Middle Way

Onstage, opposite singer/guitarist Gordan Gano’s introverted angst and drummer Victor DeLorenzo’s wild Vaudevillian antics, Brian Ritchie appears calm. Even as he hustles to cover the sonic space left vacant by his minimalist bandmates, even as he delivers solo after solo to his audience, attacking his oversize Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic bass guitar like a mariachi musician on methamphetamines, Brian manages to remain cool and in control. This stage is his temple.

Sprouting from the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan in the early ’80s, the Violent Femmes combined folky aesthetics with punk-rock philosophy to practically invent acoustic folk-punk. Predating Nirvana’s and Pearl Jam’s MTV Unplugged appearances by more than a decade, the band’s 1983 debut Violent Femmes has a certain timelessness—odds are good that right now there’s at least one college dorm room being treated to Brian’s plunky bass hooks. Overflowing with acoustic bass guitar virtuosity, the record has long been an underground classic, one of the only discs to achieve platinum status without ever entering the charts.

The band has released eight studio albums since its debut, recording unique takes on the T. Rex anthem “Children of the Revolution” and the Culture Club classic “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” In 2002, Ritchie and DeLorenzo teamed with Rhino Records to repackage Violent Femmes with demos, live performances, and expanded liner notes. Now, 25 years after the band’s first gigs busking on Milwaukee sidewalks, the trio continues to tour the world, often supplementing its sound with a 15-piece horn and strings section, the Horns of Dilemma.

Though Ritchie continues to call upon his numerous Earthwood bass guitars with the Femmes, Brian has expanded his cast of bass characters to include fretted and fretless electrics (4-string and 1-string) and electric washtub basses. Coaxing lively, pulsing bass tones from whatever instrument he’s working, Brian Ritchie’s earthy aesthetic has kept the Femmes’ folk-punk crop of rock flourishing after so many years.

How did you choose to play acoustic bass guitar?

I’ve always loved acoustic music. I started out listening to semi-acoustic rock, like the Beatles’ best stuff from Rubber Soul and Revolver, where every song mixes acoustic and electric elements. The Rolling Stones were at their best when they were blending acoustic and electric sounds. I like fusion and electric jazz, but the tonal palette of acoustic jazz is much richer. I also listened to folk and blues, and a lot of music from Peru and India.

Why didn’t you play upright?

I was undisciplined. I was just too rebellious to do things the proper way, which is really the only way to play upright bass. Plus, if you want to play upright, you are truly screwed if you don’t have a vehicle, and I didn't.

So I took an acoustic guitar and changed the nut, carved a new bridge, and used bass strings. That worked pretty well for a while. It didn’t have very much output and the strings were kind of flabby, but at least I had the concept happening.

What were your sources of inspiration?

The first band I really got into was Yes. After I got Fragile [Atlantic, 1972], there was no turning back for me. I was starting out at the most free end of the bass spectrum, because Chris Squire was an equal in a group of serious musicians. I loved the cleanliness of his roundwound sound, and the accuracy of his picking. I still love to see them play because they are all so full-throttle. Nobody takes a back seat in the band, yet they keep from stepping on each others’ feet. After hearing Yes, I certainly didn’t want to do something more conservative with the bass.

I didn’t spend a lot of time listening to bass players once I knew how to play. My main influences are people like John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Tom Verlaine, Steve Lacey, Ornette Coleman, and Don Cherry. It’s important to remain intellectually curious about other art forms, too. It may not make you play better, but it certainly broadens your horizons. If you want to develop your style, you need to develop as a person.

Describe your role in the Femmes and how you came to fill it.

To start, Gordon was a minimalist player, and Victor was choosing to play with just the snare and the “tranceaphone,” a tom-tom with a bushel basket on top. That left a lot of space for me to fill. So I ended up doing stuff that either the guitar or bass drum should be doing. On “Kiss Off” I listened to what the other guys were doing, and I tried to fill the space with that [picked-and-popped] lick I play. A lot of their parts are pretty static—it’s the bass lines that define the arrangements.

The limitations of the band allowed me to expand my concept to the point where it’s the lead instrument most of the time. I like that role. There probably isn’t another rock album that has as many bass solos as our first album. Even bass players don’t make records like that. Cream records have a lot of bass solos, but they have more guitar solos.

