Grassie Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I think there are players influencing the next generation, but really only within metal and jazz. The players that influenced (and continue to influence) me are people like Mark King, John Taylor, Mick Karn, Pino, Nick Beggs, Flea, who pretty much all worked within a "pop/top 40" format (ok, maybe not so much with Flea). Maybe that's the point the OP is trying to make - that kids will have to dig deeper for influential players rather than just turning the radio on and listening to Radio 1. 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Bass "heroes" still gigging? John McVie, Bill Wyman, Paul McCartney. The guys of a later generation that are still gigging and inspire me are the likes of Nathan East, Reggie McBride, Cornell Williams, Nate Watts and Hutch Hutchinson. Then there's the likes of Kenny Gradney, Willie Weeks and Sean Hurley. I don't think we'll run out of world class bass playing any time soon. IMO there are fewer "classic" songs these days but there are more inspirational bass players around today than when I started listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project_c Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 thundercat! http://youtu.be/GNCd_ERZvZM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I would posit that 'pop' music is as eclectic and varied as ever. Actually sit and listen to the top 40! The Weeknd is making music that's really quite weird, Justin Biebers new album is a lovely mix of hip-hop groove and nu-soul while Jess Glynn (like her or love her) has really interesting beat based songs. 2015 was an incredible year for pop. Girl and Boy bands are dying on their arses and we're seeing the rise of super-producers. We're just living in an era where the sound and production of the songs are as important as the actual music and singing. Instruments are old hat, everyone needs to get a midi keyboard and some song writing software! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twincam Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I would say band music is still very popular, just there more genres of music now. Just like most hobbies today there's more to do in life now so everything is less popular but certainly band music is still popular. The thing is bass players have always been at the back so there's less stand outs compared to the more popular guitar. There's also more guitar players for various reasons. I was also thinking music is way more accessible these days the next generation are always close to music and don't actually need to do any digging as such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 There's got to be a backlash against all the beardy sensitive singer/sonwriter guys with acoustic guitars at some point, there always is when the market becomes over saturated with one type of genre. Who knows, 2016 could be a great year for bands, a whole new crop of inspirational young bass players could be right around the corner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
operative451 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Him off of Muse is probably the most innovative/popular person i can think of. There's lots of bass equivalents of Steve Vai and Joe satriani - the slapping equivalent of widdly music made for musicians... I spend a lot of my time listening to BBC6music, going 'ooh, so-and-so has a new song!' and then it turns out to be a new band of 20 year olds who've grown up listening to their parents' Simple Minds and New Order. In the way that britpop was 20somethings referencing the 60s, da yoof now seem to be doing a lot of electro-pop, and its often more fun to play synth sounds on bass than a computer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebob Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 Some really good points made. Personally, I would like to see more 'mainstream' records mixed with greater prominence to bass - a recent-ish one I can recall is the Bruno Mars track, 'Precious'. It's my big nag of the last x-amount of years, and a change that direction may open it up a little? Like on 'Later' when they regularly bury the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joseb84 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Two pennies worth from someone who sits somewhere in between the 'old gits' and 'youth' generationally... I agree with the comment that band music comes in waves. Since the time I have been into popular rock music (first album purchased was Parklife aged 10) I would identify three particularly fertile periods of UK band music: Britpop (94-97), what NME dubbed the 'New Rock Revolution' (02-05) and the Mumford-led folk-rock revival (10-13ish). Interestingly they have occurred at a regular frequency and endured for roughly the same lengths of time. There will be another wave (perhaps 2018ish?) and it will require bass players! However, also agree with the comment that none of the bands that might fall under these categories and the other big groups of that have transcended these eras (Radiohead, Manics, Coldplay) have produced an 'inspirational' bass player. Chris Woolstenhulme is indeed a worthy exception. I very much look to my Dad's collection of blues, psychedelic rock and prog for my bass playing inspiration and have never moved beyond Jack Bruce as my ultimate bass hero. So, I guess on reflection I am indeed an 'old git' at age 31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikki_Sixx Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 (edited) [quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1451922477' post='2944621'] Andy Fraser, Chris Squire, and of course Lemmy. [...] Once we lose all the players of the 60's-70's, who's left? [/quote] I see what you're saying, but as good as those guys are they didn't inspire me to play. I wasn't around in the 60s / 70s, and yet I still picked up a bass. When I first got into music it was popular rock music at the time (mostly Green Day and Oasis for me) that made me way to play an instrument, and Mike Dirnt of Green Day was the main influence on me drifting toward bass. I got really into 90's and 00's skate punk, and so count Mark Hoppus, Dan Andriano and Fat Mike among those who influenced my playing, as well as others like the Foo Fighters' Nate Mendel or Chris Wotsitguy from Muse. Now my influences are much broader. There are countless more 'modern' bassists to keep new players interested. It's just that our focus always goes back to those we grew up listening to. Edited January 5, 2016 by Rikki_Sixx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='joseb84' timestamp='1452005228' post='2945392'] So, I guess on reflection I am indeed an 'old git' at age 31 [/quote] Blimey you're an even younger old git than I am... