Why do Bass Players always look so cool? and 7 great bass riffs for your enjoyment

Score this design: “Bass-ically Cool,” to help it get printed on Threadless!

Bass players. The epitome of cool. There they are at the side or back of the stage thumping away on the strings and providing the rich deep groove of a song. I’ve never seen a bass guitarist get in a flap on stage. How can they be so relaxed? Is it because they only have 4 strings to worry about or that a bum note on a bass is so hard to notice?

These are my favourite bass riffs or should I say ones that have come to my mind in the past week when I thought about writing this article. There are so many fantastic bass grooves from the disco and funk era but I’ll stick exclusively to rock and pop as this list may never finish otherwise.

Aeroplane (1996) – Red Hot Chili Peppers. Bass player: Flea

I’m starting to do a u-turn back to the music of the RHCP. Their Sydney concert in 2005 sucked so badly that they’ve been off my playlist ever since. Its got a nice bass solo with the slapping bass style Flea is known for. A rock music video with synchronized swimming. Interesting.

Lido Shuffle (1977) – Boz Scaggs. Bass player: Dave Hungate

This song is perhaps the most overplayed song on Australian classic rock stations, but with good reason. Listen to that bass and drum intro. Honorable mention to the bass on their other track Lowdown. Yes its not rock but if anyone ever says white people can’t produce solid funk or disco show them that… or anything from KC & The Sunshine Band for that matter.

My Generation (1965). The Who. Bass Player: John Entwistle.

Go on, look at his face, he could be playing in his sleep. He rips the bass solo while scanning around the crowd for a suitable groupie for backstage. Like a boss.

Little Green Bag (1969). George Back Selection. Bass Player: Jan Visser

This song was made famous again by the 1992 Tarantino film ‘Reservoir Dogs’. Tsk tsk if you hadn’t heard of it before then (yes sadly, I’m one of those “I was into them before they were even born” people but no I’m not a hipster!). It’s a classic, its from the best era of rock – the 60s. The film clip is erm, a little disturbing and don’t even ask what the significance of a little green bag is. It doesn’t make sense and just ruins the song if you think about it too much. So stop thinking about it already.

New Years Day (1983). U2. Bass Player: Adam Clayton

Despite people’s reservations of Clayton’s bass playing abilities this is a solid track. Even though the tempo is too fast in this video its special because back then The Edge had hair, Larry Mullins Jnr actually cracked a smile, Bono was skinny and Adam Clayton just looks too cool for school.

Seven Nation Army (2003). White Stripes. Bass Player: .. there isn’t one.

This is an unmistakable bass riff. The bass sound is achieved using a semi-acoustic guitar and an effect pedal. Sure, the White Stripes were overrated but they didn’t really need to make any further contribution after this song.

Peter, Bjorn and John (2006). Young Folks. Bass Player: Björn Yttling

This is bordering into the indie pop territory but its an awesome tune. Simple drum track with a sweet bass overlay. It wins the Roger Whittaker Award for ‘Excellence in Whistling in a song post 1970′s’. Representing for whistlers everywhere. The animated video for the film clip is also hot.

Street Art Tee Concept – Don’t Stop… ‘Til You Get Enough, Believin’, Me Now, The Music, Thinking About Tomorrow

Following on from the success of the ‘How Were You Born’ street art poster concept and Threadless printed tee, here is part two of the series. The design is up for voting on Threadless now, so show it some love and I’ll give you a virtual high five for your efforts. Maybe it’s just because I like high fives, but I think its a pretty awesome trade off.

In order they are:

• Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (1979)
• Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’ (1981)
• Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now (1978)
• Rihanna – Don’t Stop the Music (2007)
• Fleetwood Mac – Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow (1977)

I think the most recognisable outline face on this one is Freddie Mercury (Queen). I caught a really interesting documentary series on the group in the last few weeks called Queen: Days of our Lives. I had no idea of the scale of stadium rock in the early 80′s and their influence. Queen’s Live Aid performance in 1985 has been voted by many as the best live performance in rock history. You can see it on Youtube (starting with Part 1) and it really is something to behold. A masterclass by professionals and a front man who was gone far too soon.

