BILLY HAMILTON
PHOTO : WYATT CLOUGH �WAFKA
The
bass guitar might not be the first instrument a future musician – even a future bassist – picks up , but that doesn ’ t diminish its importance or prestige . In fact , as this year ’ s panel shows , the bassist is more often than not the most adaptable person in the group . Sure , they might not have initially chosen four strings instead of six , but when the opportunity , challenge , or sometimes disaster presented itself , they stepped up and became that metaphorical glue that holds everything together .
Our panel this year focuses on players anchoring acts on the louder side of the spectrum . Billy Hamilton from Silverstein , Clay Shea from Black Mastiff , JC Calabrese from Danko Jones , Corey Lowery from Saint Asonia , Kim Carson from Like A Motorcycle , Jason Decay from Cauldron , and Nestor Chumak from PUP have battled through it all : beer spilt on instruments , blown amps , stubborn old gear , and everything in between . So just what is it that keeps this crew so happy handling the low end ?
BILLY HAMILTON
Silverstein
Billy Hamilton runs on a passion for music . He joined Silverstein over 15 years ago with essentially no prior knowledge of playing bass guitar , but harnessed his passion for music to help him develop as a bass player as the band developed their career . Hard-working and open-minded only begin to describe his work ethic and his character as a musician . Silverstein ’ s latest – their eighth studio album – is 2015 ’ s I Am Alive in Everything I Touch .
Basses Fender 1972 Sunburst Precision Bass Fender 2015 Candy Apple Red Precision Bass Fender 2005 Black Precision Bass Rickenbacker 1977 White 4001 ( RIP Lemmy ) Gibson 1980 Tobacco Burst Grabber G-3 Gibson 1976 White Grabber Fender 2003 Sunburst Jaguar Baritone ( set up as a Bass VI )
Amps Orange Terror Bass 500 Head Orange 8x10 Cabinet Avalon U5 DI Box
Effects Fuzzrocious Rat King
Distortion Fuzzrocious Dark Driving OD Fuzzrocious Fuzz T-Rex Effects Octavius Octave
Pedal TC Electronic PolyTune Tuner Mooer Noise Killer Sennheiser Wireless
CM : What is the one thing you can ’ t go without while on stage ?
BH : This sounds like a weird one , but I have this Avalon preamp . It ’ s the U5 DI preamp and I fly with it everywhere we tour . I find that it ’ s just more important than my amp or my bass or anything . You can kind of plug anything into it and it sounds great . Also , because we use in-ear monitors , it gets the bass at a level and a tone and clarity that I ’ ve never been able to find with any other DI box or amp .
CM : How did the bass become part of your life ?
BH : I always wanted to play in a band or play music , but I didn ’ t play guitar or take guitar lessons or anything like that as a kid . I used to play around with my friends and we ’ d watch music videos and head bang with hockey sticks as guitars . I think I picked up a bass in that kind of sense where it just seemed to fit . I ’ m a big guy and having a bigger instrument seemed a little more fitting . I kind of just started to teach myself and I kind of jumped into Silverstein pretty much right off the bat . I got the opportunity to jam with them and they had already played some shows with a few different bass players that were temporary and they taught me the songs and I kind of faked it and stuck around for a long time .
CM : Since you basically started learning bass for
Silverstein , what kind of influence have Shane , Josh , Paul , or other members throughout the years had on your style and development as a player ?
BH : Definitely Shane and Josh , early on , even Neil and Rich before that , we ’ d work on songs and talk about what was happening with the guitar and where the bass would fit . Paul Marc , since he ’ s joined the band , he played bass in a lot of bands before he played guitar in Silverstein , and so he thinks a little bit more like a bass player so we ’ re able to bounce ideas off of each other . He ’ s come up with a lot of great bass stuff for the new record . Some of my favourite parts on the new record were stuff we really just threw in kind of last minute where we felt the bass just really needed a little riff here or something to go with the rhythm that the drum is doing . Songs like “ In the Dark ” in particular , we really just filled in a lot of cool little bass runs and that ’ s definitely one of my favourite songs on the record .
CM : With I Am Alive In Everything I Touch being a reflective album and the band entering its 16 th year together , what ’ s been the biggest thing you ’ ve learned from a life of music and touring ?
BH : The travel and the people you meet and are influenced by and are able to influence is a life experience that I think I would never be able to get outside of touring . A big part of touring is that every show and city can start to feel the same , but you can also find something unique and something special . You know , you can make Budapest , Sydney , and Nashville feel like the same place , but you ’ ve got to find what ’ s great and special about those places and do it because you might not be back . You can get really burnt out on touring if you don ’ t make it special .
50 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN