Bass Solo- Steve Jenkins
If you exist in the Bass Spaces of the Internet in just about any capacity, or if you listen to a range of music wider than the five bands you loved in high school, chances are you’ve heard Steve Jenkins playing on something. He has been musically connected in some way, shape, or form with Vernon Reid, David Fiuczynski, Stimpy Lockjaw, Alex Skolnick, Josh Smith, Thomas Pridgen, Victor Wooten, Javier Reyes, Keith Carlock, Cindy Blackman Santana, and many others. Along with that he has grown his own solo career where he redefines the roll of the bass in music and the things this instrument is capable of through his innovative use of pedals and playing styles. And on top of all of that, he teaches bass in as many places are there are places to teach bass. It was a privilege to exchange emails with Steve for this interview and learn from one of the leaders of the modern wave of bass playing.
image credit- http://www.stevejenkinsbass.com/
DR- You have been a part of a huge number of projects. If our readers wanted to go out and get the Steve Jenkins Vibe what should they go check out first? Or first, second, and third?
SJ- There’s not really one place where people can get the complete picture of what I do as a musician or a bassist. As is often the case with many musicians I know that have a wide range of styles and abilities, I can do a lot more than people might know me for. I’m equally comfortable playing stuff that sounds like 1962 as I am with playing stuff that sounds like 2062.
That being said, I’d say check out my album “Steve Jenkins and The Coaxial Flutter”. I think that would be a good place for folks to get a glimpse into how I hear music as a composer.
Another good example of my work as a sideman (where I have some room to be creative) would be David Fiuczynski’s album “KIF Express”. There are all kinds of unique grooves and sounds/tones on that and some killer playing from everyone on it.
Then, as a third choice, I played on this rad progressive metal/jazz project called Stimpy Lockjaw. That band never played live or toured with that material, but it’s a cool album and it features some of the most challenging stuff I’ve ever recorded. Great players on that one, too.
DR- You use a ton of effects in your playing. Can you walk us through your pedal board and some of the Must-Haves on there?
SJ- My pedal board has always been somewhat modular. Sometimes, I can get it done with a few pedals and sometimes it takes more.
I generally always like having an octave pedal which generally is my old Boss OC-2 or the MXR Octave, some kind of overdrive which could be my Darkglass B3k or X7 or my MXR suboctave fuzz, and some kind of delay. I also occasionally will use a looper.
I don’t really use much else except occasionally I’ll use an envelope filter or a bass wah. I used to use a microPOG, but I got tired of that sound. I did find some cool ‘lead’ sounds with it, but it became something that I heard a lot of people using and I wanted to move away from it.
Looking ahead, I'm probably going to make the move and start using more modeling stuff, like the HX Stomp and the Darkglass ADAM. I think it’s incredible how much things have evolved. I’m a huge fan of new technology.
DR- I found you through your Instagram and from there came to your Bandcamp and podcast. Have you, as a session guy and sideman, found that social media is a huge boost to you? And do you take that into account when thinking about what to post and when?
SJ- To me, social media is simply a place to put my “stuff" and hopefully build some kind of community that consists of friends, fans and like-minded musicians. It’s always going to morph and change and platforms will come and go (as well as the algorithms that run them). I think consistency is key as far as posting content goes. I’ve been taking it way more seriously over the last year and I’m trying to expand my reach. I think people are on their devices more than they used to be, so it’s harder to know what the prime posting time is but I do check my analytics and try to pick times where multiple time-zones are awake and receptive.
Because there’s the potential for having an incredible reach with social media, I’m trying to think more about what I can offer someone who might be following my social media. It’s an ongoing process for sure.
DR- The new Coaxial Flutter single "Mecha" is great, and there's so much going on. When you write something like that are you thinking "when this does that I want the listener to feel this way or think about this thing", which is something I've heard Devin Townsend talk about, or are you more in the Michael Manring camp of, "This sounded cool, so I played it."
SJ- Thank you!
I actually don’t think all that much about what the listener thinks during the writing process. I like to let the ideas flow freely and then when I’m arranging the piece of music itself, I consider the audience more.
I just make music I’d want to hear myself and I know that if I like it, it's been my experience that other folks will tend to like it also.
