Hooboy...
Tell me you're a grumpy old man without telling me you're a grumpy old man...
Tell me you're a grumpy old man without telling me you're a grumpy old man...
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Stu Hamm Hears Vulfpeck For The First Time
- Thread starter Fondsdale
- Start date
Maybe some were staged but I imagine a pro musician who is regularly playing sessions and touring doesn't have a lot of time for recreational listening. I also imagine it would be really hard to play a song differently if you're familiar with it.
I am not aware of a ton of popular bands from all decades and would not be able to recognize them. It doesn't mean I haven't heard their music somewhere but I have no idea who they are or how the song really goes.
I know some of these people and you're absolutely right. Their general knowledge of music ended right at the point where they started getting paid to create it. One of them has only rarely heard of any bands or songs that aren't at least 30 years old. You can see pro players talking about it here - how when music became a job, it became just that. When the work day's over, they shut off the music.
The more I think about this video the more irritated I get. Oh grandma, is new music harsh to your delicate ears? Is Rush too whacky?
As an episode of SBL, dont think it worked.
Some do..some don't.
I normally like Ian Allinson but not one his best imv. I don't get what the girl adds either.
Some do..some don't.
I normally like Ian Allinson but not one his best imv. I don't get what the girl adds either.
Pretty sure that's the joke...they're having fun with it and he's laughing at himself.
Sure hope so. I've heard other stories about the guy where he's been kind of a surly dude.
The "Quincy Jones hears The Beatles for the first time" was - and by far the most entertaining.
I thought the Mike Portnoy hears Taylor Swift for the first time was pretty funny. Talk about overplaying a little bit.
He was literally laughing and said "I have better taste in music than anyone in the world". It's not that serious. I don't know the guy at all though so perhaps he is sometimes grumpy or surly. I didn't get that vibe from this particular video though.
Stu Hamm is a legendary bassist and innovator who has most certainly earned his stripes, credibility, etc.
That said, I too found his whole "Stu Hamm tolerates" schtick in the video annoying and "cringe" as the kids used to say. If it was meant to be a joke, it did not land and came off as a grumpy old man and an arrogant elitist who manipulated the game to bend to his will. He came off as not treating the experience with respect, and his playing felt phoned in.
His Mayones bass was pretty sweet, though.
I like the "first time" Drumeo videos, especially when drummer hear something not in their wheelhouse. Like when Jake Sommers (a country drummer for Luke Combs) created his own drum part for a Gojira song. Gojira's brand of progressive-technical-death metal is mental gymnastics for anyone to play and very much outside Jake's wheelhouse, but Jake just went for it, respected the music for what it was, respected the musicians for what they do, and treated the whole experience with respect, had a positive attitude... and the result was a pretty damn good drum part.
That said, I too found his whole "Stu Hamm tolerates" schtick in the video annoying and "cringe" as the kids used to say. If it was meant to be a joke, it did not land and came off as a grumpy old man and an arrogant elitist who manipulated the game to bend to his will. He came off as not treating the experience with respect, and his playing felt phoned in.
His Mayones bass was pretty sweet, though.
I like the "first time" Drumeo videos, especially when drummer hear something not in their wheelhouse. Like when Jake Sommers (a country drummer for Luke Combs) created his own drum part for a Gojira song. Gojira's brand of progressive-technical-death metal is mental gymnastics for anyone to play and very much outside Jake's wheelhouse, but Jake just went for it, respected the music for what it was, respected the musicians for what they do, and treated the whole experience with respect, had a positive attitude... and the result was a pretty damn good drum part.
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I've met Stu and took a lesson from him at one point. This was all very in line with his sense of humor. Whether or not someone finds it funny or not is entirely down to personal taste. I wouldn't take it too seriously as I'm certain Stu most certainly didn't and was definitely just poking fun.
It's kind of funny to me that I can describe Vulfpeck's music and the Joe Dart signature Stingray in the exact same phrasing: take something that's great and strip it of everything that makes it great until it's exactly like everything else.
Take a Stingray and gut the unique circuitry so it's just like any other bass and you've got the Joey Dart model
Take funk and gut the over-the-top flamboyant style and manic energy so it's just like any other dance music and you've got Vulfpeck.
Sorry, not sorry.
Maybe, but if the content creator needs to put a note on the video that it’s a joke it tells you the joke isn’t landing. You should never have to explain a bit or joke.
Talkbass .... there WILL be opinions 
Of course you shouldn't have to explain a bit or joke, but this is 2026. I didn't even know there was a note on the video to tell people that it's a joke, but that's probably more on the audience IMO. It seem pretty obvious to me.
I don't know how Stu Hamm is in real life and can only formulate an opinion based on the video. There are plenty of people out there who come off as jerks on screen but are lovely people in real life. There also also plenty of people who seem like sweethearts on screen but are nasty in real life.
And unfortunately, Stu Hamm's snarky/pungent sense of humor did not come across well in that video. It came off (to me and several others in this thread and the YouTube comments section) as annoying, "cringe," even dismissive/arrogant. The folks in this thread here who've met Stu would say he's none of those things... but that's what many of us saw in that video.
The Internet is a cruel mistress and one needs to be EXTRA vigilant of how they come across on it. And, unfortunately, that video has painted Stu Hamm as "grumpy grandma."
And unfortunately, Stu Hamm's snarky/pungent sense of humor did not come across well in that video. It came off (to me and several others in this thread and the YouTube comments section) as annoying, "cringe," even dismissive/arrogant. The folks in this thread here who've met Stu would say he's none of those things... but that's what many of us saw in that video.
The Internet is a cruel mistress and one needs to be EXTRA vigilant of how they come across on it. And, unfortunately, that video has painted Stu Hamm as "grumpy grandma."
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that's a woman and she has a name. Show some respect.
She generally provides a connection to more novice and younger players than IMA or Scott would - I think it's smart that she's so involved.
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This is where I'm coming from too.
I really don't appreciate when creative people rip on other creative people.
And too many people have dumb ideas about what's funny - the most fundamental rule of comedy is that if you have to explain the joke after you tell it, it's not funny. When it's also completely reliant on negative comments on someone's creative work, I think it's just crappy, regardless of intent.
