Talk about yourself—Who are you? Where are you located? What band(s) do you play in? Any other hobbies? Anything you feel mentionable here. Drop your links as well!
My name is Jack! I currently play bass in The Last King, based in New England, and KöttGrav, where everyone but me lives in Arizona! When I’m not playing bass, I work as a medical device engineer, and curate one hell of a vinyl collection (700+ and counting!)
Here’s some of my stuff!
https://thelastkingtlk.square.site/
What genre do you play?
Extreme metal – mostly technical death metal/deathcore.
What is your instrument of choice? Do you play other instruments? Is there any you wish you could play?
I play both fretted and fretless bass, and that’s pretty much it. I used to play trombone but haven’t done that since college. I also played piano when I was really young, and I kind of wish I didn’t give that up. I also wanted to learn the banjo for a while, but that didn’t work out. I think I’d rather be really good at one instrument than kinda good at a lot of them.
Tell me about your gear—what did you start out with and what did you upgrade to (if at all)?
Ooh yeah. I’m a gear slut. I currently have six basses. Three Kiesels, a Dingwall, an MTD, and an acoustic Ibanez. Hoping to get another Dingwall in the next few months too! For amps, I use Hartke – I have a LH500 head, 4×10 cabinet, and also a little 1×10 practice amp. And then I have my pedalboard…mostly Darkglass, as well as an envelope filter, chorus, and noise gate. Most of it is just for fun but my compressor and noise gate are never off – then I mostly use a clean boost or a B7K. I have some other stuff too, like a power conditioner, but it’s not as fun. I definitely did not start out with all that, though. I’ve had the MTD for a long time, but I also used to have a Fender jazz bass and a fretless Schecter. I’ve had a variety of pedals and used a 50W Ampeg amp for a while, but I’m pretty happy with everything I have now – despite the fact that I’ll probably never stop collecting gear.
What bands influence your playing style?
I take a lot of original influence from bands like Iron Maiden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Rush. But everything I do naturally has an extreme metal spin on it. Some of my heavier influences include classic bands like Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus, and more modern bands like Archspire, Beyond Creation, Inferi, and The Black Dahlia Murder
If you were to recommend music for others to listen to, what would be your top 3 bands/artists?
Igorrr, Black Crown Initiate, and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. There’s something for everyone in there.
Were you a band geek? (I was so I like to know if anyone else was HA!) But also, if you weren’t, how and when did you decide to be a musician?
Oh hell yeah! I was playing piano before I could even join band, and then started playing trombone as soon as I could. I was one of those kids who did all the regional band festivals and everything, and I did jazz band from middle school all the way through college, eventually switching from trombone to bass. I was even band manager for a couple years in college! But I also love rock and metal and was constantly learning music on the side just for fun. I always wanted to be in a metal band, and now here I am! Bands for life!
Do you have any future goals or plans?
My wife and I just bought a house and are moving to Fitchburg in a couple months! The Last King is releasing a new album this summer! And I have an extremely exciting undisclosed project I’m working on! So yeah, things are looking pretty damn exciting!
Any advice for aspiring musicians?
I believe that anybody can be a musician if they put their minds to it. Even if you’re unable to gain access to an instrument, we can all put pen to paper and create lyrics. The biggest thing that can stop you is yourself! Also, never forget that hard work will always reward itself in the end.
Echoes of Oddities