Quanta musica. . . . . Se si è estranei a questo mondo non si riesce nemmeno a immaginare quanta c9è ne sia.Entrando ci si accorge di tutte le forme di "bellezza" di quest'arte sublime ma soprattutto quanto sia difficile cercare di conoscere le "vette", i "promotori", i grandi "messia" . . . . . . . . Sono stato colpito e abbattuto ascoltando un bassista dal buffo nome di "BOOTSY COLLINS"come già riuscisse degli anni '60 con sole tre note a groovare in un modo disumano,facendo "camminare" dei pezzi per decine di minuti, innescando il detonatore che fa accendere "l'energia" e il "movimento"dei corpi dei suoi ascoltatori. La STELLA del basso fiink:WILLIAM "BOQTSV" COLLINS.

Fin dalle esperienze più iniziali la missione di BOOTSY era quella di regalare la sua musica alla gente e avere divertimento nel farlo. Nato il 2611 0/197 1 a Cincinnati, nell9OHIO, William già dall'infanzia cercava contatti col mondo della musica. Ha cominciato a suonare la chitarra a 8 anni perchè suo fratello PHELPS (chiamato da Bootsy "pesce gatto") era già un chitarrista. Phelps era un idolo per Bootsy e si divertiva a farsi ascoltare per tutto il tempo che suonava. A 16 anni i fratelli grandi hanno poca pazienza nei confronti dei fratelli più piccoli. . . . Infatti "pesce gatto" aveva appena comprato una nuova chitarra rossa "Epiphone" e aveva proibito a Bootsy di toccarla. Naturalmente egli fece l'esatto contrario e così per Bootsy fu uno dei giorni più tristi della sua vita. Mamina Collins lo calmò promettendogli una chitarra. Ma i soldi erano pochi per una donna afro-americana che allevava tre figli negli anni '50 a Cincinnati.

A 14 anni Bootsy iniziava ad avere le sue prime esperienze in gruppettini e in alcune situazioni gospel.Fino a quando il gruppo del fratello Phelps si trovò in una situazione d'emergenza.Serviva un chitarrista cosi Bootsy iniziò a suonare con il Pesce Gatto e si destreggiava tra chitarra e basso. Aveva un "fuoco", un "energia7'incredibile quando impugnava la sua "spigola"(basso). Da dopo il primo concerto i due erano una squadra e ogni notte andavano a suonare in molti locali della zona. Iniziò così lo "stile di vita " del Bootsy che sicuramente non si sposava con la HIGH SCHOOL .e così convinse sua madre a lasciare la scuola.Lei gli diede la piena approvazione perché credeva in lui e contribuì sempre a "spingerlo". Le cose hanno iniziato ad accadere quando intorno al '67 Cincinnati era diventata una viva cittadina musica1e.B ootsy e gli altri erano anche stati contattati per fare dei mini-tour in paese naturalmente pagati raramente e in condizioni dell"'u1timo momento".

Era il marzo del 1970.La vita del fùnk si era sparsa rapidamente:James Brown stava conquistando tutti. Fu proprio lui che chiese al suo agente BOBBY B di trovare Bootsy e i suoi "capretti".Così arrivò la chiamata! B0OTSY:"stavamo preparando un pomeriggio di musica sul Viale Gilbert e all'improvviso abbiamo avuto una chiamata da Bobby Byrd. Inizialmente abbiamo pensato che fosse uno scherzo ma Bobby era molto sicuro.Mi disse che "lì"avessero bisogno subito di noi e che massimo tra un'ora dovevamo essere alla corte di James. Nessuno ci credeva fino a quando siamo arrivati in aeroporto.Abbiamo volato a Columbus, in Georgia,sul get privato di James. Non avevo la più pallida idea riguardo quello che stesse succedendo. Prima di arrivare dal sig.Brown vedemmo andare via dalla sua "corte "il trombettista Richard "Kush" Grzflth sicuramente non felice. L'idea di dover suonare con James era incredibile. Superammo le audizioni e a 17 anni facevo il giro del mondo con una

telle più grandi della musica nera. 9 9

S:"Penso che Bootsy sia stato uno dei più grandi brzssisti.Lui ,Phelps ed io abbiamo lavorato alla grande ... the "SEX MCHINE ", "SUPER BAD ", "TALKlN' LOUD AND SA Y IN NOTHING ", "GET UP, GET INTO IT, GET INVOL VED "e "SOUL POWER" li abbiamo creati in una sola notte. J )

