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Why would anyone want to be the bass player in an indie band?


Barking Spiders
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[quote name='Barking Spiders' timestamp='1490618491' post='3266453']
I just dont get all this thing about looking nonchalant and not engaging with the crowds
[/quote]

How, as a bass player, would you suggest one 'engages with the crowds'?

The closest I get is prolonged eye to eye contact with a chosen audience member, making myself available for autographs and inviting the pretty girls to the aftershow party.....what more should I be doing?

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[quote name='PaulGibsonBass' timestamp='1490616792' post='3266427'] Basslines in so called 'indie' music isn't all root 8ths anyway. Check out 'Compulsion' by the criminally underrated Doves. (I would have included a YouTube link here but seemingly they've all been blocked / deleted...) [/quote]

doves , great band

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[quote name='radiophonic' timestamp='1490616523' post='3266425']
You actually dismissed it as remedial, apparently due to drug use. That isn't the same as simply not liking it. Anyway, whatever 'drull' means, if you want to take a pop at shoegaze bands, Kevin Shields is one of the most influential and innovative guitar players of the last 30 years. I think you've misnamed your target.
[/quote]
The point I was trying to make was firstly do I enjoy this music playing it or listening and pretty much no I don't.

I'm not trying to dismiss the genre as music simply for and by remedial ( musically speaking) stoners I'm just saying from personal experience when involved with this type of band, its usually been this.

Kevin Shields and any one like him may be one of the most influential and innovative guitar players of the last 30 years but it still doesn't move me. My point of view is just that. I dont like it and certainly dont enjoy playing it but wish no bad feeling towards anyone who does. If the original post was a direct dig at the bands mentioned then I definitely mis-read that and if thats upset you then apologies. One mans food and all that..

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[quote name='Twigman' timestamp='1490619585' post='3266473']
How, as a bass player, would you suggest one 'engages with the crowds'?

The closest I get is prolonged eye to eye contact with a chosen audience member, making myself available for autographs and inviting the pretty girls to the aftershow party.....what more should I be doing?
[/quote]

Use Derek Smalls as your model :-)

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Not just indie, plenty of rock bands who do that too. Equally a lot of 80s indie bands seemed to have very innovative bass lines. I always looked as a simpler line as an excuse to throw shapes onstage or contribute backing vocals etc.

[quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1490625277' post='3266560']Use Derek Smalls as your model :-)[/quote]

Many of us do :)

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[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1490610430' post='3266324']
Maybe because they want to?
I can't understand why anybody would want to play blues or soul music but plenty of people do.
[/quote]

At least in my neck of the woods an indie band would be attractive to those who don't really care for gigging.

Blue

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As with any music it depends on the songwriting skills of those involved. Perhaps the problem for Indie is that it's attracted people who can't write...or play and it's tarnished the genre, as there are plenty out there who can do both. There are though an awful lot of 'Indie' bands out there that just make a very loud and generally awful noise. But as mentioned, what is Indie? Some bands mentioned I wouldn't regard as Indie, more Alt-Rock, bands like Doves, Elbow and Radiohead.

I don't really recognise the 'just playing 8th notes' either. It's entirely down to the band and the writing.

That said, I've just left an Indie band that I'd been in for about 12months. I wouldn't go back to playing the genre. I had free reign to make up any bass line I wanted but still the writing wasn't really doing it for me.

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[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1490621468' post='3266505']
I'd probably rather see Earth Wind and Fire or Miles these days..
[/quote]

I wouldn't want to see Miles these days, he must look f***ing horrifying by now.

[quote name='Jus Lukin' timestamp='1490621468' post='3266505']
You could argue that Indie bands [i]are[/i] engaging with their audience by providing the aloof, too-cool-for-school performance the punters are after.
[/quote]

No argument about it, the fact that they have an audience means that they are engaging with them.

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[quote name='blue' timestamp='1490634232' post='3266659']
At least in my neck of the woods an indie band would be attractive to those who don't really care for gigging.

Blue
[/quote]

That really doesn't make any sense - no band of any genre is going to be attractive to those who don't really care for gigging, is it?

