So is it just you and the bass then?
Yes.
You don't use backing tapes?
No.
What kind of music is it?
I would say the essence of it is the songs. And then because the bass is the band, obviously that gives Single Bass a characteristic sound.
Do you do all that slapping and stuff then?
Oh yes indeed. Slapping, two hand tapping, harmonic chords, and I also use a delay effect on some songs.
Have you ever thought about adding just a little bit of percussion or something?
Obviously it's crossed my mind, but the reason I don't generally do anything like that with Single Bass is I really like that magical thing of "One person gets up on stage and does the business". There's a connection you get with the audience in that situation which is different from what happens with a band.
I have done other things as well but then I wouldn't call them Single Bass.
Have you ever played in a band?
Yes - I had one band during 6th form, drums / bass / vocals / 2 guitars, and another one during college, drums / bass / vocals / guitar / keyboard. Both times, I did bass, lead vocals & songwriting. I've also done bass & backing vocals for Tom Robinson a few times, which was fab.
Did you start off on guitar?
No, I started on violin when I was 4 and took up the bass when I was 17. I still play violin occasionally.
Whereabouts do you play?
Depends who asks me. Some of the most exciting Single Bass gigs have been:
It turns out that Single Bass goes with almost any other kind of music (e.g. rock, pop, world music, jazz, prog, folk), so I've also done a huge variety of support slots - "from Davey Spillane to Dumpy's Rusty Nuts". Festivals have included Glastonbury, Cambridge Strawberry Fair, Glasgow Mayfest etc.
When are you playing next?
Single Bass is kind of dormant at the moment, but when there are any gigs, the quickest way to find out about them is via the Single Bass emailing list. There's also a news & gig dates page on this site.
To be added to the list, send email. If you haven't got email access, then I recommend enlisting a friend who has, if possible.
I do have a postal mailing list as well, but it got too big and expensive to use it for most gigs - sorry.
Have you done any recording?
Yes - I've done one CD so far, "Be Your Friend".
Are you doing another album?
Yes.
When?
Don't know.
I do have a pretty good idea of which songs are going to be on the next one, and I've done some work on recordings.
Some people have been surprised that I can't just bosh them off - surely Single Bass must be easy to record? But in fact it can be deceptively difficult, because in a soundscape that simple and empty, every note counts.
I'm deliberately not giving any deadlines or even guesses for when the album will be finished and out, because I know from experience that that's a guaranteed way to introduce a lot of stress into the situation, and it doesn't make me work any faster. It's gonna take as long as it takes.
What I can say is that there is no shortage of songs :-)
Are you with a record company?
No. I did have some interest before I did the first CD, but in the end did it myself, partly just because I thought it would be a cool & exciting thing to do, and partly to avoid futile arguments about whether Single Bass was viable - having once been told in all seriousness by a record company person "Of course, you couldn't have a whole album of just bass and vocals".
Then after the first album, I went through a phase of thinking it was important to find a record company for the next one, but at the same time feeling reluctant to risk getting into a situation where Single Bass might get compromised.
Thanks to the internet, though, these days it's more and more viable for independent labels to operate. So now I'd only go the record company route if I got an offer I was entirely happy with - working with someone who's as passionate about spreading the music around as I am about making it, but who's willing to trust my sense of what Single Bass is about.