Current issue of Bass Guitar (UK) mag on the Oz newsagents shelves is issue 39.

I didn't notice the Nick Seymour interview until I got back to work and was flipping through the mag, searching for a gear review.

Nothing ground-breaking or insightful, but a pleasant-enough read.

Cheers

Andy

Here's the to Nick's interview in Bass Guitar magazine.

http://www.scribd.com/word/ful...1qtn4gr7erhaz4h0b0i4

Thanks for the link, Lisa!

Final para is interesting, given that it is a current issue ' We are finishing up the festival season and then heading down to Tim's (?) studio.....and we will start some work on our new material.'

Does that mean recording of new material for the next but one album after the 2 Aus festival dates & before the UK/Europe tour......or is it an old article that has only just been published (in which case interview must have been conducted in late Summer 2008?)

EDIT : answered my own question (again!). Current UK issue is 51, so issue 39 would have been published Oct 2008

Thanks for putting up the link - I don't play bass but I am a musician and I eat this kind of stuff right up.

Sounds like Tim's got Nick's dream bass, but won't give it up, even for quite a lot of money. A little selfish of Tim, don't you think? He probably plays a little but he's not a real bassist - he just likes the feeling of owning a quality instrument, which I definitely understand, but come on...it's Nick!

Kind of funny to hear Nick take a shot at Anthony Kiedis. I suppose his songwriting has been acceptable, but he's really not a good singer..

Issue 39 is from February 2009, Bass Guitar put out 12 issues a year.

Does Nick - or maybe the article's copy-editor - say "Tim" when he means "Neil"? Or has Tim staged a fraternal coup and taken control of Roundhead studio?

Great to hear Nick's adulatory words about playing with Matt!

quote:

Originally posted by BART:
Thanks for the link, Lisa!

Final para is interesting, given that it is a current issue ' We are finishing up the festival season and then heading down to Tim's (?) studio.....and we will start some work on our new material.'

Does that mean recording of new material for the next but one album after the 2 Aus festival dates & before the UK/Europe tour......or is it an old article that has only just been published (in which case interview must have been conducted in late Summer 2008?)

EDIT : answered my own question (again!). Current UK issue is 51, so issue 39 would have been published Oct 2008

Lol...I was getting my hopes up too! I thought that they were going to do a Neil Young type thing and record immediately after being on the road and have an album ready for that year. But then I also noticed the dates. Hey, this is Neil Finn we're talking about Perfection in his world is never achieved in 6 months. Though back when touring TOE, they projected the follow up to be released in the following year.

I especially enjoyed his honesty regarding Crowded House rocking out. I think they had the balanace of rock, pop, ballads and folk quite right in their first 4 albums. I actually hope he adopts this mindset for CH as they are now. Though the soon to be released record sounds like it's rich with guitar.

Am I alone in thinking that all of the references to Tim in that article are actually references to Neil? A careless editor, perhaps? We know that Neil likes to play bass, so it makes sense that he'd have a nice one. And "Tim's guitar tech," the eBay nut, sure sounds like John Walsh.

Exactly what I thought too, Jeff -- see three posts up.

- seconded (or firsted) at 7 posts up!

I wondered about that too - but Nick describes the studio as being "out in the wilds", which Roundhead isn't. Odd that CH should work elsewhere though.

Thanks for posting the link, Lisa

I don't think it was a mistake. Neil's Roundhead studios is in Central Auckland (the city). And I do believe Tim's slightly smaller studio Periscope is in a more secluded part of Auck.

And why would Tim not own a bass guitar. Even a collectable one. He doesn't always or often play electric guitar on his albums, but sometimes plays one live and definitely owns a good few. Maybe he just likes to play bass n his studio in his spare time. Why not?

And Tim does play bass on the Mantra Mix song on the charity album of the same name.

Lisa, thank you again for finding the article. I haven't read it yet, but I will. I"m a bass player, and I had a brief "shop talk" with Nick the one time we met. It was really nice.

I'm a bit confused here.Everything I've read stated that they were recording the new crowdie album at Roundhead (Neils Place).It's the first I've heard about Tim,or his studios involvement.

I think he must mean Neil

Great read, thank you very much for posting

Another thing that the interview shows us is that the rest of Crowded House aren't just sitting about waiting for Neil to declare he wants to make another album.There was a perception amongst many on this forum that the other guys in the band wouldn't be happy while Neil did all his other projects

The truth is,they all have busy lives both musically and personally,and that the Crowded House schedule probably suits them perfectly!

quote:

Originally posted by Watney Sideburns:
Does Nick - or maybe the article's copy-editor - say "Tim" when he means "Neil"? Or has Tim staged a fraternal coup and taken control of Roundhead studio?

Great to hear Nick's adulatory words about playing with Matt!

Nah, the bass actually belongs to TIM FINN.

It's a genuine early 1960s (ie pre-CBS) Fender Precision bass in 3-tone sunburst.

It is in such beautiful, clean condition that I actually thought it was a modern-era Fender reissue when I first saw it.

Nick used it live at the Leigh, NZ gigs in Feb 2008. I got to hang out a bit with Nick after two of the gigs, so got a bit of insight into the instrument.

I'd kill for it too :-)

Cheers

Andy

I forgot to add that during the Leigh gigs, Tim's early 60's Precision bass (being borrowed by Nick at the time)developed an issue (i think the solder to one of the pots broke) and Nick ended up having to use his own red 1957 tele-style Precision bass for the rest of the set.

I was at the very front of stage with CK, Tab and a few others at the time. Being a muso I was as interested in the band's gear as I was the performances.

I remember seeing a guitar tech frantically working on Tim's bass and resoldering while handing Nick his 57 bass.

Nick was in conversation at the time and had his back turned to the tech during all of this, but reached a hand out to receive his instrument.

He did a distinctive double take when he saw a different bass in his hands to what he was expecting. He had a concerned "huh????" kind of conversation with the tech, then reluctantly strapped his 57 on and proceeded to play.

Cheers

Andy
PS: Nick's red 1957 Fender Precision bass is the instrument he played at the Sydney Opera House steps for the Farewell to the World concert in '96.

Apologies for being such a gear-head anal-retentive.

I've just been thinking about the recent Enmore gig and the Olympic White Precision bass Nick was playing at the show. Several times the guitar techs tested the instrument and took it off and I was able to see the wear marks on the back of the instrument.

If I'm not mistaken, it looked exactly like the wear pattern on a Fender Pino Palladino signature Precision bass...

Justin Meldal Johnson (Beck et al) has a Pino Palladino signature Precision bass custom painted by Fender in Olympic White (instead of the usual Fiesta Red)... which is what made me wonder.

Would appreciate it if anyone can confirm.

Cheers

Andy