How did you record Help Wanted?
Most of it was done on my laptop. One of the first things I recorded was Flea playing trumpet at his house. He laid a microphone on the carpet in his bedroom and knelt down to it for “Song in the Silence.” That’s the level of high-fidelity recording you’ll find here [laughs]. Mostly I recorded in my home studio, which has hardwood floors and reflective walls; it’s not a real studio. But I recorded at Chris Chaney’s house for the upright line he plays on “Walk Through Walls,” and his home studio is like a real studio. I also got Taylor Hawkins’s drums in the Foo Fighters’ studio because Dave Grohl lent it to me for an afternoon. 

What role did your bass playing take in writing for this album? 
I used bass lines as a starting point, but I composed most of the songs using piano and guitar. I started to move away from composing on the bass because some intervals and relationships that sound awful on bass sound interesting on piano. The next record will probably focus much more on bass, but this time I had too many plates spinning. It’s difficult to have your eye on both the macro and the micro, and this time the most obvious thing, the bass, was the most overlooked.

I was really inspired recently when Flea played me some stuff he’s been working on. Hearing his recordings, which had less traditional rock instrumentation, gave me an epiphany: He’s starting from his power base, which for him is his bass. My interest in avant-garde classical and 20th-century music drew me toward using synths and keyboards on Help Wanted, but hearing Flea’s music made me realize that I’d lost touch with the bass. Why not start with the foundation? It’s the instrument that I am most comfortable with, so I should start there.

Where do your bass lines come in the recording process?
There’s no hard and fast rule, especially since Help Wanted had such a clerical construction, with bits taken from here and there. Bass came in where the song’s palette needed it.

Do you play with a pick?
I use a pick because you can hear my lack of confidence when I play with my fingers. I try to use my fingers every once in a while, because I play more texturally that way, but I usually end up going back to a pick and experimenting with tone instead.

I’ve never been interested in becoming a virtuoso. I felt like the better I got as a player, the busier I got, and I never like the busier answer. Not being a virtuoso is a tool I need to make the sort of music I enjoy. The lines I like writing are generally very simple, and if I’m writing a pop song on bass, I feel limited in terms of coming up with lines that are aesthetically pleasing, interesting, and tonally challenging. The only difficult music I like is classical; I’ve never been interested in jazz-pop, where aging rock musicians go to die.

CAN BE HEARD ON

Eric Avery, Help Wanted [Dangerbird, 2008]
Jane’s Addiction, Ritual de lo Habitual [Warner Bros., 1990]

CURRENTLY SPINNING

Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring
“I hired a composer from UCLA grad school to take me through some of the more challenging pieces of the 20th century and teach me music theory in the process. I keep returning to The Rite of Spring because I find challenges in it, but it’s also so pleasing. I start the day by listening to it and following along with the score. I’m constantly finding amazing stuff in it.”

GEAR

Basses Early-’80s Fender Precision, recent Fender American Vintage ’62 Jazz
Rig Universal Audio 6176 analog channel strip, Line 6 Bass POD Pro, Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI
Software Propellerhead Reason, Abelton Live, Apple Logic
“Sometimes the SansAmp Bass Driver is the best thing for giving me that furry, natural feel that works for bass.”