Simply the Bass.


As far as pictures of me playing the bass go, this is one of my favourites.

They call me Mellow Yellow (quite rightly).

It was taken during a soundcheck on the 19th May 2011 in a theatre in the Netherlands whilst on a short tour there that crossed with my thirtieth birthday. The actor and guitarist Tim Pont took the photo of me playing whilst seated on the stool I had to use for much of the run, thanks to the onset of labyrinthitis, which meant I couldn’t play standing up due to dizziness; I’m about as un-rock-&-roll as un-rock-&-roll can get.

I didn’t really want to be away for such a significant birthday, but the tour fell at a time when I could do with the money, plus the run was brief enough to not get in the way of my other commitments. It just so happened I had a few days off close to a gig in Amsterdam, so my wife came over for that, thus making at least that part of the run a bit of a working holiday.

The show was a Best of the Seventies & Eighties affair, which meant wearing some terrible outfits, but playing some enjoyable music. One night, I had to come off stage during the Tina Turner song The Best, because I’d unwittingly cut my thumb while playing. I was completely unaware of the injury until I looked down mid-verse to see my bass covered in enough blood to suggest I'd used it to slaughter a farm animal; who knew vamping in F could be so dangerous?

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