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Tips for Up-and-Coming Bassists with Carl Dawkins: Image
Meet Carl Dawkins –
So this is going to be the last article for a while in this series of tips for the up and coming bass player. Don’t worry there will still be the odd article referring back to it but for the coming few months we will be focusing on performance and stage presence.
For this last article I would like to keep it brief, this is such a wide-spread topic that I could spend days going into detail about everything. So I have tried to give a brief over-view of the subject and for any extra info or just for a chat about any one of my other articles you can email me at carldawkins@live.co.uk
I do hope the advice I have given out over these article have been useful, even if every aspect was not relevant to you. For this last article however we will be having a closer look at a topic we touched on a few months ago – Image.
Now in every case image is different, but the main point that we will be discussing today is that of a plain image compared to that of a more edgy image – both of which I have strived to go for at some point or another in the last 4 years.
Now image is something that very often gets overlooked , sometimes through ignorance or sometimes through the shear fact that one may be very lucky to naturally have his own image and never has to worry about it or morph his image into something else that may be required. From my experience thus far, if your playing live, whether it be in a band, or on TV or striving to be a session player, your image will come into play and may be that deciding factor on getting that gig or not.
I have friends in London who have walked into auditions and before even playing a note been told ‘sorry your not right for this’. Just because of the way they looked. Now I’m not saying its time to go re-evaluate your image, but its just something to take into consideration when applying for a gig…. You wouldn’t turn up for pop act dressed in full gothic clothing…or you might, and you might get the gig…in which case email me! However in the majority of cases its good to try and filter into the sort of image you think they may be after.
If you are looking to join a band or looking to session for artists live, you have to view yourself as a business, as you will be paid for your services. I for one would feel a bit uneasy if you went to walk into a classy restaurant, and found all the waiters were dressed in hot pants…for Hooters it’s acceptable (I love hooters) but if you were greeted with this unexpected welcome as you walked in, you would probably go eat elsewhere.
Now as I said before, a lot of us will have our own style, what we like and don’t like. There is no need to change it just a need to learn how to adapt it. For example I have my lip pierced (it looks very fetching I might add). But for some auditions or gigs I would not wear it, to make myself seem almost a bit normal. For certain types of work it could be required for you to not stand out – where as for other acts (notably Rhianna’s backing band on her tour a few years ago) it may be a good thing to have a more diverse ‘edgy look’. These little changes could be an advantage – after all they say first impressions are everything.
Skip to 8.00 minutes and you get a clear view of members of her backing band – take note that their all different and have there own unique style while still fitting in….looking at that video though I think I may of stolen the keyboard players haircut…
There is no right or wrong image to go for, you just have to be yourself, and the main thing is that you’re comfortable unless you’re working for Lady Gaga and your wearing doll’s house on your head. At the end of the day you are a package, and you may never know why you did or didn’t get the gig, but if you can walk in to any audition knowing you have done all you can then eventually you will find the right band/session for you.
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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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