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Erik Scott: A Living Bass Legend (or S.K. Interviews "Eski")

by S. K. Wallace



photo credit: Michael Goldman

Preface:

Last spring, in an unlikely and remote location--(alright, if you must know, it was a barbecue joint in a small West Texas town)--there we were, the Editor of Bass Sessions and I, having lunch with one of my bass heroes, Grammy-winning Erik "Eski" Scott. Eski's successful performing, recording, and producing career spans over 35 years and includes playing for Alice Cooper, Pops Staples, and the Chicago-based rock/soul fusion group Sonia Dada as well as many other notable artists.

I was immediately impressed by how gracious, down-to-earth, and good-natured he was, and said so… ["Why?" Erik asked, laughing, "Did you think I'd turn out to be an ___ ____?"] He was very entertaining, too--[like when he told us about his adventure transporting a Saguaro cactus across state lines after playing with Flo & Eddie when they opened for Jefferson Starship in Arizona in the 70s; (alas, the cactus didn't fare too well in LA.)]

Yet, he is also the master of diplomacy: thoughtful and well-spoken. I've never read or heard him say anything negative or critical about anything or anyone, even when it might seem he's being put on the spot or asked loaded questions, but, at the same time, he's always very direct in his responses, with a remarkable and careful attention to detail and accuracy.

Above all, Erik "Eski" Scott is one of the most compelling bass players you could ever hope to hear. His music deeply affects the listener on both a visceral and spiritual level; his playing is authoritative, yet controlled and calm; at times, subtle, but always powerful and present. [cf. his work on Sonia Dada's CDs "Barefoot Soul" and "Test Pattern"--SKW's recommended listening/favorites: "Raise the Roofbeam" and "Daisy" (from Barefoot Soul) and "Sundogs" (from Test Pattern).]

INTRODUCTION

[SKW note: Well in advance of this interview, I had read the following quote concerning Eski's work on Sonia Dada's 2004 CD "Test Pattern." It came up again during the course of our exchanges, and I can't think of a more fitting intro than this tribute to a living bass legend.]

"If there is a breakout musician on this album, it is Erik Scott, a fine bass player who has always done outstanding work. This album has several tracks that put him in a class with Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, and James Jamerson of Motown fame..." -TripleARadio.com

Eski: I love this review, what a compliment... but there's no way... if they walked into a room where I was, I'd just bow down and pay for dinner. [If you use that review, you gotta please use my disclaimer comment.]

BACKGROUND/BIO

SKW: I've read about your playing the trombone in the school band while "goofing around on the guitar" [Eski's words]. Would you elaborate more on your musical background, education, and experience and how you got started playing the bass?

Eski: I think I was about nine years old when Elvis released "Jailhouse Rock." Then Buddy Holly and the Crickets did "Peggy Sue" and "That'll Be the Day," and I was off and way into the rock 'n' roll thing. Nobody I knew had a guitar or anything, so I played air-drums to the records, and they gave me a trombone in grade school. Then, after the Beatles and the Stones came out in high school, I started goofing on the guitar until a friend's band needed a bass player, and I became one, late in high school.

SKW: Were you primarily self-taught on the bass?

Eski: I am primarily self-taught, in that I take it upon myself to keep getting better by listening to music I really like and by hearing what and how the bassist plays. In that regard, I guess you could say that I've been taught by all the guys whose playing I appreciated.

SKW: Describe the process that led to your pursuing a career as a professional bassist.

In 1968, a group in the Northern Illinois area got a recording deal with Capitol, and they asked me if I wanted to join them and make a record. Well, I did... and, although that group didn't fly, there was some talent there. The drummer, Barry Mraz, started engineering and mixing people like the Ohio Players and Styx in Chicago, and the guitar player, Billy Steele, and I formed a three-piece band primarily known for our raging instrumentals. That band, named Otis Plum, morphed into a group called Jambalaya and made an album for A&M out in LA, where we ran into a lot of recording artists, and it seemed like that was a better place to fashion a career of making original music, in the maelstrom of the recording industry in Los Angeles.

