How important is your gear to
your sound?
I want gear that’s so transparent
I forget it’s there. I do clinics
for Hartke all over the world,
and sometimes I forget to talk
about them. And when I do, I
tell people that me forgetting
about the gear is a wonderful
thing, although for Hartke, it’s
not so good (laughs). I’m much
more musical and I always get
it more right in my heart and
in my head, but by the time it
comes out, there’s a bunch of
mistakes in it, and it doesn’t
sound like it did in my brain.
When the amplification is
projecting exactly what’s in my
head, then I forget it’s there.
Really, that’s the biggest thing
I’m looking for. That’s why I
have a hard time sitting in a
room and testing an amp. I’m
thinking about it too much. I
need to put it in real context.
What have you been listening
to lately?
One thing that might surprise
people is that when I’m driving
in my car by myself I’m usually
listening to country music.
I got into it when I worked
at Busch Gardens amusement
park in Virginia and learned
about country and bluegrass.
Listening to it in the car gives
me a chance to practice my
music theory. Because the chord
changes move by slowly, I can
call them out and say, “That’s
a I chord, that’s a VIm, there’s
a IIm chord, there’s a V7.” I’ve
also started to predict where it’s
going to go so I can see if I’m
right, and I can tell what’s going
to go on before it happens.
Who are your greatest
bass influences?
It all starts and ends with my
brother Regi. But Stanley Clarke
is a big one, Bootsy Collins,
Larry Graham, Jaco Pastorius,
of course, and there are tons
of other people like Chuck
Rainey, Louis Johnson, James
Jamerson and Willie Weeks.
Acoustic players like Ron Carter,
Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro.
And that’s just bass players. My
musical influences span a lot of
different instruments.
How does the bass resonate
with your personality?
It’s a supporting instrument.
It’s designed to make other
people feel and sound good. It
seems like a lot of the time, we
forget that. That instrument
was not designed to be on top,
and it’s rare that you’ll find a
bass player who is leading a
band. It’s designed so that most
of the time we’re going to be
sidemen. But I find that when
most of us bassists are alone
practicing, that rarely comes
into the picture of what we’re
working on. We’re going to get
hired based on our ability to
be a supporter, but when we
practice, we learn new scales
and work on our licks and our
solos and how to play faster.
But you never get hired for any
of that. You have to honor the
true spirit of the instrument.
How does it make you feel
when people tell you you’re
the best ever?
I understand that what people
think, good or bad, is up to
them and not me. A little kid
who looks up to his big brother
for being able to dunk a basketball,
for example, is really
seeing his own future potential.
It wouldn’t make sense for the
older brother to stop dunking
the ball because the younger
brother can’t, so he keeps doing
it. When people put me up
on a pedestal, I used to take
myself off it and tell them I
wasn’t that good, or I’d shrug it
off. But what I realized is that
whether they know it or not,
when they think they’re talking
about me, they’re really talking
about themselves. I don’t want
to diminish their dreams by saying
I’m not that good. Instead,
I accept it, say thank you, and
then we move on.
What would you ideally want
someone to say about your
music after hearing it for the
first time?
That they really enjoyed it and
that it inspired them to go do
it. I want people to feel something.
I want them to think
less about the technique and
the playing behind it and feel
the big picture of it all. Music
should hit you in your heart
and make you feel something
real, just like an Otis Redding
song does.
What inspires you to keep
growing as a player?
You have to understand that
music never ends and there’s
always someplace new to go
with it. A good friend of mine
once said that it’s like trying to
count to infinity—no matter
how far you go, you’re no closer
to the end. In no way do I
think that I’ve reached the limit
or the full potential of my playing
ability. None of us have.
Victor Wooten's Gear
Basses
Fodera 4-string fretted Monarch
basses, various upright models
Amps
Hartke HyDrive LH Series, Hartke
HyDrive 410, HyDrive 115
Effects
Rodenberg Distortion pedal,
Boss GT-6B Multi-effects pedal,
Zoom B3 Multi-effects
Strings
D’Addario nickels strings
(.040, .055, .075, .095)