JOSH WERNER – Experimental Bass Music!
1. Which was your main inspiration behind the album ‘Mode For Titan’?
In my earliest days learning the bass, I would compose solo songs, with no amplifier, and no accompaniment.It was fun, personal, and the songs were minimal and meditational. When I heard Bill Laswell’s (solo bass record) Invisible design, I realised the dream and concept of solo bass driven songs could become a reality.
2. The mixing/mastering of the album offers a New Age direction for the listener. Were you involved in the process and did you add any ideas?
We tracked with the bass sounds very much as you hear, this was guided by Bill Laswell’s ears, and my playing. While songs like Traversal and Arcane Path are very much shaped by his sonic prowess, Ship of Theseus and the Crossing sound just as I wrote them. Once The Mixing started, I stayed out of his way. We were both interested in a dub / ambient sound for this work, and Bill paints it beautifully.
3. This is a bass orientated album, however most of the New Age albums follow a synthesizer driven sound direction. Was it a challenge for you to compose this album?
The Compositions came quite naturally, the minimal nature of the bass made it ideal, I’ve always loved the way the bass can sound in the upper registers in compositions, and the way dub, reggae and funk is so melodically driven in the low register, with that in mind, the writing and performance aspects were easy and organic.
4. How was your collaboration with Bill Laswell and which was exactly his contribution to the album?
Working with Bill is always special, He is a sonic guru, and he expertly navigated my compositions and performances, I love the result. I’ve worked on quite a few projects with him at this point, and I trust him totally. He is a big part of this record.
5. If you had the chance to add lyrics to the album, which would be the concept of the album?
Words cannot express everything, and what i’m really going for here is the inexpressible. The song titles were even difficult to explore! I do love writing lyrics, but this was just a different beast.
6. Which is the concept of the album’s cover artwork?
I am interested in capturing hidden ghosts, and landscapes which emote motion and change, there are many paintings in this one work. I like when all the layers can be seen and invisible at the same time.
7. You have worked in a variety of music styles as a bass player, which is the most entertaining from your side and why?
That is hard to say! I’d like to perform any type of music live these days …. I really love playing all genres at their root. That being said, Dub Reggae comes to me quite naturally, I love to move that low frequency around and make the room shake.
8. What type of basses do you use and how do you experiment with them from the musician’s perspective?
I use my 1982 G&L L-100 and ’66 Fender P-bass quite a bit on this record, I never get tired of experimenting with these two basses, I see the limitation of 4 strings as the soul nature of the instrument.Bill’s Fender fretless bass and custom Sitar bass are really fun, they added texture and depth, we did a ton of layering with them, It was also great to add some high notes and chords with the Ibanez 7 string. The Gibson Thunderbird was excellent for the post punk driven raw lines, especially on Ship of Theseus.
9. Do you have any plans to release a full album as a full band including singer(s)?
I have a singer-songwriter Project, called JD Werner, I’m hoping to release a new record this summer.
10. What about your next plans in music?
I am an in house session musician and producer at a studio upstate New York called The Outlier Inn,where I will be remotely working with producers and artists, such as Dre Skull, Denitia, John Bap, and Cellogram.
I also have a record coming out with Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis on the RRGems label,early 2021, and i’ve got my fingers crossed for some summer touring.
‘Traversal’ https://modreloaded.bandcamp.com/track/traversal
Bandcamp / Order https://modreloaded.bandcamp.com/album/mode-for-titan
Amazon Digital https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FC7GZWF
Amazon CD https://www.amazon.com/Mode-Titan-Josh-Werner/dp/B08HGP1BM5
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/album/mode-for-titan/1526508720
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Josh_Werner_Mode_for_Titan
Keep up with Josh Werner
www.jdwerner.com
https://www.instagram.com/jd.werner
https://www.facebook.com/josh.werner3
https://twitter.com/josh_werner