In LA, I was subject to a real change in playing styles, both in the studio and live. I hooked up almost immediately with Flo & Eddie, who had been the main singers in the Turtles who had many Top Ten pop hits in the sixties before they joined Frank Zappa and eventually made albums on their own. Their hits and other records were primarily simple pop tunes, heavy on the vocal hooks. So, I went from a busier free lead style to a very simple style. I can remember being told, "If you can think of two notes to play here, play one." So I developed a really economical approach, with a big ear for the vocals. I played on their last two albums for Columbia: "Illegal, Immoral and Fattening" and "Moving Targets."

SKW: What were some of the obstacles you faced, and how did you overcome them?

Eski: I recorded three albums with short-lived bands in the Chicago area and then moved to LA. The obstacle I faced was primarily the competition from other bassists in the LA area. In order to compete with guys who were in the studio all day doing their thing, I simulated a studio environment in my home. On a limited budget, I used a cassette deck… plugged my bass into one channel, put great bass records in the other channel, and played along. Also developed timing by playing with a metronome, and developed consistency of touch by checking the VU meter on the cassette deck. Did it all under headphones, and did it a lot. I also talked with top engineers and producers about preferred bass tones, parts, etc.

CAREER

SKW: My first introduction to your playing was in the context of Sonia Dada--Shortly after my bass professor John Reid discovered you, he had me listen to "Raise the Roofbeam" [from the CD "Barefoot Soul"] during one of my lessons--I still get chills every time I hear the bass power and presence on that track.

How did you get the Sonia Dada gig?

Eski: In 1986, Dan Pritzker brought a group (Idle Tears) to LA to make a record for MCA, and they used… I hesitate to use the term "session guys," but they wanted to use more studio-experienced guys for drums and bass. The drummers were primarily Craig Krampf and Steve Ferrone, and I played bass on all the tracks except for one that was done by Randy Jackson. As the recording progressed, I was asked to help produce the album. Thus began my relationship with Dan and his writing, and we would get together a few times a year to record songs of his with different singers... to see if something clicked. When he found the three singers* busking in the subway, we again got together and worked some stuff up. We thought there was something cool there, and Sonia Dada was born in August 1990.

[*Author's note: Dan Pritzker first heard vocalists Michael Scott, Paris Delane, and Sam Hogan singing on a subway platform in Chicago.]

SKW: There is some concern among Sonia Dada fans about the band's apparent hiatus for now. What's next?

Eski: You know, it's hard to keep eight different artistic personalities happy with the direction and performance in one group. After 5 studio albums and one live album, some of the folks need time to do some different things. Dan is writing a screenplay that will probably be made into a movie. I'm not sure what the other guys are doing.

I'm in my home studio working on instrumental music that features the bass in more melodic contexts, similar to the "Sundogs" piece that was included on the last SD [Sonia Dada] album "Test Pattern" …some highly ambient, spatial, soundscape-type music that holds your attention without vocals.

SKW: You have one of the most interesting and diverse performing, recording, and producing careers in terms of the artists and bands you've worked with--Flo & Eddie, Alice Cooper, Sonia Dada, and others--What are your favorite career highlights?

Eski: (While with Flo & Eddie, we toured the whole summer of 1975 with Starship and their #1 "Red Octopus" album. "Red Octopus"...hmmm, sounds like a submarine movie... but I digress. I will send a discography.)

...I enjoyed all of those people I recorded and toured with for years... I was able to be selective about whom I would play live with for the most part, and those you mentioned in particular… F&E, Alice, and Sonia counted for about twenty years of recording and [performing] live.

On recording in particular, Sonia Dada took directions over the last three albums that allowed, even encouraged, a more melodic style. On the "Barefoot Soul" CD, "Daisy," and the song you mentioned, "Raise the Roofbeam,"...I'm pretty happy with them... and it was fun to do that "Sundogs" instrumental on "Test Pattern."

But, you know, it was great to rock with riffs and 8th notes with Alice... great sport that was live!

Oh, hell, I loved all of it....well… almost all of it.

You know I loved producing the Japanese band in 1977, Carmen Maki & Oz… none of them spoke English.

SKW: Speaking of highlights and achievements, you collaborated with Pops Staples on his Grammy-winning album "Father Father." How did that transpire?

Eski: I was living in LA but was in Chicago with SD [Sonia Dada] and had a night off. Richard Brown was doing some work with Mavis Staples and said Pops was looking for material for his next album. This was 1994. So, I went over to RB's home studio and told him to put the drum machine on a simple R&B beat at tempo 110 and call a guitar player, Glen Rupp. I then just started the groove and called out changes. We recorded an arrangement of this simple, but deep groove.

