Wessel -
musical upbringing
At 17 I bought my first short scale bass guitar, not knowing it was made for kids. But it was red and I liked it. Before that I had been fooling around with my brother’s acoustic guitar and I was drumming on everything I could get my hands on. From small cans to my mother’s pans, nothing was safe. But when I asked my parents if I could play drums, they refused. Then I discovered Level 42 and the percussive bass style of Mark King, and I started to develop a liking for the sound of the bass. But mainly slapping and popping. It took me years to understand what people like Jaco Pastorius and Pino Palladino were doing.
Before I started listening to Level 42, around 1985, I only heard the music my older brothers played. That ranged from Supertramp and Queen to Steely Dan and ELO. So, a mix of pop, rock, sympho and a hint of jazz. When I got older and developed my own taste, I added funky and freaky stuff to that mix, as well as more jazz and fusion. This created a real eclectic taste. I played a lot to different kinds of music at home and only joined a few bands in my life. A rock/grunge band during my student years, a funky cover band with Tom and finally Raffa. Twice.
I, musician
Although I listen to different kinds of music, I feel most at ease when playing groovy music. I’m very bad at music theory, so I play by ear and by heart. And I really love when the drummer and I can lay down a firm but groovy basis for the band.
musical influences
I’m not the kind of guy to worship people. But if I have to name favourites, it would be Chick Corea and Steely Dan. But I also love Herbie Hancock, Led Zeppelin, Jason Falkner, Living Colour, Erykah Badu, Renaud Garcia Fons, Ojos de Brujo, Maria Rita, Jaco Pastorius, John Patitucci, James Brown, Prince, Marcus Miller, Supertramp, Soundgarden, Larry Graham, Dennis Chambers, Robben Ford, Jeff Buckley and many more…