bassmagazine.com ; ISSUE 4 ; BASS MAGAZINE 29
John Myung
No. Anything that would sound like that
in that song would be coming from the key-
board. That’s another Mike Mangini idea; it’s
very powerful. The concept for that song was
to do something more reminiscent of what
we’re known to do, in terms of just instru-
mental playing. The concept was to revisit the
kind of playing we did on Images and Words
— to go on that sort of instrumental tangent.
Did you use your Moog Taurus pedals
anywhere on the record?
No. I wanted to, but it didn’t seem like
we needed it because there wasn’t anything
that lent itself to using it in the studio. When
we go into pre-production [for the tour], I
might break it out and see if I can work it in
for actual live shows. In terms of what I need-
ed, and what was happening in the studio, I
had it ready, but the way everything flowed, I
didn’t find any creative need for it.
Are you using effects anywhere else on the
record? Or is it pretty much just the Music Man
through the Ashdown and Neve?
I don’t know if you can hear it much, but
at the very ending of “Pale Blue Dot,” it turns
very spaciously melodic, and I’m holding
long, sustained root notes. There is a distor-
tion pedal on that. We were experimenting
with all these different types of distortion on
it. I’m not sure exactly what distortion patch
was ultimately used, but that’s the only point
on the record where I wound up using any
sort of effect. So, the record, in terms of my
sound, is just bass. There wasn’t much need
for any effects or any sort of processing. It
was just one of those records.
What was it about “Out of Reach” that
made you grab the fretless?
It’s a very ballad-oriented song that lends
itself to that sort of vibe. It’s a very open song,
and there’s something about a fretless that
sits well, because it’s so smooth sounding,
based on the inflections and the emotion that
you can kind of get out of it. The song has a
very new-age kind of feel, which I thought
lent itself well to fretless bass.
Is the fretless a Music Man Bongo, as well?
It’s a custom fretless they made for me
years back. I think it was made during the
Dramatic Turn of Events album [2011, Road-
runner], so I’ve had it for a while. I haven’t
used it a lot. But when I do get to apply it to
songs, I definitely love it.
When I pick up a fretless, I find it requires
a different approach. It makes me think about
a song differently and how I’m approaching it.
It definitely has its own soul. It’s differ-
ent from a fretted because of the type of slid-
ing you can do and how each note is shaped.
With the fretless it’s more about the shaping
of a sound, because you don’t have the frets
doing that for you, and you get more emo-
tion, more soul, out of it. I definitely have a
strong appreciation for it. I wish I could use it
more — maybe I will. When I do use it, it’s for
mellower, ballad-oriented songs and poppy,
new-age kinds of things.
“Barstool Warrior” has some amazing
references to both Yes and Jethro Tull, and you
play a cool countermelody, along with Jordan, in
the middle of the tune. My ear was drawn to it
because of the interplay between the bass and
the piano.
Yeah, that track came out very cool. We
grew up listening to bands like Marillion,
Yes, and Genesis. The Genesis influence
comes more from Jordan. When it gets to the
breakdown, that was actually a suggestion
made by John. He thought it would be cool to
do a bass melody. I wanted to come up with
something that was not necessarily busy, but
something that filled the moment, that just
flowed into another part. Then it goes to the
whole next level — the U.K. influence, with
the syncopation that’s going on. Then the
next part goes into something that remind-
ed me of the Who, but that’s kind of abstract.
The songs still feature the same adven-
turousness and instrumental musicality DT is
renowned for, but they’re more concise. You just
get on with it.
We changed it up. We did something dif-
ferent. We wound up getting a diverse album
of ten songs that you can listen to within an
hour. It’s got that balance of creativity and
also commercial appeal with the strong mel-
odies. It has just the right balance for us, you
know? l