#musicradar

[soapdispensersalesman]

[mikeywayarchive]

Mikey Way talks bass heroes, 'Bowie moments' and his signature Squier

By Matthew Parker published February 27, 2013

My Chemical Romance's bassman interviewed

Full interview under the cut:

BASS EXPO 2013: My Chemical Romance are a band that have polarised opinions, angered newspapers, formed an army of extremely loyal fans the world over and managed to keep their heads in the process. But despite their formidable live reputation, their musicianship is often overlooked in favour of whatever controversy the press has decided to attribute to the band that month.

In attempt to rectify this, we spoke to bassist Mikey Way and picked his brains about his early influences, his gear preferences and the development of his signature Squier Mustang bass.

What's your very first memory of the bass guitar?

"My very first memory of the bass guitar - I was about three years old and heard Another One Bites The Dust by Queen on the radio. It was burned into my skull from that moment on, and became a benchmark for bass lines in my mind."

Do you remember the first time you made a breakthrough with your bass playing - the first time you thought 'This is for me'?

"My first breakthrough with bass playing was during one of the first MCR practices in December of 2001. Gerard [Way, frontman] and Ray Toro [lead guitar] both coached me, as I hadn't had a great deal of bass experience up to that point. When I got the picking pattern/timing for [early MCR track] Our Lady of Sorrows down, I had a total 'wow' moment and knew not only did I love it, but I would play the bass forever."

What, for you, is the key to be being a good bass player?

"In my opinion, the key to being a good bass player is rhythm and timing. Bass is what the drummer plays from mostly and everybody goes off the drummers beat."

What MCR song has presented the biggest challenge for you as a bass player and why?

"I would say the song that presented the biggest challenge for me was Planetary (Go!) [from MCR's fourth album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys]. That song takes a great deal of dexterity to play live, and in turn has made me a better player."

MCR has, for better or worse, had a variety of drummers in its 10 year + history. What impact has that had on your role in the band's rhythm section?

"I can honestly say it benefited me greatly. I've played with five drummers in MCR, either onstage or in the studio and jammed with countless others. They each had different styles and nuances, so I was able to learn a lot from each of them."

Gerard has spoken before about 'Bowie moments' - the 'pinch yourself' experiences the band occasionally gets to enjoy. What have been your favourite Bowie moments with MCR?

"I have been very fortunate to have had many of those moments in our career thus far. Some highlight 'Bowie/pinch me moments' being -the reveal of The Black Parade in London back in '06, headlining Reading and Leeds in 2012, being the first American band in 30 something years to play Vietnam, and being the last band to play in Time Square before the ball dropped."

Have you ever met any of your bass playing heroes? Who's inspiring you currently?

"I've been able to meet many of my bass heroes through the years luckily! Matt Sharp's bass playing on the first two Weezer albums never fails to inspire me."

Do you have a favourite bass line of all time? What is it and why?

"Oh wow, this is a toughie! It's so hard to pick just one, but any of Louis Johnson's bass lines on Michael Jackson's Thriller album take the cake. They are still stuck in my head to this day, after hearing them almost 30 years ago. They are powerful and infectious."

What do you look for when you're buying a bass?

"When I'm buying a bass I look for equal parts sound, playability and vibe. Not only do I want it to sound and play amazing, but its an added bonus when it has interesting "battle damage" or an interesting color pattern that I've never seen before."

You recently released a signature Squier Mustang bass. How did that come about? How does it feel to have your name on a guitar?

"Before, we were discussing 'pinch yourself' moments, and getting my own signature Squier Mustang bass is on that list. I had been sponsored by Fender through most of my time in MCR. I had contacted them about making a custom bass and they hit me back saying they wanted to give me a signature model! To me, this is one of my greatest accomplishments.

"I started playing electric guitar at 14/15, and it was a Fender Stratocaster. My first bass was a Squier P Bass and I haven't used anything but Fender onstage ever since. To say its a tremendous honour and privilege would be an understatement. At least once a day I think about it, and it makes me smile ear to ear."

