Bass Musician Magazine - SPECIAL August 2014 Female Bassist Issue | Page 117
As a bassist AND a front-woman, do you
feel that gives you an advantage (doing
both) or is it a challenge?
I absolutely see it as an advantage and a
challenge. The advantage is that not many
females fronting a band are playing an
instrument, and especially an essential
instrument; it sets me apart. But it’s also an
incredible challenge to lock down that groove
and pay attention to the music side of it without
sacrificing the performance. You have to
completely split your brain and feel the music
with one side and read the audience with the
other. It’s a good thing I’m ADD.
In an industry dominated by male
musicians, do you find that this hinders
or helps your opportunities?
That is a constant question mark. Some
male counterparts are more than welcoming
of me and my talents, whereas others have
a real problem with me being there at all. I
hear comments about how I only play the top
2 strings (hahahaha), so I don’t qualify as a
true bass player. Ultimately, I think they’re
just intimidated or jealous of the attention
I’m getting. REAL players with REAL talent
have always been really welcoming. They
are too confident in their own abilities to be
intimidated by anyone else. Those guys can
play circles around me, but they’re more
interested in sharing the love for the music,
rather than beating anyone down…and I’m
down with that. I’ve had great opportunities by
being female and I’ve been shut out because
of it as well.
What is your advice on how to be taken
professionally in the music industry?
Be consistent. Be professional. On occasion,
someone will challenge me and it’s nice to
have an army of people behind me that will
have my back saying, “She would never do
something like that.” They know that and can
say it without question because I’m consistent.
Take pride in your integrity. It still counts for
something…I promise.
What do you wish someone had told you
when you were first getting started?
I studied. I read books about the music industry
and I listened to people that had done it for
years. I took notes. I learned a lot. But what
I absolutely could not grasp for many years
was that people would just blatantly lie to you.
Sometimes they have a motive, and sometimes
they have no reason at all, but they will lead
you on wild goose chases forever, just for the
attention. I wish someone had taught me how
to be a better judge of character. I see the best
in people and it still blows my mind to this day
why anyone would want to waste their time and
energy just to ruin your day or career, but they
do and they always will. I just wish I wouldn’t
have been so trusting of some people.
With the landscape of promotion
going more and more toward online
interaction, how do you keep current
with social media?
Anybody that does it knows, it’s a full-time job!
I have the option of hiring an intern to keep up
with posts and managing my 10 sites, but I
bassmusicianmagazine.com | aug 2014 | #bassmusicianmag | the face of bass
I chose to have a career in rock ‘n’ roll instead
of county music. Pat Benatar set the bar for
vocal abilities and I trained myself to sing as
much like her as possible from the beginning.
Chris Cornell was my songwriting inspiration.
His lyrics were poetry in the most abstract
ways. I’m inspired by all styles of music. I love
anything that is pure emotion.