QRD – What was your first bass & what happened to it?  

Nat – My first bass is in my room now.  It’s the only bass I’ve owned.
 
QRD – What’s your typical set-up from bass to effects to amplifier?

Nat – No effects for upright.  A Big Muff & some equalizer thing for the electric.

QRD – What’s the most important part of your rig – bass, amplifier, or effects?

Nat – Bass. 

QRD – What’s your main amplifier & why?

Nat – I liked the GK I had but it broke.  It was one of the few amps I’ve been able to figure out a great sound for both the upright & electric. 

QRD – Do you prefer upright or electric bass?

Nat – Depends on the musical situation, but upright is my main instrument.  The only time I’ve ever played electric bass is in Dirty Projectors, & for a few months when I was 23 with bands called “Bangs”’ & “Speedbeef.”

QRD – Do you prefer to use a pick, fingers, or a bow?

Nat – Bow. 

QRD – How many strings do you think a bass should have?

Nat – I play basses with 4 strings, but have nothing against people who need another string or two.

QRD – Why do you play bass instead of guitar?

Nat – When I decided I wanted to play music I was just more attracted to the bass.  I never thought about playing the guitar.  I guess I liked the idea of being such an essential part of the music, without being in the spotlight.  A lot of reasons you start playing an instrument are hard to explain.  I never really thought about it, my ears just naturally gravitated towards the low end & rhythm section when I became interested in music.  Maybe I have certain personality traits that make me a more likely candidate to be interested in the bass, but someone else would probably do a better job describing that.

QRD – How is a bass different than a guitar other than being lower in pitch?

Nat – It’s a different instrument.  That’s like saying, “What’s the difference between a trumpet & an alto sax?”  There’re plenty of differences & there are plenty of similarities.  I don’t really care to explain the differences. They are both capable of making a variety of sounds.

QRD – What’s your main bass & what are the features that make it such?

Nat – My main & only upright bass I’ve had my whole musical life.  My main & only electric that I use is a Rickenbacker.  I don’t know much about it other than how to play it.

QRD – What do you think of the thumb rests on some basses?

Nat – I have never thought of them.

QRD – If you had a signature bass, what would it look like & what would some of its features be?

Nat – I have no idea.  I love the basses I play now, so I guess they would be like them.
 
QRD – If you had a signature pedal, what would it be & what would some of its features be?

Nat – I have even less of an idea of how to answer this question. 
 
QRD – How many basses do you own?

Nat – As previously stated, 2 hundred & 17.

QRD – How & where do you store your basses?

Nat – In a case, indoors.

QRD – What features do you look for when buying a bass?

Nat – Good looks, charming, funny.  I just wanna be comfortable being around it.

QRD – How much do you think a good bass should cost?

Nat – An intimate relationship or two.

QRD – Do you upgrade & customize your bass or just stick with what you get?

Nat – So far I’ve just been sticking.  If I’m ever in the position to do otherwise I suppose I would consider.

QRD – Are you after one particular bass tone & locking into it, or do you like to change your tone around a lot?

Nat – I like to lock in.  Sometimes I like to change, but when I change I like to lock into that change, before I change it again & lock into that.

QRD – What are some basses, amps, & pedals you particularly lust after?

Nat – Oh my god, too many to list!  Just kidding, I think I’ve displayed my lack of care/knowledge about these types of things in previous answers.  I love what I use, but if I start using something else I will probably love that, too.

QRD – What do you think are some important features to be on a person’s first bass that aren’t always there?

Nat – Natural skills.  Work ethic.

QRD – What have been the best & worst bass related purchases you’ve made?

Nat – Best was the Walter Woods bass head I had when I first started out.  Worst was selling the Walter Woods when I was 23 & thought I wasn’t gonna play upright anymore & was just gonna play punk or any music that was loud.

QRD – What are some effect, amp, & bass brands you particularly like or dis-like & why?

Nat – I like Walter Woods, Gallien-Krueger, & SWR because that’s all I’ve used for a significant amount of time.  Anything I’ve disliked I only blame on my own lack of knowledge

QRD – What’s the first thing you play when you pick up a bass?

Nat – The theme from SportsCenter, or the scat solo in that Jason Mraz song, “I’m Yours.”

QRD – How old were you when you started playing bass?

Nat – 18.

QRD – At what age do you think you leveled up to your best bass playing?

Nat – Technically, I was at my best when I was 22, by far.

QRD – Do you feel bass lines should echo & emphasize guitar & drum parts or be their own distinct elements?

Nat – It would be ridiculous to feel one way over the other.  It depends on the music. 

QRD – Would you rather people hear or feel your bass?

Nat – I want them to hear my bass while I’m feeling it.

QRD – Why do you think a bass fits you more so than other instruments?

Nat – Because I love John Stockton.
 
QRD – Do you see your bass as your ally or adversary in making music?

Nat – Both.  For writing my own music, I feel it limits me to a certain style, at least in what I can do or how I can do it to create a song. But I feel like those limitations placed on me by the instrument, or by me playing the instrument, are the very things that make the music unique.

QRD – Who are the bassists that most influenced your playing & sound?

Nat – Most of the influences I have are not very apparent in my playing now, but I like Charles Mingus, Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, Mark Dresser, Joelle Leandre, Peter Kowald, Rick Danko.  Peter Kowald is the one whose playing I still think about as a direct influence to some things that I do now.  Everyone else its more of a vibe thing & less of a musical thing.

