Reader Spotlight: Rodney Vidanes

Meet Rodney Vidanes, a bassist from the Philippines who really caught our attention with his terrific story. Rodney has the right attitude (read his superpower), has an open mind to many musical genres, and like many others he started out on another instrument, only to find he really was a bassist.

Rodney is the No Treble reader in the spotlight for the week of September 30, 2013.

Bio:

I’m from the Philippines and my family loves music. I grew up listening to Beatles, Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Everly Brothers, America and other old stuff. Then I began to like all these glam-rock and metal bands in my teens. It was also the time that I started learning to play the bass. I had my first band experience at 16. From then on, my interest in music developed, listening to other styles like classical, jazz, pop, fusion, etc. and much more my attachment on the bass kept on filling that desire to play and learn.

My first professional experience was playing and making a record with the progressive rock band Fuseboxx, then it was followed by another recording gig with an alternative band Solace. Years went on, I still look up to musicians and bass players for their awesome talent, listening and learning from them. Now I play more actively than before and hoping for more opportunities to make a record and to do gigs and festivals.

Location:

Las Pinas City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Day gig:

I’m a freelance digital compositor for an animation studio that works with 2D projects. But now I’m also enjoying my fully devoted time in music and the bands that I play with. I’m also grateful to do a couple paying gigs which is a blessing and my wife’s unequaled support really makes what I do more satisfying.

Years experience:

I’ve been playing the bass for almost 20 years.

Bands & Gigs:

I’m actively playing in a few bands with different genres. It keeps my musical growth in constant motion somehow. I’m a member of Humanfolk and the Johnny Alegre Trio which played in Mosaic Music Festival and in Kota Kinabalu Jazz Festival of this year (2013). I’m also part of Absolute Zero (pop/rock/jazz), Jack Versus The Crab (blues/jazz/country/groove), 911 (jazz fusion trio) and Timelight Panorama (progressive rock).

Gear:

• Ibanez BTB 1405 Premium
• Warwick Rockbass Corvette 5-string
• Hartke A70 Dave Ellefson Limited Edition
• Tech 21 Sansamp Para Driver DI
• Boss CE-2B Bass Chorus
• Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive

Why I play the bass:

I used to be a rhythm guitar player in a high school band. But when our bassist left the band, no one wanted to take his place until our guitarist friend taught me some basic tips how to play the bass. Why me? Maybe because I was the least skilled guitarist in the band, I didn’t know how to solo haha! But now I can say that that moment was meant for me. I fell in love with the bass since then and doing some bass solos occasionally is much more a great feeling. It’s awesome!

My bass superpower/claim to fame

I just keep it tight, I hold down the groove in the pocket. So if anything goes wrong, the band won’t fall apart.

My influences

I think my top influences (in any order) would be Duff McKagan, Billy Sheehan, Jaco Pastorius, Stefan Lessard, John Patitucci, Abraham Laboriel and Simon Tan. I also listen to Matthew Garrison, Geddy Lee, Gary Willis, Hadrien Feraud, Victor Wooten, Jeff Berlin, Tony Grey, John Myung, etc. and other instrumentalists like John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock and many more.

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