Having been around music all my life, I started out playing violin at a young age and went from playing in the string section at school and local orchestras, to playing drums and percussion in orchestras and an all girl punk rock band when I was 13. But with that style of music not holding my attention, I ditched the orchestras by the time I was 15 and stuck to rock music .I started off playing drums in my current band David R Black, but after an unsettled line up and a lack of bass players in the area, it seemed like a natural progression for me to pick up the bass. I was already having piano and music theory lessons with a teacher who had also been playing bass guitar most of her life, so the lessons turned to bass lessons and with a lot of hard work and dedication I was soon writing and gigging with my new instrument.

I’ve never thought of myself as the most technically proficient bass player out there, but people have commented over the years on my playing style being pretty unique. With my band being a 3-piece I take on the roles of filling in the rhythm section and incorporate melodies in my bass playing to pad out the guitar parts and counter balance the vocal melodies.

I have never really considered my musical influences to have affected my playing style, but I guess nobody really does at the time. I have never set out to imitate  another bass player because my influences are very eclectic. I grew up listening to a mixture of  70’s rock and 90’s grunge – Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Aerosmith, but I listen to pretty much anything and have everything from Sigur Ros to Rammstein and David Bowie (Gail Ann Dorsey – brilliant bass player!) to Pink in my collection!

It’s only really been the past 3 years that my partner Dean (also a bass player) introduced me to the likes of Victor Wooten, Larry Graham, Jaco Pastorius,and Les Claypool. He’s made me step up my musicality a lot over the past few years and is one of my biggest bass influences even though his playing style is so different to mine.

Achievements and struggles:
My band has had the privilege of touring with many great artists over the years – supporting bands like Living Colour, The Mission, The Tubes, Spin Doctors for example, and we’ve always had great feedback off these musicians. Both Mark White (Spin Doctors) and Doug Wimbish (Living Colour)told me I had tons of potential and they really liked my playing style.

There was one tour however where I had a mixed reception – we did a lot of touring with Hugh Cornwell (ex-Stranglers) and I discovered there were a few of his followers (not Hugh himself though) who were quite old fashioned in the way they believed women had no place in music, I was gob-smacked when someone actually said that to me at one particular show, but some people who admitted to feeling that way did actually go on to say they’d been impressed by the performance. I think there’s always going to be a collection of people who just don’t like female musicians but I don’t let it bother me, it just gives me the fuel I need to prove them wrong. I also found it hard at first when people used to ask me why I don’t just play root notes, and I had a hard time from one of our producers for the times I’ve wanted to double up bass lines or play “lead parts” on bass. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that though, if it’s how I interpret the song or feel of the music.I also had to learn how to play and sing at the same time which I found challenging  at first, especially if they’re different rhythms and you really have to trust your hands to play the right thing and concentrate on vocals as well.

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to do some session work which I’d never done before. It was a huge and daunting task for me to learn over 20 songs in a short space of time but I saw this as a challenge; playing someone else’s bass-lines had always been foreign to me, but I rose to the challenge, learned so much along the way and didn’t realize just how much fun it could be. I’m always going to strive to be a better musician and in particularly a better bass player.

My main bass is a beautiful 1968 Fender Precision, I love the sound and feel of it, the neck is slightly warped though so I may have to retire it from touring soon. Although the clean bass sound is beautiful I  sometimes like to add effects such as Octave Divider, Distortion, Chorus and Reverb to add extra depth, crunch and ethereal tones when needed.

David R Black’s latest album is called “Secret City” and is avalible on itunes, Napster and their website.  David R Black will be gearing up to play a full UK and European tour in the Autumn.

www.davidrblack.net

Adam Phillips ([email protected])