"My style developed simply because I was in a crappy rehearsal studio,” laughs Alonza Bevan of Johnny Marr & the Healers. With Kula Shaker, and now with the Healers, Bevan always dwells in some interesting corner of the song. While never flashy, he manages to bring the sonic party to him. But the modest Londoner explains his sound as a result of circumstance as much as choice. “Up the neck, the strings get closer to the pickup and you’re cutting through. As long as you hold down the low end, you can play some lovely, melodic stuff. Paul McCartney does that brilliantly. I observed a lot of that early and grew up on it.” After the 1999 breakup of the British band Kula Shaker, Alonza had few chances to feature his groove-oriented, upper-register fingerstyle playing. But on the Healers’ iMusic debut Boomslang, Bevan has another chance to revisit his rock &roll roots and explore new bass territory with Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Who drummer Zak Starkey. “It’s a cool instrument,” says Bevan regarding his early switch to bass guitar from traditional piano.
“My ‘Gran’ taught me piano, but for me it was bass—improvising and just holding down the low end. I love playing that part in the band, gluing it all together.” Bevan usually plays and records with his early-’70s Fender Jazz, usually with heavy-gauge Ernie Ball strings. “I always love the Jazz—it weighs a ton! I use just the neck pickup and roll the tone half off. Brutal!” A fan of classic tube sound, Bevan has two Matchless Thunderchief bass heads and two 8x10 Matchless cabinets. On tour he often rents an Ampeg SVT head and combines a 4x10 cabinet with a 1x15 to move a lot of air. For a touch of compression, Bevan uses an MXR M-102 Dyna Comp pedal. For a vintage bass synth sound on the Healers track “You Are the Magic,” Bevan used a Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler. “You see, my style is woolly swing,” explains Bevan about his deep tone. “That’s something I have been getting into with the Healers: developing sounds and kicking in a bit of fuzz with a Big Muff pedal. Johnny has been encouraging me to use pedals, which has been a lot of fun.” Considering where he’s been and where he’s going, Alonza Bevan’s advice for upcoming bassists comes easily. “Always swing it. Regardless of the type of modern pop music you play, it is beat music. That’s where it comes from.” —Britt Strickland