BO0TSY:"Ogni città era molto graziosa.Ma la cosa più importante non era né la musica né la città. Era James la cosa più importante. Ero uno degli eletti di James tanto che viaggiavo con l~i~facevamo interviste insieme e poi in un certo senso fungeva anche da padre. 7 7

Però nel 1969 ci fu una sorta di ribellione nei con£ronti del "colore marrone di James". Era il periodo di Jimi Hendrix, del vestirsi "strano",dell'essere "particolare" e naturalmente di assumere droghe.Infatti James multava spesso i suoi musicisti.. . . . ... Fu allora che Bootsy decise di dire basta a questa fantastica esperienza. Era tempo di provare qualcos'altro!

Lasciare il godfather era più che un emancipazione. Quel qualcos'altro si trovava esattamente nello scantinato di Mama Collins. Formarono un altro gruppo chiamato "Houseguests" con le proprie regole e rappresentazioni negli anni '70. BOOTSY :"La gente impazziva. Avevamo stile e "colorful ". Siamo stati dappertutto, in molti paesi e qui abbiamo espresso quello che veramente sentivamo dentro scoprendo nuovi locali europei,le nuove tendenze e soprattutto facendo del funk che spaccava la roccia. Ohio, Pensilvania, Michigan, Kentucky, Tennessee . . . . . . Eravamo booking di noi stessi in modo da provare, partire e arrivare anche in anticipo per mettere i manfesti.Ha funzionato! Abbastanza presto fecimo delle audizioni con i FUNKADELIC (molta gente ci diceva che fossero selvaggi cime noi). La nostra fortuna ha girato quando conoscemmo una cantante chiamata LLIA FRANKLIN. Con lei abbiamo provato ad ottenere lavoro intorno Ditroit e finalmente siamo venuti a

J 3

contatto con George Clinton. George ci conosceva già perché sin dai tempi del Cincinnati mandavamo a lui molti "demo" insieme a Phelps, Maceo Parker e Gary Mudbone. 9 ,

Iniziò a lavorare con Clinton nel '73. Ma Bootsy non si limitava solo nel1 'impiego con GeorgeCercava degli ingaggi esterni su delle session.. . . . . . Intanto i suoi contributi a Funkadelic e Parliament erano sempre più influenti( "DISCOLADY"y"C0SMIC SLOP","UP FOR THE

DO STROKE").Iniziò così la coo-scrittura di molti brani e da questro momento iniziò la scalata in classifica dei Parliament. Funzionava con Clinton non solo nei live ma anche in studio coo- scrivendo più di metà dell'album "Parliament's ciocolate city" e tre canzoni per Funkadelic. In questo periodo nel pezzo "BE MY BEACET' viene introdotta la voce di Bootsy che sarebbe il prototipo per il suo proprio progetto. BO0TSY:"Penso che sia stato il periodo migliore delle nostra chimica perché George era realmente nello studio. Era dentro, là, ervamo allo stesso livello. Era grande! ".

Finalmente i tempi erano maturi per un proprio progetto.Infatti George molto rapidamente gli ha ottenuto un affare con la Wamer Bros.Così nel '75, mentre si lavorava sempre con i Parliament, iniziarono le sezioni intagliate per il primo album di Bootsy. La formazione iniziale era: Bootsy- Pesce Gatto-Franky Waddy alla batteria-Mudbone e Leslyn Bailey alle voci.Poi Clinton desiderò i fiati e così Bootsy chiamò Fred Wesley e Maceo Parker.Dopo anche Fredrick Allen e Robert Johnson. Era il periodo più bello in tutti i sensi. Iniziarono le registrazioni e, se in un primo momento vennero sottovalutati,ci vollero grandi sforsi per far funzionare il progetto. George disse:"abbiamo bisogno di un colpo commerciale in questo LP!". Così andarono di nuovo in studio con Gary Spider e Miche1 Hampton e registrarono una pista con la macchina del tamburo. Bootsy :"Prima di registrare la batteria vera iniziai a pensare ai battimenti che avevo sentito quando ero in Africa con James. Quei percussionisti erano molto profondi!". Naturalmente ci voleva tempo affinchè la figura del Bootsy fosse vista in primo piano.

