Andy Till bass interview

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Andy Till
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Andy Till bass interview 2009 © 2009

Andy Till works as a professional working bass player working with professional bands in the U.K and Europe in 2009.
Travelling and playing with various musicians from tribute bands, singers, original bands, acts and solo acts.
Andy has been playing professionally more than seven years and semi professionally from been a teenager.

Here is Andy’s winter 2009 interview about what he has been doing, what he has achieved with his bass guitar, cleaning for Bill Wyman and working as a professional musician.

What got you in to music?

When I was very young I was given a radio – tape player, I discovered radio stations and tapes around the house. I got in to the charts and what was in the top 40 at the time in the mid to late 80’s.
When I got a bit older my uncle Paul gave me a stack full of single 45 records for my birthday, I may have been ten then?
The records were bands from Squeeze, The Jam, The Specials, Madness and later on my other uncle, uncle Ken turned up with his reggae collection, Rupee Edwards, Dennis Brown, Bob Marley and also Motown records!
From this point I remember getting in to these bands and styles of music.
I would see who was on the record sleeves and the band photos and would learn about what this thing called music was all about! I can remember thinking I would love to do something within music! The Jam sticks out as a band I really got in to, after getting the greatest hits that’s when I became a fan. Other bands followed like The Police, Sting, The Selecter, Dr Feelgood and also what was in the charts in the 90’s.

So what was your first step in music?

I became a drummer at the age of twelve and was all set on playing drums and wanted to make drums a full time living and played every week in cover bands around the town of Macclesfield, Cheshire.
When playing in these bands I discovered the bass guitar and took to it, just the look of the bass and the sound it made. I continued for many years drumming, until one day I had a proper go on the bass guitar. At the time I could also play basic guitar, so had a bit of knowledge where the notes were and how to pick the strings.
From this point I had to get a bass of my own and went to Jones music in Macclesfield to check the basses out! I started bass lessons at Tytherington High School and it all clicked in to place.
I got a fender p-bass copy from Manchester for around £80, I loved it and practiced and started to play locally doing mainly covers.
A few more basses later (mainly fender p-bass copies) I landed my first proper gigging band in Staffordshire. By this point I had made the decision to quit the drums and go fully on the bass guitar.

So what was it like with this new instrument?

It was great, I loved it and now wasn’t just dabbling with bits of bass, and I was in a band playing live, recording and for the first time photo sessions! My dream at school was always to be in a band and travelling to play to people. Still now that holds strong with me, that I love travelling and going to a gig and making people dance with my bass and a band.
I was enjoying the feel of the bass guitar and loved the way it looked, although I had an Encore p-bass copy and a little Marshall bass combo at the time, but still loved what I had!

What was becoming your style at this early stage as a bass player?

I found that I loved playing with a pick/plectrum. I kept the pick from the bits of guitar playing I did. I just loved the sound and the feel of the pick, so I stuck with what I enjoyed really and what worked as well. From an early stage I had my idea of what the bass was. It was to play for the song, don’t over play and play what was needed and with good feel. My style started with keeping it simple, put in fills and runs when needed and show off in a solo, that’s when I ever got one (joking aside!), but really I kept my playing feeling good, simple and solid. It sticks with me today and listening to many great records and bands as a kid taught me this and also playing the drums made me a better bass player! The early period I learnt a lot and took in a lot of music and how the music and bass lines were formed and how bass lines worked.

What would you say your style is like now?

Pretty much the same outlook I had then in my approach to playing bass.
I got in to bass and took it in and wanted to know as much as I could when I was learning the basics. I am still learning now and will never stop.
I still have my pick playing style and this has stayed with me from day one. I love playing with the pick and learnt from Carol Kay the flat wrist technique with the pick and have worked on alternate picking. I get some good deep sounds with the click and musicians have said how well it sounds. I have developed my own pick style playing and sound.
I also like finger style as well and think it is good to be able to play different styles, sometimes you may be asked for a different feel and need to use the fingers or maybe some slap! But in general I’m a pick style player.
I would say I am a song player, play for the song with feel, timing, solid bass lines and open to new ideas on bass!

At this stage you knew you wanted to be a professional musician. How did you go about becoming a professional bass player?

I knew I would work in music full time. I had now found the bass and playing in a few bands at this point playing original music, heading for London with dreams of a record contract and also playing in a few local cover bands semi professionally.
I had at the time a part time cleaning job at the Buxton Opera house in Derbyshire. I was cleaning in the morning to pay my rent and playing gigs at night!
Cleaning at the theatre was great as you saw the bands and acts roll in and out of the theatre week by week. I met some interesting bands and musicians and also some bass players who were playing at the theatre.
I cleaned and put drinks out for various musicians including a bass player called Bill Wyman! I saw Bill and he was great! (I cleaned up Bill Wymans rubbish! Ha ha!).
Doing the part time cleaning work and gigs was good and I really enjoyed this period of life, but I was all set on working full time as a bass player….
The next step was to meet and play with professional musicians! I was lucky really; I landed a place in a covers band that did social clubs and weddings. I had only done pubs and the unsigned circuit up to this point.
Anyhow, the band I was playing with featured professional musicians who had been playing for years and had the professional music in them.
I learnt from these players who told me about working and performing in music, what was required to be a professional musician. (I’m still trying to figure that out now (joke!) but I learnt from the professionals a bit like cutting my teeth. In 2002 I joined my first fully professional band playing soul and motown travelling around the UK playing a great show every week!
A great time and learning all the time, not only music but also how to make a living from music….

From going professional what were you doing musically and what work were you doing?