How do you prepare for your shows, and how do you keep your energy up on the road?

I can’t use drugs or drink before a show because the way I play is very athletic. Luckily I design parts that are interesting enough that they’re still challenging to play perfectly every night. Just seeing people get into it revitalizes me every night. People are coming to the music all the time, so you have to present them with something that’s fresh.

How do you approach soloing?

If it’s a brief solo, I might go full-throttle from the start. On other songs I start up strong, bring it down, and then build back up to a huge peak. The solo on “Please Do Not Go” has variations [see Lesson, page 45], but I don’t really consider it to be improvisation, and I always play the same solo for “Good Feeling.” I’m more off-the-cuff on others—like “Kiss Off,” which I change around all the time. A lot of people think of me as an extravagant, over-the-top player, but that’s really only on my solos. The parts are pretty solid.

What are some of the challenges of playing the Earthwood? [See sidebar.]

When I first started playing it, I was breaking strings like crazy, so I wrote a nasty letter to Ernie Ball saying, “Your strings suck! Don’t you think they’re kind of expensive?” I was unknown at the time, but Sterling Ball actually wrote back saying, “Sorry to hear about it. Here are a dozen sets of strings.” He was nice about it, even though I wasn’t. Years later when I visited the Ernie Ball factory, he said, “You know, Brian, I still remember that letter you wrote me.” I also used light-gauge D’Addario XL Red copper-wound strings, because they cost about half as much. Now I’m using Martin Phosphor Bronze strings, which are really easy to find.

As my playing improved, I realized all those strings were breaking because of my poor technique. I was thrashing on the instrument. Now I never break strings. I learned how to accurately pluck. A lot of bass players pooh-pooh technique; they feel the instrument doesn’t need to be practiced because they mostly play a supporting role. When I started, nobody was doing what I do on acoustic bass guitar, so it forced me to learn how to do things for myself. The instrument itself was the greatest teacher, because the sound doesn’t just happen. You can’t just turn up your amp and expect the tone to improve. You need to have a good sound to start with.

I use a lot of different techniques. On “Kiss Off,” I mute at the bridge with my palm, and on “Promise,” I use slapping. Sometimes I play with my thumb. The only technique I don’t use is the conventional technique of plucking with your fingers. I think it sounds flabby. If I want to hear the meat of my flesh on the string, I prefer to use my thumb. Monk Montgomery was the first serious bass guitar player, and he played with his thumb. But the best sound you can get out of these acoustic bass guitars is with a pick. I use custom-made light-medium picks [.69mm].

What other basses do you play?

My main electric bass is a MusicMan StingRay from the first or second year of production. I had been using a Maton JB4; that’s a great bass, but after years of me beating the hell out of it, I retired it. Now I use it just for recording. I knew I could get caught up forever in the search for a new bass, so on tour in New Hampshire, I told myself I’d walk into a music store and walk out with a bass. I tried every shiny new bass there, and though they were all very well machined, they didn’t have any soul. When I picked up the MusicMan, which was all beat up and just had an aura, I felt I had to choose that one.

I also play a fretless Wishbass. A lot of people are freaked out about Wishbasses, because they’re so unusual. But there’s nothing about the bass that bums me out. The neck is huge, which I like. It’s rustic and has a wabi-sabi kind of vibe. Even if I’m playing something new, I like it to have that earthy feel. There are issues with the construction, but for $350, it’s a custom bass that sounds and feels great, and has a real vibe.

I use an Atlansia Solitaire 1-string bass that’s just one piece of maple—no frets, no body, no headstock—and the sound is fantastic. Lou Reed heard it and loved it. He said, “It’s got all the good things about an electric, and all the good things about an upright.” That one I only play with my fingers. It’s got a sound that’s like bwoom. Because it’s just a big hunk of maple and there’s only one string, its sustain is incredible.

I also play an Electric String electric washtub bass. Washtub bass without the washtub—that’s another Zen concept. It has a tremendous sound, and it’s great for developing your ear, since you get your pitch by just yanking on the pole coming out of the ground.

