Interviewing Bassists Stories part 2

[Betrayer_Bass]

And that's the way I use my TV too. Also Playstation.

 

[miles'tone]

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.

I know this is a few pages old now Tom, but I'm just so pleased for you that you made it all the way out there to see Scott in person after all this time. Not only that but you got to see him wielding his trusty old black P-bass from just a few feet away. I. Am . So . Jealous! There is just something so 'right' about seeing Scott and said bass together. You know it is going ON.
Great pics Tom and yes you're right, he does look better without the beard, like a decade younger!

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

I know this is a few pages old now Tom, but I'm just so pleased for you that you made it all the way out there to see Scott in person after all this time. Not only that but you got to see him wielding his trusty old black P-bass from just a few feet away. I. Am . So . Jealous! There is just something so 'right' about seeing Scott and said bass together. You know it is going ON.
Great pics Tom and yes you're right, he does look better without the beard, like a decade younger!

Can't add anything to what you said except this photo from that night.

 

[miles'tone]

One of the few players out there who genuinely make a P-bass look tiny! Cool pic.

 

[Stumbo]

...the person closet to me in my life is my brother Tim. When we were growing up, he was an absolute monstrosity who terrorized the rest of us and beat us up.

Thank you for letting us know the source of your deep seated anger that has altered your life so dramatically.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Thank you for letting us know the source of your deep seated anger that has altered your life so dramatically.

Boy, I wish! If it was just my brother beating me up when we were kids, it would've been something I could've come to terms with a long time ago, especially since he apologized and made amends when I was thirty years old.

The fights had stopped when we were all in our late teens. My anger continued until I was almost fifty years old.

It has more than one source.

 

[miles'tone]

That's just beautiful Tom. In many ways. Big fan of Moloko here.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

That's just beautiful Tom. In many ways. Big fan of Moloko here.

In my book I write about narrowly missing the IRA terrorist bomb in Regent's Park on July 20, 1982. My brother Paul and I turned left at a juncture in the park. If we'd turned right, we would've been blown up. We felt the shock wave of the nail bomb under the bandstand.

I still have PTSD over that. It took me twenty years to stop hating the Irish by finally accepting that it's wrong to hold an entire country and culture responsible for the actions of a few.

Roísín Murphy is one of my favorite singers now.

I always found this song and video almost excruciatingly moving. A large part of my book is dedicated to a relationship that appeared to be preordained, and when it ended I was unable to get on with my life. The relationship began with the "familiar feeling" described in the song. What makes the video great is you don't know if Murphy is imagining the entire relationship, which is how I felt after it ended. Did I imagine it all? Was it real or a hallucination?

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

I got a message asking me for my early bass influences.

The first bassist who really moved me is a Polish guy named Andrej Nebb. He was part of a Polish-Norwegian punk band called De Press.

I first heard him in 1981, the same year I took up the bass. This song stayed with me because of the tone and the bouncy part he plays before each verse. It's a punk love song, if you can believe it.

It took me a while to realize that he's missing the thumb, middle, and ring fingers of his left hand. He's playing those fast parts with only his index finger and pinkie.



Nebb blew me away and inspired me to keep trying, even though I thought I'd never improve. Whenever I got, well, depressed over my crappy playing, I'd think of Andrej Nebb and how he didn't let his missing fingers slow him down a bit.

So if you think you're not any good, remember a Polish refugee who rocked with just two fingers on his fret hand. And he's still performing in Poland.

 

[Betrayer_Bass]

Oh my god. That is incredible!

 

[MouseRat]

It's getting pretty close to the holidays...

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

It's getting pretty close to the holidays...

It is.

The publishing industry is extremely lax with its estimates for publication even when things are going really well. The crappy economy and now the Frankenstorm have likely pushed things back a bit.

I heard an author on the radio proudly promoting the fact that her new book will be published by the end of 2013. Most big publishing houses take two years to go from accepting the manuscript to getting it out on the shelves.

Schiffer is setting records getting this out. Seriously. They're taking a huge chance.

Speaking of Bill Laswell, the saxophone was the reason I walked out of the Last Exit show in Tokyo. I can't stand that particular style of playing. I like the bass at first in this video, especially since the cameraman snipped frames to get that cool Jacob's Ladder demon effect on Laswell.

But I only lasted about fifteen minutes in the Tokyo concert. It looks like people are walking out of this one, too.

 

[miles'tone]

Yep I just walked out of that one too... I can play the sax like that, it's easy... A la "never had one lesson" - Ferris Bueller.

Alot of free jazz for me is like modern art - a load of BS that anyone could do.. except some people are savvy enough to get themselves paid for it.

On the subject of Bill Laswell, I'd like to thank you Tom for turning me onto him as I'd never heard of him before. That track 'legs' by Massacre that you posted earlier sometime in this thread blew my mind. So much in fact that I actually bought myself a cheap fretless! Ok I'm no Laswell but I have to say it's a total scream getting goofy on it!
(Expect my debut freejazz solo album no time soon)

Here's hoping for the book soon Tom. First day of publication, I'm on it!

