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Interviewing Bassists Stories part 2
- Thread starter Thor
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Honestly one of the best things I have ever read on the internet...
Good luck with this sure to be awesome book Tom...Can not wait to get a copy!
Good luck with this sure to be awesome book Tom...Can not wait to get a copy!
The book is finished, and it's been sent to the editor. A few bass stories had to be culled to make room for other stuff, so I'll post them here.
An L.A. story:
I went to the Hollywood Bowl to interview a bassist after a concert. The original plan was for me to actually see the concert, but somebody screwed up. There was no ticket for me at the will-call window and the show was sold out. So I stood outside for two hours, waiting.
Watching the crowd coming in and out, I realized that at thirty-eight I was the youngest male there. Every man in attendance had a face-listed female companion at least thirty years his junior. Most of the women wore a weird one-piece miniskirt dress and wide-brimmed hat, almost like a sallow sombrero.
After the show I saw the bassist in a small office on the other side of the entrance gate. He wore coattails and looked angry. I waded through the crowd of elderly millionaires and billionaires streaming out of the Bowl and made my way to the office. Outside the window, I waved to the bassist; he glared and turned away. I knocked on the glass in the door, and he stormed over.
"Tom Wictor, Bass Player magazine!" I yelled.
He opened the the door and snapped, "Yes, yes!" as though of course he knew I was Tom Wictor from Bass Player magazine, so why would I insult him by telling him something he obviously already knew.
"Did you hear the show?” he asked.
"From the outside of the Bowl, yeah. There was no ticket at the will-call window." He just stared. After a few seconds, I asked if we could begin.
"Of course!" he barked. He kept getting angry throughout the interview, telling me about the style of music he played and where it may or may not have originated, "But I don’t know! Nobody knows! Why's it important? It isn't!" Since he'd started the history lesson on the music without me even asking, I didn’t know why he was getting so upset at me.
He described a traditional way of playing the upright bass by hitting the strings with a bow, "But we won’t get into that."
Really, I wondered. Why not? Would it be considered offensive?
He talked about how boring his parts were, and he became furious explaining how people transcribed music. "They write it as a quarter note and an eighth note or as an eighth
note, an eighth rest, and an eighth note, but it's not! It’s an idiomatic feel!"
That was how the entire interview went. By the end of it I'd had it with him and his "artistic temperament." He never apologized for me having to stand for two hours outside the Bowl. I wrote up a glowing piece on him that made him so happy he invited me to another show with another band he played in that performed a completely different style of traditional music.
I declined, because that music was ever more idiomatic than the one he usually played, so I imagined that he'd get so angry telling me about it that he'd actually try to strangle me in the course of the interview.
An L.A. story:
I went to the Hollywood Bowl to interview a bassist after a concert. The original plan was for me to actually see the concert, but somebody screwed up. There was no ticket for me at the will-call window and the show was sold out. So I stood outside for two hours, waiting.
Watching the crowd coming in and out, I realized that at thirty-eight I was the youngest male there. Every man in attendance had a face-listed female companion at least thirty years his junior. Most of the women wore a weird one-piece miniskirt dress and wide-brimmed hat, almost like a sallow sombrero.
After the show I saw the bassist in a small office on the other side of the entrance gate. He wore coattails and looked angry. I waded through the crowd of elderly millionaires and billionaires streaming out of the Bowl and made my way to the office. Outside the window, I waved to the bassist; he glared and turned away. I knocked on the glass in the door, and he stormed over.
"Tom Wictor, Bass Player magazine!" I yelled.
He opened the the door and snapped, "Yes, yes!" as though of course he knew I was Tom Wictor from Bass Player magazine, so why would I insult him by telling him something he obviously already knew.
"Did you hear the show?” he asked.
"From the outside of the Bowl, yeah. There was no ticket at the will-call window." He just stared. After a few seconds, I asked if we could begin.
"Of course!" he barked. He kept getting angry throughout the interview, telling me about the style of music he played and where it may or may not have originated, "But I don’t know! Nobody knows! Why's it important? It isn't!" Since he'd started the history lesson on the music without me even asking, I didn’t know why he was getting so upset at me.
He described a traditional way of playing the upright bass by hitting the strings with a bow, "But we won’t get into that."
Really, I wondered. Why not? Would it be considered offensive?
He talked about how boring his parts were, and he became furious explaining how people transcribed music. "They write it as a quarter note and an eighth note or as an eighth
note, an eighth rest, and an eighth note, but it's not! It’s an idiomatic feel!"
That was how the entire interview went. By the end of it I'd had it with him and his "artistic temperament." He never apologized for me having to stand for two hours outside the Bowl. I wrote up a glowing piece on him that made him so happy he invited me to another show with another band he played in that performed a completely different style of traditional music.
I declined, because that music was ever more idiomatic than the one he usually played, so I imagined that he'd get so angry telling me about it that he'd actually try to strangle me in the course of the interview.
I had most of it written in the form of transcripts, notes, diaries, and unpublished essays. This was mostly an exercise in editing and arranging in order to create a narrative.Wow, that was fast!
