Not so long ago, the idea of having two bass players in one band was thought of as a joke. Tell that to Toby Peterson-Stewart, who has been playing in the dual-bass progressive instrumental trio The Omnific for over seven years.
His latest solo release, Endless, sees Toby trade licks with six-string bass mastermind Jacob Umansky. “It started with a two-riff idea that I sent to Jacob on Instagram,” says Toby. “He added another riff and before you knew it, we had a song.”
At around the one minute mark, Umansky offers up a series of blistering picking-slap-hybrid licks that lean on a guitar technique invented by Animals as Leaders founder, Tosin Abasi.
“As far as instrumental progressive metal songs go, I think the structure and the harmony of the song is pretty digestible” says Jacob. “But technique wise… we really threw the kitchen sink at it.”
“I used a technique called selective picking, which is something I've been working on," says Jacob. "Tobin Abasi has made lots of videos on YouTube where he breaks it down. Essentially, I’m plucking an open string, hammering on the 3rd and root and then creating dead notes in-between with my thumb, index and middle fingers. The longer phrases are slapped using my open strings and hammering on the G minor pentatonic scale.”
Of the collaboration, Toby added, “Jacob definitely went in hard on that section! Those kinds of techniques naturally come out as you’re composing a song with two bass guitars, but I love that we brought it back to something really simple in the bridge, which is just straight eighth notes holding down a metal groove.”
As we have learned, Peterson-Stewart is no stranger to recording with two bassists. “I know from playing with Matt in the Omnific that you can easily end up with too much mud in the low-mids or not enough clarity in the top-end when you’re writing for two bass players. There’s a lot to consider in the mix because there’s so much space for things to happen.”
When talk turns to gear, Toby calls on a tried-and-tested combination of Dingwall basses and Darkglass effects.
“I love the versatility of my Dingwall NG3,” he says. “You get so much clarity no matter where you are on the fretboard. That bass guitar has inspired a lot of song writing.” He’s also an effects fan, telling us: “I had Jacob use his presets with the Neural Parallax, which I think really complimented the Darkglass B7K that I went through.”
Toby previously posted a playthrough video for his track D.H.D., which will also appear on his debut EP Break A Leg. Proof that not every spotlight was meant to be shared, we’re told that D.H.D. stands for "dumb heavy djent”.
Endless is available now and is set to appear on Toby’s upcoming solo album, Break A Leg.