(Don’t) Stop… or I’ll Sue

There is an interesting connection between the Rihanna song and the Michael Jackson one. Rihanna’s 2007 hit heavily lent itself to samples from Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough. Most notably, the African tribal chant probably known by most people as the ‘mama-se, mama-sa, mama-ku-sa’ bit at the end! Jackson in turn took the phrase from the 1972 song ‘Soul Makossa’ by Manu Dibango. Dibango successfully sued Jackson over its use. Rihanna didn’t learn from Jackson’s mistake and was herself sued in 2009 over its use without express permission from the original artist.

Who Sampled Who?

With only a limited number of chord combinations possible in music, history will eventually repeat itself, sometimes unintentionally. Many artists choose to legitimately sample other songs, leveraging from past success and resonance it had with audiences. A great site for exploring ‘the DNA of music’ is: http://www.whosampled.com. It offers side by side comparison of tracks with the originals that were sampled from. Kanye West has sampled 600 odd tracks. I’mma gonna let him finish that and think he’ll make it an even 1000 before his career is done.

My T-Shirt Design Available to Purchase on Threadless – 2 weeks only!

For a limited time only, you can purchase my Street Art Poster Concept – How Were You Born T-Shirt on Threadless. It’s available in Guys and Girls styles in all sizes. Support a thriving community of artists and designers (such as myself) with your purchase. Tees sell for $20 each and would make a great Christmas present for your music loving friend or relative. They ship internationally too.

Buy the “How Were You Born” T-shirt on Threadless now >

Threadless How Were You Born Tee - Girly (BTW, this is not me)

Rewinding the clock back to 6 weeks ago, I came up with the STREET ART POSTER CONCEPT – HOW WERE YOU BORN?  The original post got picked up on a number of social media channels and sites and so I decided to submit it as an original design for Threadless t-shirts. 10 days of voting and a few more weeks of waiting and I was told my t-shirt had been chosen to print as part of Threadless Labs.

Read the Media Release from Threadless: http://threadlessrules.com/post/13796754725/how-were-you-born-by-natalie-hayter-is-a-new-tee

10 Band Name Opposite Album Mashups & The Process of Font Identification

Ever wondered what the album covers of some of the world’s well known musical artists would look like if their name was changed to its polar opposite?

Flicking through my iPod I came up with a few ideas for alternative (opposite) names.

From there I created new album cover mashups.

The 10 Band Name Opposite Album Mashups

1. Nirvana > Samsara In the Buddhist, Hindu (and other Indian) faiths, Samsara is often recognised as the opposite of Nirvana.

2. Red Hot Chili Peppers > Blue Cold Milk Salts Milk has long been considered the antidote for the spiciness of Chili.

3. The B-52s > The MiG-21′s The band might have been named after the beehive hairstyle type of B-52, rather than the plane. But the MiG-21′s were one of the enemy craft of the American B-52′s during the Vietnam War. MiG-21′s were used by the Vietnam People’s Air Force.

4. The Who > The What

5. Destiny’s Child > Fate’s Parent

6. No Doubt > Yes Certainty

7. The Cardigans > The Pembrokes There are two types of dogs in the Corgi breed – Cardigans and Pembrokes. I used to own a Pembroke Corgi X.

8. Vanilla Ice > Chocolate Water

9. Ace of Base > Dunce of Top

10. Crowded House > Deserted Apartment

The Making Of…

Finding the Fonts
The hardest part of this project was finding similar fonts / typography to that used on the album covers. You can generally get a rough idea of what family it might be from and start a process of elimination. Is it Serif or Sans-Serif? What is the shape of the letter tails?

A Little Help
To save time I like to use the What the Font uploader tool. You upload an image of the font used and the online app uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to suggest possible font matches. It’s not perfect and most of the fonts they suggest are ones you have to buy through their site. However, with this information you can look for free alternatives on sites such as dafont.com.

