bassbiscuits

Gave up social media in 2017, deleted my Facebook account etc. I have no idea if I've missed out on anything since, but I have a lot more time now I'm not trawling through pointless junk every evening. I should probably get on social media for promoting gigs etc, but I don't and I have enough work for my needs without doing so, so I'll stick with the old fashioned way for now.

I was playing in very decent originals bands well into my early 40s - didn’t have the aim of “making it” but they did have great songs and I did believe we might go somewhere. Alas like most bands they folded. I’ve always held down a job while playing - something I thought was holding me back from being a “proper musician.” But I now realise that I’d have to say yes to all kinds of gigs I didn’t like if I was trying to make a living from music. So I’m glad I do it for pocket money and enjoyment.

Bought Geoff’s Markbass cab off him. Had a lovely evening chatting about basses and amps too. Top man. Pleasure to deal with.

I was 11 in 1985, and I hadn't yet discovered the rock/metal that would go on to be important to me. So I'd say something like Chris De Burgh "Spanish Train" or Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" at that stage of my life. I was still a year away from discovering the joy of Iron Maiden, Kiss or the Scorpions...

It did! Sadly it’s not my amp - it’s the supplied backline at a Butlins weekender. But it was great and smelled like a hot car engine.

Sorry yes I should have clarified - it’s a P bass. An old sunburst one from 1970.

I’ve never chased “the one” but my bass for life has just become that over time. I didn’t set out to crown it the ultimate bass - seems a bit unrealistic. Mine has just become my companion over years and years of playing. Im sure there are many others I’ve yet to discover. Bit like being married in that sense!

I found my "one" in 1994 when I was at university - a 1970 sunburst precision bass that was in Musical Exchanges in Coventry. For a long time it was the only bass I had. Since I've owned it it's had a new nut, refret and various smaller repairs along the way, as well as being stolen and recovered, and acquiring the sorts of wear and tear befitting a gigging bass. But I still take it to the better gigs and it still sounds and plays nicely. No intention of selling it ever, and aside from a house and car it's the only thing of value I have any claim to.

Criticisms of overdubs etc aside, Kiss Alive and Alive II capture the band far better than any of the studio albums either side of them. Maiden’s Live After Death - way better than the studio albums. Scorpions Worldwide Live is also a classic bit of 80s stadium rock, and while the studio albums are pretty damn good too, the live album captures them giving it some proper welly.

Loved Appetite, and I really like Duff’s bass playing. Nothing much special about this song tho.

Lovely little solo acoustic guitar/vocal gig last night at the Organ Grinder in Loughborough - my first solo gig in over a year (I do them to fill the gaps in between my other band gigs). Nice crowd, good atmosphere, and felt good to get back into solo stuff. Also the first outing for my old Yamaha acoustic that cost me £40 last year, and it’s Seymour Duncan soundhole pickup. Good way to round off the weekend. Very much enjoyed it and got booked for two more gigs straight away.

Yeah I very much like being the age I am now. Better player, wiser, way more experienced and a lot calmer than I was as a youngster. People go on about how great it is to be young, but for me it meant having no money, poorly paid work at the bottom of the ladder, no clue what I was doing or how to do it. I think I’m happier now at nearly 50 than I was at 20 for sure.

On a more practical level, not smashing up my left shoulder at the age of 42 would have been handy. Put politely it hasn’t improved my playing one bit.

I’d like to have had more confidence and self belief when I was younger and people were telling me it was fine to have music as a hobby but to get a real job. As it turns out playing music has been the one constant in my life since I was 12 (including some of those people who gave me their helpful “advice” and have long since gone…). Far more important than just a hobby - a massive part of my life and something that has got me through a lot of hard times, as my escape, my own form of therapy and nourishment for my soul.

Awesome band. Awesome song. Awesome racket.

Got asked if we could play any Girls Aloud once on stage in a pub gig. We were a five piece band of 40/50-something men… so no.