Rob Mullarkey - my absolute favourite bass player ever.

[musicbassman]

Here's Rob Mullarkey playing through the bassline he came up with for a Jordan Rakei track called 'Moda'

To me his touch and feel are exemplary, and not just on this track, but just about everything he's been part of.

Enjoy!

 

 

[ezbass]

Good bass playing genes.

[Beedster]

Very nice, but something about it feels wrong to me, hand and head movements at time look like there's some video artefacts in there? I might just be imagining it of course......

 

Either way, lovely bass line 👍

[Misdee]

Rob's playing on that track is what in the world of fashion would be called "bang on trend", i.e he's epitomising everything that is considered necessary, appropriate and desirable according to current tastes in bass guitar. And of course, he's using an old P Bass with flats. Nothing wrong with any of  that, and he does it all so well.

 

Surely one of the best bass players in Britain nowadays. I think he's great.

 

[Burns-bass]

I guess we’re seeing the modern bass player mutate into something as this super processed sound is really synth like. The phrasing all sounds like Stevie Wonders left hand - and that’s not a bad thing!

 

Personally, I find it’s over produced, far too busy and the track is soulless-soul Muzak. (I think the same about Jacob Collier to be honest.)

 

But that’s my personal taste. He seems like a lovely guy and I imagine would smash any gig.

[Linus27]

Absolutely wonderful, beautiful tone and playing.

[jonno1981]

I love zero 7, didn’t realise he was the guy. So much thought in his bass lines that are just enough for the song. 

[Terry M.]

One of my early introductions to him. Seen him live a good few times too.

 

 

[risingson]

Honestly his playing is terrifying, in the best way possible. I’m always in awe of musicians that sound totally unfettered by their instrument whilst simultaneously managing to stay incredibly musical, all with immaculate feel and time. I can probably count the number of bass players who I’ve heard who can do all this on one hand, Rob Mullarkey is definitely one of those. 

[Linus27]

I believe he is the son of the late great John Giblin who is probably my favourite bass player. 

[Terry M.]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

I believe he is the son of the late great John Giblin who is probably my favourite bass player. 

Ah is that right? I only heard of John Giblin after he passed and some of his gear ended up in The Gallery. I tried one of his old Lakland 5 strings. Apparently he was quite the tinkerer. 

[Linus27]

3 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Ah is that right? I only heard of John Giblin after he passed and some of his gear ended up in The Gallery. I tried one of his old Lakland 5 strings. Apparently he was quite the tinkerer. 

 

He sure was, I believe he and Rob used to buy lots of things off Ebay and make basses. I tried about 3 or 4 of his basses at The Gallery but nothing that I really wanted. I would love to have owned his black Fender Japan Power Jazz bass he played on some of the Simple Minds stuff. I would love to know what happened to it along with his natural Stingray.

 

This is what Rob posted on Facebook back when John passed.

 

"I’m sorry to say my dad passed away on May 14th 2023. He was an amazing man - genuine, charming and an utterly uplifting presence and it’s really heartbreaking that we won’t get to hang again. He burned brightly and departed elegantly, leaving a deep impression on all he met.
John Giblin was also an incredible bassist and I wanted to use this post to pay a small tribute as he played an enormous part in influencing my playing, but his compassion and his character overshadow his music. He spent a lot of time looking after his good friend John Martyn in his final years. Kate Bush has some lovely words to say about John
- “Everyone loved John. He was a really beautiful man in every sense of the word. Everybody wanted to work with him because he was such a great talent and everyone wanted to be his friend because he was such a wonderful person. I loved John so very much. He was one of my very dearest and closest friends for over forty years. We were always there for each other. He was very special. I loved working with him, not just because he was such an extraordinary musician but because he was always huge amounts of fun. We would often laugh so much that we had to just give in to it and sit and roar with laughter for a while. He loved to be pushed in a musical context, and it was really exciting to feel him cross that line and find incredibly gorgeous musical phrases that were only there for him. He would really sing. It was such a joy and an inspiration to see where he could take it. We’ve all lost a great man, an unmatchable musician and I’ve lost my very special friend. My world will never be the same again without him.”

I only met John in later life but we instantly hit it off. Our views on music and all else were strangely aligned. He remains the only person I totally trusted on matters of bass tone and we enjoyed rummaging through ebay instruments even on our last chat.
His style was rooted in soul and pop and he always had impeccable time and a real melodic ear, taking influence from Eberhard Weber as much as Jamerson and Jaco, he acheived the holy grail of establishing a unique voice whilst nailing all the attributes of a tasteful, grounding bass role. Phil Collins would rely on him to make a solid soulful rhythm section, while John Martyn would bring out a fluid and bluesy style coming more from his jazz influences. Peter Gabriel allowed John to stretch out melodically and Babooshka would never have been the masterpiece that it is without the beautiful fretless parts he imparted. Meanwhile check out the unique way he uses a delay pedal to bring a rhythmic excitement on Ghostdancing (live) with Simple Minds or his distinctive tone with british fusion pioneers Brand X.

I made a little playlist of some of my favourite tracks. It’s by no means exhaustive, as he was a first call sessioneer for so many top artists. He wasn’t inclined to fill out a PPL form either so many of his works are quite difficult to identify!

https://tinyurl.com/29a5d7xy

I’m sure I missed some gems, so do let me know...

Miss you dad"

[Musicman666]

5 hours ago, Linus27 said:

I believe he is the son of the late great John Giblin who is probably my favourite bass player. 

so why not keep the name??

