Billy Sherwood
gered a memory I hadn’t thought of in ages. The first record I ever made was Lodgic, and we were on A&M. After all the years of sweat and finally getting in the studio and getting it right, we had the final mix to do. I get my coffee, go into the control room, and it’s the guys from Toto producing — David Paich, Greg Ladanyi, and Steve Porcaro, and they all looked at me like, “What are you doing here?” And I was like, “I’m ready to help mix this thing.” And they were like, “No, we got this.” The band wasn’t allowed in? As newbies, rightfully so, but I remember thinking at the time, “I have to become the producer, because nobody can kick the producer out of the session” [laughs]. I was really worried about the bass level while roaming the hallway like I was having a kid [laughs]. I remember asking Keith Olsen, who mixed the World Trade album, “What’s the key to a good mix?” And he said, “A lot of bottom, a lot of middle, and a lot of top” [laughs]. I thought, “I get it.”
I always ask singing bassists about the key to developing that skill. There’s a rhythmical component. The ultimate challenge there is the second verse in “The Gates of Delirium,” where the bass and the bass drum have this distinct rhythmic pattern. It’s this thing, and it has to be there. And on top of that, there’s a whole other vocal counterpoint thing — it’s just a mind-bender. I always come to the table with the bass more prepared than the vocal, because applying the vocal comes easier. Maybe it’s a drummer mindset: being able to have the right hand do this, while the left hand does that, and the foot does something else. In terms of being able to play some very weird rhythms and sing something totally different over the top, I kind of get behind it easier than most. “Tempus Fugit” is another weird one: to get all of that under your fingers and sing it. You have to be able to not think about one over the other. The real trick is flipping your iPad so you can follow your lyrics [laughs]. l
First Impressions Count...Make Yours With Phil Jones Bass www.PJBWorld.com Pictured: Kirby Barber, BP-800 Watt Head, C4 Cabinet Photography by Jonathan Warren
bassmagazine.com ; ISSUE 6 ; BASS MAGAZINE
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