What basses did you use for Mushroom Men?
Actually, I don’t think I played a single one of my normal basses on Mushroom Men. I played the Whamola quite a bit. It’s a one-string hinged instrument that I tend to beat on with a stick. I played some banjo bass. I also banged away on a thing that’s like a bass Dobro. I’m not sure who put it together. Someone sent it over to the office one day, and I started fiddling around with it.
How did you use your basses to create the Mushroom Men material?
I don’t think about basses too much [laughs]. When I’m doing stuff like this, I look at or listen to what I need to color with the music, and in this instance it was these mushroom critters. The big Boletes are good guys, and so are the smart, scientific Morels. The Amanitas and Lepiota are nasty, poisonous bad guys. I had to write theme songs for these characters, so I had to ask myself, what does a massive, lumbering King Bolete mushroom sound like? I usually started with basic percussion. I added mallet instruments, bells, and bizarre stringed instruments. It was all recorded pretty dry through an old API console.
Did you use one bass or another for specific characters?
I used the Whamola for the Mushroom Men theme because it sounds like the rubber-band man—like a big old rubber band being banged on with a stick. It’s elastic, but there’s also a metallic element, so it’s a unique-sounding instrument. The Whamola seemed to work well for the mushroom march.
And how about the other characters—what did you use for lumbering guy?
I used a string bass a lot, and I played a lot of arco stuff. I ventured into the upper registers often as well. That’s the fortunate thing about having a 5-string upright bass: It’s got that high C, so I can play things that are usually in the cello range, or even way up into a violin’s lower range.
Were you able to watch game sequences, or did you work from still photos?
I had the characters tattooed on my body, and then I stripped down nude in front of a mirror and flexed my muscles to make them move [laughs]. Actually, we visited the facility. My kids got to play the game, and I saw the characters move, but mostly I worked from very elaborate stills.
How does creating music specifically for video games compare to doing it for a band, or for a show such as South Park?
It’s very similar to creating music for something like South Park because you’re trying to complement someone else’s creativity. It’s inspiring because you have a starting-off point based completely on their notion. It gets different juices flowing than you would have on your own, writing about the pool cleaner or something. It’s a little frustrating when your concepts don’t blend, but we were all on the same page with Mushroom Men, so it was a kick in the pants.
CAN BE HEARD ON
Mushroom Men Soundtrack [Gamecock/Prawnsong, 2008]; Of Whales and Woe [Prawn Song, 2006]?; Electric Apricot (drums), Quest for Festeroo DVD [National Lampoon, 2007]; Film Soundtrack CD [Hip-O, 2008
CURRENTLY SPINNING
Gogol Bordello, Super Taranta! [Side One Dummy, 2007] “Eugene Hütz and his crew have a real zest for life that comes through in their music. I recorded some stuff with Eugene that will probably appear on the next Claypool smattering of self indulgence.”
GEAR
Basses Carl Thompson 4-string with Kahler tremolo; fretless Carl Thompson “rainbow bass” 6-string; Dan Maloney banjo bass; “Whamola” 1-string washtub-style bass; NS Design 5-string electric upright; unknown resonator bass
Live rig API 7600 preamps, various power amps, two Ampeg 4x10 cabinets
Effects Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modeler, Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler, Boomerang Phrase Sampler, MXR M-80 Bass DI+, Korg ToneWorks AX3000B multi-effect
Strings Dean Markley Blue Steels (.045–.100)