Later, when Pops and Mavis came by Richard's studio to hear ideas, they heard about five things, and Pops said, "Play that one with the bass drag again." That was mine. Richard came up with the title, I think, and Pops and Mavis wrote the words for what became the title cut of that album "Father Father." It won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues recording for 1994, and, at the party afterwards, I was introduced to Pops and Mavis. Ha! I later recorded a track on Mavis's CD ["Have a Little Faith"]... didn't see her that night either.

SKW: What are your current or future projects?

Eski: I've been hiding out by the lake in Northern Illinois, woodshedding in the home studio. I've been taking the time to develop some instrumental music... giving the bass the rhythm part, the melody part, and special effects ambience. I'll also play a keyboard part on top of whatever drum loop or programmed drums I've done.

When I get something I like, I'll bring in a real drummer to play on the track and other instruments to try to get a more exotic instrumentation. I've been getting some positive reinforcement; so, who knows? If I get enough compositions I like, I'll try to get some sort of release out there.

RIG/GEAR

SKW: Describe/discuss your rig and gear--instrument(s), amp(s), effects, etc. Specifically, would you talk about the modifications that have been made to your Fender?

Eski: I primarily have played two basses: a modified '63 Fender Jazz bass and a Pedulla fretless Buzz bass.

The Fender has received some mods over time. In 1970, I decided to redo the finish and get something creative painted on it. I remember being in the yard, about done sanding the finish off, when someone yelled out the door that we had a gig the next day. So, I just put some sort of shellac finish on it and went off-never got around to putting any high-gloss finish on it. I mention this fact because I think the unpainted wood helps give it a nice warm tone. Of course, without any hard finish on it, it sort of looks like it's been dragged behind the tour bus for 35 years.

I put some EMG active pick-ups on it in '83: P-type in the rhythm position and J-type in the lead position. Then, in '89, the neck was getting a bit funky; so, John Carruthers in LA made me a new neck, styled after the jazz neck. Then, I put on a Badass bridge and Shaller tuning pegs. I have kept the passive volume and tone controls. I use Dean Markley Blue Steel strings.

In the studio, I go direct, using a Demeter Tube DI, with a Korg DTR-1 Tuner. And I have been using a Zoom 708II effects box for these instrumental tracks as well as for "Sundogs," off the Test Pattern CD. Sometimes I use a Manley Tube DI. Live, I have used the same Ampeg SVT since 1975-generally one 8 x 10 cabinet.

INSIGHT/PHILOSOPHY

SKW: What is your philosophy as a musician and bassist?

Eski: The joy and satisfaction I get from making music lie in the creative and the (hopefully) great performance, nuanced and articulated with the appropriate attitude. A writer will come in and play a song on an acoustic guitar, and, then, I love to experiment and create a bass part that works with the vocal cadence and the other instruments to create a great musical bed for the song... or just great music, if there are no vocals. I just love to create the music from ground zero. I have some chops in this musical arrangement area, which have contributed to some of the production credits I've received.

SKW: You have a reputation for being a solid "groove guy"-although I'd probably describe you as a melodic player as well. How would you characterize your playing?

Eski: I agree with you. There are a lot of people who recognize my feel and groove playing; then, there are those who recognize my melodic tendencies. While doing a Kim Carnes record, Val Garay, engineer/producer (James Taylor, Kim Carnes, and Linda Ronstadt), once offered that he thought my strengths were funky fills and R&B grooves. Dee Robb, engineer/mixer for Garfunkel and Ringo, once said during an Alice record that I was the best at power rock 8th notes. While Ed Cherney, Grammy-winning engineer/mixer for Bonnie Raitt and the Stones, figured my melodic work was a strong point. Soooo... I guess it depends what you're doin' at the time and your ability to give them what they want.

SKW: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard that you once commented to the effect that you "couldn't play jazz"-However, a lot of your Sonia Dada work I've heard does actually seem like jazz, (or even beyond jazz, for that matter.) Please explain/clarify, and expound on this statement.

