Interviews - Page 21

Packing up everything you own and moving over 5,000 miles to make a new home is a life-changing event. It forces you to learn a new culture, a new language, meet new people, and generally get you completely out of your comfort zone. That’s precisely what happened to bassist and vocalist Kristin Korb after she left sunny Southern California for...

Sometimes great things come in small packages. That’s true in the case of Royal Blood, a British rock duo that gets a gargantuan sound that rivals four or five-piece bands. One of the key ingredients to that sound is the massive bass tone delivered by Mike Kerr. Kerr started Royal Blood with drummer Ben Thatcher in early 2012 after discovering...

Musical diversity is a beautiful thing, and Dan Briggs has it in spades. Besides laying down the low end for the popular prog-metal outfit Between the Buried and Me, the bassist has several projects to express different sides of his playing including ORBS and Trioscapes, the latter of which is gearing up for their sophomore release next month. Digital Dream...

David Pastorius has been smashing expectations for as long as he’s been playing bass. The last time we talked with him, Pastorius told us about the impact of being the nephew of legendary electric bassist Jaco Pastorius, notably that his influences and style come from another place with an edgier rock sound. Now he is wowing everyone with a set...

Think of your favorite reggae song and chances are what comes to you is actually the bass line. That’s because the bass line is often the actual musical hook of the song, which leaves people humming for days. No reggae music has reached as many people as the songs of Bob Marley, and no reggae bass lines have been as...

Few bassists have a style that is as instantly recognizable as Francis “Rocco” Prestia’s funky, bubbly ghost and 16th-note playing. His work with Tower of Power has shaped what is expected of a funk bassist in terms of playing in the pocket and has subsequently inspired countless bass players. Prestia himself is humble about his contributions, citing James Jamerson and...

The art of solo bass has been steadily growing for the past couple of decades, but one bassist has always been a leading figure in the field. That bassist is Michael Manring. It’s not just his use of extended techniques, his unusual tunings, or his unique gear that sets him apart. Manring consistently presents a level of artistry that touches...

If you’ve been reading No Treble for a while, you’ve seen the incredibly talented and forward thinking Miles Mosley rip it up on upright. Mosley brings together elements of jazz, rock, pop, and R&B into his style, which he accents with off the wall techniques and effects. The bassist has a new duo with drummer Tony Austin called BFI. The...

Think about your favorite bass line. Sing it in your head. Picture yourself hearing it on the radio… you’re driving in the car and suddenly you hear this groove pulsating from the speakers. At that moment, you bop your head, tap your fingers, and forget about where you’re going. You don’t worry about the work that’s at the office, the...

When Snarky Puppy snagged the Grammy for Best R&B Performance, it was a victory for independent artists everywhere. Many called the group an underdog but their track “Something,” featuring Lalah Hathaway, is an undeniably phenomenal song. The song’s music video went viral on YouTube with over two million views and has catapulted the band into the limelight. And while a...

San Francisco in the ’60s and ’70s was a hotbed for bassists. With bands like Sly and the Family Stone, The Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane calling the city their home, the Bay area was fertile with exciting new music filled out by a lot of low end thump. It was in this musical landscape that Bobby Vega began his...

Peter Hook is a man who marches to the beat of his own drum, and that beat will lead him on a world tour this year as he and his band The Light present New Order’s Movement and Power, Corruption, & Lies in their entirety. The group will dig deep to play all the singles and B-sides in order as...