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An Interview with Glenn Veale |
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How long have you been playing Glenn? About 30 years (hard labour). Why the Bass? In 1968 I went to see the Byrds at the City Hall in Jo’burg. I had to go with my mother as I was about 14 at the time. The band had been let down by one of their guitarist/singers, Gram Parsons, who’d left the group because they were coming to an apartheid country. So, they didn’t play their regular country-tinged repertoire of the time because of the missing Parsons, and had to pad out their set with lengthy ‘underground’ jamming. Chris Hillman was playing a fender Jazz with round-wounds and I had never heard such a cool bass sound before. I ran to the stage, along with many other teens, and stood in front near the stack of Marshall/Hiwatt bass speakers, finally identifying what the bass was doing and realizing this was my instrument. So I chose the bass and wasn’t, as Frank Zappa has said, relegated to the bass because I was a ‘failed’ guitar player. I begged my parents for a bass and so they trudged me down to Magnet Music in Jo’burg the next day and bought me a brand new Sakai bass and a thirty watt Guyatone amp. And the rest, as they say, is my History. Are you formally trained? I initially took lessons for about a year at Gilbert Stroud’s guitar school in Bree Street. (Trevor Rabin was there briefly for his early lessons). Later I was fortunate enough to join a band with older guys from Jo’burg Hawk. (namely drummer Braam Malherbe and flautist/keyboardist Keith Hutchinson). This was a great education, ‘cos Keith himself was a good bass player and he gave me some good pointers, not just on the bass, but about music and composition as well. Then the army nabbed me, and when I came out I was very lucky to join a show band called “Scott Free”. This was an excellent education, playing covers 6 nights a week at the Top of the Carlton, and having to read the charts of international cabaret acts every week. So by 19, I was gainfully employed playing my bass, immersed in many styles including Jazz and playing complicated charts nightly. I did this for four years and this was an excellent experience, as you can imagine. In 1981 I went over to the States to further my education at the Dick Grove School of music in Los Angeles, where I studied small and big band arranging, sight-reading and film scoring. I then moved to San Francisco for 10 years and played every style of music conceivable, from Country to Cuban. This ‘university of the streets’ approach has always suited my vibe and I’m still learning. It never stops … Who are your influences? Well, initially, I used to play with a pick (or a plectrum, which was the more commonly used word back then) so my early influences were the pickers: John Entwhistle (The Who); Chris Squire (Yes); Greg Lake (E L P); and Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash). I loved the metallic sound of the Fender Jazz with Rotosound round-wounds. “Live at Leeds” by The Who was a big influence, ‘cos you could isolate the bass by panning the stereo to one side. My initial approach to jamming was born listening to this work by John Entwhistle, who had a huge sound and really covered a big fat area under their music. I mean Keith Moon isn’t the most solid or traditionally funky drummer and so Entwhistle provided a lot of the meat and potatoes in that rhythm section. Later Fusion came in and I began to play fingers, so Stanley Clarke and Jaco became important. Jaco more for his orchestrative approach, harmonics and double stops, and Stanley for his clean, thwacky sound and his low, low lines on the Return to Forever recordings. Also Anthony Jackson is a huge influence and his sound, specifically his muted picking where he uses the flat of his right hand to damp the strings and downplay the natural sustainy quality of the electric bass. Anthony also has the exceptional musical aspect to his playing where he re-harmonizes the chords in arrangements at precisely the right moment to just push things to a mad level when it’s required to go there. Later, I got into slapping (who hasn’t) and learnt a lot from Lonnie Liston-Smith albums, which featured the teenage Marcus Miller. Marcus’ work with Miles Davis in the early eighties was also extremely influential, especially the live “We Want Miles”. I’ve always liked the power and punch that players of passive basses seem to have. New players like Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck) have developed their sound (and vicious techniques) on active basses (with the bass equivalent of power steering), but I don’t think they have the balls and grit that comes from learning on a passive bass, which requires a lot more coaxing. I also enjoy Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel). He’s the ultimate big arena player, with a huge sinewy sound, very much a team player in a musically supporting role, a real bass player. So many influences and I haven’t even mentioned Leo Lyon (Ten Years After); Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath); John-Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin); Paul Jackson (Herbie Hancock); Mark King (Level 42); Gary Grainger (John Scofield); Eberhard Weber; Ron Carter; Nathan East (Fourplay); Flea (the ‘Peppers’); Will Lee; Louis Johnson; Larry Graham …. (The list is endless). Whoever is there to take you to the next level will be an influence. What are the amps and instruments you use? I currently play a Warwick 5-string (a Corvette), but I’ve got lots of goodies in the Hall of Fame. I never sell guitars. Amps come and go, but not basses. I still have my old Burns bass from the 70’s. There’s a coupla Fenders (1 Jazz, 1 Precision) and my old fave from the late 80’s, a 4-string Music Man Sabre (the one with 2 pickups). I’ve never seen another one in S.A. - I love it. I just wish it was a 5. I paid $350 for it in San Francisco in 1985. It’s definitely the best bass for slapping I’ve ever played. Monstrous tone. What instruments would you like if money were no object? I’d like a Music Man 5-string (any out there for sale?). I make my living as a composer, so I tend to lust after decadent multi-effects modules and digital desks. I’ve got the guitars I need. What’s been the low point in your career so far? An ongoing low point would be the arguments with certain types of drummers (you know the ones I mean). Another low point would be not having been approached to write a film score (yet)! What has been the high point? My biggest success (I feel) is to still be happy doing what I do. Music is basically fun, and it’s still fun for me (well, most of the time). I had a great gig in San Francisco for 2 years in the mid-eighties. It was with a Big Band at the Fairmont Hotel (the one from the TV series “Hotel”). The hardest part about that gig was finding parking. One Saturday night I walked 10 blocks from my car to the gig – up those San Francisco hills – in my tux with a bass. The band would break after the first set and we’d get to see great cabaret (which we sometimes backed too), like James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and Oscar Peterson. My best moment was one evening in the kitchen when the legendary McCoy Tyner came up to me and said he liked my feel. Boy, did I practice for weeks after that. What are your goals currently? I would, as I said, like to write the score to an artsy film. It would also be nice to produce a good Pop artist. I just hope to stay healthy and carry on doing what I love doing, and that’s creating excellent music, and hopefully getting paid to do it. |
