Anthrax & Megadeth Bassists Frank Bello & David Ellefson Chat Bass Riffs & Technique | Reverb

[Music] so when we were doing the big four which is this really cool moment in our genre when Metallica had reached out to Slayer Megadeath and anthrax to combine all four of us together to do these big stadium shows while we're doing them our bass amp manufacturer our key amplifiers had come to us about Frank and I doing some dual bass clinics which is very unusual because usually drummers guitar players do a lot of the clay space bass players jazz bass players maybe but yes I know for me I really needed to you know not only just be able to like play you know the song the part but kind of dig into it like explain what am I doing here what what what is that how did that come to pass and I think probably for Frank and I had the bass is such a integral part of anthrax and Megadeth that you know it's a it's a it's a piece of the fabric of the sound of our groups you know look obviously I think I'm watching MTV right yeah yeah music news you know that's a song I remember when we were before we even recorded the album we were out doing a little warm up to her about a three-week tour it was kind of the pre-production for the P sells but who's a buying album for Megadeth but I remember when we started playing that song because it started with a kick drum right you know kind of and something happens in the room organically very caveman when there's a kick drum right you don't even have to know or like the song yet to get into it you know it's kind of thing and then I tried [Music] and people started listening you know I'm kind of like that that open mic thing and all of a sudden and all of a sudden you realize like every head in the room was there it's like we got something here I thought it was a groove it wasn't metal it wasn't a metal wrist right but you made it metal you know you brought it into your own I don't think that's a metal riff that could be a groove like a funk you know what I mean it could be a fun thing or on B that could be an art if you if you put it just own normal you know 4/4 beat dude but you're right there's a there's there's kind of a you know an in metal a lot of it is kind of this machine-gun staccato thing but I think in our group for sure it's having this this kind of this sort of again this is kind of sexy swing thing swing to it it's it's it's cool and an entity a lot of it does go back to you know Dave Mustaine is always referenced that he grew up with you know three sisters well listen to Motown and Motown I mean some of the greatest Jameson why do you say yeah so I it's it's cool that you know in metal we get to do these things and have to have things that take you know go into some other other facets besides just kind of always the staccato machine gun see what I like about that riff I think it's Charlie's riff a lot of our shows we start with that you start with the guitar and the bass comes out you can hit the eruption you hear the eruption from the audience it's very it's pat signature liner in the air feeling that we're all looking for and we were young right we hear that it's a great job whatever whatever it's the band you know it's what we want so I always loved playing that and you could play that you know we play all these songs and zillion times in our life right it's a different audience every night and that's the whole point it's it's their show and when they play they get to enjoy it at that moment I'll play zillion more times as long as you give me that kind of reaction all right that's what it's about sure that's honest you know it's interesting in your band because you need that real mid-range Tony you have whereas in our band those Marshall sit right there in the middle of the guitar tone so I got to get down below those into the kick drum and get up above it yeah kind of one of the percussion of the the kick drum beater hits the skin right but it's inner I've always thought about that with are the difference between our two bands because me being a pick guy and then playing like that it and you being able to beat the finger guy but your tone is very mid-range and that makes sense it's it's up above it's it's up above the where the kick drums are and it gets out of the way of worse Scott cuts a pretty wide pretty well takes up a lot of bandwidth he does up with these charts on my tone is through my fingers because you can control what you need how to get through it it pretty much is that you get a set up tone but if I need to cut a little more off just put a little more pressure in it you know in the playing the actual playing and some it just somehow it works I don't don't ask about it you know it's interesting Fieldy from corn had a great quote that he said he said your signature sound is in the hand you sign your signature with which generally is the hand that you pluck and pick with so you know growing up I spent so much time focusing on all the notes over here and then probably running the time look at our bands form suddenly the our signature sound of our bands you know you and and in Scott Ian me and Dave Mustaine the tone is really it's right here in this makes sense to what you just said it's so funny that's just the way and you know it was kind of handed to us we had no choice because these these it was there already yeah I know you just had to put it out there I think you know that's the way it works it's funny how it works like that well like I was talking about before I mean just to cut through if you're in the studio the studio is a different animal completely you have to bring everything back you can't be missed a wild man on stage and all that and I just put a same thing as caught in a mosh right in the studio that producer whoever that may be will be in the studio I remember I think was Eddie Kramer it was Eddie Kramer watching me and you know I play with my fingers so it's 1 2 once you want to it usually that might sound steady did you when it gets under the microscope it's not so steady because they'll call you yeah and you'll have to do that in back in those days there's no pro tools Yeah right so it's all on tapes you have to keep redoing it again and again repetition and it's interesting that's why I started using a pick I mean the Megadeth music in the very beginning was much slower and it was really cunning [Music] song it's looking down the cross that had a tentative title speaking of evil and it was very slow and just really kind of right and