[Terry M.]

7 hours ago, Linus27 said:

 

He sure was, I believe he and Rob used to buy lots of things off Ebay and make basses. I tried about 3 or 4 of his basses at The Gallery but nothing that I really wanted. I would love to have owned his black Fender Japan Power Jazz bass he played on some of the Simple Minds stuff. I would love to know what happened to it along with his natural Stingray.

 

This is what Rob posted on Facebook back when John passed.

 

"I’m sorry to say my dad passed away on May 14th 2023. He was an amazing man - genuine, charming and an utterly uplifting presence and it’s really heartbreaking that we won’t get to hang again. He burned brightly and departed elegantly, leaving a deep impression on all he met.
John Giblin was also an incredible bassist and I wanted to use this post to pay a small tribute as he played an enormous part in influencing my playing, but his compassion and his character overshadow his music. He spent a lot of time looking after his good friend John Martyn in his final years. Kate Bush has some lovely words to say about John
- “Everyone loved John. He was a really beautiful man in every sense of the word. Everybody wanted to work with him because he was such a great talent and everyone wanted to be his friend because he was such a wonderful person. I loved John so very much. He was one of my very dearest and closest friends for over forty years. We were always there for each other. He was very special. I loved working with him, not just because he was such an extraordinary musician but because he was always huge amounts of fun. We would often laugh so much that we had to just give in to it and sit and roar with laughter for a while. He loved to be pushed in a musical context, and it was really exciting to feel him cross that line and find incredibly gorgeous musical phrases that were only there for him. He would really sing. It was such a joy and an inspiration to see where he could take it. We’ve all lost a great man, an unmatchable musician and I’ve lost my very special friend. My world will never be the same again without him.”

I only met John in later life but we instantly hit it off. Our views on music and all else were strangely aligned. He remains the only person I totally trusted on matters of bass tone and we enjoyed rummaging through ebay instruments even on our last chat.
His style was rooted in soul and pop and he always had impeccable time and a real melodic ear, taking influence from Eberhard Weber as much as Jamerson and Jaco, he acheived the holy grail of establishing a unique voice whilst nailing all the attributes of a tasteful, grounding bass role. Phil Collins would rely on him to make a solid soulful rhythm section, while John Martyn would bring out a fluid and bluesy style coming more from his jazz influences. Peter Gabriel allowed John to stretch out melodically and Babooshka would never have been the masterpiece that it is without the beautiful fretless parts he imparted. Meanwhile check out the unique way he uses a delay pedal to bring a rhythmic excitement on Ghostdancing (live) with Simple Minds or his distinctive tone with british fusion pioneers Brand X.

I made a little playlist of some of my favourite tracks. It’s by no means exhaustive, as he was a first call sessioneer for so many top artists. He wasn’t inclined to fill out a PPL form either so many of his works are quite difficult to identify!

https://tinyurl.com/29a5d7xy

I’m sure I missed some gems, so do let me know...

Miss you dad"

I really appreciate this post @Linus27. Sometimes in the posts on here I come across instances where I'm tempted to leave Basschat but it's posts like this that keep me sticking around ☺️

 

Ah I just read he was a part of Brand X with Phil Collins.I wasn't aware even though I've heard and enjoyed several of their tracks.

Edited 7 hours ago by Terry M.

[BassTractor]

5 hours ago, Musicman666 said:

so why not keep the name??

Rob answered that one on fb, as seen in @Linus27' excellent post:
"I only met John in later life but we instantly hit it off."

[EJWW]

13 hours ago, Linus27 said:

I believe he is the son of the late great John Giblin who is probably my favourite bass player. 

Wow, that is an incredible connection that I didn't know existed!

 

Two fabulous musicians, giving so much to our instrument and our community. 

[oliverK09]

21 hours ago, risingson said:

Honestly his playing is terrifying, in the best way possible. I’m always in awe of musicians that sound totally unfettered by their instrument whilst simultaneously managing to stay incredibly musical, all with immaculate feel and time. I can probably count the number of bass players who I’ve heard who can do all this on one hand, Rob Mullarkey is definitely one of those. 

Yeah, Rob Mullarkey feels like he’s playing through the bass, not just on it. Like the instrument disappears and it’s just pure expression. That combo of freedom, groove, and taste is so rare it’s technical mastery but never for show. Always in service of the music

[Terry M.]

I've had this album a few years now.

 

https://brotherly-whirlwind.bandcamp.com/album/analects

[Linus27]

6 hours ago, Terry M. said:

I really appreciate this post @Linus27. Sometimes in the posts on here I come across instances where I'm tempted to leave Basschat but it's posts like this that keep me sticking around ☺️

 

Ah I just read he was a part of Brand X with Phil Collins.I wasn't aware even though I've heard and enjoyed several of their tracks.

 

You are very welcome and I am super happy you appreciated it, thank you

 

John does have quite an extensive back catalogue and he never submitted his performance right for a lot of tracks so there's probably more recordings of him that we are not aware off. 

[Linus27]

1 hour ago, oliverK09 said:

Yeah, Rob Mullarkey feels like he’s playing through the bass, not just on it. Like the instrument disappears and it’s just pure expression. That combo of freedom, groove, and taste is so rare it’s technical mastery but never for show. Always in service of the music

 

I would also say, very much like his dad who also effortlessly flowed melodically around the fretboard, tastefully and always serving the song.