The Best Things in Life Are Free
Failing this, you can always pick the brains of the Internet’s expert typographers on the WhattheFont Forum. Post your font image and wait for the font suggestions to roll in. I’ve always had a resolution using this service which is best of all, free.

I’ve listed the fonts and images I used for the album covers at the bottom of this post.

Relevance for the Web Designer
Often as a Web Designer, you’ll be given an existing logo or marketing collateral for which there is no font name supplied. This can happen when agencies are over protective of their original master designs and want any future work or changes to be done through them. To avoid this monopoly, you can save the day for your client by identifying the font and finding a free alternative to use in their website designs.

Sources:
1. Nirvana. Font: Nirvana (free).
Image: http://dkpresents.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/nirvana_nevermind_cover.jpg
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Font: Courier New (free).
Image: http://i41.tinypic.com/34hamoo.jpg
3. The B-52's. Font: ComicBook (free).
Image: http://jackshigh.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/rock-lobster1.jpg
4. The Who. Font: Arial Bold (free).
Image: http://www.newreleasesnow.com/art/TheWho-GreatestHits.jpg
5. Destiny's Child. Font: Arkitech (free).
Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_JcQs_1bZoJo/SXsM3FQRGrI/
AAAAAAAAAVM/C0FNzmd-SjQ/s400/DC_Destiny_Fulfilled_low.jpg
6. No Doubt. Font: Old English Text (free).
Image: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/12/no-doubt-singles-490.jpg
7. The Cardigans. Font: Arial (free).
Image: http://www.ehlel.com/imageup/upload/cardigans_-best_of.jpg
8. Vanilla Ice. Font: Franklin Gothic Demi (free) with Craquelure filter overlay
Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_JREJCTYepo8/SZSJfGalihI/AAAAAAAABew/
ZdRMVtuW-x8/s400/The-Best-Of-Vanilla-Ice.jpg
9. Ace of Base. Font: Mekanik LET (free).
Image: http://i35.tinypic.com/2vc9wdh.jpg
10. Crowded House. Font: Alte Haas Grotesque.
Image: http://img.sharedmp3.net/files/pics/643/642275/img_1_pr.jpg

Street Art Poster Concept – How Were You Born? This Way, To Be Alive, To Run, To Be Wild, To Boogie

Like It? Buy this poster on a Threadless T-Shirt for a limited time only. Perfect last minute Christmas gift and you are supporting a community of artists and designers such as myself

How Were You Born Street Art Concept - N.Hayter 2011

I see a lot interesting Street Art Posters around Sydney and appreciate their ability to make me smile. This is a design concept I came up with revolving around the theme ‘How Were You Born?’. The answers are of course song titles and the matching images are the singers. If you need a refresher on what these songs sound like, scroll down to watch a compilation video.

In order they are:

• Lady Gaga – Born This Way (2011)
• Patrick Hernandez – Born to Be Alive (1979)
• Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975)
• Steppenwolf lead singer John Kay – Born to Be Wild (1968)
• Hank Williams Jr – Born to Boogie (1987)

Print your own and pin it

Print your own version to put up on your favorite telegraph pole, traffic light post, graffiti lined alleyway, or liven up your campus, school or office. If you pin it take a photo and share it in the comments of this post. I’ve had reported sightings of it in the UK and United States so far.

DOWNLOAD JPG VERSION Download JPG version 195kb

DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION Download PDF version 425kb

Need a refresher on the songs?

The making of

Street Art Concept Sketch

I did some rough sketches on paper first and decided I’d just go with simple silhouette heads all based on the same oval shape. I had a few other songs I’d brainstormed (Born to Love You – Queen, Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen, Born To Try – Delta Goodrem) but decided to just go with 5 for a less cluttered design.

More to come

I’ve already got some ideas for future street flyers based on the same concept but using different themes. Subscribe so you don’t miss out.

As featured on

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