Filling Jasper Verhulst's shoes is nothing to be sniffed at. He's been a prolific bassplayer, singer and guitarist with Lola Kite, De Biet, Moss and now Jacco Gardner for 15 odd years if I'm counting correctly. In his long and distinguished career he has developed a style of play that is completely in sync with his love for all things 60s and 80s. Furthermore, he's a sound wizard with an all-encompassing understanding of music. Oh, and he has a awesome music collection. And you think silly old me was going to fit the bill as his replacement? No way. But, after some kind nominations came from my surroundings, it became a more tempting prospect. I should just try it.
Now, in advance there were a couple of challenges that I knew were going to hurt me:
1. Verhulst is a fine bassplayer, but what really sets him apart is his dexterity with a guitar pick. He never plays without one, and he can dish out these lightning fast riffs and grooves. Me on the other hand picked up a bass to get away from most of those dextrous activity. I feel pretty motorically challenged, especially compared to Verhulst.
2. Verhulst's main axe is this unique no-brand shortscale bass. It kind of looks and feels a bit like a Höfner 182 (which I happen to own), but it's really not. Combined with his expertly sorted out pedalboard and proper tube amplification, he makes a noise all his own. You can feel it's been honed for many years. It's really peculiar, I would even say you could pick it out of a line-up.
This is hard to overcome for any bass player, let alone someone whose obvious technical limitations -despite considering himself a pretty decent player, mind you- can be quite crippling. As such, I've always felt more comfortable writing my own lines. You can always challenge yourself, but in general, any player will try and play from his or her strengths.
Still, with hope in my heart and music on my mind I was going to put myself to the test: I was going to play through the last two Moss albums and see how far I got.
First up was Never Be Scared/Don't Be A Hero. It's mostly groovy indiepop with some afro-inspired rhythmic challenges strewn across this album. First two songs: Never Be Scared and the hit-song I Like The Chemistry pulls me deep into Moss territory from the get-go. The first one is a short, straightforward indie-stomper. Sorting out the bassline isn't too much of a problem. With I Like The Chemistry, Verhulst's propensity for writing high-pitched, fiddly bassriffs surfaces. It's hard work but I nail most of the song without too much fuck-ups. All those high-pitched settings are a little unnatural for me though. I'm more of a Alan Gevaert (dEUS) type player: heavy, flowing finger style play, with lots of low end. The next two songs aren't too hard, but then we arrive at one of the big hurdles: Angry Young Man. It may sound like a straightforward song to most, but it's pretty darn fast and dreadfully syncopated. And while I can hold my own for most of the individual licks, after two-thirds of the songs fatigue starts becoming a factor. I can't keep up the pace for the entire song without errors. And this is one of the hits, not to mention probably my favourite of this record. A setback.
dreadful, nasty bassline; beautiful song and video
The remainder of the record I keep it together; I Apologise (Dear Simon) works well, Don't Be A Hero and Silent Hill are easy enough and The Brick Moon actually feels very natural to play. On to the next one then.
Ornaments, unlike Never Be Scared... features a lot of synths and programming. This makes it harder to weed out the actual basslines played on bass. The roadbump comes early this time around: Spellbound, a fan favourite and strong live staple, features the same tricky lines as Angry Young Man. I hurt my wrist a little on the second try, but I keep my morale up by realising that this song could work very well without all Verhulst's guitar-pick frills. The next two are pretty easy: there's no distinguishable bass guitar in either Tiny Love or Almost A Year, and playing through the synth bass on the songs on my trusty Fender is a breeze. Give Love To The Ones You Love and Everything Died In Your Heart on the other hand feature bass, but are quite slow and steady. None of those nasty syncopations, jolly good.
pretty song, simple bassline, lovely
But more than anything, Moss has something to consider. Will they choose a player that can emulate Verhulst like clockwork, a session genius perhaps? Or will they go for something new, someone creative, with strengths of his own? Fellow Excelsior Recordings artist Alamo Race Track have had a revolving line-up for years. They took on Djurre de Haan, a singer-songwriter in his own right (as Awkward I) after the prolonged leave of absence of founding member David Corel. Two very different people with different ideas and different style of playing. And after De Haan left to focus on his own band, they took on Peter Akkerman, a producer and bassplayer with a real taste for the low frequencies (he's also a proficient double bass player). Again, very different from his predecessors.
As far as my own application is concerned: The jury is still out. I might try on the off-chance of the chemistry being there. But I'm well aware how many great bass players would jump at the chance to be part of this amazing group. I'm just hoping that whomever it'll be, they'll bring something new to the band. Moss have been around for over 10 years; it's as good a moment as any to take on some new influences. If they can find someone who does a great Jasper Verhulst emulation as well, all the better.
