How did you get your start in music?
I started out playing drums when I was a kid, and I thought of myself as a drummer for many years, playing in local punk bands and high school jazz band. After a friend gave me an old P-Bass for high-school graduation, I started playing whenever anyone needed a bass. Later, I had some formal training at University of North Texas and at Loyola University in New Orleans.

What carries over from your background as a drummer?
I think all bass players—all musicians, really—should learn drums. It helps you lock in, because you can better understand what a drummer is doing; you can speak the language and use those ideas on bass. All of us in Mute Math were drummers at one point, so we switch instruments onstage.

How did you start playing upright?
I’d always been into jazz and wanted an upright, but they were way too expensive. I grew up on the Texas border, and when I’d walk across to Mexico, I’d see these cheap old uprights. I bought one and took it to North Texas, but people wouldn’t stop laughing! I finally mustered up enough money and bought a ’50s Kay about ten years ago.

What’s your favorite amp for recording?
I’ve used Ampeg SVTs, but we got the best bass sounds using guitar amps. I used an old ’60s Maverick guitar amp, and for my own home recordings, I use a Fender Concert combo with four 10s. The grit and energy you can get from guitar amps seems to translate well on record. Live, I use a Mesa/Boogie 400+ head with a 4x12 cabinet. It’s somewhat like a guitar amp—I can turn up the gain to get some grit, and the 12s break up in a nice way.

What about basses?
I play mainly a ’78 P-Bass, and I also tour and record with the Kay. A New Orleans luthier named Sal helped me rig a P-Bass pickup at the end of the upright’s fingerboard, which really helps me get my live upright sound.

On the band’s live DVD, you play a fretless ’70s P-Bass with a maple fingerboard.
That’s a cool bass, but it was really just a substitute for the upright, which we couldn’t take on that tour. The Kay is the sound on the record, and live, it’s also more interesting visually.

You sometimes play with delay, which isn’t a very common effect for bass. How do you use it?
When you’re playing a kind of modal groove, the bass can start to sound chordal as notes start layering on top of one another. The trick is to not set the feedback too long.

What are you doing besides touring and recording?
On tour I get a lot of questions about bass, so I started my own blog [roymitchellcardenas.blogspot.com] with videos and lessons. That’s been fun, and it’s gotten a good response. Most of the posts come from fans asking questions. One guy asked me if our song “Obsolete” was in Dorian mode, so I made a video explaining how it was.

CAN BE HEARD ON

Mute Math, Mute Math [Teleprompt/Warner Bros., 2006]
Mute Math, Flesh & Bone Electric Fun (DVD), [Warner Bros., 2007]

CURRENTLY SPINNING

Radiohead, In Rainbows [ATO, 2008]
“I love the tastefulness of Colin Greenwood’s bass playing—his note selection, and where he chooses to play. It’s very inventive.”

GEAR

Basses ’78 Fender Precision Bass; ’50s Kay upright with D’Addario Helicore strings; fretless ’70s Fender Precision Bass

Rig Mesa/Boogie 400+ head with Mesa 4x12 cabinets; vintage Maverick and Fender Concert guitar amps

Effects Boss DD-5 Digital Delay pedal

“On the record I used a ’73 Fender Telecaster Bass, which is really woofy and boomy. The sound is so sub-y it’s almost synth-like. But it sounds too muddy to play live.”