Do you have any other basses that you keep at home?

I have a ’51 Fender P-Bass reissue from 1984, and I have ’52 and ’57 Precision Basses with flatwounds. I use those only in the studio; I take them when I have more conventional sessions with blues acts or when I’m playing with normal rock musicians.

What do you use for amplification?

Kids don’t know how lucky they are to be able to buy pretty much any amp and have it sound good. I came up in an era when amps were all really bad. I generally use a Gallien-Krueger 800RB. If I’m playing a Precision Bass or something that has a boomy sound, I might use the G-K’s treble boost. With the Earthwood I use the mid cut so I get a “scoop” with a nice low end and a clear high end, and not too much honking midrange. I sometimes take my Trace Elliot amp out on tour, but mostly I use whatever they provide at the venue. I’m not fussy, because they’re all good.

What’s your preference for cabinets?

I use 8x10s. Some people go for that behind-the-beat sound you get with 15" speakers, but I like how 10s are more articulate.

What’s your approach toward effects?

I like over-the-top effects. When I step on those pedals, I want people to know something is different. I don’t like the idea of having a slight flange or compression that you don’t hear musically. I use an Electro-Harmonix Micro Bass Synthesizer, a Crowther Prunes & Custard Harmonix Generator-Intermodulator distortion, and a Tech 21 Killer Wail wah. The Prunes & Custard is not just a pure distortion—it does some kind of frequency modulation where as a note sustains, it shifts. I’ve used distortion and wah since I started playing, and I use effects on both acoustic and electric.

Are there any other important components to your sound?

I like Countryman DIs. A lot of engineers just want to use some crummy passive DI, which is a problem. You have to really defend your turf if you’re a bass player. That includes the mix—you have to make sure you’re in it!

Have you ever burned out on music?

No, but there have been times when I’ve lost my direction. One of them was when Sun Ra died, because he had taken music so far. I was really depressed. I thought, I’ll never make music as good as what he made, so why bother? There have been other times when I’ve been burnt out with the Femmes and thought that things were not moving forward properly.

How have you kept the band going so long?

I don’t think I could have spent 25 years doing this if I just had to play root-4, root-5 all night long. Some guys get off on that, but not me. If the Violent Femmes didn’t improvise, we definitely would not exist anymore. We’d go crazy.

What advice can you offer regarding music as a business?

The music business is set up for you to fall on your ass all the time, and I’ve probably made every mistake there is to make. Everybody has a different path in music, so I wouldn’t be able to extrapolate universal verities. The most important things are the simple things, like play the music you like. A lot of bass players end up wasting their time on music they don’t really like. They never develop their own style because they’re playing a role rather than presenting their own musical identity. That’s why, in most bands, when you change bassists they end up sounding the same. I’ve read—like in Bass Player—“be prepared to play any style.” But I wonder if that’s the best advice. I’ve made a living playing my style.

Why haven’t you played bass on your solo records?

I try to find people who are way different from me and have their own concept of what to do in the low register. Whenever I use another bass instrument, I don’t want them to play like me at all. I just finished recording with Dave Gelting, a great upright player from Milwaukee who’s really sympathetic. Dan Nosheni plays tuba on Shakuhachi Club NYC. The tuba does a lot that no upright or bass guitar can do. It suited my shakuhachi [flute] playing because we’re both breathing, so we get a lot of the same phrasing.

What’s next for the Femmes?

We’re starting to put out live recordings on our own label, Add It Up. We just released According to Tradition: Live in Iceland. It’s like a bootleg project where we have quality control because we’re doing it ourselves. And we’re starting to film a movie with Howie Goldklang, a director from Milwaukee who wants to do a documentary on the Femmes’ musical phenomenon.

Outside the Femmes, what are you doing?

I just recorded a new shakuhachi record, and I’m doing a lot of work with Eugene Chadbourne, an avant-jazz guitarist. Eugene, Victor, [Gil-Scott Heron keyboardist] Brian Jackson, and I are tour Europe this summer with me playing bass and shakuhachi. And I’ve thought about working stuff up for solo bass. I’ve never done a solo album that focuses on my bass playing at all, because I’m usually branching off and doing something different. But maybe it’s about time.