We Jam Econo
so first post in a long while, and I wanted to talk about a bit of my influences, as they have come bubbling to the surface in this past week. Born and raised in Long Beach, I spent a lot of time in Pedro as a kid. (Parents worked over the bridge my whole life). So when I was old enough to form a discerning taste in music, I stumbled upon the Minutemen. I wish I had some story of running into Mike Watt and having him pass a bass torch to me, but this did not happen. However, after D. Boon’s death (the singer), Mike carried on with different incarnations of the band, and these shows really kicked up my desire to play bass.
The single philosophy of the band was We Jam Econo, and this is what I’d like to talk about. The idea that simple is better goes a long way. As a bass player, Pete Anderson rarely lets me go above the fifth fret without a dirty look. Although my ego gets hurt, I’m starting to get enough years under my belt to brush this off and look at the truth, which is, there is no real need to move above the fifth meridian. If you do, you better have a damn good reason.
Reading Watt’s blog the other day, he said something about the bass being like a semi-melodic kick drum, and I really like that image. The bass is felt more than heard, and if you’re playing too many notes it just feels cluttered.
Same can go for guitar and lead instruments as well. I was listening to Freddie King this week, old blues man, and his solos are so sparse that each note is like a precision knife. He knows why he is playing each note and what he is doing with it. Can Joe Satriani say that? Is all that flurry actually thought out? Not very hard, because to my ears it sounds like noise, not beauty. Not knocking his guitar playing, man obviously knows his instrument, I’m just nonplussed by overabundant note playing.
Back to the Minutemen, I love how they sound punk and rough, but if you listen, these are three very skilled and tight musicians. They took the punk aesthetic of simplicity due to lack of skill and made it simplicity due to a careful mind and highly skilled playing.
Mike Watt and the Missingmen will be playing
saturday, february 20 at 9 pm
at harold’s place
1908 s. pacific av.
san pedro, ca
(310) 832-5503
FREE ADMISSION!
Go check out one of the great unsung bass heroes.
