How does Lettuce factor in your world now, and how does that compare to what it was in the past?
Lettuce is a group of musicians having fun playing what we want to play, and we’ve always been way into funk music, especially James Brown. We’ve expanded our range on Rage! to include influences from the Meters to Parliament/Funkadelic, Earth Wind & Fire, Zapp, D.C. go-go grooves, and on through some of the hip-hop we grew up on. You’ll hear some Moog synth bass coming from Neal Evans, who has always been an inspiration. 

You slip into so many personas on Rage! Were you purposely paying tribute to various bass heroes?
I sound most like me on my Yamaha 6-string, but I actually played almost the entire record on a vintage Fender P-Bass with flatwound strings in order to sound era-authentic. For a few songs I placed a piece of foam under the bridge to get that classic muted tone, à la [Motown’s] James Jamerson. I’m always tuned in to Patitucci, but Jamerson is my main bass influence. You can learn everything you need to know about bass from Jamerson and Verdine White. It’s hard to explain technically, because it’s all about feel. You have to kill it in the pocket when you play funk.

Can you explain how your funk playing informs your hip-hop playing, and explain some of the differences?
I grew up listening to records produced by DJ Premier and Dr. Dre, which featured snippets of classic funk lines that were often doubled by a subsonic key-bass part. I use the low end of my 6-string to mimic a key bass, grab a Fender 4-string to double the line in a traditional octave, and then triple the line on the Yamaha in a higher octave. Then I’m free to add guitars or keyboards, or play the 6’s upper regions to create chords and melodies. People often mistake them for guitar parts. I play mainly fingerstyle, but I keep some length to the nails on my first two fingers so I can get a somewhat pick-like attack if it’s required. To play hip-hop well you have to be able to nail the actual feel of every musical style, because the track might jump from a Tchaikovsky sample to a country sample at any point. 

What’s it like playing live with the crazy collection of talents in Lettuce? 
It’s like playing with the Los Angeles Lakers of funk! We all contribute, but Adam leads the charge. I make the bass lines my own as soon as we lock the pocket. [Guitarist] Eric Krasno and I can switch instruments and finish each other’s musical sentences because we’re so well acquainted. Each member has the discipline to stick to a minimal part so that the collective energy from all eight of us is much greater. It’s like mediation. I know the music is killing when I stop paying attention and drift off somewhere else. We named the CD Rage! because it’s a state of mind. I don’t mean getting messed up, I mean opening up your whole soul to God and feeling the spirit move.

CAN BE HEARD ON

Lettuce, Rage! [Velour, 2008]
Britney Spears, “Ooh Ooh Baby,” Blackout [Jive, 2007]
the Game, Doctor’s Advocate [Geffen, 2006]
DJ Quick, Trauma [Mad Science, 2005]
Kanye West, “All Falls Down,” The College Dropout [Rock-a-Fella, 2004]

CURRENTLY SPINNING

John Patitucci, Mistura Fina [GRP, 1994]
“I love his version of João Bosco’s ‘Bate Balaio (Rockson Do Pandeiro).’ It grooves!”

GEAR

Basses Yamaha TRB JP2 John Patitucci Signature, vintage Fender Precision or Jazz Bass
Rig Studio, Avalon Vt-737sp preamp; live, vintage Ampeg SVT head and 8x10 cabinet
Strings Yamaha, La Bella Deep Talkin’ Bass 6-string mediums; Fender Precision, La Bella Original 1954 Fender Style Flatwound “Jamerson Set”
“Onstage, I rely on the engineer to crank the bottom end of the mains so I can feel it. That sub sound is what bass is all about to me, and no bass cabinet can deliver it like huge house speakers.”