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The
Summer 2003 edition was our special featured
Bass Edition and included:
THE
BASS EDITION
BASS
PLAYER TRIBUTES -
Once defined as the guy who hangs out
with musicians, the bass player now performs
a critical role in the creative development
of contemporary music. Jaco Pastorius
showed that almost anything could be
played on bass, while The Chili Peppers’
Flea and his in-your-face bass inspired
thousands of young music fans to shun
the six string in favour of the bass
guitar. In this special edition, Australian
Musician pays tribute to the humble bass
and those who sail upon her. Inside you’ll
find interviews with some of the finest
bassists around, road tests on the latest
bass gear, bass news and first up...we
asked your favourite bassists who their
fave bass players were.
THE
BASS EDITION
STEPHANIE
ASHWORTH FROM
SOMETHING FOR KATE
- Currently saturating the airwaves is
Something For Kate’s "Song
For A Sleepwalker" the second single
release off Something for Kate's #1 ARIA
charting album, "The Official Fiction"
and the follow up to their Top 20 hit
single, "Déjà Vu".
Produced by the band and Trina Shoemaker,
the lush country-tinged ballad features
front man Paul Dempsey on lead vocals
with special guest singer Caitlin Cary
(who, along with Ryan Adams, was a member
of Whiskeytown) on backing vocals.
THE
BASS EDITION
DAVE
LUMSDAINE OF
LO TEL - Sydney-based
alt-rockers Lo-Tel recently released
their sparkling follow-up to their hugely
successful 2000 debut, Planet of the
Stereos. The album - The Lost Thing -
sees the band taking several giant leaps
forward churning out some very savvy
playing, killer lyrics and even more
importantly, deadly hook laden songs.
Curiously, it was almost the record that
never was. You see during 2000 and 2001,
Lo-tel toured the life out of Stereos,
especially in the wake of the album’s
hit single, "Teenager of the Year".
And they did long tours that included
a 30-dater with Superjesus as well as
weird bills like a triple headliner with
Taxiride and Train!
THE
BASS EDITION
JAMES
KEMPSTER FROM
'WE WILL ROCK YOU'
- Looking at a picture of James Kempster
and comparing it to his biography I was
struck by how incongruous it seemed.
I’m not sure exactly what his age
is, but his resume reads like the achievements
of an extremely seasoned veteran. Currently
playing bass in the ‘We will rock
you’ show band he got his start
on ‘Cats’ and has seemingly
played every show since. But not content
with just interpreting other peoples’
music he is also a well respected songwriter
who has written for a range of international
artists and is now working on material
for Australian Idol and ‘Home and
Away’ starlet Tammin Sursock’s
imminent arrival as a popstar. What’s
more he’s also a producer …
it’s kind of mind boggling. I asked
him how he got started in the caper?
THE
BASS EDITION
SCOTT
OWEN FROM
LIVING END - The
Living End are one of Australia’s
most successful alternative acts, with
a string of successful singles and tours
propelling them to the international
stage. Scott Owen plays double bass,
an instrument rarely seen in popular
music and his driving slap is an integral
part of the band’s sound. James
O’Toole spoke to Scott Owen a few
weeks before the release of Modern Artillery,
The Living End’s new album.
THE
BASS EDITION
RHONDA
SMITH FROM
PRINCE'S NEW POWER GENERATION
- Montreal born, LA-based Rhonda Smith
is an in-demand bass player of the highest
order. Her resume includes work with
Chaka Khan, Sheile E and several TV bands
such as The Martin Short Show band in
which she backed artists as diverse as
Little Richard, Justin Timberlake and
Robert Palmer. As a member of Prince's
current New Power Generation band, Rhonda
is on call 24 hours a day. The Paisley
one may, and mostly does call upon his
band to play several times a day, and
at any time he likes. On the recently
completed Australian tour, the band were
required to perform at sound check around
4pm for fan club members. Around 9pm
they'd perform the full ticketed show
they'd been scheduled to do. Then they'd
rock on to a local club for the after
party, a free-for-all jam session which
could last for hours. If Prince was particularly
happy, he'd seek, and find yet another
venue to play. When I spoke to Rhonda
Smith she was recovering from such a
day, one that eventually ended at 5.30am.
NOKTRNL
- After a string of successful singles,
national exposure and winning best band
in the 2003 Deadlys, Nokturnl have finally
released their diverse debut album, Time
Flies, to critical acclaim. James O’Toole
spoke to guitarist Damien Armstrong the
day before Nokturnl left for a four week
tour of Germany.
DOUBLEDRIVE
- In an age dominated by angry, loud
rock and tales of woe and abuse, it is
refreshing to see a band break from the
doldrums that bind their peers and revel
in the pure redemptive power of rock
n' roll. DoubleDrive's music is not based
on false attitude and ego-driven bluster,
rather it is substance unto itself —
possessing a sense of both edginess and
melody. Their debut for Roadrunner Records
"Blue In The Face" is a bold
statement to that effect. "We've
been holding our breath so long waiting
for this to happen," says DoubleDrive
guitarist Troy McLawhorn. You see, prior
to signing to their current label the
band were already locked in a stalemate
with their former label.
SPINESHANK
- Spineshank play a furious brand of
modern metal with melodic vocals and
extensive use of electronics for added
spice. Spineshank’s music is aggressive
yet immediately accessible and their
latest album Self Destructive Pattern
is a worthy follow up to The Height of
Callousness, which received universal
acclaim. James O’Toole spoke to
drummer and main songwriter Tommy Decker
during a break in their US tour.
RESIN
DOGS - There was
a time when I found the idea of street
level poetry being recited over beats
kind of interesting. But these days hip
hop is all too often a soundtrack for
repetitive and insincere whingeing, most
often by guys so rich they could buy
the ghetto. It is very rarely ‘dope’
or even ‘the bomb’ —
if indeed I have used the appropriate
vernacular correctly - so it is refreshing
to note the emergence of the Resin Dogs,
a thoroughly live and funky collective
that references hip hop without succumbing
to the empty boasting, complaining and
misogyny that plagues the genre. Talking
to DJ Katch I am struck by how unassuming
and Australian he sounds. In fact he
comes across as a good bloke, and is
not in the least afraid to talk about
the techie, nerdy things that have to
do with actually cranking out tunes.
Gear road
tested in the current edition includes:
-
Shure PSM200 Personal Monitors
-
Carl Martin "Hot Drive n’
Boost Mk3 & DeLaya Guitar Pedals
-
Ashdown Engineering "Fallen Angel"
60 watt combo amp
