Our Bass Legend for the month is Aaron Williams! Aaron is one of the constants in the BLP, usually quiet in the background but when he posts a cover video, they’re really good! In fact, Aaron is one of the winners of the BLP song competition.
Aaron has an interesting start to playing bass, as he initially wanted to be a drummer! Today however, Aaron is very much into the bass, the ukulele and even started to learn guitar and the mandolin!
Learn more about Aaron’s bass playing story in the video below. Congrats to Aaron for being this month’s Bass Lab Legend!
James - Hey everyone! I want to welcome you to this month’s BLP Legend; this is Aaron Williams all the way from South Wales in the UK. He has done a ton of challenges here, a member of the Bass Lab PLUS and he’s also one of our song competition winners for romantic songs and ballads I think the theme was. He’s been a great member of our community. I’d love to ask you, where did it all start? How did you become a bass player?
Aaron: Because my dad wouldn’t let me play drums actually! My mum is a piano and singing teacher but I hated piano. I also wanted to play drums. My parents, my dad in particular; “ Neighbors, noise. You’re not doing that “I was given an old bass in the early 80s. It had a very warped neck which made it very difficult to play. You know what they say; get a decent instrument and you’ll keep learning. I put it down and I never touched an instrument until 2009 when I picked up a ukulele. I was joining a ukulele band who wanted to expand their sound and they started thinking we could do with a bass player. They asked “ Aaron what do you think? “5 years ago, I picked up the bass. Members of the Bass Lab PLUS who play ukulele will tell you that ukulele groups tend to go to an up down strum regardless of the strum. That’s where I started; just playing via the ukulele and my first bass was a u-bass.
J: Fantastic! How did the bass come along? What attracted you to moving to the bottom end and really taking that seriously?
A: To me, we take the Mark King scenario. He said he was a drummer and the next progression for him was bass. Exactly the same for me. It’s all about the rhythm and melody, but rhythm is obviously that. That’s what attracted me but I love it. The lower the note the better.
J: So what bass are you playing now?
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A: I tend to play an Ibanez TMB35, and for the competition a Benson bass, one of the really cheap basses with round wound strings. I’ve also got a u-bass. It’s only just arrived and I’m gonna have a go with that.
J: So what inspires you as a bass player? What makes you go “ I love this instrument “
A: Musician-wise, funny enough John Deacon. I’m a big Queen fan. I know you have many involvement with Queen music. I also love John Wetton, Nick Seymour and Chic music.
J: What attracted you to the BLP? You’ve one of these guys who’s there in the background, one of the constants and you keep cropping up now and again. This is actually the first time we’ve had a deeper conversation.
A: I have an attention span of a trout. Like a lot of people I go to Youtube and go through videos. Yes there are some great guys but it’s too much. What I found with yourself is that they’re like little nuggets. It’s enough information to get me started to experiment and learn. I actually like the way you have short focused lessons aimed at my level and when you start demonstrating, you don’t go off on a tangent. Dare I say some people might want to show off.
I like the fact that you actually keep it simple and you are trying to teach at my level.
J: Absolutely! For me it’s all about helping you guys do what I’ve done, do what I’ve made a living now for the best of 20 years. A lot of these is keeping things dead simple, and I found this really really works.
So, what are some of the highlights of being a BLP member?
A: Winning the song competition is probably the best one as it came as a shock! I’ve never entered to win. I’m actually an introvert; I don’t have a lot of confidence. It was one way of trying to overcome the nerves. I know I haven’t posted for a while, but that’s how I started doing it. I need to post videos, I need to engage to overcome the nervousness.
J: I never sensed the nervousness with you!
One of the things I love with eBassGuitar is there’s music at one level and then there are kind of these wonderful stories underneath. This is the first time you’ve shared this with me where you’ve used the eBassGuitar platform to start overcoming your nerves.
Tell me; what benefits have you seen through doing these videos? How has this impacted the wider life?
A: I was in a band but not anymore so this is how I can perform. I still play bass alongside a group of friends. All I can do is perform through YouTube and have another go at a competition.
J: Brilliant! So where do you see your bass playing go from here?
A: I’m no virtuoso. My brain doesn’t go quick, and my fingers are even slower. I only want to be as best as I can. Obviously we all need to practice; my schedule is half past 4 in the morning. I used to walk the dog at that time but I don’t have a dog anymore. That’s me time.
J: So you get up when the rest of the family is in bed and plug the bass?
A: So I play the bass for an hour. I’m in the dining room now, there’s a bass and a ukulele here. Also, there is a 6 string guitar upstairs which I have started to learn. I go to my office I have a ukulele, a bass and a mandolin which confuses me totally.
J: So you have these instruments lying around to pick up and play, just a part of life?
A: If you put the instruments away, you’ll never touch it so I’ll be prepping tea and I’ll be practicing a scale or something. That’s how I enjoy it.
J: I wanted to jus say thank you very much to what you’ve contributed to the community. You’re one of these constants as I’ve said. What do you want to say to anyone thinking about joining the BLP?
A: Do it! When it comes to to-the-point lessons aimed to make you better then eBass is the way I will go, absolutely.
If you get into a challenge, like I’ve done a couple, it takes you further a little bit more. Thank you very much for this opportunity and what you do to us bass players in the community!
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