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Interview WIth Matt Bissonette: Bass Gear, David Lee Roth, Elton John, and More…
Fan photo courtesy of Matt Bissonette
Matt Bissonette is an American bass player and vocalist who has played with David Lee Roth, Jeff Lynne, Ringo Starr, and Elton John.
He is currently on the road with the Kevin Cronin band formerly known as REO Speedwagon, and doing some one-offs with Elton John throughout the year. His band The Squirts, has a new album out, and his band, The Redcoats, has two albums out now. He has a Jazz album coming out in the fall called “Matt Bissonette Common Road” and he has a show on YouTube: “The Song In a Day Show”.
KB: Did you always want to be a musician growing up?
No, actually, I did not want to be a musician at all. When I was young, I was really into sports and wanted to be an athlete. I kind of got into music kicking and screaming. My parents bought me a bass when I was 12, and I had no idea what it even did. My parents were musicians; they didn’t force music on us, but they definitely laid the groundwork for both my brother Gregg and I to start playing at an early age.
KB: Why did you pick the bass as an instrument?
After my parents bought me a bass, my dad got me weekend gigs with his band playing weddings and parties. This was about 2 weeks after they bought me the bass! It was a quick education on how to play music with a band, and I had no idea what I was doing on these gigs, but they were very patient with me and allowed me to learn quickly on the gig. After I kind of figured out the bass player role, I fell in love with the instrument and knew I wanted to do it for the rest of my life.
KB: Did you have bass heroes in your youth, like others have guitar heroes? Who were they?
When I was young and even now, I had/have many bass players that I look/looked up to and tried to emulate. In Detroit, when I was super young, I was really into rock, so my obvious heroes were:
- Paul McCartney
- Geddy Lee (Rush)
- Peter Cetera (Chicago)
- Dave Hope (Kansas)
In Jazz, my heroes in acoustic bass were:
- Eddie Gomez
- Neil’s Orsted Pederson
- Ray Brown
- Paul Chambers
And electric Jazz players:
- Jaco Pastorius
- Neil Jason
- Alfonso Johnson
- Will Lee
KB: What make or brand do you use, and what kind of bass equipment?
I use a variety of basses for different sounds. My main go-to’ are:
- Music Man Stingray five-string bass
- The Bongo five-string from Music Man
- Lakland P Bass
- An old ’70s P bass with flat wound strings
I have about six Jazz basses with active electronics, both with different string settings, flat wound, round wound, etc.
- A five-string Music Man fretless Bass
- An old Hoffner
- And Epiphone Hoffner remake sounds great by the way!
I have two Rickenbaker’s that come out to play every now and then.
I use Markbass amps. I met Marco from Markbass years ago, and I think I was one of his first guys to play his stuff. He just sent me a Markbass five-string that is pretty amazing. In the studio, I run through an Avalon through a Distressor and also record with my Markbass amp in another room or use one of the Ampeg plug-ins.
KB: What is the best advice you can give to someone learning to play bass? On which bass should they try out?
I would say what worked for me is to learn how to read and interpret music of any style, but most importantly, I would first jam with my friends and other players to feel how good it feels to make music with other Live human beings. I would always recommend playing with players who are better than you so that you don’t get stagnant and think that you’re God’s gift to the bass! Humility is a good thing.
I would say to a new bass player to go to a music store and check out various basses to see which one is best for them. They are making them really good now and way cheaper than when I first started playing so you can’t really go wrong.
KB: You played with David Lee Roth for several years. What’s it like playing with him?
My brother was playing drums with them for a few years, and Billy decided to leave, and I had written some songs on the Skyscraper album, and Dave knew that I played with Gregg all the time, so it was just a natural thing to join the band. It was a blast playing in that band alongside Steve Vai, my brother, and Brett Tuggle, with an amazing crew. It was a long time ago, but I still remember it as being one of the best experiences of my life musically.
KB: You worked with Sir Elton John for many years. How did you meet, and what is your fondest memory of such a long time together?
My friend Bob Birch passed away in August 2012, and they needed to get someone quickly because they had the rest of the year booked. I knew Davey Johnstone over the years in LA, and he called me up, and I went over to his house, and he said I had the job. Davey had seen me play in a Beatles band with my brother, and like I said, it was a quick transition, so I had to learn 100 songs or so in about five days; my brain is still hurting from that!
One of my fondest memories of the 12 years that I played with Elton was the last night of the farewell tour, walking up on stage, and the crew lined up against the wall, and we all walked down giving high-fives, crying both for being happy and sad. It was a special show and I’ll never forget it.
KB: The 7 best basslines in 80s songs: What would you pick?
Wow, seven, here we go:
- Peter Cetera/Chicago -“Dialogue”
- Dave Hope/Kansas – “Song from America”
- Jaco Pastorius – “A Remark You Made”
- Marcus Miller – “Over And Over” (bass and synth bass) from David Sanborn’s album “ As We Speak”
- Verdine White – “Serpentine Fire”
- Eddie Gomez/Chick Corea – “Samba Song”
- Geddy Lee – “Fly By Night”
(Hard to narrow that down!)
KB: What are you currently up to?
I’m out on the road with the Kevin Cronin band, formerly known as REO Speedwagon, and doing some one-offs with Elton throughout the year.
Our band “The Squirts” has a new album out,
Our band “The Reddcoats” has two albums out now.
I have a Jazz record coming out in the fall where I’m singing everything and playing bass melodies called “Matt Bissonette Common Road”
I’m almost done recording another album that I was inspired by watching the Dylan movie. I went home and bought an acoustic guitar with a capo and just wrote some songs inspired by that movie. That should be out before the year as well.
We have a YouTube show called “The Song In a Day Show”:
My brother and my friend Paul wake up and meet at Starbucks, and decide what kind of song we’re gonna write, and then the show is basically a whole day of writing and recording and having to have it mixed by midnight that day, a really fun show!