it was very kind of just groovy and and I could play it with my fingers but then is the tempo sped up I could play I could pick up all the nuances of the guitar parts as well as be able to kind of go I can kind of ride and kind of groove these you know slinky bass lines and that click sounds great too it does and it's a big part of it is is the muting you know so I have similar to what Scott Ian does in your band and what Dave does in our band you know to be able to replicate the muting they see people like hey dude I want to play symphony of destruction for you and they'll play with their fingers [Music] technically it's the right notes it's the right phrase it's all the right stuff but it's not the right phrase it's the right notes in the right meter but it's not there's the phrase right and that's that's what really makes music huh there's always something there was something in the second record well there's some alone justice from spreading the disease my first anthrax record I've played on the EP this is my first record I was so scared in the deal and I really remember this this one riff that was really bothering it was the starting of their song it's called loan justice and I started with my fingers I didn't like the way it sounded with my fingers I didn't think it sounded heavy enough I thought it was taking away from the song and for me to give up the fingers it's pretty big time I rarely give up the fingers but for the better of the song maybe I was looking ahead yeah I just tried the pick and I just thought it's other you could hear that staccato it's right exactly where you need it and then the riff came in with the guitarist and it just brought it up to a whole new level but I think that started it I thought that was very important but there's a lot of other ones like you know there's a lot of stuff on rust and peace you know poison was the cure very dynamic you know using you know like you know major thirds you know for the for the recording and so I think for me you know whether you're slapping and pop and you're using a pic using your fingers you're really as a real musical approach to it is what is the right thing to use in that particular moment just like you said on that recording if you don't require me to play with the pick today on acoustic radio required me to set the pick down and play with my fingers so really being aware of what's going on around and listening I have bet my band teacher in high school would always say you don't stop making everything sound like Led Zeppelin start to listen to what's going on around you okay where listen yeah listen the word listen listen because it'll tell you if you listen you just have to open your ears believe me it's a it's been a big ego in there too yeah to suppress that yeah and you have to say wait maybe this is better for the song swallow the pride get rid of the and really just get get to the gist of the song that's what it's about [Music] [Music] remember us the night before we played net worth in London Frank and I were doing a hockey base clinic and I said - I said you know we should really just write some some backing tracks that we have because he's playing a couple of anthrax tunes I'm jamming a couple Megadeth tunes and it's fine the fans like that but mix it up though it's been a little more kind of dynamic a little more maybe even interactive between the two of oestrogen solo but it's funny because we we started with acoustic guitars we didn't have any electric guitars we just sat and started pinging some ideas back and forth to each other you would think thrash guys would respect heavy guitars and loud sounds and stuff - we couldn't find to be I couldn't find a bass in your house I don't know how that happens always on tour yeah exactly I know and some acoustic guitar it was actually it actually really worked out nicely so it just it was so easy to just bounce back and forth that day we're on the couch just just chilling on it I love the vibe that had it all started everything right there who's in cigarettes I think it really it's it was just you could tell I think this is just a magical song it's got a great lyric and I think it identified our roles as you as the singer guitar player and me as the bass player [Music] I'm just kind of like quite honestly well part of me is emulating gene Simmons playing like firehouse or something right but if this slinky groovy thing on her because Frank just kind of hang in courts and right instead of guy on the knee that makes it makes sense [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I mean I probably watched it in the studio but I was probably freaked out because I just I was I get into bass I love bass players I just like watching how their minds work because everybody's different everybody's got their own thing yeah I I really love to see because I want to learn from that I learned from everybody I think it's I think we all do it's a real treat in this in this band to do that because you know when you're playing thrash metal and you know our riffs you know there's no room to be doing you know this kind of art you know sort of freeform thing but in in what we do here and especially these songs that Frank brings in with these nice big open chords there's room for the bass to move and my theory is that when the guitars are busy this basis to get simple but when the guitars get simple the bass can get busy and so that's good the bit there's a perfect example of that theory that I use for constructing a Basel I mean ain't Dave does a good job of that you do and I have to say if you listen to the songs like I just I always worry about the song the melody on top but I also have confidence that he's gonna come in with something so that I really don't because I want to leave it open it's almost like an experiment I wonder what he's gonna come up with for this bass line cuz I don't want to think bass it's weird you know yeah yeah I don't want to think bass for this project I think it's interesting to see what your aspect which your vibe and that brings the whole thing to another level I do that's where I love it you

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Keywords: reverb, reverb.com, anthrax, megadeth, anthrax bass, megadeth bass, frank bello, david ellefson, dave ellefson, metal bass, hartke amp, metal bassist, metallica, altitudes and attitude, slayer, big four tour

Id: W9Do7UCIHuM

Length: 14min 25sec (865 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 12 2019