I worked doing live shows and gigging around the UK, it was great playing all these different towns and city’s. Seeing places was good and getting used to going away, travelling, late nights and early mornings, meeting people and people enjoying your bass playing. Hot summer gigs, snowy motorway journeys in winter. Practicing and learning new material all the time, new bass lines and rehearsals with lots of coffee. Basically knowing that all I had to worry about was the gig and playing my bass!
After playing with the Motown group I made the decision to go freelance and session, standing in with various bands. In all I worked around twenty different bands working live, recording and doing filming work.

The basses I used when I went professional was a Mexican fender p-bass, then I played a Rickenbacker 4001 for a few years before playing a USA 60’s fender p-bass reissue. With the Ricky and the fender p-bass I wasn’t getting the sounds I wanted and looked in to getting a fender jazz bass.
In 2003 I made a trip to Manchester to find one. I didn’t like the basses in the music shop, until I found a USA fender jazz bass. It was a 1975 reissue special edition with matching headstock with the colour of the body of the bass. I played it and although I wasn’t keen on the blue colour I loved the way it played. Since then I have played every gig and session with this jazz bass and it has stuck with me, and yes, I love the colour now. (See photo section for the jazz).
With this jazz bass I have worked with tribute bands, working bands, original bands, acts and singers playing live shows, recording sessions and filming work.
Amps wise I have mainly used a Ampeg SVT cabinet – Ampeg B2R and other various amp set-ups.

What work have you done in studio’s and filming?

My main work is live work, I love playing live and going out and gigging. I have travelled up and down the UK and over to Europe.
The studio work is something I’ve always wanted to do.
I started to record with bands early on, but professionally I was getting calls to record on peoples songs already written and then I was asked to either put down a part already written, or work on my own part for the song. I got in to arranging and recording for one act where we recorded and then gigged it live following with a live DVD and music video.
Another act would be put together where I would go in and record an EP and follow up with music videos for promotion. I would get called to do the studio work when they released new material.
This work has been great and great experience, learning new material or given basic demo tracks and making a song by the end of the week.
The filming work has been great and I’m amused at miming to your own playing on a set. Some of the video work has been used for promotional work and featured on various channels, i.e. bubble hits. The photo work has been great, doing various promotional photo shoots! This is where I want to do more work with my bass! I feel lucky to have done this type of music work.

Becoming full time and freelance as a working bass player, what has it taught you doing the work you have done?

A hell of a lot, I have learnt lots doing the work I have done. I feel very lucky to have done this work as well.
I have learnt a lot about the bass and where you can take it, what people want from the bass and how you can be creative and make your own way with the bass guitar. I have learnt a lot about the way bass works and going back to my early days that, play for the song, be prepared to be told what to play, play with feel and the main thing have fun playing bass! Work with the drummer and make it tight and a good back line! Been a good people person and an all round genuine and decent person always is a must!

Back to when you started playing bass and to where you are now, who influences you as a bass player?

The Jam influenced me as a kid, I didn’t know who Bruce Foxton was back then. I loved Motown and got in to Dr Feelgood! When I was younger I used to play along to Staus Quo songs as they were simple rooted 5th’s and I used to play to them for my timing and keeping it simple. Bass players who influenced me then and now are Bruce Foxton from the Jam, Phil Mitchell from Dr Feelgood, James Jamerson, Pino Palladino, Bill Wyman, Sting, Carol Kay and a great influence on me is Paul McCartney. I love the Beatles and Macca is great.
Anything that I like and that sounds good influences me today. I listen to the radio and play along with my bass sometimes and get to play some interesting bass lines! I am open to different styles and think it is very good to listen to as much and different styles of music as you can.

What bass players have you seen live?

It’s always good to go out and see a live band, see what’s going on and what the bass player is doing.
I have been lucky to see my bass influences live. I have seen Bruce Foxton with SLF and from the Jam, a great bass player and a great live show. I have seen Bill Wyman live; he was great and really holds it down and some great musicians he plays with. I got to see Dr Feelgood with Phil Mitchell on bass, another great influence there and he let me play his bass! I have been to bass clinics and seen Yolanda Charles who was amazing! She played with Paul Weller and Robbie Williams and talked about session work. Colin Hodgkinson I saw live and he really inspired my playing, he did a one man show just him and his bass. Amazing player who played with Back Door and White Snake!
I went to bass day 2008 and saw bass player Richard Bona (playing with Steve Gadd in 2009). He was great, although not my style of playing, he was great. The sounds he got out of his bass and just listening to him chat about his bass playing and tips on the bass and life in general, were very inspiring!

I saw live in London Motown bass player Bob Babbitt. It was when the funk brothers got back together around 2004, it was a great show! It was good to hear to motown greats like, Heatwave, Ain't to proud to beg! A great live show, great musicians and also Sir Paul McCartney was in the audience as well!

What advice would you give to the player who wants to play bass professionally?

Keep playing and gigging, meeting musicians. Go to jam sessions and network. Get your name out there and let musicians know whom you are and what you do. It’s all about who you know and the musicians you meet.
Look for auditions and contact the professional bands.
Keep fresh on your playing and learn new bass lines, as you will have to play different situations with different bands. The Internet is great for networking musicians via websites like myspace, musician forums and googling musicians. Keep working at it and believing in your bass playing and the main thing is…have fun playing bass! Contact me at the website for any advice on playing professionally!

What are you doing in 2009?

I would like to do more studio and recording work,this is an area I want to gain more experience in and, looking forward to doing more recording in 2009.

I am playing live doing the functions and live work with various bands at the moment.
As long as I am busy and playing, I am happy!

Andy Till Feb 2009