Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn Names 10 Albums That Influenced His Bass Playing
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The post Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn Names 10 Albums That Influenced His Bass Playing appeared first on Consequence.
We’re continuing the roll out of Consequence’s Bass Week with a Crate Digging list of 10 albums that influenced Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn. Keep checking back throughout the week for more lists, artist-driven content, games, and more.
As a member of the genre-defying band Mr. Bungle, Trevor Dunn’s range as a bassist is quite remarkable, from playing hardcore thrash to experimental rock. A deeper dive into his résumé shows even more versatility, as he has appeared on numerous recordings by avant-garde saxophone legend John Zorn. He’s also a member of Fantômas and Tomahawk, and has recorded a handful of Melvins (Lite) releases.
Dunn plays both electric and upright bass, and his influences reflect both disciplines. He was drawn to the bass early on, telling Consequence, “I have an older brother who started playing guitar in the ’70s, and he started bringing home rock records. I really looked up to him. I would listen to him practice, and he got me into KISS and Blondie.”
He continued, “I didn’t want to do exactly what he was doing, so I decided I wanted to play bass. It’s funny, ’cause my father was like, ‘No, you should play guitar. It’s more up in front.’ But I demanded a bass.”
As for his approach to playing different styles of music, Dunn explains, “Whether it’s Mike Patton’s music or John Zorn’s music, I just try to make sure that I’m doing the best job I can to help realize their vision.”
Get King Dunn Tour Tickets Here
Fans can catch Dunn playing upright bass on his upcoming tour with Melvins frontman Buzz Osborne. The “King Dunn Tour” kicks off August 1st in Pioneertown, California, and runs through a September 26th show in Phoenix, Arizona, with tickets available here.
Below, Trevor Dunn shares the albums and artists that had the greatest influence on his bass playing, ranging from jazz to funk to rock ‘n’ roll. Then check out how many of Dunn’s selected bassists made our list of the 100 Greatest Bassists of All Time, and check back all week to see all of our Bass Week content.
Jaco Pastorius — Jaco Pastorius
One of my first bass teachers got me into Jaco immediately — the idea of learning how to play heads, learning Charlie Parker heads was brought to me when I was still in high school. To me, that Jaco record still blows my mind. First of all, Jaco was like 23 or something when he recorded it. It’s still totally unique. It’s kind of a jazz record. It’s kind of fusion, but it’s totally its own thing. And to me, it still completely stands up.
Herbie Hancock — Sextant (Paul Jackson)
I had to include Paul Jackson because he’s a huge influence on me — in a way that was maybe more subconscious, ’cause I just heard a lot of that music, but never really knew who it was [until] I found out [it was Jackson]. I’m really into that record. There are so many great records with Paul Jackson, all those Herbie Hancock records that he’s on, I love. There’s just kind of a freedom, very funky, but very free at the same time. He is probably one of my bigger influences.
Stanley Clarke — I Wanna Play for You
I think this might’ve been the first record I ever owned. I had a gatefold vinyl and there’s all these amazing pictures. There’s this giant picture of all of his basses on the staircase. I used to stare at that for days. He’s playing a lot of piccolo bass and playing melodies and playing really high, and it was a totally different style than Jaco. I started on electric bass and I didn’t really get into upright until a little bit later. Those first influences were all electric players and Stanley Clarke was definitely up there.
Stump — A Fierce Pancake (Kev Hopper)
This is probably one of the more obscure ones. For some reason living in Eureka [California], me and the other guys in Bungle found it, and it was a huge influence on us. The bass player, Kev Hopper, has a really unique style. He plays fretless bass and for years I thought he was using a pick, and I just found out in the last 10 years that he has long fingernails and he uses three fingers. A super unique approach using a lot of harmonics and glissando. He’s still one of my favorite bass players.
Charles Mingus — Mingus Ah Um
My mom had a good collection of jazz records. She was into jazz when she was in high school and still has a great record collection, and Mingus Ah Um was one of them. I actually stole that record. I took it from her collection and it’s in mine now. The tenor sax players on that record were John Handy and Booker Ervin. I learned the sax solo from “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” on bass. That’s a really fun record. It’s a classic for me.
Sly Stone — High on You
The song “Crossword Puzzle” is on High on You, and that’s one of my all time favorite bass lines. That was one of the songs that was on this tape that my teacher made for me that I never knew what it was and years later I found out, “Oh, Sly Stone,” and of course I ended up getting all those records. Rusty Allen and Bobby Vega play bass on a couple of tracks [but “Crossword Puzzle” features Sly himself on bass]. It’s just super — it’s that classic funk thing that he’s playing all over the bass. He’s playing high, he’s playing low, but the groove is impeccable. I love all those Sly records.
Bill Evans Trio — Portrait in Jazz (Scott LaFaro)
When I got into jazz, I kind of got into weirder stuff first, like Anthony Braxton. Even these Bill Evans Trio records with Scott LaFaro are really free. Scott LaFaro was a huge influence on me, but maybe not the best early influence for a bass player because he was so advanced and free. If I’m teaching someone how to play jazz, I would start more basic, but I really got into him early and started playing jazz that way, and I still kind of play that way. It’s just fun to be that liberated while you’re playing jazz.
Tower of Power — Back to Oakland (Rocca Prestia)
When I was thinking of this list, there was a particular Tower of Power record I had. I’m not 100-percent sure it was Back to Oakland, but any of those early records, especially the ones with Rocco Prestia on bass were great. His eighth notes, his 16th notes, his precision is super funky and super driving. I guess I would say between his driving steadiness and Paul Jackson’s freeness, that’s probably where I try to fit in as a bass player.
Cheap Trick — Cheap Trick (Tom Petersson)
I had to put in a rock record. I was trying to think of what rock records influenced my bass playing and Tom Petersson’s 8- and 12-string basses are just amazing. Half the time, you don’t even realize that it’s only one instrument. It sounds like rhythm guitar and bass at the same time, but I just love that sound. It’s not the most well-known Cheap Trick record, but it has a gritty bass sound. It also makes me think of Doug Pinnick from King’s X, who I wanted to mention, too. He’s also got that similar sound.
Oscar Peterson & The Bassists Ray Brown, Niels Pedersen: Montreux ’77
I don’t know how I came across it, but I was really into Ray Brown and Niels Pedersen, who are both totally different kinds of bass players, but also both shredders. And that record is amazing because there’s no drummer. What a weird combo — it’s piano and two upright bass players. That was a big influence on me to be able to think about rhythm that way: maintaining tempos without a drummer, which is a really hard thing to do for me and for probably for a lot of bass players. And it’s just a really fun record.
Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn Names 10 Albums That Influenced His Bass Playing
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