563:its funny. i love the stereotype thing. in every band ive ever been in as a bass player (and on other instruments), ive been the one that makes calls, the one that does the artwork, the one that is ALWAYS FREAKIN EARLY, not just on time mind you ... early.
I guess it is my time. I have been reading this and having a good laugh. Spending 20+ years as a bass player and now playing drums, I have lived on both sides of the tacks and here is what I have learned.
The drummer and bass player are as one. The groove comes from the feeling that they project to each other. It was weird but I could always tell when something was bothering the drummers that I played with because they seemed play without feeling or very mechanical. Same thing when I was having issues in my life my drummers could tell and always tell me to relax between songs, sets etc.
You can have average guitar players and singers and if your bass player and drummer are on, the band sounds kick ass. As you know if you cannot groove with your bass player the band sounds wrong. That is how I remember it. "563" nailed it! I was always the first to arrive for practice (along with the drummer) and we spent several minutes getting into a groove that we knew would carry into the practice. It seemed the drummer and I always were the ones to better ourselves driving the band to play new material. I can remember when I wanted to play some YES and Moody blues and the drummer was chomping at the bit to finally be able to show his chops with some very melodic bass licks. We would practice by ourselves to work everything out and then get the rest of the band involved. It just clicked so much better when we grooved! We were on!
It was not about reading music, or chicks (even though that was a nice bonus) or who looked the coolest it was about the internal rhythm/groove that we could create together. Moreover, how we could take that bond that we developed and carry it to the rest of the band and the crowd. It is funny because my current drum instructor is always saying to find a guitar player to jam with and I keep insisting that I would rather find a bass player. Knowing that if I could synchronize with a bass player the guitar players will be there when we are ready.
IMHO.
dw
