Many great Australian artists who need some serious bass or vocals captured on their live or recording project, seem to turn to Joe Creighton. Certainly this has been the case with the legendary "Voice" John Farnham, "The Impossible Princess" Kylie Minogue , and recently Olivia Newton-John for her USA tour. Rob Walker recently caught up with Joe for a chat.

Irish born Joe immigrated to Australia in the late sixties and after a stint in Japan & The US proceeded to make a name for himself on the Australian music scene as a vocalist and bass player in bands such as Billy T, The Black Sorrows and The Revelators, Joe recalls…."Growing up in Belfast gave me a great grounding in R&B and Blues music. As a teenager I use to go to clubs and watch bands such as Van Morrison's Them. One of my friends had a brother whom, as a confirmed Beatnik had a superb collection of jazz & blues records. We would sneak into his room and listen to all of his records e.g. Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin-Hopkins, Sonny Terry & Brownie Magee, Sleepy John Estes, Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus to mention a few. We were just trying to be really cool, but the music took a hold and we all became addicts. This great legacy of music has stood me in great stead and to this day I approach all music with that Blues attitude. " "I decided to take the bass seriously when I was living in Japan in 1971. Before that I was a vocalist and accompanied myself on guitar and played a little bass. At that time I basically did an intensive study of David Hood’s playing on the Staple Singers ‘Respect Yourself’ album. I observed where he placed the notes with respect to the drums {drummer Roger Hawkins} and the length of the notes. In other words where he left the holes for rhythmic effect. The depth of his groove inspired me so much that I would try for hours to match his feel, to try to get inside of what he was doing. On the surface it is very simple but at its depth it is the essence of true groove that touches your soul. I have always believed we are the sum of our influences. When an artist approaches me with a song, I just go through my files and say "yeah this is a such & such feel with a dash of what’s his name, and off I go", but actually it’s me. I still give full credit to those great players that have taught me to be what I am." Joe has had some great opportunities when visiting artists have come to Australia. For the opening of the Hard Rock Café in Melbourne he played with Boz Scaggs, and at the opening of The Crown Casino he performed with Ray Charles, but his favourite memory is jamming all night with Tony Joe White, " I thought I had died and gone to heaven." Another great memory was when he supported the Neville Brothers and got to jam with Willie Green and Tony Hall at some local clubs. Joe has just completed an album with his old friend Joe Camileri with a band they have called the Revelators and is also working on the new Farnham album, both to be released soon. Playing with so many top artists, Joe needs to tackle many styles. "I tend to work as a minimalist as a bassist. How to anchor it, how to make it feel rhythmical, how to make it feel danceable — if it’s a more moody song how to anchor the chords and how to make it groove are the things that are important to me. " This is ably demonstrated on Joe's solo album projects. When you see a Joe Creighton album, you'd be forgiven for expecting heaps of flashy bass playing - not so. You do get beautiful groove playing tailor made for the songs though. "I'm a songwriter first" says Joe when referring to his own albums - I started as a singer. Everything comes from that really; the bass has got to fit the song. If you notice it too much you've blown it in my view." When describing what he looks for in a bass player Joe likes a player who lays the foundation of the song down and makes it very easy for a singer to sing to. The bass player adds melody and rhythm and it is important that these be subtle. The music is built upon this foundation. Unless it’s really required like in jazz or soloing, the listener should not notice it too much. The bass can be very colourful within this parameter when you’re using higher register notes and it is this texture that the listener should notice. Also I think when a drummer fills, the bass should be the anchor, rather than filling together and taking the song further than it needs to go. But again it depends on the situation." Many bass players are opting for five and six string basses to perhaps take the instrument to other dimensions. "The five is not my favourite" says Joe. "I tend to play in the next octave up. For example on my Hofner Beatle bass I find the D on the A string of the Hofner sounds lower than the low D on a five string — it seems to be a fundamental of an acoustic bass which gives the extra harmonic making it sound lower. If a five string is over used in the lower register I find they can muddy up the mix a bit — but sometimes the songs are written so that I need to use it. I think Leo Fender made the perfect bass — Leo got it right as far as I’m concerned — I love those basses." Joe is using Warwick gear for his amplification — a CL Combo for general use and a Quad 6 head with 2x411 Pro Cabs for the bigger venues and concerts. For guitars he uses his favourite, a 1961 Fender Jazz Bass which he enthuses has a beautiful growly sound and feels so great. It would certainly have a lot of stories to tel. He uses a Hofner ’64 re-issue Beatle Bass for recording. On stage he uses a Fender American Deluxe Jazz. "You can just dial your sound. It’s got a great EQ tone circuit and you can dial any sound you want in — from a pokey back pick up Jazz bass sound or a warmer fatter Precision sound . Sometimes live, a passive bass can let you down a little where particular styles are needed like slap — I prefer the sound of passive basses for recording, but live sometimes you need a bit extra via an active bass. And through a big PA, active circuits are good, but it depends on the song. A lot of the new guitars are beautifully made, great woods, and the pick up systems are a lot less noisy, but then there are a lot of basses coming out with a bit of a generic sound. I like a bit of quirkiness like you get in individual, old instruments — so I guess a bass player needs a little arsenal of basses to cope with different situations." For the young player Joe recommends that you learn all you can early on. "One thing I regret is perhaps not learning enough about music theory as a young player. I would have liked to have had more knowledge of harmony. So get a good grounding in music to help you understand how the notes work within the chords." For bass strings he uses Thomastic Jazz Flat Wounds & Fodera Round Wounds. His gauges usually are 45, 65, 85, 105. In 1994 Joe released his first solo album Holywell to great critical acclaim. He has just released Stranmillis Road, a four track CD of original songs available through www.sapphiremusic.com Check it out.