Huw Foster

Anyone had any experience of the [url="http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/75293"]Protection Racket semi-hard gig bag[/url]?

Doesn't really count as a playing video, but there is footage of me playing so that's good enough for me. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CsA6E2kHYk&hd=1"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CsA6E2kHYk&hd=1[/url] (It's my function band's new promo, set to a track from our demo. Footage recorded at Celtic Manor in Newport earlier this month and a wedding in Buckinghamshire last summer respectively. Due to its cheesy content, it is not suitable for those who are lactose intolerant.)

Amazing! Just as I was seriously considering having a go at busking, this guy shows up for some inspiration. (Although I could always 'sell out' and play with a singer. Joe Public loves a singer. Solo bass doesn't always go down well.)

That's really great news! Get a gig booked for next week, there's some incentive for you.

Pretty much anything by James Jamerson, Bernard Edwards...?

[quote name='bubinga5' post='903509' date='Jul 23 2010, 07:22 PM']Respect to you Huwberry...that was solid bass playing...love the tune and you did it justice...that slap was SPOT ON!!! what a tone from that SR4 [/quote] Thanks man, really appreciate the compliment. I guess changing to DR Sunbeams has made all the difference, tone-wise. Other than my fingers, of course. I just found a video of MarloweDK playing Stomp though. Wasn't aware of an 'album' version till now, with a longer intro, solo, outro etc. It's ridiculous!!

[quote name='steve-soar' post='903413' date='Jul 23 2010, 05:20 PM'][attachment=54890:backward...s_guitar.jpg] Stig Pedersen D.A.D.[/quote] That's insane. I never looked at it close enough before. Two strings as well!

I think I know what you mean. Someone had it as their avatar at one point. I also assumed it was a photoshop job.

[quote name='Rayman' post='903087' date='Jul 23 2010, 12:32 PM']That's fab, lovely playing there sir, and a beautiful tone from the 'ray, love it.[/quote] Cheers, appreciate it! I could have made more effort to make it sound nice, as I only plugged it straight into a USB interface and added a tad of compression... but then again, the only bass I've played that sounds good 'nude' is a Stingray, so I wouldn't have needed to do much more.

Resurrecting a thread that hasn't been updated since April with a video I recorded last night? Well that's what I've just done. It was good practice for alleviating my 'red light syndrome', but I still can't seem to shake the nerves and really get into it till the outro. Oh yeah, in case you can't tell I'm so into Louis 'Thunder Thumbs' Johnson right now.

Louis 'Thunder Thumbs' Johnson is one of my favourite slap players. Let's not be forgetting Rhonda Smith either, yeah?

Progress! Well, in some respects. And if anyone cares. I've got a website [url="http://www.huwfoster.co.uk"]up and running[/url], even if it is just a single page linking to my culminated web presence. Should only be temporary, but it was the best I could muster with my rusty knowledge of HTML. Business cards have been sent off for printing! I'm excited about those, they look ace. So, I'm all primed and ready to blag! Haha. Still haven't found a hat though.

[quote name='OldGit' post='894881' date='Jul 14 2010, 05:29 PM'][url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?s=&showtopic=94329&view=findpost&p=888822"]Get a hat[/url] ..[/quote] Haha yeah I saw that earlier. Good stuff, and kudos to whoever organised the Basschat discount. Hats are a funny one for me. If I find a hat that I don't think makes me look like a prick, then I'll inevitably wear it so much that everyone thinks I looks like a prick.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='894827' date='Jul 14 2010, 04:21 PM']Do you look the part? I know a few professional musicians and they are all incredibly narcissistic - all of them. It makes me think that when you go up for that gig you really do need to have the "MTV look" or whatever you want to call it. This probably also means that you have to play a battered old Precision/Jazz and have an Ampeg rig. EDIT: Oh, you have a Stingray. Proper bass - that'll do [/quote] Image wise, I've been making more of a conscious effort lately. Bear in mind, I works with what I gots (receding hairline ). I don't think I'd look out of place in a touring backing band, for example. For business card purposes I'll most likely use photos from a recent photo shoot with my function band, which itself is going for the corporate dollar with a co-ordinated image. We're all going for the sharp suits look, skinny tie etc. Perhaps it's a bit too 'function' for my own purposes (would it be worth getting a few 'casual' photos done?), but it's better than the 'catering staff' look (all black) we were rocking up until a few months back.

