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Circumstances by Jimi Durso
Circumstances by Jimi Durso…
I recently read an interview with the trumpeter Paolo Fresu, and he talked about how he got into using electronics, saying “I started using electronics just to preserve the sound quality when I changed to Harmon mute on stage, because the sound engineers knew nothing.” This made me think about how much of our musical style may come from our circumstance, in the same way that our mannerisms often originate in our environment. However, in both cases we can still observe and make decisions about if and how we want to continue expressing these idiosyncrasies.
To give one example: when I was starting out I had the privilege of playing with some terrible drummers. They played with sloppy time and the fills were highly inaccurate. To compensate, I played in a very aggressive manner, laying the time down in a way that allowed no dissent (as I once heard bassist Ray Williams put it “You’re with me or you’re wrong.”) I would play hard, and with very little space (as rests or held notes in my bassline would just provide an opportunity for the drummer to rush, or drag, or drop a beat.) As time went on I increasingly found myself in situations with drummers who were much solider, so I made the decision to meet them halfway on the subject of time (a decision made easy by the fact that my insistent stance typically did the groove more harm than good). But I kept the style of playing forcefully, but had to find a way to do it in a manner that didn’t piss of other members of the rhythm section.
Often our circumstances comingle with our preferences to create our sound. To give you another personal example: I’ve always loved the kinds of guitarists who use a variety of timbres (Bill Frisell and Adrian Belew are two of my favourites), but I seem to end up in ensembles with guitarists who just use one sound (two at most), or with keyboardists who leave their keyboard on the acoustic piano setting. So to create more sonic variety, I made the decision to experiment with different sounds, both electronic ones such as delays, wah-wahs, octave dividers and such, as well as natural ones like harmonics and slapping. This is what prompted to me to work so much on my arco playing: it provided another sound.
Lately, I’ve been performing a lot in duo situations, often with a guitarist, though my group Coincidence Machine pairs me with a drummer. This has caused me to explore ways to play bass in a way that can fill more space. Things like tapping chords with my right hand, plucking with thumb and fingers like a classical guitarist, and even using loop pedals, all to make the bass sound like more than one instrument. I’m certain these experiments will become part of “me” and find their way into situations when I’m in larger ensembles.
So here are some things you can do to apply this: in any musical situation in which you find yourself, ask “What do these conditions require of me?” The me part is very important here. Don’t just think “I’m playing punk so I’m supposed to play eighth notes on the roots.” Think more “What does this punk song require of me?” Does it need more motion from you? Or less? (Mike Dirnt of Green Day is a great example. Notice how sometimes he plays lines with a lot activity but other times he just hangs on the root note).
Try to think of what you specifically can provide to the musical landscape (or perhaps “soundscape” is a better term, if Robert Fripp hasn’t copyrighted it). Do you tend to like to play very melodically? Maybe you should insert some sort of bass hook. Do you like the sound of inversions? Or maybe there’s a hole that you feel the need to insert a sort of Geddy Lee/Mike Watt/John Entwistle style fill into. Or maybe you’ve got a highly syncopated personality, and you feel right playing just a few notes that are strategically placed.
The important part is to think what you (specifically you) would like to hear from this song (or group, or section of the performance) if you (again, specifically you) were listening. This is the point at which you as a personality meet the musical situation. This is a great place to discover your musical voice.
Twang!
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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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