Bass

I finally bought a bass! It's been overdue by about 10 years, but still, I now have my own bass. For those who don't know, back in university I played bass in a band.

Actually it all started in primary school, 5th grade to be exact. Me and my mate were a bit obsessed with music (Wham!, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi) and thought it would be cool to form a band. So 5 guys created this band even though none of us could actually play an instrument. I ended up with the bass because John Taylor was the coolest one in Duran Duran. I still didn't know how to play bass but I though that guitar is close enough, so I took guitar lessons. I was crap but still it made me understand the basics of music and of a string instrument. My mate pointed out that a bass is the upper 4 strings of a guitar so suddenly I knew how to play the bass. Woohoo!

In junior high, we took it a bit serious. I found a guy who played drums and another guitar player and we started jamming although to be honest we were crap. But suddenly we have this gig. At 14 years old. We played a cover of Sweet Child O'Mine which was as bad as it can be. The guitar volume went down by accident, the bass and guitar weren't tuned properly, and I realized years after that I was playing it all wrong. Oh well, for a 14 year old it was still something to brag about.

In senior high I was still playing but gave up after a while. I was still taking guitar lessons but the only song I could play was Romance D'Amour. I couldn't read music so I quit and started chasing other interests. But the day I got into university, I was reunited with my mate from 5th grade again. A week later, 8 guys just started jamming. And even though there was a better bass player, he preferred to sing so I picked the bass. A couple of gigs later, 8 became 4 and the core of my university band. Two more joined later but I was always the bass player. During those years I learned a lot how to play bass properly. I figured which notes to play with each chord. I had to syncronize with the drummer. I have to keep the beat. During that period I was borrowing a nice bass. An old Ibanez that looks like a Fender with a nice mid-sound. At one point I joined another band to try and make it big. We has some good songs, secured a couple of gigs, but then the guitarist gave up and the band was dismissed (ironically, the band was called "dis").

When I moved here I didn't think I could play again. But through some friends I found some people who played so I started playing with them but not serious. Until last monday, a drummer called me up. Having nothing left to lose I said yes and now we are trying to make a band again. I figured it's about time I have a bass so that I can practice, so that I don't have to depend on other people. Hence the new bass you see (mine is black).

"Rock and Roll!"