Sorry, but I am still impressed
I was always a terrible writer. If I had to write a two page essay in school, the first version would come out at 1 1/2 pages. After trying to make everything as verbose as I could, the second version would be 1 1/4 pages
I've always written far too much. The guy who's editing my memoir--Jason S. Sitzes--taught me how to say much more with fewer words.Sorry, but I am still impressed
I was always a terrible writer. If I had to write a two page essay in school, the first version would come out at 1 1/2 pages. After trying to make everything as verbose as I could, the second version would be 1 1/4 pages
Writing this memoir was an exercise in cutting way back, not expanding. I've lengthened some of the stories I posted here in the first thread, but they're still short compared to what they would've been a couple years ago.
+2 to Bass Player Magazine hiring you to interview whoever you like to and write about it. Stranger things have happened.
i'm subscribed now.
i've been on tour for a while and i had forgotten about Tom's brilliant anecdotes.
really excited about the book!
i've been on tour for a while and i had forgotten about Tom's brilliant anecdotes.
really excited about the book!
Tom,
In your book "In Cold Sweat", you mention waiting three hours for an interview with Peter Hook, and in the story posted above, you waited two hours to interview another bassist.
Why do you wait so long for these interviews? Are the bassists THAT important to BP magazine, or to you? Surely, BP could fill its pages with an interview with another bassist (or another advertisement, as they are currently wont to do). At what point does your own self-worth kick in and you say "**** them, they are not that important to interview. My time is worth more to me than sitting around waiting to be verbally abused by some marginally famous bassist"?
Thanks,
Chebass88
In your book "In Cold Sweat", you mention waiting three hours for an interview with Peter Hook, and in the story posted above, you waited two hours to interview another bassist.
Why do you wait so long for these interviews? Are the bassists THAT important to BP magazine, or to you? Surely, BP could fill its pages with an interview with another bassist (or another advertisement, as they are currently wont to do). At what point does your own self-worth kick in and you say "**** them, they are not that important to interview. My time is worth more to me than sitting around waiting to be verbally abused by some marginally famous bassist"?
Thanks,
Chebass88
Hey Tom.....what about all those UNPUBLISHED interviews you already have in your possession? shame to waste them and looks like Brian is interested....."From the Vault Interviews" sounds like a good title for an occasional tidbit.....can't believe after all you've learned, you're still saying "never"....stop handicapping yourself! You are better than that!
Tell you what Brian, I'll commit to a 1 year subscription to your magazine when I see a feature article on Tom, this thread, and its results after Ghosts and Ballyhoo comes out.
Be sure to post here when it's published!
BTW, Tom, I'm the father of a 2-year-old, so my time to read books is almost non-existent. Nevertheless, I just finished In Cold Sweat in less than 2 weeks! Release Ghosts on schedule and I may actually be able to say I read two books this year!
I was late to the party, having only discovered this magnificent thread 2 days ago. I am finally caught up!!
Thank you Tom for depriving me of sleep for the last two nights.
Just downloaded "In Cold Sweat", guess I won't be catching up on my sleep tonight either.
Thank you Tom for depriving me of sleep for the last two nights.
Just downloaded "In Cold Sweat", guess I won't be catching up on my sleep tonight either.
Wow! Tom, I'm seriously looking forward to the book 
. Don't know why, but never looked at the original thread until today, when I thought I'd read a couple of posts while I get ready for work...... Well, I couldn't put it down, and yes, I was late for work Lol! Then I had to pick it up again to finish as soon as I got back home - not finished it completely yet, but needed to comment. Fantastic stuff......
. Don't know why, but never looked at the original thread until today, when I thought I'd read a couple of posts while I get ready for work...... Well, I couldn't put it down, and yes, I was late for work Lol! Then I had to pick it up again to finish as soon as I got back home - not finished it completely yet, but needed to comment. Fantastic stuff......
Anybody have the January and/or February 2002 issues of Bass Player? If so, please PM me. I need to ask a question.
Thanks.
And thanks for all the support. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.
Thanks.
And thanks for all the support. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know.
Remember in Part 1 of this totally amazing thread when I told you I'd blocked out so much of this period?
Well, I've screwed up the date I asked to be taken off the masthead of the magazine.
I threw away all my copies after that date; I was off by February 2002. Can you look to see if you can find the last issue I was on the masthead as Contributing Editor?
I think it was January 2002, but it may have been December 2001.
Thanks. I want to be accurate here. I deleted all my e-mails from Bass Player, too. Keep in mind I never thought I'd write about this, and it's been hard reconstructing a timeline.
While you're at it, Andy West was the last bassist I interviewed for Bass Player. I spoke to him on May 26, 2002, about his solo album. Can you--or anyone--look to see if an article about him ever appeared in the magazine under my name after the June of 2002 issue?
Not a problem Tom - it may be a bit, seeings that the wife (the mrs. kitsap) is taking an early nap before we celebrate mom's day...it's been a hard weekend (one of the kids got a concussion so she went to the hospital for like 6 hours...).
Excellent! Thanks so much. PM me your full name and I'll put you in the acknowledgments of the book.
Also, I'm trying to convince Andy West to post on this thread. Hopefully he will, because his most recent e-mail to me is great.
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