ALBUM

Iniziarono le vendite della "BOOTSU RUBBER B " e quindi anche diVPSY CHOTICBU SCHOOL"(versione live senza nessuna manipolazione grande esempio di fùnk grezzo). La differenza l'ha fatta il bassone del Bootsy:LA SPIGOLA! Un secondo album fù richiesto nel mese di gennaio del 1977:" . . .. THE NAME IS BOOTSY,BABY". B0OTSY:"Stavamo lavorando in studio e subito è nata Ahh ... The name is Bootsy,baby e The Pinocchio Teory tutto costruito da Joel che stava "giocando "al clavinet, George che ha fornito i testi e io che ... .... 6-6

Molto inaspettatamente The Pinocchio Teory si è trasformato in un vero e proprio colpo, un singolo. Nella primavera del 1977per la Bootsy Rubber Band era un vero successo e i risultati andavano sopra ogni previsione. Così prendeva più piede la popolarità di Bootsy fino a raggiungere il terzo album: "BOOTZILLA". Nel mese di marzo la Bootsy Rubber Band era in giro in tutto il mondo. Ben presto sorsero i primi problemi relativi ai managment e a una serie di decisioni aiministrative. Non dimenticando sempre i grossi problemi legati alla droga che aveva colpito tutti i componenti della sua band. Bootsy capì che bisognava proprio smettere soprattutto per un discorso di immagine e serietà,dato che i soldi non avevano più significato(rifiutava festiva1 a $700.000). Usci poi il IV e il V album "Bootsy Mysteriously" e "Ultra Wave".Intanto ci fu decisamente una scissione con gli atri sempre a causa dei soliti problemi.

CON E SENZA CL O AD OGG

Con "THE ONE GTVET, THE COUNT T TH AWAY". George ed io provavamo poco divertimento e così ci promettemmo che in futuro avremmo sicuramente continuato a lavorare. In realtà Bootsy aveva resistito a scrivere per Clinton anche negli anni più occupati per la Rubber Band sia per Funkadelic che per Par1iament:"one nation under a groove","Knee deep","funkeketelechy","flash night7',"theme fiom the black holeVecc. . . . . . Nel 1980 Clinton riunisce molti musicisti tra cui Bootsy per una tournee. Nel 1982 la Warner Bros pubblica il suo ultimo album di Bootsy:"The one givet". Nel 1983 ripartono le sue apparizioni con Clinton. Bootsy si dirige verso lo studio di registrazione anche come produttore collaborando con Harbie Hancock,Keith Richards,Afiica Bambaataa, Sakamoto ecc. . . . . . Oggi a 50 anni cerca i suoi mondi de conquistare! Collaborazione con molto successo è quella con SNOP DOG!

. . .. THE NA IS BOOTSY BABY BOOTSY?PLAYER OF THE YE ULT WAVE THE ONE GIVETH,THE COUNT T TH AWAY

AT'S BOOTSY DOIN? GLE BASS

SAVE BLASTERS OF FRESH OUTTA 'P' BACK IN THE DAY:THE BEST OF BOOTSY KEEPIN' DAH F AL LIVE AT JUNGLE BASS LIVE AT WASHINGTON DC 1978 DO THE FREAK PLAY WITH BOOTSY-A TRIBUTE T 0 THE F

Zeta Quality I at the Wight Wice (

cast of characters, pushing the cosmic limits of h n k with Zillatron, Axiom Funk, and Prasis-a baiid whose free-flowing membership has included guitar virtuoso Buckethead, Primus drummer Brain, aiid P-Funk keyboard wizard Bernie Worrell. In the last year Bootsy has also recorded with Victor Wooten and Janles Brown drummers Jab'o S t a rh and Clyde Stubblefield, and he's involved in a reunion recording of James Brown band members.

Recently returning home from a tour of Europe, where his CD Fresh O~lffn 'P' Utiiversity was released earlier this year, Bootsy is back on his rigorous recording schedule. He's currently cutting tracks with his rapper son, Oui-Wey ("ooh-wee"), at the Bootzilla Re-hab P-Form School, the studio attached to 11is Cincinnati home. Behvveen sessions Bootsy graciously squeezed in time to taik about his history at the forefront offunk bass as well as his dbum's U.S. release on Private IIMercury, but it was clear his time was limited-he hnd to get back to the studio.

