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.