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 That bass player, who does the Seinfeld theme. Very modern sounding . Whatever happened to him ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 . . . . but the Seinfeld theme was played on a synth by Jonathan Wolff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I guess that anyone who has a Fender or Squier signature bass could be regarded as quite influential to the younger end of the playing spectrum. To name a few: Matt Freeman, Troy Sanders, Mark Hoppus, Mike Dirnt, Nate Mendel, Mikey Way, Pete Wentz, Eva Gardner... (I admit to not knowing who all of them are myself). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1451938801' post='2944857'] I asked 22 year old music student son who is in a regularly gigging band what he thought of this. I also asked him who inspired him. The answer was 'everyone I ever heard including the bad stuff'. 'Give me an example.' 'Pink Floyd' [/quote] Great answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Oh, Royal Blood did a pretty good job of inspiring the new wave of bass players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='Conan' timestamp='1452010882' post='2945500'] To name a few: Matt Freeman, Troy Sanders, Mark Hoppus, Mike Dirnt, Nate Mendel, Mikey Way, Pete Wentz, Eva Gardner... [b](I admit to not knowing who all of them are myself).[/b] [/quote] I admit to not knowing who any of them are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1451938801' post='2944857'] I also asked him who inspired him. The answer was 'everyone I ever heard including the bad stuff'. [/quote] This is a very good point. I read an interview with Billy Sheehan years ago where he said something along the lines of "Inspiration doesn't just come from the things you love, it also comes from the things you reject". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRandles97 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 As a young musician myself (18) I see no less attraction to 'band' music than people two or three times my age do. I have a wide range or influences from the 50's to the present day, in the way of Charles Mingus, John Paul Jones, Chris Squire, Jaco and Geddy through to modern players such as Michael League, Janek Gwizdala, Justin Chancellor, Amos Williams and Stuart Zender etc. Although as times have progressed there has been a mass saturation of modern music, there is still a lot of great music to be found, and influence with it. There seems to be a preconceived notion that young musicians can't be influenced by music that is not of their time, which is undoubtedly misinformed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebob Posted January 5, 2016 Author Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='TomRandles97' timestamp='1452015682' post='2945571'] As a young musician myself (18) I see no less attraction to 'band' music than people two or three times my age do. I have a wide range or influences from the 50's to the present day, in the way of Charles Mingus, John Paul Jones, Chris Squire, Jaco and Geddy through to modern players such as Michael League, Janek Gwizdala, Justin Chancellor, Amos Williams and Stuart Zender etc. Although as times have progressed there has been a mass saturation of modern music, there is still a lot of great music to be found, and influence with it. There seems to be a preconceived notion that young musicians can't be influenced by music that is not of their time, which is undoubtedly misinformed. [/quote] Brilliant post. This is exactly what we need to be hearing...all very well put. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='TomRandles97' timestamp='1452015682' post='2945571'] As a young musician myself (18) I see no less attraction to 'band' music than people two or three times my age do. I have a wide range or influences from the 50's to the present day, in the way of Charles Mingus, John Paul Jones, Chris Squire, Jaco and Geddy through to modern players such as Michael League, Janek Gwizdala, Justin Chancellor, Amos Williams and Stuart Zender etc. Although as times have progressed there has been a mass saturation of modern music, there is still a lot of great music to be found, and influence with it. There seems to be a preconceived notion that young musicians can't be influenced by music that is not of their time, which is undoubtedly misinformed. [/quote] Maybe I misunderstood the original question, but I thought it was about who the new players coming through are, not if young people are influenced by the same old farts that we were. While it's good to see you listening to a wide range of music it would be nice to see some new names being mentioned in your list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='TomRandles97' timestamp='1452015682' post='2945571'] As a young musician myself (18) I see no less attraction to 'band' music than people two or three times my age do ... [/quote] This is exactly the impression I get from the 17-18 year olds that I teach and from my slightly older son and his friends. [quote name='TomRandles97' timestamp='1452015682' post='2945571'] ... There seems to be a preconceived notion that young musicians can't be influenced by music that is not of their time, which is undoubtedly misinformed. [/quote] There is this bizarre notion, in the internet age with more music (from all continents as well as all times) more easily and readily available than ever before, that young people aren't discovering all that readily available music. Young musicians that I know tend to listen to and be influenced by a massive range of music from all around the world. They don't care who it was, or when it was, or where it came from and are much less narrow-minded than was my generation (I'm 64). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 [quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1451980669' post='2945096'] ... it just won't be the bass guitar. [/quote] Actually, this is what I don't care about. It's not the instruments that matter, it's music that matters. But anyway, modern Western instruments like the bass guitar are still proliferating around the world so, among other things, it will be the bass guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilp Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 The sad thing for me is that there's a generation of kids listening to music - a good thing, no question - who have no idea how exciting and downright joyful an experience it can be hearing a live band - a real band - kicking a backbeat into the next county. Far too much tech involved in music for my taste these days, and the more tech there is, the less human spirit comes through. Sad old git slopes off to listen to some rock'n'roll.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LayDownThaFunk Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Bloody hell there are some old people on this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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