Why the constant activity? "You've got to keep it going while you got it going, right? Oh yeah!" he offers, asking and answering his own question. "I really like doing a lot of the studio thing now because I get a chance to be more cre- ative and work with other people, too. That's really key with me. Back when 1 was with P-Funk was a good time for me, but I was always cutting something-Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy- and that took up al1 my time. I never really got a chance to work with anyone else. Since that wound down I've had a chance to stretch out a little. That's ~vhy I'm going nuts with it now."

Fora versatile musician whose bread and but- ter has been far-out experimentation, Fresh 01ltta

'P' Utiiversity marks a distinct departure. The CD is filled with the hip-hop and niodern RSrB, though with a definite Bootsy bent, both in bass sounds and sense of humor. "Tlie goal was to have Space Bass, long before the wild outfits and effects- a record that would help us play bigger places so laden sound, William Collins was just a scrawny 1 can pay the band. Trying to straighten up and kid f rom Cincinnati, tagging along with his dost~iffatleasthalfwa~ right wasredy hard work. guitar-slinging brother Phelps-also called '

I can always go back to doing crazy stuff; that's Catfish-nine years his elder. The two brothers what 1 really love doing." put together a band with drummer Frankie

Long before the star glasses and star-sllaped Waddy and horn players Clayton Gunnels, Daryl

Getùin' down with Jarnes Brown: 19-year-old Bootsy and organist Bobby Byrd keep their eyes on

the star of the show.

I O Q T S Y ! c o ~ i t i i , ~ , c ~ i reinventing the Godfather's grooves with his over- Funkadelic visionary George Clinton, he was hav- the-top playing on such songs as "Get Up (1 Feel ing personnel problems of his own, so he hired Like Being a) Sex Machine," "Super Bad," and Bootsy and the band to perform m the band they'd

irniaon, '~ild Robert McCollough, and when they "Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing." been hearing about. This marked the beginning eg'in to turn local heada, the group began doing After montlis of marathon touring and money of Bootsy's long relationship with Funkadelic,

sessions at nedrby Kiilg Recorh. There they met disputes Bootsy left Brown, and his friends walked Parliament, and Clinton's other interrelated band L7ing's star, I'irnes Brown, and got t0 know his with him. Armed with a new determination t0

and members. Eveiltually hired on as a baiid for L ,,imes Brown Productioiis, the group did short tours supportiiig Hank Ballard and illarva

I ihitiiey. That put thein iii the right spot in March i 370, when most of Brown's disgruntled musi- cians rebelled just before a slioxv in Coliimbus, Georgia. James sent for the youngsters on his pri-

1 ite jet, and they soon became the JB's. For just ver a year, Bootsy made music history by

put out theit own wild and crazyversion of h n k , they returned to Cincinnati and re-formed the old band as the House Guests, an outlandishly dressed group led by Collins. "Oh, man you should have seen that cat," laughs Bootsy about his own youthhl abundance of energy. "It was hnny-he was rarin' to go." Touringaround the Midbvest, the group heard tales of a similar group called Funkadelic. When they finally met

Series roundwounds with LaFace Records

pro. P-F Par Gec dev~ Iiad and

LV-

e( ?C

ng ic.

l 115

l

lprojects, which cnllectively bccaine known as !'-Fiiiik. Bootsy wrote ;iiid co-wrote much of i 'arlia~ii~iit and Funkadelic's [>est work, and George Clinton retiiriied tlie favor by Iielping levelop Boorsy's Il~ibber Band. By tlien, Bootsy iiad seriously begiiii esperiinentiiiguritli effects- iiid fuiik bass was never ilie sanie.

Yw've beea playing Fwak bess .?W a k n p Oime. Has qeur umder- --.&asdi@g of Bunk chengcd aP @M?

Funk to me is where I came from; it's the way I grew up. It's even deeper than the miisic. It's i:he way we comniunicated; actually the way we lived. It's like ten people in a small room and it's i i0 degrees outside aiid there's iio air conditioner. 1;'s when the bill collector comes and you don't I~iive any moiiey to pay. It's when you've had as ~ i ~ u c h as you can take and you can't take no more. VVhat do you do? Funk it. That's when you grow iiito the hink.

