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Who has NOBODY as an influence?

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NickInMesa

NickInMesa

Jan 1, 2009
3,397
51
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Mesa, Arizona
#1
I was asked a few times by guys doing a pre-interview over the phone who my influences were and I always said "NOBODY".

Usually it gets them wondering and asking me who I like as a bass player, which I can tell right away, but I will never say they are my influence.

I love the style of a few people but only because they play the opposite of the way I play, or that they are guys you never notice.

What if my influence is ME? :D

I had to edit and add this:

I am influenced by nobody IN PARTICULAR. I listen to a variety of music, and I am not trying to EMULATE anybody. The dude who plays JUST like someone, sounding JUST THE SAME, owning the SAME GEAR, after having memorized all the tunes from recording? Not going to be me.

So before flaming me, maybe you should read carefully.
 
#7
Just because you don't try to play like them doesn't mean the musicians you listen to are n't influencing your playing... It could be a subliminal thing even, Pino's talent will creep in and influence you whether you like it or not :D
 
#9
If by NOBODY you mean:

. Nathan East
. Oteil Burbridge
. Bootsy Collins
. Owen, Scott
. Dave LaRue
. Oliveri, Nick
. Y did I do this? I don't know most of these guys I mentioned (I only know Bootsy and Oteil) and I can't even write a decent acronym :rollno:




ACRONYM FAIL, that's what I say.






BTW, completely useless post.​
 
#10
Yeah, to have nobody (no acronym) as an influence, you would have to never, ever, ever, never, never take any kind of advice from another musician, or from anyone who may have an opinion on your playing that you would respect.

I couldn't live like that. :D
 
#14
RobertPaulson said:
have you ever listened to music? then you have influences.
Click to expand...

No. I agree with the OP. I love Steve Harris, John Taylor, and a few other guys, but I don`t play like them and I don`t consider them influences to how I approach music. I consider them inspiration to play, but not influences in composition or technique.

ahbassman said:
your influence doesnt necessarily come from other bass players. any music can influence how you play.
Click to expand...

True, but even so I can still say I like Stewart Copeland and not see him as an influence.

NickInMesa said:
Yes, but then I could give 50 names.

Sorry, I love Pino Palladino, but I don't play like him and he is not my influence.

I love Steve Harris, and I play a lot like him, but it came to me naturally BEFORE I even started listening to Iron Maiden.
Click to expand...

Similar thing with me and Justin Chancellor. I play a lot like him, but I was doing that before I had even heard of Tool. Some people have even said he must be an influence to me, but in all honesty I rarely listen to Tool and I`m not even a big fan of a lot of their work.

shrigg said:
Just because you don't try to play like them doesn't mean the musicians you listen to are n't influencing your playing... It could be a subliminal thing even, Pino's talent will creep in and influence you whether you like it or not :D
Click to expand...

Again, I`d say it`s influence vs. inspiration.
 
#15
Ridiculous.

What scales do you compose in? If Equal temperament you are already massively influenced by a long musical tradition that will steer your compositions.

It is simply not possible to create music that is wholly original; your influences started in the womb with your mother's heartbeat and include the sounds and rythyms you were exposed to then, and every one you were exposed to when your brains neurological pathways were being formed .

This is not a facetious comment but forms the basis of how we experience music, ignoring the even bigger question of why we respond to and create it, which obviously has deep biological imperatives.

You name some players that you sound like, but I'm guessing you sound like them in the context of the style of music they also play in. So in fact you were influenced by the composers or originators of that style. The fact that you even play bass at all shows you were influenced by previous bassists, even if you were influenced to react to established styles to create your own.
 
#16
1. Whether you actually believe it or not, saying that makes you sound like an egotistical jerk, and you're probably perceived as such over the phone

2. You did not suddenly wake up and 'know' how to play. Nearly every tune that you ever heard before you picked up the bass has conditioned you to hear music in the way that you do. Saying that you played like Steve Harris before you ever listened to Iron Maiden makes you sound egotistical. You did not invent the style and pull it out of nowhere. You were exposed to that style of music at some point and that led you to that voice on the instrument.

3. Listing someone as an influence does not mean you sound like them. Go read a Marcus Miller interview. He will list out some of his greatest influences as Jaco, Jamerson, and many others. Does he sound like Jaco? NO! He sounds like himself and plays differently. But Jaco influenced his perception of what was possible on the bass and he learned a lot from that, it helped form him as a player. Victor Wooten is another amazing player and it would be hard to peg another contemporary or predecesor of his who has a similar sound or style; even HE will say that he was influenced by the greats of the 60's and 70's like Jaco, Stanley Clarke, etc. His sound was informed by what came before him.

If you say that you have no influences, then you simply haven't been paying attention and you are not self-analyzing your playing and style. You have what you have because someone else came before you and laid the groundwork. YOU are not some angel of rock that pulled the groove from the void. ALL of the great players will list influences; because analyzing your influences and style is part of what takes you to another level of playing beyond simply pounding out notes.
 
#17
IMHO we have been obviously influenced by some people that we try to imitate (or even AVOID) their style (more or less) and then subconsciously influenced by other players styles (bass players or not). I only lately realized that a VERY under-rated (under-rated in my mind before realizing his influence on me) bass player had subconsciously influenced some melodic playing in my composition: Pete Way (Michael Schenker-era of UFO)
 
#19
indeed, there can be little doubt that you're a pioneer. a visionary. a true original struggling for recognition.








'we were call The Originals. But then there was another band called The Originals, so we had to change our name to The New Originals.'

Link Removed
 
#20
If a person claims to have no influences, then he or she is in serious denial, is egotistical, and is not honest with him or herself, and the only one they are fooling are themselves. Unless you can invent an instrument totally different than anything on earth, and come from another planet without ever hearing music before, you have been influenced. There is simply no way around this fact. The mere fact you chose to play the electric bass and post on talkbass says you have been influenced.
 
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