Choices

          

                                                               Choices


     When I started playing bass, my idea of what I needed to sound like, what I needed to look like, the gear I used and the way I played were all influenced by others. I think that’s part of the process, but if you do not break away from that I feel like its detrimental. It certainly became detrimental to me. Productive practicing was something I learned much later than I should have. I cringe when I think about all the hours I could have spent playing instead of trying to figure out what Duff Mckagan’s amp settings were online.

       A lot of the realization that my tone and my playing were decent was a by-product of self-confidence. I know, first hand, that accepting that things are ok can be difficult. It took me a while, longer than it should have.
 

Credit:Nick H.

   I think the light bulb moment was listening to myself. Realizing my tone and my phrasing wasn’t coming from my fuzz pedal, or my newest bass, or any material thing. Sure, those things where all part of the end product, but the most important thing was that I was making the choices. The choices I made were not dictated by me, they were dictated by the music. I wasn’t playing things because I could; I was playing things because they mattered.

     This is all very timely, interestingly enough. A couple years ago was when I had this realization, I was at M-Sound in Philly with two incredible Albright musicians. We were recording two covers that day, Voodoo Child and St. James Infirmary.

    I’m super proud of Voodoo Child from those sessions. I felt like I played for the song, more than I ever had. I didn’t try to emulate anyone; I didn’t try to be anything other than a solid bass player, which is my job. There were a variety of experiences leading up to this unadulterated moment of clarity in my playing and my self-confidence as a bass player, including The Picturesque album. But I think the Voodoo Child recording cemented the kind of player I envisioned myself as. It sounded like me, and that was all that mattered.

     I had a really good practice session today, which kind of spawned this. But looking back, it’s interesting what a little belief in what you produce can do. If I went into those sessions and tried to copy Noel Redding note for note it would have sucked. It’s the fact that I went in there, not to sound conceited, with the sole intent to tear it up in my own way. And that’s what matters. It doesn’t matter if my bass cost $200 or $2,000 (it cost $150). It matters that we leave it all out there. As musicians that’s what matters and that’s what our legacy is at the end of the day.  A mantra I like to live by and judge anything musical I do is this: How hard did I go? "Hard" being a measure of how well I was able to execute what needed to be accomplished, wether it was a fill, a solo, riding a note or knowing when silence was key.