What is tiie esseiice offiiiik boss? It started offwith the olie. Then the a i~ds and

thi. ifs were added-al1 tlie in-between things. Tiiat's pretty much what I started doing. Nowa-

it's been developed to a whole other level; pwple are doing different things with the niids aiid the ifs. It's their intelpretation ofwhat funk is (or them. But as long as the oite is there, your niiiis and ifs mean something. If the olie is not thcre, it's kind of like daydreaming [ln~iglis].

\.zrltnt is tlie i~iost signifjcaiit eveiit froni yoiir clii.1~ cnreer tllnt helpcd yoii develop iiito tlie per- soli yoti becaiiie?

The first group I was in, the Pacemakers, or Pairsetters-we were kind of confused on which naiiie to use-helped me start searching for who a i i ~ i what I wanted to be. That was when I started dieising crazy. I must have been 13 or 14 because 1 iiìct up with Janies at the studio when I was aro~ind 15.

fantes Bioivil lzns n repiitntioil for beiitg qiritc n d!<c-ipliiinrinii bniidleader.

\.!h, he was! But you know as a kid, I didn't realli. care about tliat. I respected him, but at the sani:: tinie I liad tliis kid incide me who felt like he 1\.:is the baddest cat iii the world. You know ho\v C O C ~ kids are, man! 1 had that aU over me- aiid i,imes knew it-so he treated me like his son. Evervbody wascallirig hini Mr. Brown, but I was calliiifi liiin James. I f gured I could get away with alot :ifstuff and Ipretty niuch did. I really thouglit I had it goiiig on. I didn't even thinkabout it unti1 after i wasii't there. Tlien it was, Man, what were )'OLI ;ii,irlg?

?;e ivere with raines Brown-we were on top of world! But \ve started tliinkiiig of things "e\v,,;ited to do oiice we wereii't \viti1 Janies. And the il;-=,: was coming oli quicker tlian we antici- Pated LVe weren't sure tvhat \ve wanted to do, but e i iry day it was gi-owing in us. Eacb show we did\viili Iairies ~ o o k usniore to the point ofthink-

1: 'iit tiU we get a cliaiice to really do oiirtliing.

We didn't have a plan; I only knew we weren'i going to be with Janies Brown forevei.

Tlie soitg "Whut So Nei~er the Dniice" [Back III The Dav: The Btst Of Bootsil] isfioiii tlie period behvecn Juilies Brc~iwii niid P-Flriik, wheii yoii iverir back to Cinciniinti. Yozir boss isso oirt froiit. \,Vere yoir the Iender?

I guess. I couldn't hold that boy back, inali; that boy was crazy!

How is ityour big brotherletyoi, step iiifiont? I think he was having more fun with it being

on me than on him. For some reason he's always wanted to be in the band and watch my back. I didn't know what the heck was going on-I just wanted to be out tliere. It was the girls, it was the wine, you know, getting high. But he was acting

ds the group's manager and booking the shows. He was the older brother and I wds tlie fool kid.

Thereyou were iii 1971, steppiiigoirtfroiii witlz tlie boss at a time whenfewplayers had doiie ihat. bVllat tnade yoti dijjereizt?

Jimi Hendrix is the one I was looking ai. I was freaked out about what he \vas doiiig, and I tliought, Wow-maybe I can do tliat with the bass. That's what did it. I was probably goiiig to do something crazy anyway, but hearing rimi put the icing on the cake.

You X-newyoti ivot~Mii't be wiih Janies Browii forever. Is tliat how yoti felt nboiii George Cliiitoii nild P-Firnk as well?

Well, George and I had an uiiderstaiidiiig going in: If I did Parliament and Funkadelic with

I lirnitless partnership

l

b

D E C E M B E R l 9 8 9 BASS PLAYER 39

him, then he would help me do Bootsy's Rubber Band in return. I didn't have a plan when I was with James, but George helped me plan things. That made it totally different. James was more like a father; he really acted like a father. George was more like a brother. I could have fun with him in ways I couldn't with James.

Yotir rntisical role was probably pretty differen t, too.

George really wanted me involved. He gave me free clearance to do anything and everything I wanted, while James wanted to look like he did everything.

You weren'tP-Ftinki only bassist; Billy "Bass" Nelson and Corde11 "Boogie" Mosson were also around. How did yoti decide who wouldiuta track?

