Discover Fire and Velvet

Martin started playing bass at the tender age of 15 years young in a blues band playing in the pubs and clubs around Leeds. 

Sadly university and a career in semiconductors (he had to explain that as we thought he worked in a fish and chip shop) in Bristol reduced the music to only playing and recording at home. A move a bit up North in 2015 landed him in the West Midlands where he started playing live again - apparently linked to a plan to retire (not on the band fees we will be achieving though, wonder if I mentioned that at the audition.....). 

It is not just bass he can do though: guitar, keyboards and some vocals, so really a one man music machine. He also plays guitar in a covers band called Harper and, up until lockdown, played bass and then keyboards in a big funk/soul band.

Musical tastes: His first response was "blimey" which we thought was a 70s punk band. On further questioning - he likes everything from early classical music up to date missing out bits of opera, rap and modern jazz (which apparently is "just very fast scales with abrupt stops").

Kit: more guitars and amplifiers than places to hide them. 

Since joining F&V Martin has doubled his bass collection and now owns two- a Kasuga jazz copy bought 2nd hand in 1977 that sounds beaut and a new Fretless 5 stringy thing that is a joy to behold (by the way our drummer mentioned he has only one drum kit - what is this need for more than one instrument as you only play one at a time and according to him they all sound the same anyway).

Used to tinkering with old cars (a stoic staple need of any would-be musician) but then Mrs Bass joined JLR and the toolbox & greasy rags became a bit redundant. That said, the electronic failure rate of JLR vehicles being quite well known has probably had him taking the opportunity to electronically tinker!

Now properly retired and bearing in mind his background in microelectronics, rightly he repairs and restores old amplifiers so he can earn some beer money. But, as he explains to Mrs Bass, they need to be run in and proven before he can sell them on which is a 300 hour process - he has a big shed apparently.

His other interests are in dogs & cooking, though we are fully reassured not in the same capacity - no Korean soup on offer thank goodness..... but a quick whistle, here boy and a biscuit and he comes running at tea time.....