Friday, January 14, 2011

Xan McCurdy Preaches the Gospel of Bass

At Magnet, the Cake multi-instrumentalist talks up the importance of the low-end:


I’m not talking about these chest-pain-causing bass-frequency fanatics, but the subtle melody-enhancing, rhythm-keeping, ass-caressing bass-guitar sounds. Put on any Marvin Gaye and turn up the low frequencies on your home or car stereos or your mp9 player (or whatever) just a tad, and I promise it’s a little bit better. And kiss your local bass player. He works a lot harder than you think.

This is all true. As I've said, I used to play the bass, and it may be an easy instrument to fake along with, but it's truly difficult to play well. And if you do, people are unlikely to notice.

Even punk bands need good bass players. My favorite punk bassis? Paul Simonon of the Clash:



No comments: