Day 14 - Bass and Heels: Dos and Don'ts at a gig

Divinity Roxx

I had my first performance after my heel contract with myself, where I decided that I will be in-touch with my femininity and dress up and wear heels for all my shows. Doing this is also a confidence booster and curbs stage fright, therefore a better performance. As is with every performance, this was also a different learning but enjoyable experience. Here's what I took from it:

• Do tell your band to arrive two hours earlier than the actual time you want them to be there, so that they can arrive "on time".
• Do something like a dress-rehearsal before hand. I usually practice while seated, but I had to stand for the performance and this was a different feeling, so I felt as though the quality of my notes was not as clean as it could have been because of the different position. Also, the one time I had performed with heels, I sat down. So yes, dress rehearsal.
• Do make friends with a bassist named Armstrong. I have always wanted to know an Armstrong. My mission in life has been accomplished. Additionally, he had a beautiful, red guitar, that I just had to try out. Luckily he was kind enough to let me use it for my performance. He quite willingly gave it to me. I even sound checked for him for his performance. Maybe it was the power of the heel? 
• Do pay attention to your weak areas. I believe I need more  finger strengthening exercises. I find that even if I play the exact same bassline as someone else, mine still doesn't sound as strong. I initially thought that it had something to do with being a pianist, but of the female bassists I have listened to, only Divinity Roxx, whom I aspire to be like, has a solid touch. I especially love that she has a perfect balance between her tomboyish side and feminine side, which is hard to find, lest you come off as a butch lesbian.
• Do love thyself. My instrumentalists are such attention lovers. They insisted on doing an instrumental and being introduced individually. Granted, I was a driving pioneer behind this idea. But who will love you if you don't love yourself?
• Do carry pebbles. To the vocalists, one instrumental is enough. They started singing in one of our carefully thought out and planned instrumental introduction. Note to self: carry pebbles to toss at vocalists who sing during my moment.
• Do have marriage material members. My saxophonist would make a great husband and father. Not only does he have great artistic genes, but despite having a very important issue to deal with, he still came and performed even though we would have understood if he didn't. That there is marital commitment (if you are looking for a husband, talk to me nicely).
• Don't tell your drummer he's arrogant. I told my drummer that I think all drummers are arrogant, especially when it comes to playing in a band, and he was no exception. So now he thinks that playing humbly means playing while pulling a face that I would expect him to pull as if I had just told him, "I have discovered I am in love with your father. I will be your step-mum and there's nothing you can do about it."

Now that the first performance of the month has been done and I have discovered a few things, I am excited for the other performances and looking forward to the rest being bigger and better. In heels.

Day 13 - Bass and Heels: How it all begun

My affair with the bass guitar is quite an interesting one. I really love the sound of bass. My earliest recollection of this love was back in primary school. My brother went to an all-boy school with a very strong music department. I remember attending one of their concerts and being so blown away. Because it was a school full of young high-pitched boys to pre-teens discovering their manly vocal potential, the music director could confidently afford to split the all-male choir into the different parts of soprano, alto, tenor and bass. In my mixed school choir, the vocals were all in high register. This is because my music director, who I believe was secretly in the mafia, gave up on our poor, voice cracking boys and just decided to do away with them altogether. So my ears were not used to hearing proper lower registers, and it was love at first "hearing" when I finally did. After this life-changing encounter, I set all the audio equipment, from my mum's radio to the car radio and television, to maximum bass and lower highs. I even played the bass marimba in my school marimba band. Herein begins our relationship.To this date, when I play the bass, I like having my settings on high lows and low highs.

I have always been a go-getter, especially when it came to music challenges. To top it up, I was also a tomboy in its real sense, so much that I used to shop for my clothes in the boys department and play rugby with my brother and his friends, to who I was "one of the boys". It was therefore inevitable that the bass would eventually end up in my hands, because "it's too hard" or "it's not lady-like" could not hold me back. Initially, it was not in my musical aspirations to be a performing bass guitarist. I was going to be a renowned classical concert pianist like Lang Lang and eventually an orchestra conductor in my golden years. So for me the bass guitar was just a side hobby, until I met a group of people to practice with who turned out to be focused on professional music performance, and this was how I ended up being thrown on stage as a bassist.

When I started performing with these guys, I was a complete bass newbie, and therefore had nothing to warrant my prowess on stage. However, I realized a lot of people took interest in me, not because of my ability, but simply because I was a female bassist. I remembered an interesting conversation I had with my mum's friend, who happened to be a Professor of Strategic Management. He told me, "If you want to pursue your passion as a career, why not? Just make sure that the product you sell is unique, and you will remain above the waters." So, I realized the uniqueness in my product was the fact that I am a female bassist, a rare breed where I live. Usually when I meet people and tell them I'm a bassist, the response is either:

1. "Woooow, a woman on bass? Nice!" (the first sentence my keyboardist said to me when we met was, "I love women on bass". No introduction, no nothing. To add on, when said in Sheng it sounds even more dirty, horny, old man-ish")

or

2. *quite shocked and seemingly offended that I, a mere mortal woman, would dare consider even looking at a bass guitar* "Why bass???" 

or

3. "What's a bassist?" (herein begins Music 101, because a simple "someone who plays bass guitar" will not do for this lot)

So why bass? Firstly, getting gigs as a solo pianist in Kenya is not easy, and to get one as part of an orchestra, you have to have exceptional training, so I had to rely on pop bands. Playing  the keyboard in a band, I was envious of the guitarists because they could move around and fully express themselves.Also, I am an African woman who would love to stay true to her roots as much as possible. African music involves the audience a bit more, and the audience expects interaction to enjoy the show. Playing the keyboard/piano made me feel limited in that aspect. Also, I realized that my femininity as a bassist has more influence than as a pianist, and have therefore decided to do all my shows henceforth in heels. However, my musicianship will not stop, and I still enjoy playing my classical music. Also, I plan on being more than just a female bassist and hopefully make it to be a musically influential bassist.