BASS
Sandy MacKinnon is the bass player in the rock group Royal Tusk . His band recently wrapped up a cross-Canada tour in support of their debut full-length album , DealBreaker , released via Cadence Music in May 2016 . When Sandy isn ’ t in the studio or on the road , he can be found hanging out with his two doggies , Sasha and Winnie , and slinging brews . www . royaltusk . com .
By Sandy MacKinnon
Bass to the Future
When it comes to the bass guitar , I ’ m quite baffled as to why I chose to play this instrument , or better yet , devote my handsome years to sluggin ’ it out on the road , playin ’ night after night , for better or for worse . I like to daydream from time to time and imagine present day me , back in time , having a cordial sit down with my 10-yearold self on the eve of receiving his ( I guess my ) first bass guitar .
In the Beginning First things first , I lived in a small house in an inner-city Edmonton neighbourhood with two older brothers , a younger sister , and my parents whom at the time were still together , so finding even a slice of privacy would be asking the world . Everyone under that roof loved music , but none of us really had a background in anything musical , so it ’ s kind of funny to think that today both my older brothers and my younger sister are touring musicians .
I imagine a young Sandy getting super jazzed , because for the past six or so months , I ’ d been annoying the living hell out of my parents in hopes that they might cave and buy me a bass , like the one my eldest brother played . Once the initial shock wore off that a grown man was sitting at the end of my bed trying to convince a younger version of himself that they were in fact the same person , we could finally talk .
I like to think of the first couple of questions my younger self would ask me . Knowing that being a full-time smart ass started around this time , I would have to settle in for some pretty idiotic conversation and come to terms that
I would have to break some bad news to the little guy . “ No , we don ’ t ever end up making the NHL .” “ Yes , but we only barely graduated high school .”
“ In just a few short years , you are going to develop a knack for smoking darts and drinking beers .”
I ’ d save my favourite piece of news / wisdom for the very end . Although spoiling the surprise , I would inform the little guy that the bass guitar he was about to receive was going to be the longest and most important relationship of his life .
“ You are going to go through hell being teased , but by learning this weirdo instrument in this tiny bedroom , you will eventually embark on probably the most insane journey . You will get the chance to play , night after night , alongside some really great musicians , who coincidently are going to be some of the greatest friends a guy could ever ask for . You ’ ll experience travelling the world over and playing to people who actually want to see you on stage . You ’ ll be using your brain in ways you never have even thought possible – writing words , creating rhythms , and working and recording with some of the greatest engineers and producers of our time . Last but certainly not least , tour . You ’ ll spend years acting like an escaped primate , and you know what … to be honest , that actually hasn ’ t changed all that much , so have fun .”
Before parting ways , I ’ d probably tell the younger version of myself a few specific times where he ’ ll publicly make a colossal jackass of himself , like the bass concert you put on for your junior high music class where you stood there singing Rage Against The Machine songs while playing the bass lines . Spoiler alert , it does not go well , and will be the source of re-occurring nightmares for years to come , so maybe refrain from being at those specific places . Not all , but some .
In Hindsight I ’ ll never know why I specifically chose to play the bass . I ’ m coming up on my 22 nd year of playing , and if someone were to ask me , I wouldn ’ t even know how to answer . I can say this , though : it was hands down the best decision I have ever made . Through playing , I have gotten the desire to learn all sorts of different instruments .
My latest endeavour came quite recently . We just got off the road after about a monthand-a-half . In between the one-off shows and festivals this summer , I decided to try and learn the double bass . Taking on a new musical direction can be daunting , but re-visiting old scales and now playing them differently really opened my eyes . I ’ m eons away from ever playing in front of anybody , so maybe I ’ ll have to hold my breath until an older version of myself shows up with crappy advice and a completely deflated pep-talk about the oncoming years . I just hope that this old version of me hasn ’ t resorted to sweatpants in public or sandals and socks .
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