What is it about the Mustang bass that draws you to that model? What features were you keen to incorporate?

I was drawn to the Mustang because, simply put, they are a hell of a lot of fun to play - especially in a live setting [and] I've always really wanted a Mustang, with a humbucker, and a competition stripe (it's classic and classy!). I've always been in love with flake/sparkle finishes as well; so if you stir all of that up in one - you have my signature model."

What other bass gear do you use? (Amps, pedals etc.) And why?

"As far as other bass equipment - I use the Fender Super Bass Man. From the minute I took it out of the box I was in love, and won't use anything else. Not only does it sound HUGE, but the range of sounds and tones you can get is uncanny. Highly recommended.

"As far as pedals go, I always love the Memory Man and Bass Big Muff/regular Big Muff from Electro-Harmonix. I've been using a Big Muff for distortion since I started playing the electric guitar and swear by it."

Do you use your signature bass on stage?

"Yes, I absolutely do. It's my weapon of choice, badge of honor, and good luck charm all rolled into one."

[favemusiclessons]

Partial Chords

Wide interval chords

Extended chords

[sweetdreamsjeff]

An introduction to Jeff Buckley: "I would listen to anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Judy Garland, Robert Johnson, Thelonious Monk, Bartk, Mahler. And I asked a lot of questions".

By Neil Crossley published October 17, 2023

From his soaring, unbridled falsetto to his sonic artistry, Jeff Buckley defied conventions and left a catalogue of songs that is timeless and unique

On the night of 29 May, 1997, six weeks shy of his 31st birthday, Jeff Buckley waded fully clothed into a channel of the Mississippi River in Memphis. He was carefully watched from the bank by his roadie, who had warned him repeatedly about the perilous currents. The roadie looked away momentarily to remove a boombox from the water's edge and when he looked back, Buckley had disappeared. Six days later, on 4 June, Buckley's body was discovered floating near the city's famed Beale Street area, by a passenger on a riverboat called the American Queen.

In the days and weeks that followed, all manner of theories were put forward. Had Buckley ignored his roadie's warnings and been drunk or stoned when he went into the water? Had the intense pressure of producing a second album as sublime as his first simply been too much? The coroner concluded it was accidental drowning but the theories continued. Whatever the truth, it was a tragic end for an artist who clearly had a great deal left to give.

Jeffrey Scott Buckley was born in Orange County, California in 1966 and was the result of a short-lived relationship between cult folk singer-songwriter Tim Buckley and Mary Gulbert. From the age of four, Jeff was raised by Gulbert and his stepfather, Ron Moorhead.

"My mum would play piano and cello all the time and my stepdad had great musical taste," recalled Buckley. "I would listen to anything: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Judy Garland, Robert Johnson, Thelonious Monk, Bartk, Mahler. And I asked a lot of questions. Learning about music seemed effortless. I guess I must have had natural abilities. Looking back, it felt like instinct."

At five he picked up his grandmother's guitar and learnt to play it. By 13, he wrote his first song about a break-up with a girl. After graduating from high school, he studied at the Los Angeles Musicians' Institute and played in various rock and reggae bands, including a stint with dancehall reggae artist Shinehead. In 1990, he moved to New York and formed the band Gods And Monsters, a hip yet short-lived outfit.

Buckley began a solo career as a singer-songwriter, playing a borrowed Telecaster, in clubs and coffee houses in New York's East Village and building up a considerable following among audiences, critics and fellow musicians.

He was snapped up by Columbia Records and released the Live At Sin-é EP in November 1993. The EP was well received but the response was nothing compared to the rave reviews bestowed on his full-length debut album Grace, released in 1994. Unlike the EP, Buckley recorded the album with a full band, and collaborated on writing with guitarists Gary Lucas and Michael Tighe, which gave his sound fresh dynamics and textures.