DR- Is there more Coaxial Flutter coming? What is the process for you there? As a bass player, do you write on the bass and then move to the other instruments?
SJ- I’m very flattered and happy that people loved the first Coaxial Flutter album. I loved making it and it’s an album that I’m quite proud of even all of these years later.
That being said, I don’t really have much of a game plan as far as making a second one is concerned. I don’t like the pressure of having to make something that HAS to live up or be related to the last thing I did. My first album “mad science”, was more of a jazz-funk-fusion kind of thing. There were certainly people who loved ‘mad science’ and didn’t expect that the next album (SJCF) would have elements of progressive metal and more aggressive sounds within it. I like the idea of making people guess what's coming next. I like and play too many styles of music to stay in one lane.
Folks who liked “Mecha” seem to want a second Coaxial Flutter album. That makes me feel great but I’m not really sure what will happen.
However, it’s important to note that I didn’t realize I’d even make that single. It happened super organically and I just rode that wave of creativity and wanting to see an idea through.
That whole thing was made in 2 days. I tracked the bass, guitars, programmed every hit of the drums, mixed, mastered, made the cover….the whole thing. When it was done, it sounded like The Coaxial Flutter. So I decided to release it.
DR- You have a modern funk bass lesson on TrueFire, a bass Masterclass, and people can book a lesson with you. Did you set out to teach bass or is it one of those things where when you're a working musician you end up doing things like teaching to pay the rent? How advanced of a player should someone be to take your courses?
SJ- I’ve always taught lessons in some capacity over the years. I do it because I enjoy it and it just happened to work out that it’s also a significant part of how I make my living. I have taught masterclasses all over the world and have taught at places like Berklee College of Music, The Collective School of Music in NYC, and I am currently teaching a course about Advanced Bass Techniques at LACM.
Teaching is an important part of the musician's journey. It’s important to me to pass on knowledge and wisdom that has served me well over the course of my life in music.
I think people need to to be intermediate/advanced to grasp some of the stuff I teach in my courses.
DR- You ended the Stir Crazy podcast after 30 episodes. What did you learn from talking to all those people? Is Vernon Reid as cool as he seems like he is?
SJ- I haven’t put any new episodes up since last year but I didn’t end my podcast. I’m going to revamp it a bit but it’s not done. It will relaunch at some point in the spring and it’s going to be more of a video-oriented thing.
The first 30 episodes really had to do with what people in creative professions were doing as COVID shut down our industry and others. Obviously, nobody has ever lived through anything like this before and it’s long-term effects on the music business as we once knew it have yet to be fully realized. I learned that nobody knows what is coming next even as we have some light at the end of a tunnel of indeterminate length.
Vernon Reid is one of my great friends and I’ve known him since 2004. And he’s 100% as cool as he seems. We’ve done a lot of traveling and touring over the years and he’s one of my favorite people/musicians, ever.
DR- Obviously 2020 stopped live music, but working and recording from home is easier than ever. Have you been able to keep busy? What do you have coming up?
SJ- I’ve just been teaching and doing whatever session work there is to do. I’ve also been practicing a lot and writing music. I don’t have anything to plug at the moment.
DR- What's the best way for our readers to support you?
SJ- Follow me on Instagram and go to stevejenkinsbass.com
If they want to buy my music, they should go to stevejenkins.bandcamp.com
If people like what I’m doing on bass and with music and they’d like to know more, I teach Zoom lessons and there are the courses I’ve done for TrueFire, Scott’s Bass Lessons, and MyMusic Masterclass.
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A million thanks to Steve for taking the time to answer all my questions. Hopefully all of you are coming away from this with more music than you have time to listen to, but we all find the time to listen to it anyway. Please check out all his socials and click on all the links and take the lessons and slap the bass and do the things.
If you know a player you think we should interview please drop me an email and let me know.
Doug Robertson is the editor of The Bass Blog, the blog component of The Bass Channel, your one stop YouTube channel for all things bass. His number one is a Mexican Geddy Lee Signature Jazz and his boomer is a BEAD tuned T-Bird. Find books by Doug here. If you’re interested in contributing to The Bass Blog please reach out to Doug at doug@thebasschannel.net. We would love to hear from you.
