MikePlaysBass
CONTACT

SEEKING

Band to Join, Drums, Other Percussion, Keyboard.

ABOUT

I recently moved to the Blackstone, Massachusetts area from the Albany, New York area. I’m mostly done unpacking and settling in, so it’s time to start making musical connections.
For the last several years I was playing in a Jazz Trio in the Capital Region using the Electric Upright Bass. That was the right tool for the job and have played Electric Bass in a few other settings where that was the right tool. Same thing with the Fretless.

My pet peeve with BandMix is with players listing every instrument they can play at any level even though they aren’t actively looking to play them in a band, so I get far too many hits for things I’m not looking for. I get it. As musicians we all dabble with other instruments. I play several myself, but I wish players would just list their primary ones that are gig worthy and ones they actually want to play in band with and include the other ones in their profiles as additional info. So, if your search was for a Bass Player, in this case you actually got exactly what you searched for. Enough ranting.... You want to know about my playing.

I have a bunch of Bass Challenge tracks on SoundClound. Just do a search on MikePlaysBass. There are lots of different genres and I’ve played other additional instruments on several of them. Anyway, they will give you a good idea about what I mean when I say multi-genre.
Primary instrument: Bass (Fretted, Fretless, Electric Upright)
Vocals: back-up & some lead
Other instruments I also play: Guitar, Keyboards, Hand Drums, Percussion

Good ear; Fast learner; Can read lead sheets, Realbooks, & chord charts; very good understanding and use of music theory and music composition.

My primary interest is Jazz of all styles. Upright on the standards and cocktail music, Electric for Smooth Jazz, Fusion, Funk, World, etc... I can also run the upright through pedals for some very interesting and progressive sounds. I know a lot of people on this site claiming to play Jazz are doing some kind of funky rock thing. That's cool, but I'm talking real jazz in the traditional sense, Fusion, and also pushing it to new limits.

Looking for an eclectic band/project that is able to play multiple genres. I definitely do not want to be in band that ONLY plays classic rock or blues, though, even if you choose to call it Jazz because you throw in a few 7th chords or whatever.

also...it'd be nice if I could have left my birthday off of the profile because I don't act anywhere near my age, so definitely don't count me out on that alone.

My schedule is flexible, so days and nights are both fine.

Screen name:
MikePlaysBass
Member since:
Jun 23 2008
Active within 2 weeks
Level of commitment:
Very Committed
Years playing music:
30
Gigs played:
Over 100
Tend to practice:
More than 3 times per week
Available to gig:
2-3 nights a week
Most available:
Days

Influences

Multi-genre, all over the map. If it's good or well recorded, I'll listen to it.

Jazz, Rock, Alternative, Pop, Funk, Ska, R&B, World, Jam, etc..., and I'm always looking to learn new stuff. I'm just really not into Country or Metal.

Musical influences: The Jazz greats (Bill Evans, Miles, you get the idea), The Bad Plus, Medeski, Martin, & Wood, Niacin, Scofield, and many many more.

You can hear some clips of my playing at .evo-jam

Basically, I want to push the edge musically. I'm not looking to play the same thirty or forty+ year old worn out classic rock/pop songs that are on everybody's bar band play lists, or at the very least to do them in a way to reach today's audiences. Some of the newer bands out now are incredible and are raising the bar redefining what people are expecting musically. Let's shake things up.

Instrument experience:

Bass Guitar:
Expert
Upright bass:
Advanced

EQUIPMENT

Fretted (Roscoe 5 string), Fretless (Tobias 5 String), 4 String Jazz Bass, Electric Upright Bass (NS Designs 5 String). This EUB really sounds very close to an upright running through an amp.

My primary rig is a Glockenklang Preamp & Speaker Cabs and Crest Audio power amp. This is top notch gear suitable for any size venue. I also have an Epifani combo that does a great job for gigs with just the upright.