It was a bold and stunning record, full of sweeping choruses and powerful arrangements. Buckley's brand of eclectic folk was distinctive and unique. As Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote in a review for AllMusic, "Grace sounds like a Led Zeppelin album written by an ambitious folkie with a fondness for lounge jazz".

In 1998, a collection of unreleased recordings called Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, was released posthumously. Two live albums appeared in 2000 and 2001, and other compilations and live albums were released.

As always when artists die young, speculation is rife about what might have been - the stellar works they may well have gone on to create. But in his short life, Jeff Buckley forged a collection of songs that enshrined him as an astonishingly innovative and unique talent.

1. Grace - Grace (1994)

There's an unbridled feel to this title track, which sets the tone for the album with its soaring vocals, intricate guitar patterns and strident, cathartic feel. At its heart, the song is a celebration of life and Buckley's vocals are emotive and intense as he conveys a sense of wonder for the beauty of the natural world. "There's the moon asking to stay / Long enough for the clouds to fly me away / Oh, it's my time coming / I'm not afraid / Afraid to die".

Vocally and instrumentally, it's reminiscent of Radiohead, which is no great surprise as Buckley was an inspiration for Thom Yorke. As Yorke's friend Dougie Payne of Travis told Far Out magazine: "When [Radiohead] were recording Fake Plastic Trees, they were having trouble with it, and they couldn't get it to work. So, they went out to see Jeff Buckley play on the tour when it was just him and his electric guitar."

The band were bowled over by Buckley's performance. "Radiohead went back to the studio and Thom completely changed the way that he was singing and used that falsetto. You can kind of see the comparisons now. And that says a lot for how inspiring the show was."

Much of the track's strength comes from the live performance in the studio. This is a band at the top of its game, honed by relentless touring and capable of taking the music to real heights. This tight unit includes the formidable talents of co-writer Gary Lucas [a guitarist from Captain Beefheart's band whose instrumental Rise Up To Be formed the basis for Grace], Danish-American bassist Mick Grondahl and drummer Matt Johnson. By the end of the track, Buckley is screaming out the high notes as the whole sonic bombast builds towards a resolution.

2. Lover You Should've Come Over - Grace (1994)

The pain and longing of unrequited love is the focus of this hauntingly beautiful ballad written with Gary Lucas, which is built around Buckley's intricate fingerpicking. There's a dreamy, melancholic feel to the track, which features a sublime string arrangement from Karl Hans Berger.

Buckley's performance here is raw and intimate and the song really showcases the emotive feel of his vocals. It has become one of his most enduring and beloved compositions.

"It's never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder / It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her / It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter / It's never over, she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever."

The song runs to almost seven minutes, but it's so entrancing that you barely notice. Every syllable from Buckley sounds heartfelt and true. As ever, the chords and melodies veer to the unexpected. From the mournful organ in the intro through to the squalling jagged guitar and drum flams at the outro, this is perfection.

3. Last Goodbye - Grace (1994)

The second single from the album, after the title track, and a haunting ballad that became a belated hit in 1995. Here, Buckley mourns the death of a relationship and focuses on the pain of letting go. The chorus is soaring and anthemic, while tasteful piano and string parts add depth and texture to the song.

Even from his early solo coffee house gigs, Buckley chose to play an electric rather than an acoustic, a decision that added to his distinctively different style. Buckley mainly played a borrowed 1983 Fender Telecaster and a Rickenbacker 360/12, but also used several other guitars, including a black Gibson Les Paul Custom and a 1967 Guild F-50 acoustic. When on tour with his band, he used Fender amps for a clean sound and Mesa Boogie amps for overdriven tones.

4. Mojo Pin - Grace (1994)

Another song written with Gary Lucas (his instrumental is called And You Will) and dating back to the Live at Sin-é EP, the opening track from Grace and one that showcases his eclectic blend of folk, rock and soul.

High guitar note swells and harmonics enhance the beautifully haunting intro before Buckly's plaintive falsetto enters the mix. Sparse, fingerpicked guitar follows, forming a warm backdrop for the first few vocal lines: "I'm lying in my bed / The blanket is warm / This body will never be safe from harm / Still feel your hair, black ribbons of coal".

