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Tape is Rolling….
It was bound to happen, an article without the accompanying video. Yes, I’m guilty. But, I think I have a really good excuse: the October release of my new CD.
Anyone who’s gone through the process of making his or her own CD knows what I’m talking about. It is a potentially long, but awakening process. Right now, for example, I’m knee-deep in producing, tracking, writing, booking musicians, editing, mixing, and mastering. That’s a lot of “ing” words!
But this beautiful process is the heart of what we musicians do. It makes us better artists.
One example of how recording can make you better as an artist is the arrangement of a song. Say you recorded a song you’ve been working out live on the bandstand for some time, and it just doesn’t “pop” on the recording like it does when you play it live. In the digital environment, you can switch around sections of the tune and play with the arrangement, maybe making the song more “palatable” for a CD – changing the soundscape, if you like.
Another example is soloing over changes. You might think your approach to soloing over your new song was killin’ when played live, only to find out on the recording that it sounded like you were chasin’ roots. Being in the controlled environment of the studio allows you to compose your solo more thoughtfully and better connect with your song.
The old adage, “Tape don’t lie,” really applies here. On more than one occasion, I’ve tracked a tune that I had high hopes for, only to realize I needed to go “back to the drawing board” for more production. But, even so, sticking with the tune almost always pays off for me, and I’ll hear the song come to life before my ears.
The recording process is a way we get those notes into the air. Obviously, the digital age has greatly increased anybody’s potential to record – which is both good and bad. Good in that you’re not racking up thousands of dollars at a studio – Bad in that we’re not all engineers, and maybe it would be better to record in a studio where professionals do their thing.
Granted, there’s no one way to record a “record” – yes, I still use that word – and if you asked 10 different bass players how to go about it, you’d probably get 10 different opinions. But that’s what I love about it!
As I mentioned, producing your own record makes you wear a lot of hats: the writing hat, the editing hat, the mixing and mastering hats, the $pending hat, and the managing hat – there are those “ing” words again – but what I’m trying to get at here is that for every hat your wear, your spirit will grow exponentially throughout the recording process.
I think this article will definitely inspire a couple of follow-up articles from yours truly, as it is a vast subject and we’ve only scratched the surface. So, if I may conclude with a shameless plug:
New Doug Johns CD to be Released in October!
In my opinion, it’s exactly twice as funky as the first one, and it grooves like a freight train on nitro. Check in on the website and myspace for the exact release date. Keep recording your own material, and don’t forget…. Get out there and jam with somebody.
Doug
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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Nathan East, Echoes of a Lineage – April/May 2026 Issue
Gear Review: Italia Leather Straps
New Album: Oteil Burbridge & Lamar Williams, The Offering
Interview With Bassist Tom Doyle
Interview With Bassist Alex Blake
Feb 16 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Feb 23 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 2 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 9 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram