Session Bassist

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

A: My promise is always give my 150% to your project. These songs are your heart and soul, and I could never disrespect that by phoning in a performance. I will never submit a bass line that I'm not proud of.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: The interaction between other musicians. Music is a language and everyone speaks a little differently, choosing different phrases or accenting certain things.

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

A: Have a clear idea of where you'd like the song to go.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: Try playing bass slightly behind the kick for a bigger bass sound.

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

A: My bass, a guitar, a laptop, interface, and some headphones!

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: I'm 50% meat and potatoes and 50% melody. It's all about what the song calls for, but I tend to err on the simpler side. Bass is the foundation - you gotta be solid.

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

A: I usually get calls for rock, punk, and alternative/indie. However, I've played everything from death metal to soul to roots music, and really enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone.

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: The ability to listen! The bass player's main job is to be the glue between the beat and the rhythm, and I think you can't do that unless you're listening to absolutely everything else that's going on.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: First thing before I pick up the bass is to map out the song - the chords, the structure - and try to get a feel for what the song wants. I'll listen to all the instrumentation that's already laid down and how it all interacts with each other. How it interacts with the vocals. I'll probably have a good idea of what I'll want to play, and what tone I'll want by then. Next I'll grab my bass and do a few passes. Usually these first few takes where the song is fresh and I'm just reacting to it will be keepers, and I just fine tune a few things and that's it.

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

A: I'm a big fan of drummers: Ian Paice, Neil Peart, Steve Jordan, Josh Freese, Kenny Aronoff are just a few off the top of my head.

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

A: Either singles or full albums, and the occasional demo.

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

A: I've wanted to be musician ever since I was a little kid. My first instrument was piano, then guitar, and when my brother offered a spot in his band if I played bass, I got hooked. In highschool I took every music program the school offered while spending my nights playing in metal, hard rock, blues and folk bands. I've always tried to soak up as much music as possible. At 20 I got my first pro gig, touring with Bodog music artist Britt Black and I was off to the races! While every musician have had their ups and downs, I've held a steady international touring schedule since then, as well as a hefty dose of recording sessions. I've played every style from Soul to Death Metal, and love to discover new music to incorporate into my style.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I'm currently wrapping up an album for Seattle based horrorpunks Evelyn's Casket. I took my inspiration for my basslines from a lot of 90's punk, so these songs feature a lot of melodic bass, including a few solos! I'm also in the midst of recording the new Nim Vind record, "Limbic Kicks", which features current/ex members of Gob, Bif Naked and Econoline Crush.

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: It depends! Digital makes music production so accessible and efficient, and the differences tonally between digital and analog narrow every day. However I still feel that analog provides a certain warmth that you can't get either way. I'll always prefer playing through a tube amp miked up and going to tape.

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: As a touring guy, I like to keep my studio setup compact so I can work on sessions anywhere in the world! I'm currently using a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro running Logic, with a Radial J48 for a clean direct tone, and an Avalon U5 which I place after my pedalboard to achieve the tones I think will elevate both the bass and ultimately the song. Of course I have a bunch of top notch plugins and pedals to choose from.