Bass Magazine – Issue 4 2019

38 BASS MAGAZINE ; ISSUE 4 ; bassmagazine.com

Eva Gardner

stantly with his bands The Birds, The Cre-

ation, and Ashton, Gardner & Dyke. He also

worked with Eric Clapton, George Harrison,

Rod Stewart, Bo Diddley, Deep Purple, and

many others. She starts pointing out houses

that belonged to Madonna and her father’s

close friend John Entwistle. We pull up to

her home to be greeted by her dogs Willow

and Holly, who follow her every step as we

make our way to her music room. Posters and

memorabilia from her many tours with Pink,

Gwen Stefani, Cher, Moby, Tegan And Sara,

and Veruca Salt line the walls, along with

some of her own impressive paintings that

she creates when she has the time. But the

real treasures lie in her gear room.

Numerous Ampeg rigs, including one of

the very first SVTs ever made, fill the room

along with a stunning collection of basses.

Among them are the ones she inherited from

her father, her very first bass which went on

to become the design for her Fender Signature

Series model, and her Pfretzschner upright.

She picks up her dad’s old Fiesta Red Preci-

sion and starts playing licks that would im-

press even the flashiest of NAMM-boothers.

But you won’t be hearing any of those chops

on an arena stage anytime soon. Having stud-

ied music at the Los Angeles County High

School for the Arts, and going on to graduate

cum laude with a degree in ethnomusicology

at UCLA, Eva knows that a tight pocket and

a solid groove will get you much further than

rapid shredding ever will. Then, upon request,

she sits at her computer and pulls up the old

demos from the Mars Volta’s 2001 debut, De-

loused in the Comatorium, that she wrote the

bass parts for. It’s quite the contrast to hear

her dig into to such frantic parts with a wildly

gritty tone, and it’s even crazier to think that

Flea ended up recording the exact parts she

wrote for the album.

She then puts on her newest creation,

her very first release as a solo artist, Chasing

Ghosts. The five-song EP is a beautiful mix of

pop vocals, catchy hooks, big rock riffs, and

naturally, booming bass. Between the charging

rhythms of the opening track, “Forever Is Nev-

er,” and the instantly singable melodies of her

first single, “Dirty Bird,” you can tell that not

only is she comfortable in her own skin as a

songwriter, but she has all of the makings of

being a pop star on her own. It makes sense

seeing how she has spent her life supporting

the best of the best, while appearing on every

late night show, every big awards show, and

even gracing the Saturday Night Live stage

multiple times. Artists and fellow bass players

love Eva for her tireless work ethic, her atten-

tion to detail, her loving personality, and her

spotless playing on electric, upright, and key-

bass. She constantly has to turn down land-

mark gigs, for which she gladly recommends

fellow players.

With an early morning ahead – she's pre-

paring to head back on the road for the next

leg of the Pink tour – we check out a concert

that evening at L.A.’s famous Troubadour

and catch up with fellow bassists Stu Brooks

(Dub Trio), Dug Pinnick (King’s X), and Rob-

ert DeLeo (Stone Temple Pilots). As we’re

leaving the venue, a few fans catch a glimpse

of Eva and try to get her attention. “Ava,

Ava!” they shout at her. “It’s Eva,” she replies

with a smile. “The name thing happens a lot,”

she explains, but she doesn’t seem to mind it

at all. That’s all right — they’ll know her name

soon enough.

How does it feel to step out from the supportive

role and take center stage with your own

material?

It wasn’t intuitive, but a lot of my past ex-

periences definitely led up to this. I was in a

couple of bands that I co-fronted early on, so

I was used to being behind the mic and play-

ing bass. I’ve been singing backup for bands

for a long time, so the feeling has gotten more

familiar. I’ve written a lot of songs, too. All of

that has led up to this, and it feels more natu-

ral than I thought it would.

What led to you deciding to release your

own album now?

I’ve always written songs with bands and

other musicians in a collaborative setting.

I would have my own ideas, but I’d record

them onto tape 4-tracks and would never

touch them again. I finally got some proper

LISTEN

Eva Gardner, Chasing
Ghosts [2019]

GEAR
Basses Fender Squier
Eva Gardner Signa-
ture Precision, Fender
American Vintage
’62 Reissue Precision,
Fender American Pro-
fessional Precision,
Pfretzschner double
bass, Kay double bass,
Moog synth basses
Rig Ampeg SVT-2PRO,
Ampeg SVT-VR, Am-
peg Early ’70s SVT,
Ampeg Heritage B-15,
Ampeg PF-50T, Am-
peg SVT-810AV, Am-
peg SCR-DI
Pedals Ampeg SCR-
DI, Pro Co Turbo Rat
Distortion, MXR Bass
Fuzz Deluxe, MXR
Carbon Copy Ana-
log Delay, MXR Bass
Compressor, Mu-
Tron Octave Divider,
Mu-Tron III Envelope
Filter
Strings Rotosound
Swing Bass 66, Ro-
tosound Jazz Bass 77
Flatwounds, Roto-
sound Nexus Bass