QRD – Do you think people anthropomorphizing their bass is natural or silly (e.g. naming their bass)?

Nat – I think doing that & not thinking it’s silly is unnatural.  

QRD – What’s the most physical damage you’ve done to a bass & how did you do it?

Nat – I busted through a string, which proceeded to coil sharply & bust through all of my bow hairs, one by one.  I was playing a physically & emotionally intense piece at a high school reunion & it was awkward.

QRD – What do you do to practice other than simply playing?

Nat – Now, because I write my own music, I don’t do as much technical practice as I’d like.  I always get distracted by writing music & that’s why I don’t think I’ve developed technically in quite a long time.  Sometimes I get dark about that, but ultimately I am psyched to be creating my own music & it certainly keeps my chops up enough to play what I’ve been playing.  I think if I get back into playing more improvised music I will have to get into practicing more technical stuff, just to be able to sustain the necessary energy.

QRD – How many hours a week do you play bass & how many hours would you like to?

Nat – I played about 4-8 hours a day for the first 4 years I played but I haven’t had anything that consistent since.  After those first 4 years, I quit for a year or two, then I started writing my own music.  Because my practicing is so much less regimented now & more based on motivation at a specific time, my time really varies.  If I’m writing a bunch of stuff, I might play all day for 2 weeks, but when those 2 weeks are done I might have an album or two & then the following 2 weeks wont be as productive.  Or I might be preparing for a tour so I practice all day & when I get back I might chill things out or maybe I’ll be psyched to get back into writing new stuff.  It’s all over the place ever since I stopped playing scales all day.

QRD – What gauge strings do you use & why?

Nat – I have no idea.
 
QRD – How often do you change strings?

Nat – Upright strings every year or so.  Electric I haven’t changed yet.

QRD – How often do you break strings?

Nat – I broke that one on the upright that time I described.  I think I might have broke an electric one once, but I can’t remember the details.

QRD – Which do you feel is more proficient, your strumming/bowing hand or fretting hand & how does that effect your style?

Nat – My fretting hand moves a bit faster & I have some bad habits or just lack of skills in the bow hand.  It might just effect my writing style more than anything else; like I’m not gonna write a passage with a ton of slow legato phrases.  I end up writing things that just focus on the good, while hopefully hiding the bad

QRD – What tunings do you use & why?

Nat – Standard tuning because it’s what I’ve always done & I like it just fine.  If I used another one maybe it would be cool, too.

QRD – Do you prefer tablature, sheet music, or some other notation system for writing down your own ideas?

Nat – The things that I write now I don’t notate. 

QRD – What’s a bad habit in your playing you wish you could break?

Nat – Sometimes I forget to really breathe & keep my arms loose, which can create tightening up, especially in my bow arm.  I need to keep that right hand loose & think about the power of the movement coming from my back.  Sometimes after a solo show my right arm works so hard it feels like it wants to fall off.

QRD – Playing what other instrument do you think can most help someone’s bass playing?

Nat – Probably piano, for more harmonic knowledge; but also drums, as it’s your partner in the rhythm section in most traditional musical situations.

QRD – What’s a type of bass playing you wish you could do that you can’t?

Nat – I wish I could slap so I could make my friends laugh.

QRD – What’s a bass goal you’ve never accomplished?

Nat – I don’t really believe in goals anymore, but when I did I probably wanted to learn some classical piece that ended up not coming together.  Some of those Dragonetti waltzes come to mind.

QRD – What’s the last bass trick you learned?

Nat – I don’t know, but my favorite one was learning how to balance the upright on your body with no hands.  My most significant teacher in college couldn’t believe I was never taught that & when he showed me in our first lesson I couldn’t believe I would ever do it.  It took me about a week of nearly dropping my bass.

QRD – Did you ever take bass lessons & if so, what did you learn from them?

Nat – Rick Rozie was my teacher in college for the year & a half I was there.  He taught me plenty about technique, but the best thing he taught me was that I was my best teacher.  He could certainly give me some tools to become a better player, but he made me realize that I was gonna be the one alone in a room for hours everyday, & I needed to figure out how to best use that time.

QRD – What would you teach someone in a bass lesson that you don’t think they would generally get from a bass teacher?

Nat – How to dance

QRD – What’s something someone would have to do to emulate your style?

Nat – Harmonics, double stops, looking cool.

QRD – If a band has good bass work, can you ignore the rest of the band not being good?

Nat – You can’t ignore them, but only acknowledge them as a shitty band with a good bass player.

QRD – What famous musician’s bass would you like to own & why?

Nat – Charles Mingus.  Because he is the definition of a “bad ass.”

QRD – Who do you think is currently the most innovative bass player & why?

Nat – I have no idea.  I like Adam Pumilia from Delicate Steve, Josh Leblanc from Givers, Nate Brenner from Tune-Yards, Ira Tuton from Yeasayer, Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear, Kyle Field from Little Wings, & plenty more.

QRD – Where can people hear your best bass work?

Nat – My best upright work can be heard on my album “Most Valuable Player” & an earlier more experimental album called “Solo Contrabass.”  My best electric work is on “Rise Above” with Dirty Projectors & also this split 10” we did with Castanets on a song called “Silence in the Land,” which is hard to find but is actually my favorite.

QRD – Anything else?

Nat – GO CELTICS!