World Class Bass Guitar

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Woody from Bastille is on here. Absolute beast of a drummer. Get him on your project! https://soundbetter.com/profiles/209592-woody

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: Solange Knowles 'A Seat At The Table'. I was one of four musicians flown out from the UK to New Orleans to spend 10 days in the studio with Solange to work on music for the album that became 'A Seat At The Table'. Alongside playing bass guitar, I also provided some additional production and participated in songwriting on the track 'Don't You Wait'.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I have an electronic music project called Eku Fantasy. It is a collaboration with a producer in South Africa. We write remotely and I handle the vocals.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: Digital. I have always worked that way.

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: Crystal clear bass that sits perfectly with your song. Unlimited revisions until you have your perfect bassline. Multiple takes with variations. Any style... apart from jazz and slap bass! Great communication.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: Knowing at the end of a day's work that I played a part in creating something out of nothing.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: Most common questions are about how long I will take to get some audio back to them. The answer is... it depends!

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: That session players have no emotional investment in their clients' work.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: Could you please be more specific? :)

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: The more specific you can be about what you want, the less time it will take for the provider to get there with you.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Laptop, Bass Guitar, Microphone, MIDI keyboard and... another bass guitar!

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: My first paid gig in music came in 2006 when I was a vocalist on an album released by XL Recordings (Various Production 'The World Is Gone'). I have been full-time in music since 2008 and have always done a mix of bass guitar and vocal work. It has been interesting being in the electronic world for vocals and the indie-rock world for bass. Around 2009 I started working with Metronomy and have been with them ever since.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: Soulful with an edge.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: I would love to get in a room with Flying Lotus. I am a huge fan of what he has done with Thundercat.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Whenever you add a new element, thinking about removing something at the same time.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: My band Metronomy work in the indie/dance space, so I work a lot on tracks with guitars and keyboards where they might need an infectious groove that also has a bit of aggression to its approach. On the vocal side, it's usually electronic producers that I work with.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: I am a great communicator and have no problems asking questions if something is not clear to me. This saves a lot of time when dealing with clients. On the bass and vocal side I would say writing melodic, memorable parts is my strongest skill.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: On the bass side, I have played in a variety of different bands and played everything from arenas and main stages of festivals to tiny club shows. I have good instincts for what will work bass-wise on a song and that allows me to work quickly in laying down ideas. On the vocal side, I have a three-octave vocal range so as well as great lead vocals, I can give a lot of options for harmonies across the whole vocal spectrum. Double-tracking vocals and then singing them again an octave higher is an approach I particularly love.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For bass work, I get a track with notes from the client saying either they want something replayed or they want me to write bass parts. I might ask some follow-up questions about exactly the sound they want from the bass and use their answers to decide which bass to play. I then lay down some takes that give options for the client and do a bit of cleaning up/comping. Then I send stems back to the client and if revisions are neccessary I ensure those are done as quickly as possible. For vocal work it's a similar process. A client sends me a track and we discuss lyrical themes/vocal approaches (aggressive or sensitive, single lead vocal vs double tracked, etc.). I send an initial idea back and then we refine it till the client is happy.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: I work with a MacBook Pro running Ableton Live. I have an SSL-2 audio interface and a variety of condenser and dynamic microphones which I use for vocals depending on the sound I'm going for. With bass, I do have an Ampeg SVT2 Pro amp but find these days I just go straight into the box as the preamps on the SSL-2 are so nice. Of course, I also have a variety of amp, compression and EQ plugins (SoundToys, Fabfilter, Guitar Rig, Plugin Alliance).

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: Bloc Party were a great inspiration when I was starting out in music. I still listen to their first two albums and take inspiration from their absolutely killer rhythm section. On the vocal side too, I am a fan of Kele Okereke's approach to melodies and lyrics. On a pure bass guitar level, Pino Palladino is another huge inspiration. To have the range to work with both D'Angelo and Nine Inch Nails - that's the dream. Studying his work also opened up my mind to downtuning 4-string basses and thinking about getting a fretless (which I did). On the production side, I have been a big fan of the electronic sounds coming from South Africa for a long time. The artists/producers Okzsharp and Jumping Back Slash are big favourites of mine.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: I do equal amounts of bass guitar and vocal work. Sometimes a client has a bassline idea that they want replayed, or they may leave space in a song for me to write a bassline. On the vocal side, I mostly collaborate with electronic music producers and write my own toplines. Sometimes people contact me just to add backing vocals to tracks as I am adept at layering harmonies.