digital photo.
 

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#449
Arthritic_Tom said:
The Cardinal Ghost bought me a right-handed Sting Ray and had Japanese luthiers make a left-handed body for it, producing the Carmen bass. At that time MusicMan didn't make lefty Sting Rays, and the Cardinal Ghost felt I'd waited long enough.
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That's awesome :) . I'm really wanting a short scale 'ray but they don't (yet?) make those either :crying: . It's mostly the 3+1 headstock I want and in particular I'd like a reversed one. Not too picky, eh LOL ? I do have a couple single humbucker short scales that get the sound I want but I'd like the whole look too :cool: .
 
#450
Roadkill said:
That's awesome :) . I'm really wanting a short scale 'ray but they don't (yet?) make those either :crying: . It's mostly the 3+1 headstock I want and in particular I'd like a reversed one. Not too picky, eh LOL ? I do have a couple single humbucker short scales that get the sound I want but I'd like the whole look too :cool: .
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Make your own!

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#453
cvsurg said:
Anyone else anxiously awaiting the report from the Mother Hips show?

Hello,... Tom?
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Hello!

I have to save the description of my meeting with Scott for my book, but...

It went very well. The show was great. It was, in fact, the first time I've ever seen Scott perform in person. I was about ten feet away, so I got to study his technique closely. He told me his biggest influence is Jimmy Page, which is obvious because Scott's fingering is identical to Page's. It's a really bizarre, sort of flapping motion, in which the fingers look like they're doing hammer-ons for every note.

Some bassists play in such a way that the fingers stay as close as possible to the fretboard, barely moving. Scott's attack has his fingers extending as far as possible from the fretboard. You know how people impatiently tap their fingers on a table top when they're waiting for something? That's what it looks like.

He switches effortlessly from pick to fingers, sometimes putting the pick in his mouth, sometimes palming it in his right hand. I've never seen a less-precise picking technique that produced such precision. He generates a massive variety of sounds and dynamics simply by changing his attack. Sometimes he strums violently, swinging his pick hand in an arc over a foot long, but he still hits the strings. He didn't play a single false note, and he improvised the entire time.

Although he stays within the parameters of the bass line, he adds ornamentation that makes each performance unique. He never plays a song the same way twice. I saw Chris Squire's bass solo in 1988, and he still does the same thing, note for note, today. Musically, Thunes dwells entirely in the now, playing what he feels at that precise moment. He's the most improvisational bassist I've ever seen, period.

He almost never looks at the fretboard, which is amazing because he plays figures in the high registers all the time. Stylistically, there's nobody I can compare him to. He's entirely his own creature.

I was able to stay about an hour and then I had to get home as quickly as possible. The drive to Hermosa Beach and back absolutely trashed me. My long-distance driving days are either done or on hold until further notice. I still haven't recovered.

The professional photographer who shot the show took several images of Scott and me. A couple are promising, but since I was in the middle of a rotational vertigo attack I look like I'm about to throw up. I think I'll use one of them anyway, since it's the truth.

All in all, it was worth every second. A great night; great performance; and great reunion.

We had a waitress take photos of us in the restaurant where we met. I was exhausted, nauseated, and dizzy, which you can see in my face. But I was also very happy.

So: We've come full circle, Scott and I.
 

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#454
This one was blurry, which is too bad, because for a second I managed to conceal how crappy I felt.

Another reason it was a good night is because I now realize that, yes, I am officially disabled. Truth and clarity are vital.

Even so, the trip was great because Hermosa Beach is amazing. Full of friendly, helpful, beautiful people. Beach folk are a different species. But these were the first nice beach folk I've encountered.

Imagine Los Angeles with no cosmetic surgery and no Kardashianism. That's what it was like. Slender, fit, happy, nice people. Weird to find such a place in SoCal, and too bad that I discovered it only after I can't travel anymore.

But! It was excellent, and knowing Hermosa Beach is there will forever cheer me up, even if I can't visit it myself. Once was enough.
 

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#458
MouseRat said:
Tom, glad you made it safely.

For a "last" trip, it certainly couldn't have have been for a better cause.
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That's exactly how I view it. The company was great; the venue was great; the music was great; the town was great; and the final whisper of regret was washed completely out of my system, since I know I've been forgiven.

On the way home, I was so tired and nauseated I got lost and ended up at LAX. After entering the maze of roundabouts, I found myself being funneled into a parking garage. I therefore drove over the hash-marked pavement next to the exit lane.

Calamity! Alarm! Instantly I was surrounded by angry Indian men in reflective vests, who pounded on my window and told me I was breaking the rules! Why shouldn't they cite me for a moving violation, huh? Huh?

My poor foggy head was chugging along in slow motion, and I told them I'd simply gotten lost and driven into the wrong lane.

"Dot's no excuse!"

"Well, it's not an excuse. It's a fact. I drove into the wrong lane because I don't know where I am."

"Dot's no excuse."

Then I remembered: In Asian cultures, the confession is all, so I grovelled and apologized, and they let me go, yelling at me as I drove off, "Pay attention next time!"

There won't be a next time, thank God. It would've been $240 for a round-trip taxi ride from my house to Hermosa Beach, excluding the tip. (I called and checked.) For the next Mother Hips show I'll pay it.

My brother, Tim, offered to take me to the gig, but he just got out of the hospital last week and he's feeling grumpy. He's a great guy but not exactly a people person. Here's the self-portrait he took to commemorate being released from the hospital. You'll read all about him in the book.

I thanked him and drove myself instead.
 

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