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

On the subject of Bill Laswell, I'd like to thank you Tom for turning me onto him as I'd never heard of him before. That track 'legs' by Massacre that you posted earlier sometime in this thread blew my mind. So much in fact that I actually bought myself a cheap fretless! Ok I'm no Laswell but I have to say it's a total scream getting goofy on it!
(Expect my debut freejazz solo album no time soon)

One thing I learned from him is putting alligator clips on the strings, down near the bridge. By moving them around, you can get amazing sounds.

For a while I had alligator clips on the strings, a brass slide, and my own version of Thunderfingers, made of PVC pipe with shortened drumsticks screwed to them.

Can't remember if I posted this before. It's a MusicMan Sting Ray, if you can believe it:



I made the mistake--when I met him--of thinking "Legs," "Work Song," and "Upright Man" meant he had a great sense of humor.

Little advice for everyone: Always separate the art from the artist. In fact, don't meet your heroes. That's what Peter Hook told me, and he was right. I scrupulously avoid reading anything about artists whose work I love.

The only exception is Scott Thunes, but he's in a category all his own on every possible level, so he doesn't count.

 

[miles'tone]

I made the mistake--when I met him--of thinking "Legs," "Work Song," and "Upright Man" meant he had a great sense of humor.

Little advice for everyone: Always separate the art from the artist. In fact, don't meet your heroes. That's what Peter Hook told me, and he was right. I scrupulously avoid reading anything about artists whose work I love.

The only exception is Scott Thunes, but he's in a category all his own on every possible level, so he doesn't count.

That's a shame.
You would think that anyone who plays so out there and yes a bit 'goofy' would at least have a sly wink or tongue in cheek about it. I find it hard to take such an approach straight.
That doesn't mean I consider the art of it any less valid than something 'serious'.

Look at Frank Zappa and his work. He could go as out there as anyone ever has, yet still reigning it in sometimes with music of such magesty that it leaves you breathless. Then, with a tongue firmly in cheek, he'll go draw 'the eyebrows' on it.

I absolutely agree with all you said about Scott Thunes. Not least because he knows, more than any living bassist, that humor does indeed belong in music.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

You would think that anyone who plays so out there and yes a bit 'goofy' would at least have a sly wink or tongue in cheek about it.

He's famous for treating interviewers and fans with contempt.

One thing that I no longer tolerate is head games. Like so many others, he had the viewpoint that if you praised him you were a mindless sycophant, and if you didn't like his stuff you were a philistine who didn't get it.

It's all based on some deeply personal struggle that has nothing to do with me, so I no longer care. Music is great, but it's not cardiovascular surgery or Coast Guard rescue swimming or disaster relief work. How many lives has "Legs" saved?

So I can't take "serious" musicians seriously anymore. I still like some of Bill's work, though.

I much prefer Percy Jones, who explores a similar arena but is much more light hearted and doesn't come across as a massive, ponderously important arteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeest. His music makes me smile.

 

[miles'tone]

**** me! Percy Jones is awesome!!

Again, the thread giveth.

Thanks Tom.

 

[miles'tone]

One thing that I no longer tolerate is head games. Like so many others, he had the viewpoint that if you praised him you were a mindless sycophant, and if you didn't like his stuff you were a philistine who didn't get it.

It's all based on some deeply personal struggle that has nothing to do with me, so I no longer care. Music is great, but it's not cardiovascular surgery or Coast Guard rescue swimming or disaster relief work. How many lives has "Legs" saved?

So I can't take "serious" musicians seriously anymore. I still like some of Bill's work, though

Ps. Well said.

 

[Arthritic_Tom]

Ps. Well said.

Thank you.

People don't have to be a laugh a minute, but I've just had enough of grim heavies.

I posted this before, but in case you didn't see it, "fretless" with a twist. No fretboard!

 

[miles'tone]

Amazing! And not just a novelty either, that's one of the best growly fretless tones ever. Just goes to show you don't need all the best gear to sound great. If you can play, you can play.

This reminds me of a time a few years ago when I was at the St. Ives fringe festival in Corwall here in the UK. It's a beautiful small seaside town with lots of art galleries etc..
Anyway this was at a time when I was learning upright bass and I was stewing in my own juices on how I was going to afford the 5 grand or so for the new double bass that I NEEDED as my lowly cheap student bass was just going to hold me back.... (Those Talkbass GAS devils!)
Well as I was walking along there was a busking group out on the seafront playing some amazing sounding New Orleans upbeat jazz and when I eventually saw the bass player, he was playing a home-made bathtub bass! You know, steel bath upturned on the street with a broom handle coming out of it and one huge rubber band for a string! He was outstanding.
(both the sound and his musicianship)
Made me totally reconsider what is important regarding being a musician and I've never forgotten him. (forgot about getting a new fancy upright right there though)
Still got my old student bass with nice flubby gut-like strings on it. Sounds like a cardboard box and I love it. It has eyebrows.