New School: Viaceslav Svedov
Viacelsav Svedov has been catching the attention of the YouTube world with his inventive and entertaining solo bass covers of popular rock tunes, including “Purple Haze,” “Master of Puppets,” and “Tom Sawyer.” With an infectious sense of energy and enthusiasm, the bassist’s videos have been averaging around 100,000 views while his “Around the World” cover hit nearly 225,000.
Hailing from Lithuania, Svedov now lives in Germany. We caught up with him to find out more about his New School style.
What makes you new school?
I guess that I’m trying to play the bass and melodic line at the same time. Actually, this is not something new. But it is not something that we called old school, for sure.
How did you discover your new school style?
I don’t have much time for music, so I’m always dragging a bass around in the trunk of my car. During my lunch break, while my coworkers are eating sandwiches, I play the bass, sitting in the car. And since I’m playing alone, it isn’t always fun to play “standard” bass lines. So, bit by bit I’ve started to add some intervals and melodic lines. It just happened by itself.
Share some of your videos with us
<
<
<
<What kind of gear do you use?
I have two Sandberg basses (Basic Ken Taylor and an Anniversary model), one luthite body Cort Curbow (that’s the bass I carry with me in the car. It is very compact, and if anything happens to it, I won’t feel too bad).
I recently bought a Fender Precision (with a J-bridge pickup). This is my main bass now. I love it!
I’m quite a young bassist and have not really figured out what kind of equipment I need yet.
For making the videos for YouTube, I use an old Korg Pandora PX3 and a Logitech WebCam c612. For live gigs, I use a Hartke HyDrive 5210 Combo.
What kind of gigs do you get with your new school style?
So far I do not play gigs with my “new school” style. I hope to start to do it later, maybe a year or two.
Any traditional playing gigs?
Yes, I’m playing fairly regularly with various bands in different styles as a session musician. It’s very interesting, and it is lot of fun. Playing “traditional” bass lines with a band is very cool, though I know that one day I’ll have to find “my” band.
Do you have albums where we can hear your new school style?
No, I haven’t so far.
Where can we find you on the web?
What’s next for you?
I hope to play more and more bass and someday make music as my living. I cannot devote as much time to the music as I wanted at the moment. In two years, I’m going to record an album. Maybe even sooner, I’ll start to perform my own music live.
And of course, I will also continue to record video for my YouTube channel.
What else do you want to share?
My smile :)
I like bass players with attitude!
Where’s his version of “Little Wing” … ;-)
Hehehe. It might not work with this kind of slap technique. But I really like the energy behind his playing. Energetic bass players => energy pouring out from the stage.
This guy is a monster
How is this guy not making a living playing music?
Easy answer: He lives in germany. It’s not easy here making a living with music. This is not the USA. He has to find a band that has gigs and a major label contract. No big musicians scene here. Not much gigs, No Bar scene where you can play. Clue No. 1 in Germany: Keep your daytime job.
“New School”, wtf is this skateboarding? Give me a break with the labels dudes. Let the guy play, what the hell is new school, you’re killing the bass now. I agree with Roy Rodic, how is this guy not making a living playing music?” new school” is a horrible term, great now it’s attached to a bass style….fuck it I’ll play with myself.
Wow, David. Killing the bass? Maybe you’re just angry today. This series is celebrating the new bassists out there who are gaining notoriety for their unique styles and approaches to bass. Of course, if you don’t like it, there are 4,000 or so other articles here. If you still don’t like it, we offer full refunds on subscriptions to No Treble.
Corey Brown Ouch god yeah, what was wrong with me yesterday? The term “new school” just has that effect on me. Sorry bros, Svedov is awesome and thats all that matters. *ANY SCHOOL
David Szuch It is all good David, and thanks for replying. I like that: “Any School”. We’ll keep your subscription going ;)
Nice stuff.
Don’t get all the “New School” labeling. I’m guessing it just refers to “new” players?
If it’s referring to music and/or technique, I have yet to see or hear anything that’s actually “new”. Some nice music and technique, yes.
OK, found a description of “New School” below – “new bassists out there who are gaining notoriety for their unique styles and approaches to bass”.
I get it now.
“Just Playing” is the good thing and without music “appreciation” it would be like,”if a tree fell in the forest would anyone hear” good job Viaceslav and all those that play and appreciate.