COREY LOWERY
COREY LOWERY
Saint Asonia
Saint Asonia is the result of members from some of the best hard rock bands of the early 2000s – including Three Days Grace , Staind , and Finger Eleven – coming together and keeping their creative spirits going . They dropped their self-titled debut mid-2015 . Corey Lowery , whose hard rock pedigree is quite impressive , tells us how he works with the bass and why things are working so well with Saint Asonia .
Basses PRS Kingfisher Basses w / EMG Pickups
& DR Strings
Amps Hartke Kilo Head Hartke LH1000 Head Hartke HyDrive 810 Cabinet ( x2 )
Effects Boss Chorus Boss Flanger EBS Billy Sheehan Signature Drive
Comp / EQ / Overdrive Radial Tonebone Splitter Shure Wireless
CM : What ’ s the most recent piece you ’ ve added to your live set-up and why did it earn that spot ?
CL : I ’ ve recently added an EBS Billy Sheehan signature pedal . It ’ s got a great distortion and compression on it and it just really gives a good punch . Usually , when Mike [ Mushok , guitarist ] goes to solo , I ’ ll go to that pedal just to fill it in . It ’ s got just a nice , solid , natural compression and a great distortion where I keep my low end .
CM : What ’ s the one thing you can ’ t go without while you are on stage ?
CL : I rely so much on my Radial Tonebone because it splits my amps up . Usually , I have two different amps going at the same time . One ’ s just a real natural piano-type clean bass , which is tied to my mid-highs and all the way down to my lows . The other cabinet does a lot of my effects – you know , choruses , distortions , stuff like that . But what ’ s really driving it all is the Radial Tonebone .
CM : You ’ ve been playing in touring bands since your teens . How have you progressed as a bass player over the years ?
CL : I started out as a rock and metal bass player . I was into Metallica ; Cliff Burton , Geezer Butler , and Steve Harris were my idols back then . Then one night I was at a hotel in Virginia Beach and met a guy named Keith Horne who is in a band called Secrets . He played a righty bass upside down as a left-handed player . I couldn ’ t really tell what he was playing but it changed my whole perspective of bass . The room was full of bassist and I was sitting beside Victor Wooten and kind of shunned him because I was watching Keith . I apologized to Victor years later but after seeing Keith and meeting him that night , I practiced on a daily basis . I practiced with my fingers , pick , thumb , muting , and just all kinds of techniques . And I ’ m still learning . You have to wake up and stay hungry and keep practicing .
CM : What ’ s the most important thing you ’ ve learned since coming together with the rest of the guys in Saint Asonia ?
CL : I think there ’ s a lot of wisdom with us all being from different groups but coming together and really approaching it as a new band . Staying open minded to things that might have been a mistake in the past but might not be a mistake now is important . It helped that we felt like a band right out of the gate and you know instantly if it ’ s a good fit or not and if there ’ s chemistry . It felt really cool singing backup and harmony to Adam and filling in the gaps when Mike would go to solo and jamming grooves with Rich . It ’ s been great and we ’ re actually starting to write for the next record .
CANADIAN MUSICIAN • 51