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There's dreary moodiness indie rock and there's happy dance indie rock. There is a difference between Peace and Two Door Cinema Club. Don't let BBC Radio 6 (I didn't even know there was a 6) be the indicator of all things indie.

Again, before labelling think try harder. Look up The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats, they are all fairly non dreary.

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'Spose it all depends on how you define 'Indie'
The Smiths were arguably the quintessential indie band and while Morrisey would certainly qualify as dreary, no-one could describe Andy Rourke's playing as dull or unimaginative.

Snow Patrol on the other hand, have not yet produced a song with a bass part that made me prick my ears up.

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Indie is a broad church which covers everything from jangly guiitar pop to electronica and hip hop crossover stuff.

The defifition of indie used to be that you were not signed to a major
label, but musicians signed to a subsidiary of a major label were technically eligible for the indie charts.

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s the indie charts in the NME and Melody Maker were often dominated by artists such as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Prince.

These days, now that the structure of the music industry has changed so much I don't know how you'd define indie, you just kind of know it when you hear it.

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Watched the highlights show yesterday, and TBH, I was thinking the same thing about the basslines, but I suppose the intricacies of the jangly, intertwining guitar lines don't require anything more then a relatively simple bass line.

I thought Jesus & Mary Chain were good, Warpaint's music wasn't my thing, but the bass player was very good (and played a Ric). Goldfrapp's bass players Plexi P bass was very nice indeed.

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Slightly off topic but how old eo depeche mode look! I have never been a fan but their music was usually interesting so I put it in as wallpaper but it was so dreary I gave up. As for all indie being dreary, with such a broad range of bands covered in that group I fail to see how anyone could not find something they liked. Like any sort of music there are some poor bands but there are some amazing ones as well.

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[quote name='Harryburke14' timestamp='1490636801' post='3266691']
There's dreary moodiness indie rock and there's happy dance indie rock. There is a difference between Peace and Two Door Cinema Club. Don't let BBC Radio 6 (I didn't even know there was a 6) be the indicator of all things indie.

Again, before labelling think try harder. Look up The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats, they are all fairly non dreary.
[/quote]
6 doesn't set out to be an arbiter of indie music. On any given show you can hear indie, rock, jazz, hip-hop, folk, psychedelica, alt-rock, americana, prog, and some stuff that defies categorization. I've also heard the Strokes and Two Door Cinema Club!. You should give it a try one day.

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[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1490638596' post='3266704']
The defifition of indie used to be that you were not signed to a major label...
[/quote]

Actually the original definition of "Indie" (and the only qualification for eligibility to the Independent Charts) was that your record was not distributed by one of the major label distributors which essentially meant that it was done by either Rough Trade or Red Rhino.

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[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1490635253' post='3266668']


That really doesn't make any sense - no band of any genre is going to be attractive to those who don't really care for gigging, is it?
[/quote]

I thought the question was, " why would anyone want to be a bass player in an indie band"

Well, around here indie bands at the local level hardly ever gig. There's only a very small market for them.

So, my initial thought was, a guy that does want to gig would be attracted to an indie band.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Blue

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[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1490610430' post='3266324']
Maybe because they want to?
I can't understand why anybody would want to play blues or soul music but plenty of people do.
[/quote]

There are plenty of guys on here that play in blues and soul bands. Might be a topic for a thread. We'd be happy to explain why.

Me, it's simple. It's what pays the bills.

Blue

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As a curious side note Blue, obviously you do this for a living (as well as enjoyment), would you happily play in a band that played a genre you disliked? I appreciate that you don't have to at the moment.
Just curious :)

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[quote name='Harryburke14' timestamp='1490636801' post='3266691']
There's dreary moodiness indie rock and there's happy dance indie rock. There is a difference between Peace and Two Door Cinema Club. Don't let BBC Radio 6 (I didn't even know there was a 6) be the indicator of all things indie.
[/quote]

You should check out 6music, its brilliant. Anyone who plays bass guitar will definitely find several shows on it that they like. Its by far the most diverse music station that broadcasts nationally in the UK.

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