The lyrical premise of the song focuses on the 'mojo pin' in question being pulled from his heart, leaving him hurt and exposed. It's a restrained, tasteful arrangement, with smatterings of toms, bass and cyclical guitar picking. The whole ensemble continues to ebb and flow while Buckley's warm vocal falsetto glides and meanders across the whole.

5. Hallelujah - Grace (1994)

Written by Leonard Cohen and released on his 1984 album Various Positions, this track has been covered by artists such as John Cale, Rufus Wainwright, KD Laing, Myles Kennedy (with Jeff's Telecaster) and Regina Spektor. But it was Jeff Buckley's version that has really seared itself into the global consciousness.

It's a hauntingly beautiful cover, impeccably realised by Buckley. In his hands, the song attains a real fluidity, ebbing and flowing, quickening and slowing. Much of its power lies in its minimalism and sparsity. The only accompaniment is Buckley's guitar - his Telecaster - and this really enhances his breathtakingly emotive delivery.

His version has been perceived as sexual and Buckley once said it was "a hallelujah to the orgasm". But at its core the song is a soulful exploration of faith, love and what it means to be human. As April Johnson wrote in Singersroom.com in 2023, "Buckley's voice is both powerful and vulnerable, conveying a sense of longing and spiritual yearning that is both moving and inspirational."

Hallelujah is one of Buckley's most iconic and enduring tracks and has become a classic song in its own right. For many, it is the definitive version of Cohen's bitter lament about love and loss.

* "Chords are depictions of emotions" - 5 Joni Mitchell songs that showcase her guitar and songwriting genius

[opusscience]

Here's my latest article for MusicRadar. This one looks at the Melda free plugin bundle. A superb selection of powerful effects and processors. Well worth a look!

[dpicheviolin]

My violin cover “flowers” is out on all platforms ! Check it out 🌹 #single #spotify #applemusic #musicradar #flowers #flowers🌸 #mileycryus #violincover #violinplayer #violinpop #flowersviolincover #distrokid # https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq4TIzFMwbd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[rockpicschick1]

#Rockpicks #saturdayvibes #musicradar Spit in my Face by @thxsomch https://www.instagram.com/p/CnsMY2_ptfG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[techtalkbyjames]

Sunday Soliloquy: ⚡️👍👍🔥Kate NV: "I have no problem listening to Stockhausen followed by Christina Aguilera. Being snobbish closes doors" https://www.musicradar.com/news/kate-nv-interview

[vyl3tpwny]

do you have a preferred method to get vsts and other such instruments for a DAW?? im poor as heck and dont know ANYTHING about piracy, im so scared of getting goobered by people on the internet

i wish i knew more about the best go-to sites for pirating rn unfortunately i have no clue. ppl on the internet can have such shit intentions too so i dont even know where to look or who to ask. but also here's some free + VERY cheap things u may consider (below the break):

vital synth (i will always shill for vital bc i use it constantly and its free lol)

ob-xd synth (it says buy for $49, but the free download is on the left. the buy link is just a donate)

klanghelm plugins (all these are made by one dude. mjuc is a great vintage style compressor, the dc8c is a pretty featured compressor for the price, sdrr has a particularly nice tube saturation/distortion, and vumt is a great metering plugin, i have vumt on every single project since 2019)

analog obsession (if you donate $5 to their patreon you can get every single plugin they make. also all made and maintained by one person. lots of different things, so i recommend just downloading everything and exploring the functions of the plugins)

tokyo dawn labs (all very high quality mixing stuff. they have free versions of most of their premium stuff and they're quite featured despite being free. ez.)

kilohearts (they recently made all their main effects free. and if you want their flagship stuff, its all rent-to-own as well.)

