Barking Spiders

Well I must've missed Ned's Atomic Dustbin so cant comment on them . I tuned in when Jesus and Mary Chain were on.

to those saying 'because they want to' yeah well, that's obvious. it's just that none of the bassists nor the rest of the players looked like they were having much fun unlike say the blokes in Songhoy Blues. Maybe I just dont get all this thing about looking nonchalant and not engaging with the crowds

Oops, accidentally deleted my OP. Rather than write it all over again the nub of it is that BBC6 Music Festival just gone was heavily weighted towards indie guitar bands Is the phrase landfill indie a thing of the past cos it shouldn't be. How large chunks of the audience were getting excited by the likes of Grandaddy, The Shins and Ride beats me as they all look similar, sound the same, have no stage presence, no songs as such and are uniformly dreary. And why anyone would wanna play bass in an indie band beats me as it's all seems to be about picking 8ths on the root while gazing at the back of the hall.

Of late I've been googling to see what function bands are out there that play funk. Thing is it seems to me the definition of funk is being stretched to include setlist numbers that might just about be bordering on funk and soul while some are not funk at all e.g. Sex on Fire and Happy. I spose if you need gigs you've gotta offer recent chart hits. I guess a setlist that includes covers of tunes by Trouble Funk, Fatback Band, Ohio Players and Graham Central Station isn't gonna land you any spots. Shame

I've usually quit bands where more than a third of the setlist is what I consider to be utter gash. I have to enjoy what I'm playing otherwise what's the point. If I had to practice Sex on Fire or Angels at home I'd probably reach for the BBQ skewers to puncture my ear drums

Try funk or latin, especially the various Brazilian styles which include 2/4, 12/8, 6/8. then there's 5/4 (e.g. Take Five). I play drums too and stopped playing 4 to the floor when I discovered funk and samba. Top funk players to check out; Mike Clark (Headhunters), Idris Muhammed, Ziggy Modeliste (Meters), Dave Garibaldi (Tower of Power), Jabo Starkes and Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown) Bernard Purdie, Adam Deitch (John Scofield)

You could always attach a hot dog or mini baguette on top of a Steinberger headstock and nibble between songs and side drums are useful for keeping plates of cold meats. Depending on what and where you play and your typical audience it might be a nice touch to lay out a buffet for punters, the cost being included in the entry price of course.

errm Burrito....viz others replies the question in my OP isn't meant to be taken that seriously but when push comes to shove (apt choice of phrase here ) there many times when we all have to choose one thing over another. While I'm here it's nice to note that my member is now fully fledged

Good answers . I could also have asked, as you get older and afflicted with assorted ailments, which would cause more grief, arthritis in the hands or the old fella not being up to scratch anymore?

Is playing the bass better than sex? Or to put it another way, in a fantasy situation consider this. Of these two choices which would you go for. a. a night of passion with the hottie of your dreams b. being the bassist in your favourite band playing a massive gig in front of thousands off fans going apesh1t Me tbh it would be b. Honestly!

Top stuff. And a great album it's from too, Master of The Game.

TBH it's best you stick with the UK or Ireland otherwise you'll be spending half a day at the airport and on a plane. If I were you I'd base myself in Cork and explore the west coast of Ireland. If you choose the UK I'd actually recommend rather than spreading your time too thinly pick an area, either North Yorkshire, The Cotswolds/Gloucestershire (where I live ) , central, north and west Wales, the New Forest in Hampshire, Scotland or the Lake District in Cumbria.

Let it not be forgotten that while Dancing vid is a low for DB it's a career high for Jagger

His highest... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DanDvAfCcs[/media] and lowest [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ[/media] tough to be fair it's Jagger who comes over as the most wincing " That happened and we all let it happen" - Peter Griffin

Aye she sure is looking pretty fine for her age. But back in the Bangles heyday she was seriously hot.

Over the last coupla years I've put up three ads on Join My Band and a couple on Gumtree to form a band playing funk, jazz-funk, Stax, acid jazz and hip hop covers across the Gloucs -Worcs-north Wilts region. Had two replies . One bloke seemed a bit unhinged and the other was already in about 10 other bands. I decided this prospective band didn't have legs. Cirencester and Chippenham weren't ready to embrace tha funk. Now I just pretend to people I'm in a band

a 25 year old Susannah Hoffs (rhythm guitar and pouty lips), Katie Melua (acoustic guitar and sultry eyes), 29 year old Belinda Carlisle (vocals and Playboy shoot), The Corrs (sorry but not you Jim)

Surprised there's been yet no mention of Sterling by Musicman Sub Ray series. Bet VFM I've ever come across in a bass

Bottom line is as far as most pub/club audiences are concerned they're generally far more impressed if you can replicate a well known bassline, even if it's quite simple, rather than some shredding solo that they cant relate to. I often wonder at jazz and fusion bassists and other musicians putting in all that effort in just to remain largely unknown outside their tiny niches. If that's their bag fair play but if I were a professional I'd want to reach as big an audience as possible.

While I can proficiently play a good number of Level 42 basslines I've tried my hand at singing at the same time and struggle. Bluddy tricky. Mega respect to MK. I guess same goes for Les Claypool

My approach is my own list of 1,001 bass lines I must master . 90% are funk, soul, jazz funk and disco. I'm about a third of the way there as the goalposts are constantly changing as I come across new stuff. In this respect I'm probably a 2. I play what I like and generally like what I play. As I head towards 50 I have no interest in striving for Wootten-like virtuosity as I don't plan on making a living from playing music.

I didn't use my aged Aria Pro II Integra for a coupla years but once I'd swapped the rounds for flats I now play it as much as the others. So maybe make a minor change and it could seem like new

You cant go far wrong with the Golden Age of hip hop over from the late 80s to mid 90s,with a lot of the usual suspects already named and a lot of the early gangsta stuff still holds up. NWA's Straight Outta Compton is as good as its rep has it. Also Ice T'S Original Gangster, Dr Dre's The Chronic and Ice Cube's AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted and Nas's Illmatic are pretty seminal. Of the current lot Run The Jewels stand out. Then there's yer instrumental hip hop, topped by DJ Shadow. Entroducing is a modern classic. Another good'un is Blockhead, on the Ninja Tune label, as was The Herbaliser who mash up funk, vocal and instrumental hip hop and jazz. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiTE-Eyx18A"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiTE-Eyx18A[/url]

Over the last 5 years I've only done dep work on occasions and expect to be paid the same as everyone else, particularly as I mostly play with function bands doing funk, disco, soul, reggae and latin covers where nearly all the tunes have upfront basslines

Oh yeah! 'kin marvellous stuff. Not heard that in aeons. Cheers for the heads up. Gonna have to get me some O Jays albums sharpish