Bass-the final fmniier. The two white Space

Basses were built by Detmit's bny Pletz in

1975 and 1977. ?he original Space Bass,

right, has had a few facelifts since its

inception, including the latest rnodificaiion by

Torn Pellerinto: fine jazz pickups. In the

middle is Bootsy's newest bass: The Dark

Star, built by Pdew York's Manny Salvador,

sports Bartolini pickups. Each bass has four

ouiputs and numerous knobs controlling

volume and tone for each pickup, plus a few

"ciick-ons for special eifects."

I SEE YOUR DEALER OR WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG 1 www.all~arts.corn

I

40 BASS PLAYER 7 D E C E M B E R 1 9 9 8

If they came up with a song they cut it; if I came up with a song I cut it. That's pretty much the way it was, unless George stepped in and said, 'Bootsy, I want Billy's bass on this one.' I was probably on inore of the comniercial stuff. I did some stupid stuff too, but that's me on niost of theparliament hits and the Funkadelic hits "(Not Just) Knee Deep" and "One Nation Under a Groove." Most people don't know I actually played drums on those, too, as well as on "Flashlight," "Stretchin' Out in a Rubber Band," and "BootziUa." If you see my name on it as a writer, it's generdiy me on bass.

e How did yoli get iiito zi,iiig ejjFccts? Again I have to credit Jimi. When I listened to

his records I didn't knowv what lie was using, but I knew he was using something. So I went oiit on a mission to find something to make the bass sound different and develop my own sound. I tried the wah-wah, but it wasn't redy happening. I tried this box caiied the BassBaUs that was ali right. But until I found the Mu-Tron I never hedrd anything that to tdy made it wacko. When I played it for some girls in the studio, they said, 'Ooh, what's that wet, watery sound? That's sexy!' Oh, mai-al1 of that rattle made me want to play every song with that sound! I would say I started using it aroiind 1976.

Did you know any other lirlssplayerc who were tisingpedals?

Larry Graham was the oilly other one I knew of that was even thinking about it. He wvas using u Maestro Rass Urassmaster, which giive it that s~istain. But I had started wailting to use pedals when I was with James; I actually tried using a wah-wvah, but he wasn't going for it! I knew I'd have to wait unti1 I was away from him to really get off into it. And when l did I went crazy with it.

As tlze folltidiirg fnther oflinss efects, holv do yoii feti1 n liassist sizottld icse thciii?

Go through them one by one and check out what they do. How you hit the note-tlie fingers or thumb you use-tells the gadget what to do. If it seems like it doesn't work fora certain song, it might work if you play differently-if you change how you talk to the pedal. And certain pedals sound better on certain songs. You have to search it out and find the right ingredient.

Not orzlydidyo~r jilst iae soniepednk, you used a M ofpednls.

Aw, yeah-and I still do. I was hooked on the Mu-Tron-that and the Electro-Harmonìu Big Muff. Of course I started adding a whole lot of other stuff: MXR digital delays, Electro- Harmoniu Bass Micro Synthesizer, the Morley pedal with the fuzz and the wah built in-it goes on and on. I had a board built for al1 those ped- als. Nowadays it's a much bigger pedalboard, and I've got the old pedals mixed with the new ones. [See page 36.1

With al1 those effects how do yoil nvoid losirig the bottom eild?

Well, the Space Bass has four different outputs-the lo~vs, the mids, the highs, and the ultra-highs-each from a different pickup. My low output is straight, so I never lose that bottom end. The other three al1 go to different effects, and then I use four different amps and four speaker systems. I've got two Crown ìvlicro 5000s for the lows and mids, and two Crown Micro 3600s for the highs and ultra-highs. I had al1 my speaker cabinets custom made. On the low end we've got eight 18s, four each in hvo cabinets. For the mids it's eight 15s, four in each cabinet. Then I have four Inore cabiiiets, each with eight 10s, two cabinets on the higlis aiid two on the ultra- highs. You feel the power. Plus, witli the effects, you've got to have a lot of speakers or else you'd be blowing them every night, which I was doiilg when I didn't have enoiigh rig to carryeverything. It al1 sounds like one big wallof sound. But when I kick on sometliing, or kick out something, tlie bass is always there.

They i~nveti't kirked you orit of Ciiiriiriinti yet? We intimidate the PA company so bad some-

times. One tiine they said they wouldn't even set up. They saw us pulling in and said, 'What's tliis, another PA coinpany? How are we going to com- pete with this?' It became a big joke, biit I guess to them it wasn't too funny.