sforzando (soundfont player. if you dont know what soundfonts are, theyre essentially really condensed, lightweight sampled instruments. they can often sound rlly cheap or tacky [which might be good, i definitely love that sound] but just install this and google [instrument] soundfont and just find lots of free instruments that way)

togu audio line (some free effects and instruments if you scroll down. but i also recommend TAL Sampler if you want a cool sampler and can afford it)

meldaproduction (has a free plugin suite. theres an annoying watermark at the bottom for free versions, but everyone understands. shit is expensive)

native instruments (they have the komplete start bundle which is just a bunch of free decent stuff)

musicradar FREE SAMPLES (ive sworn by a few of the sample resources that i've gotten from musicradar as far back as 2011 lol)

looperman FREE SAMPLES (looperman is a user-sourced sample website where ppl upload samples they've made* and you can just download and use them for free. sometimes people request specific credit, so check for that if you can. *NOTE: its very possible for people to upload unlicensed samples or stuff they didn't make so use your best judgement when sorting through stuff)

freesound FREE SAMPLES (freesound rules always reliable)

synth1 (AHHHH IM SO HAPPY I CAN RECOMMEND THIS RIGHT NOW!!!! synth1 used to be abandonware but was finally picked up again and is supported by modern systems once more. i used this religiously from 2013-2017. and i'm going to start using it again honestly)

valhalladsp (this is the only exclusively premium thing i'm going to leave in this thread [aside from bitwig, below], but it's just that god damn good. every plugin of theirs is $50, so if you can manage to go for ValhallaVintageVerb and/or ValhallaDelay you will basically never need another reverb/delay ever again; would recommend NOT pirating from them if you can help it bc theyre definitely a very small company but u know.. ur call)

bitwig (if you need a DAW, i can now heartily recommend Bitwig. it's on the rent to own program through splice if you're ok getting it legally...)

—

i know this isnt what u asked but i hope its still helpful. i've also rescinded my recommendations for spitfire audio bc the company was revealed to be run by a bunch of queerphobic knuckleheads. everything in this list i have personally used for my own music and can vouch for them from actual experience (YES even bitwig, i made the song "Futura" on Carousel exclusively with Bitwig, making it the first time i've made an entire song outside of Ableton since 2014).

again i hope this helps, forgive me for not knowing enough about pirating at the moment 😭 please make so much music and please look at this animal:

[soapdispensersalesman]

[favemusiclessons]

Every blues jam needs a chord progression and these 10 shapes are guaranteed to give you a bona fide blues guitar sound. 

We’ve used open-string root notes, but if you shift the root notes to fretted versions (at the 5th fret of the fifth and sixth strings) these can be moved to any key you like. John Mayer uses these types of chords in songs like I Got A Woman and Eric Clapton uses them in Ten Long Years.

[guttersnarls]

Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson talks playing guitar for Ghost and avoiding a blood explosion in the studio (musicradar - july 2024)

"It's a challenge because it's a different thing. That's a great thing and compared to what I do with Opeth it's very different. And I also play very different solos with Ghost than I do with Opeth."

[guiltypleasurefandomface]

“If I wanted to have a string sound, I had to change, unload and reload while I was playing, and that led to all kinds of problems”: Queen live keyboard player Spike Edney on ‘80s tech, streamlining his rig and using Freddie Mercury vocal samples | MusicRadar

[opusscience]

In my latest article for Music Radar, I discuss eight things I love about Logic Pro (and two things I don't!)

[rightintheghoulies]

"It was kind of like being in a Def Leppard production with Mutt Lange": Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson talks playing guitar for Ghost and avoiding a blood explosion in the studio | MusicRadar

""It was kind of like being in a Def Leppard production with Mutt Lange": Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson talks playing guitar for Ghost and avoiding a blood explosion in the studio | MusicRadar" https://www.musicradar.com/news/it-was-kind-of-like-being-in-a-def-leppard-production-with-mutt-lange-opeths-fredrik-akesson-talks-playing-guitar-for-ghost-and-avoiding-a-blood-explosion-in-the-studio

🤘🥹😁