deep

i actually played bass before i played guitar. it's an instrument i listen to a lot on recordings. i rarely think of it as just the low notes in the chords, something to hold down the bottom end or double the other instruments. it's got its own character in the music.

that's why it was a privilege to work with mario padrón on this album. he's absolutely a better bassist than i am by far, which is one reason there are song-by-song instrument credits on the CD booklet. i wouldn't want to take credit for his superior playing on tracks he wasn't on. even in cases where i wrote most of the bassline, he added his own transitions and notes. but most of all, he added his own tone and feel, which are things you can't replicate.

mario must have gone through at least four different basses during recording. he was constantly trading up to something better or more interesting. he used both 5- and 6-string basses, one of them fretless (on "secondhand daylight"). with all this variety, special attention was paid in mastering to the bass. mario's playing definitely resonates, especially if you have good headphones or speakers.

he also distinguishes himself by the stylistc range he displays on the album. he's capable of playing delicate, halting passages in songs such as the album's finale, "flowers of destruction". in both that song and "end of memory", he mixed his live tone with a triggered bass synthesizer. he stretched himself in both improvisation and texturing during the jam sessions that yielded the 5 instrumental pieces. and on "deaden the pain", he plugged two effect pedals straight into the board and proved he could lay down some serious metallic doom.

that last song i'm especially grateful to him for. i had a title and a feeling, and a desire for the song to be slow and heavy. we'd all jammed together with one of bryin's beatboxes on something drenched in doom and atmosphere but no direction. the very next rehearsal, mario plugged his bass in and out of nowhere started playing a riff off the top of his head. it was perfect, and that became the basis for the song. it may never have been finished if not for him.

to hear mario's excellent playing, check out the trailer video and pre-order so beautiful and so dangerous until march 29th using paypal here.