BASS IS LOADED

Those who can, do. Those who can’t, do it anyway!

I will never profess to be a great bass player. I am competent enough to play my own songs. After all, I wrote them, yes? For a bass player, I’m a really great guitar player.

When Mike and I talked about who would play bass on ths new cd, we both agreed that I should do it. I’ve done it on four of my (almost) 10 albums: TWISTED METAL, LAYERS OF TIME, MOOD SWINGS, and this one which has a title but am not revealing it. I can’t afford to have ideas stolen anymore, not since 2005.

Even though I was mapping bass lines in my head, and had a good amount of time before committing them to tape (well, computer), that feeling of “Can I really do this?” washed over me. So what’s a guitarist to do? Play lines that I envision other players doing. Seems simple in theory.

Although I can play bass with fingers, we agreed that using a pick (gasp!) was the best plan of attack. Kept things more consistent but…did I slap and pop on one tune? Oh do tell!! I will later on.

One song had me channeling Deep Purple’s Roger Glover of(his bass lines are more complex than you realize), and another got me in Chris Squire of Yes mode (his bass lines are just friggin’ COMPLEX!) If a song only needed straight grooves to hold down the fort, I did just that. I did resort to the teenage 8th note that some guitarists do at times; threw in some little melodic ideas, to which Mike quipped “Okay there, John Entwhistle!”

So what’s this about slap and pop?

A certain song was begging for a tasteful yet syncopated slap/pop lick. I rehearsed it at home of course before going to the studio. But the studio does funny things. At home, I sounded like Larry Graham. In the studio, I sounded like Larry Hagman. But I showed Mike what I had in mind and he said “just try it”, and after a few takes, I got it where it sit in the pocket yet jumped out of the speakers.

Oh and there’s another groovy tune where I pulled a cool Verdine White-type lick.

Wait…this is a metal album, right?

Why yes it is but you know me: I mix things up, keep people guessing. Nothing generic or predictable about anything I do. And even if you think you got me pegged, think again. If I’m going to play bass on an album, it better be interesting. Or at least mildly amusing.

So on February 14, Valentine’s Day 2026, I banged out eight bass tracks in two hours. And had time for a bowl of chicken noodle soup at the Bayonne Diner, now that Miss America Diner is no longer.

In two weeks, guitar melodies.

Now I’m really feeling the heat!