Artist – Alice Merton
Electric Bass – Bjorn Werra
Difficulty – Beginner/intermediate
I first came into contact with Alice Merton when I heard the single No Roots on the radio, and have enjoyed her music ever since. The bass work on the ‘Mint’ record in particular is excellent, the three tunes that stand out to me being No Roots, Learn To live and this tune, Lash Out. It was hard to find a definitive bass credit (there doesn’t seem to be a consistent touring bass player in her band) but I’m fairly sure it was Bjorn Werra.
This track is built around the groove that kicks in with the guitar at the very start, which we then double half way through the first verse. For me the simplest and most intuitive fingering is what I’ve put on the TAB, using the open A string but other options are there and as always with these things, you’ll need to do a little trial and error to find which one makes the most sense for you. There are several little variations on the chorus groove, particularly towards the very end of the tune and as always with these things, it’s instructive to see how subtle variations can maintain interest while maintaining the integrity of the groove, ideas we can take and apply to our own lines.
I used my P bass for this playthrough, I’m not much of a pick player (to me it sounds like the whole Mint record was recorded using a pick) but I added a little drive to the sound to get close to what I’m hearing on the record, and as usual with driven sounds I selected the MXR M80.
Full signal chain is P bass (Tone rolled on 50%) – Cali76 compressor – MXR M80 – Audient interface – Garageband (Platinumverb plugin).
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