MADELIEF VAN VLIJMEN

MADLIFE

What was your way into bass?

I started as a piano player. When I heard ‘Rejazz’ by Regina Spektor, I wanted to play the double bass. I told my mother, and she said, ‘Yeah, let’s buy one,’ which we did. When I saw Esperanza Spalding I knew it was the way to go. So instead of starting on bass guitar, like most people, I started on the upright. My first bass was a double bass, and my first bass guitar was a fretless four-string American Fender Jazz.

What bass gear do you currently use?

I have an endorsement with GR Bass for amps, with Souldier for straps, and with Warwick for basses. I have a GR One 800 head with a GR 208 cab, which sound great with double bass and a Warwick Star Bass. My effects are an MXR Bass Chorus, a Digitech Obscura Delay, an EBS Octabass and a Way Huge Pork And Pickle.

What’s the best advice you can give us about playing bass?

You need to groove like a motherfucker and create unique lines, and people need to recognise your bass-playing. It’s also about when to not to play – I hate it when bass players fill the space just to show off.

Who is, or was, the greatest bass player ever?

Esperanza Spalding is my favourite bass player ever. Beside her amazing bass playing, I love her songs and how she performs them with such perfection.

What are your current projects?

Madlife is a pop band with 80s and jazz influences, and some weird song structures when I feel like it. I write all the songs and I record keys, synths, vocals, bass and upright bass myself. The Madlife album Swans And Foxes is out now. I also record with Jasper Schalks, tour with Dan Tuffy, sub for Beatles By Girls, and there’s a new project called the Flaming Vulvas.

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