Reader Spotlight: Jennifer (Geni) Alania

Meet Jennifer Alania (aka Geni), a bassist from Oakland, Calfornia, by way of South Beach, Florida, and our player in the spotlight for February 22, 2011.

We think Geni might have the coolest grandfather in our reader spotlight history too.

Bio:

My name is Jennifer (Geni) Alania and I reside in Oakland, California, but I was born and raised in South Beach, Florida.

Music has always been a big part of my life. It’s helped me through rough times and has made the good times even better. Being a female bassist isn’t at all easy, but I have found that I have the talent to prove others wrong.

Location:

Oakland, CA

Day gig:

I work at Boston Market, and I am a professional piercer as well as a tattoo artist.

Years experience:

3 years

Gear:

I’m a traveler, so I only carry around an OLP 4-string Stringray clone bass.

Why I play the bass:

My grandfather was a huge influence on me. He would always sit me and my brother down to watch an old AC/DC Live VHS and tell us what great musicians they all were. As I got older I picked up the guitar and realized it wasn’t the instrument for me. Then picked up the bass and automatically fell in love.

My bass superpower/claim to fame

I can tap on bass like no other woo-man out there, or so I have been told… hahaha. My specialties are tapping and slapping.

My influences

Alex Valazquez from a local Miami band Abiotic. I learned alot from him. Jaco Pastorius. Stanley Clarke. Flea. Joe Lester from Intronaut. Marcus Miller. Tal Wilkenfeld. Michael Manring. Victor Wooten. Tool.

Recent Video:

Here’s a new song I’ve been working on. Still working on it really, but this is what I have done so far. I recorded it straight through my PC and picked some random pics for the video. Enjoy!