From The Go-Go’s to Cher: Abby Travis Shares Her Journey Through Iconic Gigs and Personal Projects
Abby Travis is an American Bass Player who worked and toured with The Go Go’s, The Bangles, Beck, Cher and others. She also has her own band called Sumo Princess. In October 2024 she released a 7” split with Anubian Lights called “Europa/Asteroid Transformation” on the same day as NASA launched the Europa Clipper Mission. She is working on new material and plays often in Kingston, NY.
KB: Did you always want to be musician growing up?
Actually no. When I was a kid I wanted to be a lawyer! (Laughing). It kind of makes sense as I can be argumentative.
KB: What is so special about the bass guitar?
The bass guitar glues together rhythm and harmony. Some people can’t even identify the sounds the bass make (I know that seems crazy), but we are what make you move to the music (along with the drums of course).
KB: You are a solo artist and have a band Sumo Princess. What do you prefer and how did you come up with the name?
I loved Sumo Princess but haven’t found the right drummer since we moved to The Catskills in NY State 5 years ago. Gene and I got along very well and were good band mates but we both live in different states. I actually prefer having a band to being a solo artist at this point. I don’t like doing everything by myself. I am very proud of the last 7” I released as a solo artist though. (Europa / Asteroid Transformation).
KB: You toured with The Go Go’s, The Bangles, Beck, Cher and others. What is your fondest memory?
When The Go-Go’s played at The Hollywood Bowl with the whole orchestra. Firstly, the Hollywood Bowl is an iconic venue. It’s even featured in some of my favorite Warner Brothers cartoons, so playing there is very meaningful to me. I got to nerd out and ask questions to the orchestrator which was fun! On one of the songs the USC marching band joined us and they were’t playing in the same tempo with the rest of us which was a bit challenging, but I glued the marching band together with the orchestra, and The Go-Go’s. After we played, the contrabass section they gave me a standing ovation! I was thrilled and honored (It’s the kind of thing only a musician would even notice).
KB: You are a fan of NASA. Explain your fascination with them?
Lots of things- Until getting completely gutted by the present administration, NASA had a lot to do with tracking weather patterns and climate change on Earth. In general, I’m kind of a fan of science as I’m not remotely smart enough to be a scientist. I’m comforted by the vastness of The Universe. Whenever I think about my problems, going macro and viewing them on a vast, enormous scale makes me humble on a good way (I have the same feeling when I go to The Redwoods in NorCal). I was enchanted by The Europa Clipper Mission because the idea of finding an ocean that might have habitable conditions for life on an icy moon is just plain awesome!!!! I do wonder that we are always looking for the building blocks of “life as we know it”, which makes sense as this is what we know at this time; but what about lifeforms that can exist with different building blocks, in different forms?
KB: Are there any current artists you would love to collaborate with and why?
Richard Ashcroft. I love his songwriting so much.
KB: What are you up to now? Touring, new material?
In October of 2024 I released a 7” split with Anubian Lights called “Europa/Asteroid Transformation” on gold vinyl on the same day as NASA launched the Europa Clipper Mission.
Here is one of the single from that album:
I’m sitting on an album of material I worked on over the past couple of years that I might mix. I’d like to hire Chris Bittner at Applehead Studios, here in Woodstock, to mix it but it’s expensive and I’m kind of over loosing money every time I release a record. My husband Tommy and I also have an improvisational kind of krautrock project called “The Kill Fancies”. We play live up here, often in Kingston, NY.
Here is where people can stream and buy my music both digitally and in other formats:
https://abbytravis.bandcamp.com
https://instagram.com/abbytravis
Karen Beishuizen was born in Holland in 1969 and has loved music, books, art, and writing from an early age. She lived in Germany for 11 years before moving to San Francisco on a sponsored visa, a city she still calls her favorite. After returning to Europe, she worked at the Dutch and German embassies in London. At 17, she wrote the story for Badge of Trust and later teamed up with director James Fargo to adapt it, with Arthur Nascarella and Michael Badalucco attached. She is developing several scripts across genres and is also helping turn the life of former Amsterdam drug lord Steve Brown into a film. As a photographer, she held her first exhibition in London in 2014. After a few years in Ireland, she returned to Holland in 2022, where she continues her creative work and interviews public figures for online publications. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, IMDB and Facebook.
