This page is a place where I talk about the various bass gear I use. There are some pictures, and hopefully more can be added as time passes. Playing bass is one of my passions. I took lessons for about 3 years in high school (circa 1994-1996), but in college my playing petered out and from 2000- 2004 (while I was working and doing my MA) I stopped playing altogether. In early 2004, when I was working at a YMCA as a teacher's aide, a guest teacher inspired me to pick up my bass again and I've been working to get my chops back ever since. I'm back playing bass and I don't plan to stop any time soon. I would like to take lessons again, so I have some direction and focus in re-learning my instrument. I'm primarily a 4-string player, but have also spent extensive time on 5-string so I'm equally at home with both types of basses. I even spent some time playing a 6-string bass, but my preference is still towards the 4-banger or the fiver.
For those who wish to know, yes I read music. I can read both bass and treble clef. I don't like to use tablature ("tab") since I like to read the actual music and work out comfortable fingerings for myself. I don't know a lot of popular songs note for note. I'm more of a "tell me what key the song is in and I'll come up with a bassline" improviser. I'll be honest, I'm not a world class reader by any means, but I do the best I can.
On stage, I like to have presence. When I was younger, my stage presence was frenetic with me dancing around with my bass, jumping into crowds, writhing around on the floor, stuff like that. Nowadays I'm not a leaping lizard, but I like to engage the audience, move around on stage, not hide in the shadows, and exude a "cooler" confidence. .
In my life I've played a bunch of instruments. I took some piano lessons at age 6, but that was for naught due to my lousy attention span back then. In 3rd and 4th grades I played recorder like everyone else. From 5th grade through 9th grade I played baritone horn in the school band (both concert and marching.) Back in 7th grade, I even took some flute lessons for 6 months. I have also taken some introductory lessons in rudimentary Karnatik vocal so I can kinda sing (though my main voice talent lies in voice imitation.) But really, bass is the instrument that fit me best. Many love wind instruments because they blow the breath of their life into it. Me, I prefer the larger stringed instruments because I find them "huggable" and like how they feel nestled against my body. When I visit the folks, I sometimes sit behind the drumkit and bash away at it. It's a fun instrument, but drums really aren't for me.
I listen to pretty much everything from Disney music to Death Metal, because I never know when I'll need knowledge of a certain genre when called upon to play. I've played in a Beatles/Belle & Sebastian style pop rock band called Sullen Door, a trip-hop/dream pop style band called In One Day, a bass/drums jazz combo called 11 A.M., jammed with gutter punk bands, even played an impromptu set with hip-hop artist James Watts, and I want to play with more musicians in more musical idioms.
Click on the links to the left to learn more about my gear. Yeah, I do have quite a bit of gear but all of it has been earned 100% by me through my own hard work. Nobody helped me buy any of this stuff. None of it was ever a present from someone. Money has often been tight by me, both growing up and even now. I sold my rarest video games and music CDs on Ebay to fund some of my gear. I've denied "having a life" (i.e. going out to bars and nice restaurants, unless someone else is treating) just so I could avoid spending money on frivolous things and save up for gear. I love and cherish every piece of gear I have. I take nothing for granted.
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Of course, no person can get to where they are by themselves. If I have become anything at all, it is due to the help and influence of all the great people in my life, whether they've been direct or indirect aspects.
Click this link to learn more about the pertinent people. These are the people who've helped me forge my love for bass and my identity as a bassist.
I used to play bass in an indie rock band called Sullen Door. Check them out here: Sullen Door. I played bass on the songs "I Need Hope" and "Old Friends."
