"Bassicly" Speaking June 2018 Update

It's officially summer in Wales! So heres a little update to let you guys know what is going on in the world of a bass player in Wales.

The Special Brew

I've recently left the band on good terms & wish them all the best in future. I will be depping with them until a suitable replacement can be found.

Tupelo Highway

We've been gigging all over the place the last few months with shows across the whole of South Wales. Plenty more shows coming to venues later this month & through the summer.

We have also made a promo video for the band, shown below.

The Phill Court Trio

I have been toying around with our "Sound" in the studio. I've been taking a lot of inspiration from some more Funky bands, including Sex on Toast & Hiatus Kayote.

Some more groundwork needs to be put in place & some more rehearsal players to be hired, but I'm very confident & will be recording some tracks very soon (fingers crossed)

Glen's Blues

Glen has been touring with Owen Money for the last few months, so a lack of time has caused us to be a bit behind schedule unfortunately.

Dep & Session Work

Loads of dep work has come in recently, a lot of it during the Summer & Autumn. A great variety of genres & styles too, including pop, Rnb, Rock & Jazz.

I've been using a site called soundbetter.com to get some remote recording sessions/contracts. I've got 5 so far & again covering loads of genres.

Seems like a great platform & spotted a few friends on there too!

You can visit my profile here

Private Tuition

I have implemented the Professional Musician Mentorship & Advice sessions I was thinking about running. I've run a few trial sessions & now have two professional musicians on board wishing to progress in their career.

I might also be running it to year 12-13 students at a local music department at the end of the year.

I'm also working as a freelance tutor at a local rehearsal studio/store owned by Glen (Glen's Blues) I've got my first lesson there this week.

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally transferred all of my lesson plans to my Mac! It took ages 😭 but I'm so glad I did. It's so much easier to edit & keep record.

I've some free slots for lessons but not many.

If you are interested in private tuition click here or if you're interested in the Professional Musician Mentorship & Advice click here.

Composing/Solo Album

I've bought Sibelius Ultimate after a long thought out pros & cons session! It's come the time where I need it again to compose orchestral scores, score parts for my trio & provide resources for my students.

I'm currently planning on writing "Classical" pieces for some film/TV commissions in the future & to try and bolster my theoretical & musicianship knowledge.

Other Bits & Bobs

Practice

I've upped my practice to just about 6 hours off "musical" practice a day. I'm still covering the same topics as last update, but I've also added in more fun transcriptions too.

It's really paying off, stripping down my playing & building it back up to hopefully an excellent standard (fingers crossed)

Custom Bass

I've decided to sell a few of my basses, including my Fender American Deluxe Jazz V (very deeply missed) to fund a new one offf custom build.

I've decided on the great Overwater Basses. It's a 5 string P Bass (reverse pickup) with an added Musicman style pickup.

I'll add in some more in depth provisional specs below! I'm so excited. Its hopefully going to be a very versatile workhorse of a bass.

Instrument Type:

Series Custom

No. of Strings: 5

Scale Length: 35”

Neck

Joint: Standard bolt-on

Wood / Laminations: Maple - 1 piece

Fretted / Fretless: Fretted

Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood

Nut Width: 46mm

Bridge Spacing: 18mm

Frets: 22 - Medium

Binding: None

Position Markers: Side dots only

Profiling: Std P

Body

Body wood: Medium weight Swamp Ash

Top wood: None

Electronics

EQ / Circuit: 2 band EQ + passive tone - TBC

Pickup type: Reverse P + MM 5 - TBC

Pickup placement: TBC

Jack: TBC

Additional Switching: TBC

Hardware

Bridge type / Finish: Ow - 18mm - silver/chrome

Machine heads/Finish: Hipshot Ultralite ½” post - silver/chrome

Scratchplate: vintage white laminate

Control plate: None

String type: Med Nic

Finish

Finish: Seafoam Green + matching headstock

Gloss / Satin: Gloss

Check them out here.

Mono

I'm very happy to have received some new kit from Mono!

The Bass Sleeve in stunning ash & the Flybe gig rucksack.

I'm trialling them both at the moment with some great results.

I'm using the Flybe for all gigs & freelance teaching work/sessions to carry my papers, amp head, pedals, MacBook Pro & more.

The Sleeve I'm using to take one bass at a time to rehearsals, my Luther/Guitar tech. When I very rarely only need one bass 😂

Check Mono out here

Showreel

I realised that I didn't have my own footage of performances I could send to prospective clients etc. I put together my showreel, featuring live & studio performances. It is a bit long but I tried to pick the best footage I could covering - Electric bass, Fretless, Double Bass, Piccolo Bass & Synth/Key Bass.

It's currently unlisted but here it is for all its glory!

Article Contribution

I've been asked to contribute to a consumer guide article for bass guitar for consumerelp.guide. I was asked for my opinion on the "best" bass & my reasons why. You'll ave to wait for the article to be published to see my answer! I'll link to the article as soon as it is published.

Morgan Rees

My trumpeter (The Phill Court Trio) Has just unveiled his new Facebook Page! An excellent player & friend. Check him out here

Musicians Union

I came second in the Wales & South East England region's Executive Committee. Congratulations to Sarah I'm very proud & put a lot off work in.

I was shocked to see that only 13% of eligible members actually voted.

I've been in contact with the regional organiser Paul Gray (The Dammed, UFO etc) to volunteer my time to the union.

He has suggested that I run in two more elections coming up where they would like more representation from Wales. So I'll be on the campaign trail again shortly!

I've always stood by the union and have been an avid supporter of the #WorkNotPlay movement and will be proud to serve and help every musician possible.

Rv David King

For those of you that might not know. Rv Kinng was one of my longest serving students. he sadly passed away in December 2017.

I was tasked to sell his musical equipment, books & resources on behalf of is widow Mrs King. After some time we have decided to donate it to a good cause, my old school's Music department Lewis School Pengam formerly known as Lewis School for Boys.

I will be popping in again and visiting to catch up with my old bass/guitar tutor & the head of music.

Merch

I've had a long-time running gag of giving signed pictures of myself to friends for Birthdays & Christmas.

The next lot goes to amazing musician/rapper/songwriter Razkid! Along with a badge & stickers with my logo illustrated by Forrest Illustrations (My Girlfriend & very talented professional Illustrator) I'll link his socials below!