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Why Is Music Important? by B.A. Johnson
Describe your musical composition process.
Composition, for me, usually begins with a melody line – about 80% of the time. Other times, it begins with a completely random sound, or series of rhythmic noises – like a breaking semi, or hearing a train in the near distance. Other times, still, it’s a bass line or rhythmic figure that I’ll then work with until I can articulate the sound I’m hearing.
From that point, I’ll either begin searching for a sequence of upper register chords on the bass guitar. Or, I’ll begin working with a keyboard. My process is very organic and a lot like painting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve attempted to write one piece of music, only to see an entirely different piece of music into fruition! Again, its all about expression and tone. I’m a tone freak!
Music allows me to articulate my environment beyond words! I’m not attempting to suggest a feeling to another person as much as I’m attempting to speak to something deep within myself.
How does music affect your culture and immediate environment?
My teenage daughter and I were laughing about a commercial, and she mentioned that the first stanza of the WHO’s “Teenage Wasteland” would have been a ‘perfect’ way to capture the mood the commercial was failing to present! She was absolutely correct from my perspective!! Music continues to be the medium through which my family and I communicate ideas to one another. My children are very secure in their ideas (and imaginations) as a result of being life-long, avid music listeners! Humorously, both my children tilt their heads when they’re listening deeply – to sounds, conversation, as well as to music. I do that.
What would you be, if not a professional musician?
A music critic, or a music teacher in Academia! (Laughter) Actually, I’ve not thought a lot about it. I believe that musician is something you are… not something you do. I’ve met a lot of musicians who are in a life-struggle to do music and it is painful to watch! It’s like watching someone do loving…
Describe your practice regimen. Also, what technical aspects of your paying are you currently working on?
I practice playing “Hattie Belle” and my 6-string fretless almost every day. After running through scales, modes and arpeggios, I play through solos and pieces of music I’ve learned. At this time, I’m running “Donna Lee”, “Spain”, and Gary Willis’ “Speak” regularly. I also think its important to spend time just playing the instruments. Often I’ll play to drum sequences and “dance it out”! I’ve never been sorry that I rolled tape while sketching in that way!
Technically, I’m really working with my plucking hand approach in hopes of incorporating more of that articulation Matt Garrison and a few others are able to execute so profoundly! As in all things I attempt, it’ll have my stamp on it… and it certainly will never be a direct copy of anyone’s technique. Music allows me to work with my hands in a way that becomes my self-expression more and more.
What does music, and being a musician, mean to you – at the deepest level of your being?
More than a great deal! Beyond my faith, and my relationship with my wife and children (through which music and my personal musical concept has been invaluable) music is the immediate “next need” in my ability to cope with the world and all the potential negatives that constitute that idea.
How important is it to understand the Language of music?
Absolutely necessary – as much as possible! That is not to say that a person should become a “theory geek” to articulate their ideas. No. But, in working with music on a deeply intrinsic level, we can understand music beyond words. Having said that, I have personally found benefit in hearing music and understanding somewhat its composition from a technical standpoint. For me, life is a “sound quest”! The first time I heard the Beatle’s “Here Comes The Sun” I had to learn why that E7 chord affected me so deeply! Placement! Viola! That chord, and the subsequent G6 / Dadd9 / G6 / Dadd9 / A7 passage made me want to make those sounds! I was 5-years old and I remember it vividly!
Was I destined to become a musician? Or, does music speak that deeply to all children?
I love watching young children respond to music. Any music! I never want to lose that feeling of awe that I remember having while listening to the constantly present radio, or my parents’ record player. All revolutions are plotted to music, and that’s how important music is!
How do you collect the series of seemingly random influences and articulate them through music?
Listening. Listening always happens first. Like many musicians, I listening as deeply as I can to everything I can. From there, it becomes about “making that sound”, or articulating that vibe…
Can music ever truly become commercial? Why, or why not?
I don’t believe so. Music can be used to label a commercial movement. But, sooner or later, the music will change and the movement will be left – particularly negative movements against humanity. Sooner, or later, pop music will change its mind about everything it’s become over the past decade. We evolve, and music evolves with us.
Who do you feel would have great answers to these questions?
Let’s find out…!!
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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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