Part 1

Name: Busty and the Bass
Members: Scott Bevins, Alistair Blu, Nick Ferraro, Eric Haynes, Milo Johnson,  Louis Stein, Julian Trivers, Chris Vincent
Interviewee: Alistair Blu
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: Instrumentalists, composers, improvisers
Current Release: The ET Suite on Arts & Crafts.
Recommendations: A Love Supreme - 1965 album by John Coltrane; “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” - 1976 song by Roy Ayers Ubiquity

If you enjoyed this interview withBusty and the Bass and would like to find out more about them and their music, their website makes for a perfect portal into all aspects of their world.

When did you start writing/producing music - and what or who were your early passions and influences? What is it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I started writing music at around 17 after coming out of high school. At that time, I was mostly writing little jazz pieces on the piano that were inspired by Thelonious Monk or Duke Ellington. My fascination with music took a lot of interesting turns throughout my childhood. I went through a lot of phases. But most of those phases still inspire me.

I was put into the conservatory of music for classical piano as a young kid. My older brother at the time was a little classical piano prodigy so I wanted to follow his lead. I only lasted about a year or so before switching out of the conservatory and studying jazz with a local musician in my hometown. I liked improvising and playing boogie-woogie, and I was drawn to the stride pianists like Fats Waller, Art Tatum, James P. Johnson etc. Around the same time I was discovering hip-hop, specifically West Coast Rap (like Dr. Dre, Snoop, Nate Dogg etc.) and Eminem. My parents had an impact on my early influences too: The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Van Morrison, and Steely Dan are a few of the artists from my parent’s generation that helped influence my song-writing over time.

There was nothing specific that drew me to music as a kid. I think being surrounded by it constantly was the leading factor for me wanting to create it.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and the transition towards your own voice? What is the relationship between copying, learning and your own creativity?

As I mentioned, when I first started writing it was mostly jazz-inspired pieces. This continued during my four years of jazz school. I was definitely trying to emulate my favourite bebop songs. Then, with Busty and the Bass, I was suddenly thrown into this world where we were writing trying to create more modern music with vocals. I was listening to a lot more current/popular music at the time and I became interested in emulating that. So I then started trying to mimic the songs of Outkast and the production styles of Dr. Dre. This then led me down a road of discovering modern G-Funk producers like DāM-FunK and devonwho and the underground catalogues of LA-based record labels such as Stones Throw and Leaving Records. Over time I became fascinated with soul music, Motown and early funk/crossover albums by bands like Parliament-Funkadelic and the Roy Ayers Ubiquity. All of these different artists and genres have influenced how I create music.

When I first discover an artist or a song, I can become obsessed with it. I’ll try to write something just like it in order to learn more about how the style or form is structured. Only over time do I have to take a step back and allow the music to influence my song-writing, as opposed to me trying to emulate my influences. Sometimes, only after writing a song will I be able to recognize where it comes from. For example I might notice, “that hook is connected to The Beatles, the chords are from Monk, and the synths are influenced by G-Funk”.

What were your main compositional- and production-challenges in the beginning and how have they changed over time?

I would say my compositional challenges were originally rooted in over-complexity. That’s something I’m still aware of. Due to my knowledge of harmony, I can sometimes try to spice things up where no spice is needed. I’ve become more conscious of that now.

My production challenges in the beginning were greater. I had no training or any knowledge of how to use a DAW or how to even record something basic. That’s what you’ll get for four years at McGill University’s top jazz program! Too much theory and no practical education for a career in music whatsoever. I had to watch my friends produce on Ableton or Pro Tools and ask them very nicely to show me how to do something. My friend’s cousin downloaded a torrented version of Ableton Live for me and that’s what started my production path.

I also had no experience in playing on live stages with sound teams and proper systems until we started touring as a band. You have to pick things up along the way and learn as you go. That’s what I realized with producing and playing in live scenarios. Now I use Ableton as my go-to production workstation and can record myself or other artists as I please.

What was your first studio like? How and for what reasons has your set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear for you?

My first “studio” was basically my Roland keyboard jammed up against a wall in an apartment I lived in with 6 other people in Montreal. It’s slowly evolved into a separate room in my apartment that I can work out of and record small sessions (I still have that Roland keyboard too). I mainly use the room to work from day-to-day and to record vocal ideas and keys.

I have a few different synths that I like to use. The King Korg synth is the one that I also use live with Busty. I love to use it in the studio because it has very rich sounds and basic waveforms that you can use as building blocks to manipulate patches. I just recently bought an Alctron PF8 foam bubble for my microphone that is a game-changer for reducing background noise when recording vocals.

Busty and the Bass’ studio evolution has been larger and more elaborate. We used to work out of a basement where some of the guys in the band used to live. Things got better over the years and we now have a membership with Breakglass Studios in Montreal where we can work from comfortably. Breakglass is great and has a ton of keyboards, vintage organs, and a large enough console that we don’t have to worry about squeezing us all into one recording session.

How do you make use of technology? In terms of the feedback mechanism between technology and creativity, what do humans excel at, what do machines excel at?

For me, I like to use machines in a more natural sounding way. I dig the sounds of natural reverbs and analog instruments. When it comes to synth playing I almost always prefer to play parts by hand as opposed to sequence them. I usually don’t like when things sound too perfect. For me it takes away from the organic sound of music that I believe should include slight imperfections or mistakes.

The wondrous thing about technology, however, is the ability to be able to record from wherever you decide to bring a computer. That’s obviously opened up a world for producers and music creators, including for me.

Production tools, from instruments to complex software environments, contribute to the compositional process. How does this manifest itself in your work? Can you describe the co-authorship between yourself and your tools?

Yeah, instruments and tools can really define a piece of music. I try to be conscious not to use the same sounds all the time for that reason. When I make a G-Funk beat for example, I’ll often use this old Korg R3 synth that I have because the synth basses and leads really lend itself to that kind of music. 808’s are a very specific sound too that can be used as a fun jumping off point.

When I’m making demos these days - depending on the style of music - I’ll often just record piano and vocals so as not to pigeonhole the style of the song or my perception of it later (though I’ve realized over time that this method can also pigeonhole the song towards a piano ballad). Spicing things up and not relying on the same tools all the time has helped me figure out my process more.

Collaborations can take on many forms. What role do they play in your approach and what are your preferred ways of engaging with other creatives through, for example, file sharing, jamming or just talking about ideas?

I love collaborating with other musicians and artists on music because it can take a song or a project in a completely different direction than originally intended. It can also wholeheartedly fulfill your original intention.

The latter is what occurred with George Clinton on Busty’s “Baggy Eyed Dopeman”. I had written that song with Funkadelic in mind and George totally brought it into his world and exceeded my expectations. I usually prefer meeting with collaborators and getting on the same page before diving into a project, then jamming out the ideas together. When that can’t happen, file sharing is the next best thing. File sharing is pretty much the only way to do it in this current pandemic era.