When it comes to bass playing, there’s a fine line between intensity and relaxation. Many situations demand this of us as musicians, but it doesn’t always come naturally, or right away. There are many external factors that can prevent us from being truly in the moment, and that’s what I find myself being challenged by right now on tour in Japan for a couple of nights playing with Steve Smith’s Vital Information.
We all have our own thoughts that are unassociated with the music we’re playing—our daily lives that we take to the stage, the practice room, or the studio. If it’s a low-stress day, those things can generally be set aside for the duration of the performance, and perhaps easily drawn upon to provide confidence in your abilities in the moment. Thoughts like, “I’m having a good day, I feel good in my life, so I feel good onstage, and I can let that come out in the music.”
But if there’s some external doubt or stress in your day, it’s amazing how quickly that can manifest in your playing without you realizing it. You might be digging in too hard, squeezing the neck of the bass a little more than normal, or simply having trouble focusing on the music. All of that stress can add up quickly, and I find it tends to snowball over the course of a show. The more difficult it is to relax, the more tension you carry, and the worse shape you’re in by the end of the gig.
I think it’s important to understand that there are so many levels to this, and it’s quite likely that, for the most part, you might be able to carry all that tension without the audience or even your fellow band members noticing. I used to think about that side of the equation much more: “I wonder if anyone notices.” Or, “Phew! I was feeling rough today, and I think I got away with it tonight.”
“If there is some external doubt or stress in your day, it’s amazing how quickly that can manifest in your playing without you realizing it.”
Those thoughts were more present toward the beginning and the middle of my career, but the place I’ve been able to get to more recently—perhaps the past 10 years or so—is thinking about the potentially positive effects of being truly in control of that side of my brain during a performance.
When I started to realize that, though people might not notice if I was having a bad night—unless I did something crazy and really screwed up—they really noticed when I was having a good night. The connection to the audience from a relaxed and lucid place, free of the stresses of the rest of the day, is a place I aspire to be more often.
So now we arrive here in Tokyo, to the present-day part of our little stress-management career narrative, and I’m dealing with more stress right now than I would like. It’s unfortunately completely unavoidable and not something I can choose to ignore. But I can start to draw upon many years of experience when it comes to letting go of that stress onstage.
The music we’re playing is not simple, and requires a high level of concentration, and I find that concentration is the first thing that gets disrupted by a stressful day before a show. There is one positive in that the need for heightened concentration can take processing power away from the part of the brain that is stressing out about life. The flip side of that is when you know the music so well your brain has far more capacity to think while you play. I had one of those gigs in Los Angeles before I left on tour, and it was one of the most challenging live performances I’ve ever had to give. I knew every note inside out, and had known the musicians around me for almost 30 years, so my brain had a field day and went wild with thoughts while I was playing.
I knew I couldn’t do that again in Japan, and was asking my therapist for calming techniques before the gig. She had me slowly outline the shape of an infinity symbol, which activates something called the vestibular system: a part of the inner ear that provides the brain with information about spatial orientation and balance. It’s been amazing to do this for a couple of minutes before going onstage, and I can literally feel my foundation and mental balance flooding back to me in that moment. It has given me increased confidence while facing a challenging few days far from home, far from family, and far from all the comforts of everyday life that normally make it a little easier for me to do my job.
