Tommy McKenzie on tone, touring, and joining The Flaming Lips
The Bass Nerds caught up with Tommy McKenzie at Chicago’s Salt Shed, backstage in the heat with jets from the Air and Water Show buzzing overhead, right before he stepped out with the Flaming Lips. Tommy has been holding down the low end for the band since 2021, but his path there isn’t the usual one.
He started on guitar back in eighth grade, but bass didn’t hit him until later, mostly when he realized he loved locking in with drummers more than playing big guitar lines. “I identified with the percussive thing way more,” he told us. “That loud, dead sound just does it for me.”
The call from Wayne Coyne came at a moment when Tommy wasn’t expecting anything big. He had stepped away from his job printing pedal enclosures at Keeley to finish his English degree, and then suddenly he was learning Lips songs for Summerfest and Riot Fest with only a couple weeks’ notice. “It wasn’t even really an audition. More like, here are the shows, let’s see what happens.”
What happened is that he became a full-time member. And if you know the Flaming Lips, it’s never just bass. Tommy rotates between bass, guitar, synths, and keys depending on the song. “Nothing is ever set in stone. We play the parts people know, but some nights you just feel squirrely and try something different.”
He talks about musical accidents with real excitement, like the time he hit a screaming feedback bend during “Pompeii” that eventually grew into its own live moment. He lights up the same way when he mentions touring Europe, playing Tokyo with the actual Yoshimi from Boredoms, or hitting arenas with Weezer, who he informed us play pickleball every single day.
When it comes to gear, Tommy keeps it straightforward. Flatwounds on everything. A 1961 Fender P-bass covered in smiley-face stickers. A few favorite pedals from Old Blood Noise and Keeley. And a Roland KC-600 keyboard amp for the clean headroom he likes. “Loud and dead,” he says again. “My favorite sound.”
Even with the whirlwind of touring and the perpetual creative motion of the Lips, Tommy stays grounded. “If I’ve been asked to do something, it’s because of whatever the hell I do. So I just keep doing that.”
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No Treble CEO Jody Miller is a Chicago-based bassist, guitarist, engineer, and producer best known for his bass gear demo videos and as the co-host of The Bass Nerds podcast.