Eski: "Can't play jazz"… I didn't mean that I couldn't play with a jazz approach… As you have noticed, there are numerous occasions during Sonia Dada's recorded body of work where we went in a jazz-inflected direction.

This is hard to explain. I believe it was Basie who said, "You can say anything you want on a slide trombone, but when you start using words...."

Now, the jazz I was referring to is the abstract… seriously abstract music… where there is almost no recognizable recurring theme. Players are into their own free styles that seem only to intersect once in awhile, with the players almost soloing apart from one another... then all of a sudden intersecting. The greats do this amazingly, but sometimes the not-so-greats... well... Soloing is one of the things I'm working on down in Tuna Salad (Tuna Salad Studios... my home studio).

SKW: One of the things I found the most interesting when I met you this past spring was your commenting on how playing with Sonia Dada allowed you, as a bassplayer, to actively participate and contribute to the creative process… you indicated that sometimes you might be casually experimenting with something in the developmental/early rehearsal phase of a song, and it's really well-received and ends up in the final rendition of the piece. Would you elaborate further on the concept of artistic freedom, especially as it pertains to bassplayers?

Eski: I've always gravitated to situations where artistic freedom exists 'cause that's what excites me. Fortunately, I've had this artistic freedom since the beginning, in 1969. I think artists/writers/singers/producers will generally hire players to get what they do best, and then let them do it. If they already know exactly what part they want, they will hire great readers. Most all the charts I've seen in 35 years for albums are chord charts... chord maps to follow in order to start the arrangement, while letting the players go for it. Jingles and time-sensitive movie scores are different, generally written out more completely, and excellent note readers do that business.

[SKW note: There was some exchange/discussion concerning general playing trends toward (what had been described by the Editor as) "pyrotechnic chops." I commented on the pressure to succumb to certain stylistic and technical trends and fads that some bassists, particularly bass students, occasionally feel.]

Eski: You know, if you start shouting when everybody around you is shouting, nobody gets heard.

SKW: That's profound… a concise response.

Eski: Great/good music is like a great/good conversation. You listen to what others are saying, and when you have an opportunity to say something without interrupting or talking over someone else, you say something. And, if what you say is worth listening to, you're going to find yourself with more chances to talk… and people will listen.

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To learn more about Eski's work with Sonia Dada, check out www.soniadada.com. Also, see the discography following this article, and be on the lookout for Eski's own website in the future; in the meantime, he says you may contact him at eski33@comcast.net.

About the author: S. K. Wallace is a freelance writer, musician, artist, and educator who plays bass and teaches violin/fiddle and guitar. Her previous articles have appeared in the August 2004 and June - December 2005 editions of Bass Sessions®. She may be contacted at SKWBassist@aol.com.

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SONIA DADA
"Test Pattern" (Calliope/Razor & Tie) player, writer, producer
"Barefoot Soul" (Calliope / Razor & Tie) player, producer
"Lay Down and Love It Live" (Calliope/Razor & Tie) player, writer, producer
"My Secret Life" (Calliope/Razor & Tie) player, writer
"A Day at the Beach" (Calliope/Razor & Tie) player, writer
"Sonia Dada" (Calliope/Razor & Tie) player, writer

MAVIS STAPLES
"Have A Little Faith" (Nonesuch) player

POPS STAPLES
"Father Father" (Virgin) player, writer

SIGNAL
"Loud and Clear" (EMI) player, writer

ALICE COOPER
"Life and Crimes of..." (Warner Bros.) player, writer, producer
"Zipper Catches Skin" (Warner Bros.) player, writer, producer
"For Britain Only" (Warner Bros./UK) player, producer
"Special Forces" (Warner Bros.) player, writer

KIM CARNES
"Lighthouse" (EMI) player
"Barking at Airplanes" (EMI) player

SHARON O'NEILL
"Maybe" (CBS/Intl.) player, producer

IDLE TEARS
"Idle Tears" (MCA) player, producer

FRANNIE GOLDE
"Restless" (Portrait/Epic) player

TONIO K.
"Life in the Foodchain" (Epic) player

PETER MCIAN
"Playing Near the Edge" (ARC/Columbia) player, producer

FLO & EDDIE
"Moving Targets" (Columbia) player
"Illegal, Immoral & Fattening" (Columbia) player
"Best of Flo & Eddie" (Rhino) player