Cheers for the tips so far - some of them I've been working on already, but it's good to hear some reinforcement of those ideas. I'll also reiterate the main point of the topic - [b]can anyone recommend any jam sessions/open mics in and around London?[/b] I neglected to mention I am already making a decent-ish living from playing functions at weekends (it's seasonal though - right now we're in the middle of wedding season, but other times of year are relatively quiet). I'm registered self-employed, and very occasionally I do education-based work. Good point about business cards. I've been meaning to get some printed for a while now, and I'm on to that as I type this. I know I should be playing with whoever I can, albeit with a little caution - if I swap details or am given a contact, a sneaky google search doesn't hurt. Failing that, I can try asking around for reputation. Joining a big band is an approach I hadn't thought of, perhaps as my jazz playing isn't my strongest asset, but I'd be able to blag enough to consider it. I know a couple of other bassists who are doing some fairly high profile touring work at the moment, so I'll definitely be in touch to ask about deps. As for my sight reading ability.... well, it's not terrible, but it's not great either. I'm in no way confident enough to read an entire gig, or perhaps a song, for example. It's something I've been half-heartedly working on for a while, but I'll give it more priority as of now. I actually bought a book called Simplified Sight Reading for Bass through a recommendation on this very forum, so getting through that would be a good start. Thanks again, keep 'em coming! Huw

Evening all, I've just put myself in that classic situation. I've moved back in with my parents after 4 years away - three of them in uni at Leeds, and another year after I graduated until I decided I didn't want to hang around any longer (no offence intended to Leeds, as I'll explain). For now I'm based in Surrey, which means I'm a train journey (only twice an hour and getting back after 11.30pm is nigh on impossible, but a train journey nonetheless) away from Waterloo. Not ideal, but it could be worse. The following will spur me on to move somewhere with better access to London anyway: I'm back down south as I intend to further my career as bass player - sessions, touring, whatever. Call me big headed, but I honestly believe I'm good enough to do so, although I will inevitably be a bit green in some respects. Also, call me closed-minded, but it seems to me that London is the only place where I can effectively network with the right people. Apologies for the spiel, I'll get to the substance of it now - any tips? I'll expand on that anyway, as it's a bit of a vague question. Through speaking to various friends/acquaintances/contacts I know that arguably the most important factor (assuming all the obvious things like knowing what string to hit at the right time) is 'who you know', and similarly, getting along with people. Obviously, open mics and jam sessions are one of the most effective ways to get your foot in the door, but I'm not clued up on any particular nights. Any help in that respect would be massively appreciated! I've already been to a couple of open mics, got up and played (better than I thought I would), made some useful contacts. But I'm still unsure on where's best to go, and when. That's it for now. If anyone has any other advice I might not have thought to ask about (i.e. good websites for this sort of thing - I'm already registered on UK Music Jobs but I might have overlooked some), please don't hesitate to say so. Even if you think it's obvious. I'm a bit of an idiot sometimes. (Please excuse me if this has already been done, but I had a quick look and couldn't find anything.) Cheers! Huw

I definitely have to be in the right mood for it, but that's not a bad thing. It's very precise, very clean and very, VERY good.

Actually, on second listen Lavaux seems pretty good. Even if it sounds like an offcut from 1999 or Dirty Mind.

I gave the album a listen last night... it seems he's gone all nostalgic/pastiche and brought back the drum machines and synths he was using in the 80s. Is he... allowed to do that? Standout track for me was Sticky Like Glue. I wasn't holding out on a great (or even half-decent) album, so I was actually pleasantly surprised by some of it. He still manages to be inhumanly brilliant at times though. His last decent album was Musicology in my opinion - some great jams on that. Then again, some of them are just jams, and less like the massive pop tunes he was churning out in the late 80s. His comments on the internet being 'over' were just laughable too. But then again, he is a bit of a religious nutjob these days. Weird that someone as innovative as him would end up being a total luddite though.

[quote name='Gunsfreddy2003' post='888069' date='Jul 7 2010, 07:59 AM']Anyone looking for modern funk should check out The Haggis Horns as they have just released a new album called Keep on Movin and it is excellent.[/quote] Funnily enough, the current horn section is comprised of two members of the Haggis Horns. While this song doesn't really do it for me, I have good reason to believe it's not indicative of the rest of the album.

I'm fairly ignorant on this area, but would Sandberg be able to cater for that?

[quote name='Ian Savage' post='876657' date='Jun 24 2010, 05:38 PM']Wasn't Hendrix a bass player originally, or have I made that up? [/quote] Not quite - Noel Redding was a guitarist, but was encouraged to play bass for the Experience. Good call on Prince - he's just too good at everything though. Alphabet St. = WHAT THE HELL. Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation is an accomplished singer/guitarist, but he played most of the bass on their last two albums. I reckon he could've done a worse job!

Too many basses? I fail to understand.