Abby Travis describes herself as a “pinch-hitter of bassists”. That tracks, considering she’s filled four-stringed space for Beck, Elastica, The Bangles and The Go-Go’s when they were in need. She also has her solo work, released under the name Sumo Princess.
But she’s aware that, some of the time, her efforts go under the radar. “There are people who listen to music and don’t even know what the bass sounds like,” she tells Bass Player. “But they move their heads or their asses! The bass is what makes us groove to the music. It’s a physical thing.”
A punk rocker at heart, she notes: “A lot of people in punk can’t play their instruments, but their bands are fantastic because they have honesty in their music – they have a feel.”
She explains: “It’s not about how fancy you are. It’s about how you make others feel. I’m not bagging on being technical; I think it’s great. But if I had to pick one, I’m going with feel and groove.”
Did you choose the bass, or did it choose you?
“The bass chose me. I was asked to join a band called The Lovedolls by the guitarist, Kim Pilkington, when I was 15. She was dating my brother. The combination of liking the way I dressed and me making her tuna fish sandwiches was enough for her to ask me!
“She said, ‘I’ll teach you how to play bass – just don’t tell the drummer you’ve never played before.’ I had a piano teacher who’d told me I should play the bass because I always made a lot of movement with my left hand. I think that probably came from my love of The Beatles.”
How did you go from playing in The Lovedolls to a working, touring musician for hire?
“I went to The Dick Grove School of Music when I was 21. Before that, I’d become very frustrated because I’d hear music in my head, but by the time I’d figure out what I was hearing, I’d forgotten it.
“Going to that school helped me to process my thoughts more rapidly. After I graduated I started going to auditions. I’d been playing in bands for five years already.
“Most of the gigs I’ve gotten were because I was recommended by other musicians. Chris Bruce and Carla Azar recommended me early on, as did a couple of A&R people at Geffen Records. It was a much smaller scene back then.”
What did your rig look like at that point?
“I used a Gallien-Krueger 800RB bass with two Hartke 4X10XL speakers for years. I loved that head, and I still have one of the Harte 4X10s. At one point, in the ’90s, I switched to an Ampeg SVT2.”
One of your first gigs was with Spinal Tap. What was that like, and how did it come about?
“Spinal Tap was holding drummer auditions. It was a publicity stunt, since their drummers were always dying in the movie. I was at music school and my boyfriend was a drummer, so I asked him to teach me how to play the drums on Big Bottom.
“I showed up to the audition wearing a fairy costume, in character as – in a Nigel Tufnel-esque British accent – Promethia Pendragon. I was from a village outside Stonehenge. I had a whole schtick! I made them laugh, but although they were rooting for me, I didn’t make the cut as a drummer. I was foiled by the double kick pedal!
“I was hired to dance in my fairy costume with the two little people during Stonehenge at The Universal Amphitheater. I wound up joining them in Phoenix and also played bass, along with Adrian Belew and his bassist, on Big Bottom. It was a huge comedy honor!”
I remember thinking, ‘I may not get this job, but I’d love to sing harmonies with The Bangles once’
In 1995 you performed back-to-back sets with Beck and Elastica at Lollapalooza. How did you pull it off?
“Frozen towels and lots of electrolytes! Originally, Sinead O'Connor was doing that slot on Lollapalooza. She was really mesmerizing vocally. But she wound up leaving the tour part of the way through; I don’t know why.
“Elastica came in to fill the slot, but they had some previous commitments that were already booked, so they left for a couple of days. When they came back, their bass player [Annie Holland] neglected to come.
“So they were in fast need of a bassist, and I was already there. I’ve had that happen several times in my life, where I’m sort of like the pinch hitter of bass players!”
Did you use the same rig for both gigs?
“For Elastica I dialed in a lot more top-end because Annie was a pick player. I attacked the strings completely differently, almost like a slapping thing, with my fingertips. I played a lot more on top of the beats than with Beck, which was more my natural tone – the fuller, fatter, fingerstyle.
“I had an Ampeg SVT-2, and I believe I used Kim Gordon's Mesa/Boogie 400 for some of the shows. Both of those amps have graphics, so they’re really easy to dial in. Then you just put on masking tape with lines, like different colors – ‘This one’s for this band, and this one's for that band.’
“For Elastica I had like two days to learn their set. It was just charts or notes in a notebook, and I had it on the ground; I could look down so that I didn’t screw up.”
How did you end up playing with The Bangles in the early 2000s?
“Vicki Peterson called me and said, ‘We’re looking for a bass player. Do you want to audition?” I learned the basslines and some of the backing vocals. I remember thinking, ‘I may not get this job, but I would love to sing some harmonies with The Bangles at least once.’ That’s what makes that band so magical.”
What led to you replacing Kathy Valentine in The Go-Go’s for a spell?
“Kathy broke her wrist so they needed a fast replacement. She was influential to me as a friend, and I’m a big Go-Go’s fan. I got a call from Charlotte Caffey, saying, ‘We need a new bass player, like now!’ She came over that morning and dropped off a CD, and I started woodshedding.”
I’m sitting on a record I made in the past few years. I’m loath to spend any more money on it
What was the key to nailing her feel, tone and vibe on We Got the Beat, which has one hell of a bassline?
“If you’re a professional musician, you try to meld into whatever band you’e playing with. Your job is to make the band sound the best you can. Being a fan of The Go-Go’s, I said, ‘I’d like to embrace that aggressive, punky side.’ They were like, ‘Yeah, that’s awesome. Please do!’
“I wound up switching my Mesa/Boogie for some more Ampeg stuff because the Mesa stuff had a little more natural compression, which I didn’t really want for The Go-Go’s.”
What’s the latest with your solo music, which has been ongoing since the ’90s?
“After the Sumo Princess album, When An Electric Storm – which is me singing and playing bass through a zillion crazy effects, with Gene Trautmann on drums – my husband and I moved to Woodstock, New York.
“In October of 2024, I released a split with Anubian Lights called Europa/Asteroid Transformation on gold vinyl, on the same day as NASA launched the Europa Clipper Mission.
“I’m sitting on a record that I made in the past few years. I’m loath to spend any more money on it – I never break even on my own work. There’s a guy out here who’s a great mixer, and I love working with him, but it’s too expensive right now.
“I might mix the songs myself, but they won’t sound as good as if Chris mixed them. I also have a couple of tracks coming out on a Spinal Tap tribute album at some point soon.”
- Travis’ Sumo Princess album When An Electric Storm is out now.
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