Pete Academy

We were booked to play The Point and it closed about 2 weeks before. Now we are booked for The Globe in a couple of weeks and it's due to close. I see a pattern emerging.

[quote name='lonestar' post='610236' date='Sep 27 2009, 07:23 PM']Nearly Dan p.s Anyone know Pete Academy's regular route home, alone, late at night along a deserted street, with no witnesses around perhaps? [/quote] Apologies, but I've only just caught this thread. You're welcome to my route home, but you might not escape alive. It's great music to play but you just don't get the groupies. I think, after reading The Dirt, I'd settle for Motley Crue.

Do you have riders at your gigs? Do you turn up expecting to be fed and watered, only to find the dressing room fridge is empty? Do you have Spinal-Tap demands? Cans of coke or lines of coke? Pray tell.

Er, well, apart from Jamerson, that is...

[quote name='Tait' post='611209' date='Sep 28 2009, 08:16 PM']oh yeah definatly! i understand why people would listen to his music, but its just really not my sort of thing at all! i dont like victor wooten or anything like that, this solo bass stuff just bores me! and my point was that maybe the reason i dont sound like jaco when i'm playing fretless is maybe because i dont listen to him and i dont do all that solo stuff.[/quote] It's like any innovator - there's always players that take it further. Take Larry Graham, for instance. When I first heard Jaco's solo album back when it was released, it was mind-blowing. Ok, there are better, faster players etc, but Jaco had something special, and his technique was awesome. he was just a genius musician. I've read lots of comments by (mainly) younger players who can't see what the fuss is about. You just have to look a bit deeper than the bass heroes of today. Jaco is, and will always be, the greatest bass player of all time.

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='610977' date='Sep 28 2009, 04:41 PM']One of the issues I have with JB vs Jaco debate is that Berlin has, for me, failed to find a place for himself in any music of lasting quality. I think his Bruford stuff was marvellous but, since then, I have heard nothing that moves me (impresses, on occasion but never moves). Compare that to Jaco's stuff and you can see why JB never got that kind of prestige. Jaco was a better musician than Berlin, who is probably the better technician. JB sounds as if he comes at it with his brain not his heart and soul. His sound is clinical, Jaco's was much deeper (all subjective, I agree). Also, and this is not fair but it is true, Jaco, as a personailty, had presence, flair, charisma. JB is like your mate's Dad, the bloke that delivers the milk, the guy that mends your tv. Whether he is bitter or not is not for me to say but it is easy to see why he has experienced a lack of comparative success.[/quote] I have one thing to say to JB...that video with the wrestler in it (or was it a boxer?). Probably the most ludicrous and shameful 'tuition' video that's ever been released. He's obviously a great player but (along with Anthony Jackson, at times) comes over as a total w***er.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='610178' date='Sep 27 2009, 06:19 PM']Pray do tell what these letters are about![/quote] the Stan Clarke one was just a generic reply to his fans. He was huge in those days, akin to someone writing to The Stones or similar. lThe Level 42 one was different. They were an up and coming band, and I was obsessed with Mark. I wrote to him asking how he got his sound. His ketter was really detailed, with drawings of his graphic Eq settings. It was really personal.

At last years's Bass Day I bought a CD. On there was a guy who sounded and played like a complete clone of Marcus - same sound, same style. What's the point? Fretless-wise, I think Pino took it to another level. I think what I'm trying to say is do you think bass playing can evolve much more? You can add a million strings, but is it still bass playing?

I have a letter from Stanley Clarke from the 70's. Well, actually it's a typed letter with a print of his signature. I have a hand-written 3-page letter from Mark King, circa very early 80s, just after the Level 42 album came out. Level 42 headed paper and hand-drawn graphic equaliser settings. Anyone fancy buying it, BTW?

