Chris Wyse

ped off with a dollop of psychedelia, most Cult material calls for steady eighth-note bass support. “I need to be able to play like Cliff Williams of AC/DC,” says Chris simply. That kind of playing comes naturally to Wyse—straight-up, red-blooded rock & roll runs thick in his veins—but he’s always been a serious bass student. “Now I do a lot of my practicing without a bass in my hands,” says Chris, who’s parlayed his dedication to the instrument into teaching lessons. “You need to be able to clearly envision what you want to do before you pick up the bass.”

Pulling off Cult songs live requires dynamic sensitivity, according to Wyse. “Often I’ll start a song with a pick, but midway through I’ll toss the pick and switch to using my fingers so can get a fatter sound as a song builds in intensity.”

Following work with Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, Wyse recently landed a session gig for Ozzy Osbourne’s Under Cover, a collection of cover tunes from the ’70s. “I got to pay tribute to bass greats like Bob Daisley [Ozzy] and Geezer Butler [Black Sabbath],” Chris beams. “As far as metal goes, Geezer is the guy. All those high pentatonic riffs … man!” To Chris’s surprise, Ozzy not only kept his more adventurous bass parts, he put them high in the mix—especially his high-flying melodic forays in Mott The Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes” and his fuzzed-out mayhem on Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.”

Through the years, Chris has developed his distorted tone to the point where he’s earned the praise of platinum-selling rock producers like Bob Rock. “My distorted sound is one of my trademarks,” he says. “I actually use many different distorted tones, which come from changing my right-hand technique. Also, I use different blends of clean and dirty channels. I’m always listening for fresh tones from bass players, but I feel I’ve found the sound that works for me.”