Ida Nielsen: "Prince always pushed us to be better - now I want to make sure I’m the best musician I can be" By Mike Brooks, Joel McIver Ida Nielsen talks cheap gear, the Purple One, and explains why her phenomenal new album, 02022020, is slap-free
Darryl Jones: "The Rolling Stones are pretty cool about letting me play what I want - they trust that I'll find the essence of the songs" By Joel McIver The in-demand bass player goes deep on nailing the Stones' tones, playing with Miles Davis and the luxuries of touring with one of the world's most commercially successful bands
Green Day's Mike Dirnt: “My wife bought me a ’58 Olympic White Fender P-Bass - it eats my friends alive that I play it live” By Mike Brooks The icon of the low-end talks songwriting, collecting vintage basses and giving others to good causes
My Dying Bride's Lena Abe: "When you’re playing slow, it’s even more noticeable if your timing’s not bang-on" By Bass Player Staff The doom-metal bassist talks playing exclusively with a pick and the creation of the band's latest album, The Ghost of Orion
Richie Goods: "In my neighborhood, it was all about the bass. It was all about Bootsy Collins and Louis Johnson" By Joel McIver The Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys bassist on Mulgrew Miller's influence, tracking live, and how he became a 12-hour-a-day bass fanatic
Michael Mondesir: “In 36 years of playing professionally, I haven’t really owned a high-end bass” By Joel McIver The Jeff Beck and Whitney Houston session great on reading music, learning by ear, and why there are few better-sounding basses than the Yamaha BBN5 II
10 best bass guitars 2020: top 4-string and 5-string bass guitars for all budgets By Jonathan Horsley Presenting the world’s finest low-end thunder, with the best bass guitars from Fender, Ibanez, Yamaha and more…
How trailblazing Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith helped bass playing take flight By Joe Shooman The best-dressed bass player of all time, hero of Billy Sheehan and more, we salute the incomparable Yardbirds bassist
Billy Sheehan: "I never considered I had any natural talent at all. I just had a burning desire to play" By Joel McIver Guest editor and lord of the low-end, Sheehan talks complex arrangements, gear essentials and low-carb diets
Carol Kaye: "You want an instrument that gets all the sounds, not just rock and pop" By Alison Richter How the history of popular music changed in 1963 when A-list studio guitarist Carol Kaye was asked to fill in on bass
Mike Watt: "There’s something about using the bass as a composition tool. Why only compose on a piano or a guitar?" By Joel McIver The Minuteman punk icon talks signature models, trying to be funky, and starting out on bass not knowing what it was
Stanley Clarke: "The bass is a very important instrument in film. It can create tension - that's powerful" By Alison Richter The skilled bassist discusses working on the soundtrack to Frédéric Tcheng's Halston, which documents the life and work of fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick
Kinga Glyk: "The hardest thing to do onstage is to stop playing - we play because we are afraid of silence, but silence is part of the music" By Kinga Glyk The Polish bassist goes deep into her low-end philosophy
Flea: "Playing bass gets you into this hypnotic state - you’re not thinking because you’re just a conduit for the rhythm" By Joel McIver The iconic Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist discusses philosophy, gear and his new autobiography, Acid For The Children
Mike Gallo: "My father told me guitar players are a dime a dozen, but it’s harder for a band to find a good bass player" By Ian Glasper The Agnostic Front bassist and NY hardcore legend on the power of Motown, starting out and developing his own style
Andrew Levy: "If a track’s really going to travel, you’ve got to pull back the bassline and make sure the song is the star" By Bass Player Staff The bassist of acid jazz legends Brand New Heavies takes on our questions on longevity, gear and how brass can age a song
Issues bassist Skyler Acord details his funk-informed metalcore approach and tricked-out signature Spector bass By Joel McIver Ever been so deep into your music that you’ve lost your grip on reality? Meet Issues bassist Skyler Acord, newly equipped with a state-of-the-art signature Spector bass – and stand clear
Gene Simmons: "Many guitarists call their instruments 'axes', but nobody trademarked it. Except this guy!" By Lee Barrett The fire-breathing Kiss frontman and bassist on being the hardest working, hardest rocking band in the business
Dream Theater's John Myung: "There are moments when I’m playing parts live that I wish I did on the album the first time round" By Bass Player Staff The Dream Theater bassist on the 20th anniversary of Scenes from a Memory, the magic of down-tuning and how he brings the energy live
Vicky Warwick: "I love playing Fender Mustang basses, but the Jazz has more punch" By Ellen O'Reilly The fast-rising Charli XCX, Gabrielle Aplin and Josh Kumra bassist talks high-profile collaborations and her love of short-scale Fender basses