[quote name='The Funk' post='610108' date='Sep 27 2009, 04:36 PM']It's easy to end up listening to a lot of bass-centric music, where the great technical contributors will be aped over and over by people trying to incorporate their innovations into their own playing - but that's not all the music out there. Whenever I worry that my playing is getting a bit standard or samey, I write a new song. Playing bass is about playing songs - not licks and tricks. Everyone's playing will be a combination of their influences, the technological limitations of the day and some of their own innovations.[/quote] Good reply.

[quote name='The Funk' post='610101' date='Sep 27 2009, 04:25 PM']No. If I thought that, I wouldn't bother playing. Not saying I'm going to contribute anything to the world of bass playing in the grand scheme of things but if I thought it had all been done before, I wouldn't really want to play.[/quote] Of course you wouldn't stop playing - who would? But when you hear a sound it's always a 'Marcus-style' or 'Jaco-style' sound.

We know the bass players who have developed a sound and technique that is uniquely recognisable: Stanley, Marcus, Jaco, Bernard, Victor, Flea, Larry Graham, Bootsy, Geddy, Victor, Chris Squier (apologies for not including rock and metal players, as I'm not too familiar with them these days) etc, etc. Do you think it's pretty impossible to come up with anything different, as it's all been done before? Is everyone just a mixture of these players' sounds and styles? As Jeff Berlin says, he doesn't play fretless because he and virtually everyone else sounds like Jaco.

I use the Fender cables, but I must admit I got them cheap. They're well-made, chunky and haven't let me down. Used to sell Planet Waves but a lot came back. I personally think you can't go wrong with Whirlwind.

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='608223' date='Sep 24 2009, 10:14 PM']Hadrien Feraud is i twat, lets face it. I know I didn't stop around to watch him after he cruised around bass day uk 2007 w***ing gleefully into the punters faces. What a dick.[/quote] BTW, I've heard of an iPod, but what is an iTwat?

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='608280' date='Sep 25 2009, 04:33 AM']Thanks for that two-line insight into the psyche of Hadrien Feraud, followed by the 12 lines of capital letters explaining which guitars you've bought.[/quote] Well said, both you and Jake.

He's an amazing player BTW.

Careful guys, he may go the same way as Janek.

It's basically an octaver.

I finally gave up on BPM. I usually take it off the shelf and pay for it, but this time I leafed through...nothing to interest me - almost 5 quid saved.

Peavey Millennium. Unbeatable IMO.

Staccato Drums!

Again in the 80s, I was at a trade show on the Burns Bass stand. On that stand were alo those strange drums whose shells protruded out and those amps that Alan Holdsworth endorsed in those days (to be honest, Holdsworth is the king of endorsements), but I can't remember the names. Anyway, I was browsing the Burns stand and picked up a bass. Suddenly, a guy approached me and asked if I would like to accompany Alan while he demo'ed the amps. The same guy also asked the drummer who was seated on the aforementioned kit (come to think of it, I think he was the srummer out of Supertramp and he invented this kit). This guy then said he was Alan's guitar tech and proceeded to tell us what Alan would be playiong and the chords involved. He rattled off a million jazz chords, and I just nodded. Anyway, on came Holdsworth. He started a chord progression and me and the drummer just stared at each other in disbelief. He attempted to play in time with Alan, and I just hit a few root nortes in the hope they might fit. After about 60 seconds Alan stopped playing and announced he was 'going to the bar'.

Back in the early 80s I was working in a tiny music shop in Stoke. Dean Friedman (Lucky Star) came in and said he was doing an inetrview for local radio in half an hour. He looked behind the counter and saw a string winder. He paid us a quid for it, unwrapped it and stuck it in his pocket. Before he left he reminded us to tune in for the interview. At the end of the interview, the presenter said: 'And now we have a question for you. The person who calls in first with the correct answer will win a special prize...Dean Friedman's very own personal guitar tuner!' What a cheapskate!

[quote name='Doddy' post='601678' date='Sep 17 2009, 08:28 PM']It's all in 4/4. The first note an anacrusis on beat 4,then there are 4 bars before the rhythm section comes in.[/quote] Anacrusis? Is that a disease?