Are yo~l roiistntitly tr~riiirig or.[ rliirl ojfefccts while yorl'rc plriyiiigpnrts?

It depends »n the song. Sometimes 1'11 play straight Mu-Tron or straight bass. Actually very

new si t1 : ,dals no a

I '

2a ; th it. v "

OLI[

gers i

o1 yo LI t a i n

12 '

t.

iised

i 1ni1 t lot tr ir Joes

a n

5.

.ent thc

tc :cts, O"'

l(

ic

I my e 1 'hen lOs, lti ?C

~ u ' d ,;"'T

iii ,h-.. , the

I

1 nle - I set tl- o UeSb

I

pldy Vi

seldom do I play strdiglit bass, but I've been kiown to do that, too. But when I kick on the effects, that's tlie gooey part-it's like, Ooli, yenh! I've gol different things that conle out of different sides of the speakers: Mu-Tron on the righi speaktir and a wet whammy pcdal coniing oui in another octave on the left. That's how I have it yanned lor live shows and recording.

How do y o t ~ record? Usually I go direct, or ifthe song is supyosed

to sound live, 1'11 do inore of a live thingand mis a little of the direct in with ihe live. I record four tracks at a time-one froin each oiitput.

You tnke al1 of this eqiliprneilt iiiith yozi nroriird tlie world? Back in the day: "The world's only

everything right. But our mistakes usually ivrr[ the groovc. The niistakes we niade, rappers use for samples! [Lniighs.]

111 )/011r so~ig ' ' P i i ~ ~ c ~ l ~ i o Tlieoqi" yolf s~rid, '"1 ~ O I I fnke tliefiriik yozri. nose ivillgroiv. " Does todoy's ivny of innkiiig iiiiisicjiike thefiriik?

It depends upon the angle of ~l ie daiigle. If you compare it to the stuff of today, it's the fuiiky stuff. But if you compare it to the stuffwe were used to-the rea1 funk-definitely solne iioses would be growing. But it's two different worlds. I tliink what's happening today is best for today. However the process changes with coniyutei-s, we are tlie DNA ofwhat's tn come, and the funk will always be encoded in that. 3:

Actually, I'm just now getting my siuff back rhinestone rock-star doll" See nilisic, nesi pngr

from Europe. -

Wlio were some of yolir eal-iy bnss iiiflueiices? The major one was James Jamerson. Before 1

i knew anything about bass we used to listen al1 those Motown records when we'd go to house parties. He was so perfect in what he played-l tilways wanted to be Iike that. You didn't really laow who bass players were then; they didn't pui it on the 45 record. But when I found out who it was, I thought, Wow-that's the cat.

Who turns your hend iiow? Victor Wooten. I want to do a record on hini,

because he is the cnt. I don't think he's getting the i-ecognition he deserves; he is bnd; he is awesome. We did a session here about eight months ago, iind he came in getting on the floor laying his Iiands out and stuff. I said, 'Man, get up from tliere-don't even try it!' And then that cat came iii and played al1 the bass in the world. He's the »ne I'm definitely going to bank on. But it's not like there's nobody else. Armand Sabal-Lecco- that's another spankin' mug. Those two are the most incredible cats right now, doing all this new stu& You know when I was talking about the nnds aiid the $i? Well they go in between that. They've giit their micro-glasses on. And fast-we look like we're standing still. It's good, because it gives hope ft!r the future ofplayers. I think young people are rully going to be interested in playing again iiistead of just sarnpling stuff, because of young giivs whose playing is really ripping heads off.

There nre sonie great bass hooks or? the neiv nil~i~ni, but yoli seeni to have bncked offsonie oii yoi~rplnying to leave niore rooni for tlie sons.

That's exactly what we did to try to be more cciinmercial. I learned a lot from the other pro- ducers and artists. Working with other peoplr rrally helps me clock in on what's happening. The way we came up is just doing things the way you fecl. Today the groove is so perfect and you can fis everything, so I'm learning how to do that.

Do you thiilk that's lessfiliiky tlinii plnying ivitli a li^,^ bnild?

Yeah, it is, but it's a new day. People are grii~ving up a new way than when I came up. The clcisest thing you'd get to a sample in my day was thc rea1 Jarnes Brown or Parlian~eiit/Funkadelic. ToLIay nothing has to be a mistake; you can make

O E C E M B E R l 9 9 8 .)' SASS PLAYER 43